OTTAWA, ON – On June 9, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage released its report on its investigation into the Canadian Feature Film Industry. The Feature Film Study took place throughout March and April, and the Standing Committee heard from dozens of witnesses, including International Vice President John Lewis, who raised the IATSE’s concerns and recommendations. After hearing from these industry stakeholders, the Committee created its final report, which included 11 recommendations, one of which had been put forward by the IATSE.
The IATSE’s recommendation was that the federal government should model itself after the recent changes to Alberta funding, which stipulate that any producer receiving funding must not owe monies in any other jurisdiction in the country. The full recommendation is as follows:
Recommendation 4
The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage work with the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office, the Canada Revenue Agency and Telefilm Canada to develop mechanisms to help ensure that recipients of federal government funding for feature films are in good standing and have no outstanding legal disputes in any other jurisdiction within Canada .
The IATSE is thankful that the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage understood the importance of such a recommendation and appreciates that the Committee’s report also noted our concerns with regard to Telefilm’s Micro-Budget Program. We are hopeful that the funding recommendation will ultimately be adopted as a permanent criterion for recipients of federal film funding.