Francophone Production in Minority Language Setting
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) committed $17.9 million to francophone audiovisual production outside Quebec in 2023–2024. The funding was invested in drama, children’s, variety & performing arts, and documentary projects. While the number of francophone member organizations representing the interests of independent producers in the industry is increasing, the total budget has remained fairly stable.
This stability is, in fact, a positive thing, given the cuts that have been made to other CMF funding programs. Attention will now be focused on the level of funding anticipated as a result of Bill C-11’s changes to Canada’s broadcasting legislation and contributions from streaming platforms to the Canadian broadcasting framework system. Two of the five per cent levied on the platforms will go to the CMF. However, those platforms can deduct 75 per cent (or 1.5 per cent of the two per cent) of their contribution to the CMF towards expenditures on Canadian programs. These optional deductions do not apply to contributions to certified funds.
According to Carol Ann Pilon, executive director of the Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada (APFC) , “the CMF invests at least 10 per cent of its budgets in francophone production in minority communities. But that’s not the case for certified funds like Bell, Telus, and Shaw-Rocket, for example.” And credits are only available for platforms that invest in or purchase Canadian content. So, for the time being, it’s not possible to estimate what amounts could be added to CMF funding. In production outside Quebec, broadcaster fees are lower than in Quebec. “On average, under the 35 per cent benchmark,” Pilon said. “The CMF provides up to 38 per cent of the total financing for our productions, compared with 9 nine per cent in Quebec. There’s virtually nothing of ours that gets on air without CMF contributions to the financial structure.”
In 2017, APFC members represented 17 industry organizations. In 2024, its 25th anniversary year, its members represent 26. Pilon is concerned about the long-term viability of the status quo, especially if the funding level remains the same. “Although production volume outside Quebec has almost doubled since 2017, post-pandemic production costs have skyrocketed and the growing number of applicants shows no sign of slowing down,” she said. Unless the decline in cable operator contributions to CMF envelopes is offset, the industry is bound to experience significant disruption.
Data from an economic impact analysis prepared for the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française in 2021 highlighted the risk in cutting funding to arts and culture considering that arts, culture, and heritage activities in the francophone cultural community outside Quebec contributed $5.63 billion to Canada’s nominal GDP in the same year, an amount greater than the forestry and logging industry’s contribution.
Success against all odds
While the economic news has been bleak, francophone production companies outside Quebec had a banner year. A good example is Season 3 of Le Monde de Gabrielle Roy. (Seasons 1 and 2 were nominated for Gemini awards.) The series, co-produced by Productions Rivard and Zone3, was allocated $1.3 million in funding from the CMF, which was a good thing since Season 3 presented some challenges of its own, not the least of which is the story taking place almost entirely in Europe. After much deliberation, they opted to shoot in Manitoba and recreate Europe as needed. A crew of 65 was hired for the production, excluding actors and extras.
Dominic Desjardins and Rayne Zuckerman’s Toronto-based Zazie Films had its Paris Paris series selected for the best foreign fiction series category at Festival de la Fiction La Rochelle. “Thanks to meetings we had at Series Mania, we managed to land French distributor Balanga,” Zuckerman said. “And that led eventually led to a sale of format rights to a major American studio.”
Finally, David Baeta and Simon Madore’s Toronto-based Moi&Dave production company has been participating in the Rencontres de Coproduction Francophone (RCF) since 2021. Their feature film Médium Béluga was selected as an official project for the 2024 RCF held in Montreal in November. “One of our medium-term objectives is a national and international co-production,” said producer Baeta. “We’re looking to build awareness with European partners, particularly in France and Belgium, for minority positions in co-productions to expand the film’s international footprint.”
