TAX CREDITS AND BILL C-10: What it's really all about

Ok, I've been following the development and discussion around the Government's intention to pass Bill C-10 into law.

After having watched numerous news reports and YouTube Videos on the subject I've come to this conclusion:

-Politicians and "Religious" Lobbyists should really think before speaking or getting involved in legislation regarding the arts.
-Actors and Artists in general should not be allowed to comment on legislation regarding the Film & Television Industry.

Here's the skinny: Bill C-10 is all about economics - not censorship or free expression. The legislation's aim is to essentially "bully" Canadian Producers into stop making Art Films - plain and simple. The Government is not planning to apply the provisions of Bill C-10 to American Productions applying for TAX CREDITS, but only to Canadian Production Companies doing so.

When asked why they responded, "Well, American Productions create jobs."

Let me clarify what TAX CREDITS really are for those artists who find it necessary to ho-hum when asked about Bill C-10 and resort to calling it state sponsored censorship;

Tax Credits were set in place by provincial governments to "promote" film & tv production in their province, to give producers an added "incentive" to spend money on local crews - alas, what everyone who is commenting on this bill fail to state is that TAX CREDITS are calculated and awarded for labor expenditures. Namely, jobs created for provincial residents. Tax Credits are not a form of government funding, they are built into the income taxation system: enter Revenue Canada.

Essentially what legislators propose to do is not honor labor expenditures submitted to Revenue Canada by Production Companies in Canada whose product doesn't conform to what a panel (probably chaired by Heritage Canada) decides is contrary or offensive to public taste and decency.

Listen up artists, it's not all about you and art - it is all about taxation. Every film or television show you watch was, at some point prior to principal photography, incorporated. It is obligated, by law, to report earnings and expenditures to Revenue Canada for taxation purposes. Therefore, the problem is not so much a question of censorship but of fiscal blackmail on the part of the government.

Producers are obligated to withold taxes for their cast/crew, obligated to pay fringe benefits for cast/crew, obligated to report earnings and losses - why? Because that's the law and it protects Canadian workers.

If the government started denying the benefits of tax credits to the film industry on a case-by-case basis they should do the same for all other "corporations"; toy companies, publishers, food companies, the automotive industry, any industry that employs local workers. Every company and corporation is subject to taxation. Why should film and television companies be singled out and punished for employing Canadians?

I invite everyone, not only industry people, to write letters, make YouTube videos, write in your blogs and really examine what's going on on Parliament Hill.

This issue is not about the government funding questionable or offensive material - the criminal code and the broadcaster standards act are already factors determining the financial participation of government in funding films and television programs.

Tax Credits are incentives put in place to promote labor expenditures (i.e. JOB CREATION) on the part of Production Companies (foreign and domestic) in Canada.

VIOLENCE ON THE TTC (Again...)

A little over an hour ago another young man was shot while riding on a TTC Bus a couple of blocks away from where I am sitting...

I know this post is a little off topic, but I felt the need to express my disgust at the amount of gun violence that has been plaguing the GTA over the last few months... What is happening to our city????

I grew up in downtown Toronto and my greatest fear was getting beat up - not shot!

I call for a ban on firearms in the city of Toronto and surrounding area - punishment - life imprisonment for possession of a firearm, life with no parole if using a firearm during a crime, life in solitary confinement if a life is lost because of the crime.

If these young people are using firearms in broad daylight, in front of hundreds of witnesses - they obviously don't fear the police or the legal system.

Wake up, people! The newscaster just informed local residents to lock their doors and stay inside because police have not yet located the shooting suspect. I guess no one on the bus was brave enough to knock this young punk to the pavement - or are we becoming accustomed to being afraid and not wanting to get involved in policing our own neighborhoods????

The recent rash of TTC shootings, school shootings, robberies and the like should cause us to protest - but no one is doing it. The last protest I saw on the street was in support of Canadian intervention in Sri Lanka - please, people, let's clean up our own city before we start sending aid and troops around the world.

Think about it.

My Rant...

Tonight is Oscar night and everyone seems to be talking of nothing else...I have never seen the same enthusiasm for the Geminis or even the Junos. This all comes back to my previous posting about the present CRTC hearings on New Media in Canada.

We already subsidize artistic endeavors here in Canada, we were also the first country to nationalize its cinema. While I totally agree with arts grants I think we are going too far with subsidizing the film & television industry as we have been up until now. No incentives are given to actually produce quality films and television programs, we fund solely based on the ability of producers to bring a project to fruition and what economic benefit they bring to a region. While I agree that in these hard times stimulus is needed and greatly appreciated - our films and television programs, for the most part, never go into profit.

I have benefited from these subsidies, being both a producer and having also worked on various productions funded by these agencies, but sometimes I wish that those I have worked with had the passion for their projects like our American cousins do. American filmmakers are not subsidized, yet they dominate our Box Office and our television ratings and radio play. Many argue that it is the millions more they spend on marketing that allow them to prevail and that Canadian producers don't have access to that kind of money to promote their projects.

If we look at the history of American Cinema, it was the risk takers that stood to make the greatest profits based on their belief that their projects were worth the risk. These risk takers built Hollywood with both their profits and the knowledge gained through their losses.

The Canadian system of funding film and television seems, from the perspective of the average canadian, to be a very complicated welfare scam. "What? They keep making shows that no one watches and films that no one goes and sees and they keep getting tax dollars????"

I believe that Canada has produced some of the greatest talent in film and tv in history - I am not even going to start and name names - but how many of these have actually benefited from government money to make their mark?

I'll leave that for you to comment on.

I have one suggestion to make to all my fellow filmmakers and producers in this country - let's start making stuff people want to see and maybe we can get "off the dole" and leave these funds for the next generation to use.

Think about it.

CRTC HEARINGS ON NEW MEDIA

The CRTC has begun hearing interventions from various Canadian Associations, Unions and Industry Leaders and Personalities on various issues regarding the regulation of the internet in Canada.

What worries me most are some of the proposals put forth to the CRTC by ACTRA (for example):

• Require that those who are streaming programs from Canada be licensed and subject to rules, such as Canadian content obligations, equivalent to other programming undertakings which broadcast on a fixed schedule.
• Require that those who are making programs available from Canada for viewing at a time and place chosen by the viewer, be licensed, required to provide a program selection that is predominantly Canadian and to promote Canadian content.
• Establish new sources of funding for new media production by imposing a levy on Internet and Wireless Service Providers

I am currently reading through the bulk of the presentations put forth to the CRTC and will prepare a posting that will attempt to "summarize" their content.

For the record, Canadians are already taxed $151/yr pro capita for Film & Television production (2006/07)...

Will post full report ASAP!

WELCOME!

Welcome to my blog!

Let me introduce myself; I am a Canadian Filmmaker and Television Producer. I decided to publish this blog to discuss our Canadian Film & TV industry, the Government's role in it and general news about our Canadian Broadcast and Theatrical industry as a whole.

Looking forward to hearing from you!


Alberto S. Patella