SODEC president Francois Macerola, in June, 2010. (Marie-France Coallier / THE GAZETTE)
The long-awaited report from Quebec film funder SODEC on the “crisis” in Quebec film was officially released Friday morning.
First thoughts? Looks like a bunch of suggestions the Parti Quebecois government will never ever put into practice.
The most controversial is the idea of taking all of the money generated from the QST (Quebec provincial sales tax) on movie tickets sold in the province – around $17 million annually – and use it to help finance Quebec cinema. I’ll bet the farm on this one – there is no way this proposal is going anywhere.
Quebec Culture Minister Maka Kotto has been telling anyone who would listen since he took the job that his government is not likely going to have any extra money for culture any time soon, that the cupboard was left bare by the previous Liberal regime. In short, all you grumbling artists out there – tighten your belts! So forget about the notion of taking tax money the government is already pulling in to the general coffers and having it moved over to the film sector. It’s a non-starter.
“The Minister said there wasn’t going to be new taxes but we’re not proposing a new tax,” SODEC president Francois Macerola said at a press conference Friday morning. “We’re saying – ‘The QST brings in $17 million, so make it a dedicated tax for cinema. Yes it’s more money from the citizens and I think if you asked people if they were in favour of the tax money going to citizens, I think they’d agree with that.”
I have a lot of respect for M. Macerola but he’s oh-so-wrong here! If you asked people to choose between $17 million for hospitals or schools versus Quebec movies, you know what people would say. Give the bucks to the emergency rooms not to Denys Arcand.
Another proposal is to give provincial broadcaster Tele-Quebec a new envelope for the next five years to devote exclusively to financing Quebec films. Again it’s just not realistic.
The report was produced by a SODEC-managed committee set up last year at the request of Kotto in response to the numerous media reports on what was widely described as a crisis in Quebec film. The box office for Quebec films has been in free-fall over the past couple of years. It dipped to a measly 4.8-percent in 2012, down from a record high of 18.2-percent in 2005. As recently as 2009, Quebec films accounted for 12.8-percent of all movie ticket sales in la belle province.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. There is a big problem in the Quebec film milieu. Not enough people are going to see local films. This is not good. It’s great to nab Oscar nominations and screenings at big festivals like Cannes but it’s dishonest to suggest that you need not worry about the fact so many Quebec films are bombing with local audiences.
There are also many ideas in the report that are less concrete. So the study suggests that the time be reduced between the release of a film in theatres and its launch on other platforms. That there should be more promotion for Quebec films. That SODEC put pressure on Radio-Canada Television to give more visibility to Quebec films.
There is also talk of trying to improve Quebec screenplays, by employing, for example, more script doctors. That’s actually a good idea but once again it’ll take more money.
Last but not least, SODEC boss Macerola is leaving the provincial agency Nov. 29, after four years at the helm. This is his report and it’s hard not to think that once he’s out of the building, it will be put on the shelf with all the other now-dusty reports published over the years. They did print up a nice book though to showcase their study – at least they had money for that!
