Bill C-10

I don't know if this has been discussed here yet, but I know there are a lot of Canadians on this board.

To all the non-Canadians or Canadians who don't watch the news, bill C-10 is a law the conservative government is trying to shove through into law. It would allow the government (specifically the Heritage Minister) to deny tax credits and force filmmakers to re-pay any and all federal funding a production received if the Heritage Minister PERSONALLY deems it offensive or contrary to the public's best interest.

The concern here is that it is putting this power of censorship in the hands of a biased individual (who has strong ties to religious groups and the Bush government more than any others) does not reflect the opinions or general consensus of the public. The government claims it is a measure to prevent tax dollars going to pornography and hate films. Keep in mind though that the tax and funding laws already have very clear guidelines (that are not open to PERSONAL interpretation) that disqualify numerous types of productions including pornography and anything contrary to the criminal code (hate speech, real depictions of illegal acts).

I know American films don't rely on tax credits like Canadian films do, but they are becoming a significant factor especially with smaller states trying to attract Hollywood productions. If it were passed here, some politicians in the U.S. may try to introduce similar laws there.

To most people here in the film industry or not this seems to be viewed as anti-democratic censorship by the government. I wanted to see what other people's thoughts are.



Here is some good info on the subject:
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/film/billc-10.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1TM4dQBKA8

But they don't mind giving "Artists" outrageous grants and tax credits to do so called art! And grants for "scientific" studies of things like the sleeping habits of snails! Maybe they should worry more about who is actually issuing the grants! And why they are not properly reviewing the applications. We would lose alot of revenue from legitimate US and Canadian film companies especially with the dollar so high!

The kind of art I am talking about is people vomiting on paper and calling it art and that type of art.

[Post edited by Ironbull on Apr 12, 2008]

Quote:
But they don't mind giving "Artists" outrageous grants and tax credits to do so called art!

Applying for any kind of grants for the arts in Canada is not very easy at all. People think that artists are scamming the government, but your lucky to even get half of what you need to fund the project, and forget about having anything to live on, every penny your have and every minute of your time goes into your film.

Fair enough point DVD CHEF. I was just commenting in general. I am not trying to insult artists or anyone else with my comments I am just commenting on the grant system!

[Post edited by Ironbull on Apr 12, 2008]

I didn't take it as an insult. I was just clarifying a point.

I would agree that there are problems, but it has nothing to do with offensive content. The most funding tends to go towards art-house films. And although I agree that these films should be made, there is not enough funding going to films that are commercially viable.

Also the government does not provide help in any form to aid in the marketing and distribution of Canadian films within Canada. Canadian films do poorly at the box office due in large part to the fact that they hardly ever get any wide release (1 or 2 theatres in Toronto or Montreal for a week is the norm) so nobody ever sees them.

Are you in the film industry DVD CHEF?

yeah

Cool! What do you do?

I own my own post-production company. We do mostly DVD authoring. I'm working on a rather large U.S. DVD release at the moment.

I am also directing a short of my own this summer. And not just a DV short (everybody and their uncle has done one of those), the real deal.

I guess nobody cares when governments try to dictate what we can watch.

[sigh]