R-C punts $13 mil for Canuck films

Net backing French-speaking cinema, CBC to follow

By BRENDAN KELLY

MONTREAL -- Radio-Canada, the French-language TV network of Canadian pubcaster CBC, is to invest C$20 million ($13 million) in home-grown French-speaking cinema over the next five years, it announced Thursday.

CBC will announce a similar initiative for English-Canadian cinema within the next two weeks, with the English-language network kicking-in approximately $20 million over five years.

This is a significant infusion of capital for the chronically under-funded Canadian film industry, which relies on hand-outs from federal funder Telefilm Canada and provincial agencies. These funders have all had their budgets cut back in recent years.

The CBC/Radio-Canada announcement was spurred by a recent review of cinema by Canadian Heritage Minister Sheila Copps, who also oversees the pubcaster and TV network. Her report, submitted in January, recommended that CBC kick-in $16 million a year to help film production. Copps has often said she feels the pubcaster should do more to help filmmakers in the Great White North.

"When there's a call for help that's so urgent, it's impossible not to act," said Daniel Gourd, program director of French TV at Radio-Canada. "We had to do something and we're certainly doing as much as we can. We're the first institution to step-up to the plate and do something since the report was released."

Radio-Canada will spend $2 million annually on the development of new scripts, pre-buys of film projects, the acquisition of already-produced films, investments in production, promotion of Canadian cinema and sponsoring events. In addition, Radio-Canada will spend $660,000 a year promoting Canadian film using all its networks including the main French TV web, all-news channel Le Reseau de l'Information, the two radio networks, and its Internet site.

Gourd stressed that the network will not go into film production but collaborate with existing players. A committee with reps from all the major industry associations, led by Suzanne Laverdiere, head of outside production and features at Radio-Canada, has been set up to help Radio-Canada's initiative.

The money for the Radio-Canada/CBC project will come from existing budgets and Gourd said some programming will be affected by the reallocation of resources.