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Featured, Industry News

CanCon basics from an expert wonk

A few podcasts ago, cohost Anthony Marco and I grilled Canadian media policy wonk Kelly Lynne Ashton, who has been my resource for a lot of “is it CanCon or not?” type of questions. She answered a lot of questions around funding, coproductions, the CRTC and vertical integration that keep popping up, so I thought I’d include a partial transcript in a post for easier reference for all. I also thought I’d get Rachel Langer to help transcribe (thanks Rachel!)

On Vertical Integration Re: The Bell/Astral Merger
We’ve got the vertical integration policy which encouraged cable companies owning broadcasters owning prod cos owning internet service providers. Over the years the commission encouraged that under the idea that bigger is better and these companies needed to be bigger to be able to compete international and be stronger Canadian companies.

The market has shown that big companies have evolved. Whether we agree with it or not, the horse is out of the barn. They’re big companies. They own almost everything. We do need competition, we need to have different options and voices, but one of the problems is that Astral wants to sell. We can’t make them continue business.

Regarding Our Blended System
We are completely muddled. Every cable company argues out of both sides of the mouth. “It’s a free market, you have to let us do what we want to do” then “but we survive because of regulation”. So we are blended. Everybody knows it’s a blended system, but when you’re standing in front of the commission [CRTC], you argue out of one side of the mouth or the other…frequently at the same time.

On Mandatory Carriage
It’s the individual broadcasters who are looking for mandatory carriage. Other than Sun News, it’s Vision, Starlight, APTN — these are small guys and they’re looking for mandatory carriage to have a secure revenue stream, because they’re niche broadcasters, for the most part.

As for Sun News, their arguments aren’t very strong. They’re a news service. News was released as a competitive, it’s not a protected genre. For mandatory carriage there is a very high standard that you need to meet of exceptionality. You have to be an exceptional service that is necessary to Canadians, and there are all the other news services.

On the Power of the CRTC
The CRTC is growling more than they used to. They have the same tools that they’ve ever had. They seem to be much more willing to use those tools, and be aggressive with those tools. [In terms of enforcing consequences] the big hit is pulling your license, but they can also issue a short license. With Shaw Cable, they didn’t fulfill a number of their obligations, and they didn’t do the reporting they were supposed to do and they were playing games with the services they didn’t like, so they got a short license – instead of the usual 7 years, they got 3.

It’s a real pain [for broadcasters]. Those license renewal hears are huge. The amount of staff you have to put in, the amount of money and projections and studies– it’s actually quite costly to have to go through that process, so to have to go through it twice in the normal period you were expecting, it’s a real wakeup call to any licensee.

On OWN Network operating under the original licence’s educational mandate
To bring it back to Oprah Winfrey [and the OWN Network] the commission is doing something it always had the power to do, but wasn’t willing to do and that is a mandatory order. That is telling a licensee “you have to do this and we are filing the order with the federal court.” The federal court has much greater penalties than anything the CRTC has. They can fine, they can seize assets, they can seize personal assets of the directors of the company.

On Network Reporting Obligations
[Networks] DO have annual reports, but all that info is deemed to be confidential so the commission aggregates it. So what the stakeholders, the unions and guilds are trying to do is to get that info a little bit disaggregated so you can actually have SOME idea whether say Corus or Shaw or Bell is living up to their expectations as a group.

You can’t get [stats for] one channel. What is publicly available to everyone in annual reports — “this is what is spent by Canadian broadcasters.” They argue the info is competitive between one service and another. I’m not going to defend it, I’m just saying this is the game we have to play.

On the “Confidentiality” of CanCon Reporting Data
The CRTC says that they’re privy to all the information and we have to trust them, that they’re reviewing it all. We do know that they go back. We hear the commission being frustrated and saying “You didn’t meet your CanCon regulations”. … We want to encourage the current commission’s toughness. It’s gotten more and more opaque. We used to get data whenever a company was buying another company (like a Bell/Astral), we used to get a lot of financials but then they just started calling it confidential.

On Determining CanCon Requirements for Productions and Co-Productions
It’s not that complicated. [For measuring CanCon] first we’ve got CAVCO. It’s a point system. You have to have 6/10 points for any show to be Canadian. That’s your writer, director, top two lead actors, composer, designer, editor. Plus on top of that the producer has to be Canadian and own all the copyright, and you have to have spent 75% of the money in Canada. So that’s a basic outline [for a completely Canadian show] and one of the writer or director has to be Canadian.

The funding system is set up for 8/10 point productions. Those are the truly Canadian shows. Flashpoint is 10/10. (Any Canadian Media Fund show) is 10/10. There are some exceptions – you can bring in an American lead if you apply for certain exemptions, but generally [the CMF funded shows] are 10/10.

Co-Productions: Two countries have agreed that when they work together the resulting product will qualify as domestic under each country’s rules. So for example, a Canada-UK production. You’ve got UK leads, UK writer, UK talent, but it still qualifies as a 10/10 Canadian production. It gets complicated here. It applies for broadcast [but not necessarily funding]. It depends on the size of your budget, whether it’s worth going to CMF. A lot of the copros don’t, but I think Borgias did.

There is a minimum level of Canadian involvement [required]. So first off, when you’re talking about copros, the idea is that overall your minorities and majorities are going to balance out, so other countries are not just using Canada as a source of financing. That’s the idea. I myself have looked at the stats, and overall they balance. But overall means feature films, it means docs, it means animation – a LOT of animation is done through copros. Overall it balances. Where there’s a problem is really prime time drama.

We started to bring to people’s attention that while the system worked overall it was NOT working with prime time drama – there was an imbalance there. When you’ve got excessive minorities (and you can name them all, The Tudors, The Borgias, The Pillers of the Earth) they’re using Canada for post-production, that’s how they’re getting their minimum. The minimum you have to do with the minorities is 20% of your budget. They’ll have a couple actors who are killed off early. Name actors with red shirts. ;)

On Canadian Awards for Copros
First off, do we want to be known as a country of post production? I agree that composers and post-houses and editors are important but they’re not the only part of our sector that we need to be supporting. When we celebrate Canadian, do we celebrate minority co-prods? I was offended when Telefilm said “We do such great Canadian productions like The Borgias”. … Some of the other countries have separate categories for international productions.

Regarding American Shows that Shoot in Canada
They get production service tax credits. So they do get funding from the government, but the benefit of that is that they employ crews. They don’t [count as CanCon].

On US-Canadian Co-Ventures
A co-venture is a very definite term. …Defying Gravity was a co-venture. I believe it was a co-venture because it didn’t have a US broadcaster. It had an American producer. It was a co-venture between a Canadian producer and a US producer to allow the US producer to have creative say.

A production with an American pre-sale (like Rookie Blue)… they don’t own a piece, there’s no need for a formal designation.

On the Public’s Understanding of Canadian Shows
I honestly don’t think that many Canadians think that much about whether a show is Canadian or not. If they find out it’s Canadian then they’re pleased and they’re happy and they’re proud. I do think that people are proud of the fact that …we have a really strong lineup right now. When you tell people that these shows are Canadian they’re surprised because they thought they didn’t like Canadian TV.

For more from Kelly Lynne Ashton, listen to the podcast or read her wonktastic blog. 

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Featured, Industry News

A modest proposal: How to get Canadians to watch Canadian television

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The news that Canadian network executives will be speaking on an Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television panel on how to get Canadians watching Canadian TV gave me a flashback to the Canadian Media Production Association’s proposal that caused me to be more enraged than engaged.

I’ll be interested to hear the Academy webcast and from people attending the session — the panelists are smart people who’ve worked in the industry for ages — but first here’s my modest proposal for them (non-Swiftian version). Consider it a checklist for networks before they ponder more transmedia extravaganzas, online games that gamers would ridicule, sharing more effing “success stories,” or putting the responsibility of basic promotion onto the audience.

The Basics

  • Make more shows. Why are Canadian networks full of American shows we can watch on another channel? Most shows — American, Canadian or Ukrainian — fail, so if you’re only making a couple a year, odds are good you’ll only get a hit every several years.
  • Invest more in their quality. This means you, broadcasters, not the funding agencies. More writers than executives? Higher production values? More marketing? Consequences to continued failure?
  • Schedule regularly and well. The Listener is the rare show that’s managed to find a large, steady audience despite being bounced around from timeslot to timeslot, and with long, unpredictable gaps between seasons. And consider the compatibility of lead-ins and timeslot competition, unlike City and its beleagured Seed.
  • Create exciting promos to launch the series. See the striking difference between ABC’s jazzy Motive promo and CTV’s sedate promo for example.
    • Promos is plural – don’t play the same one over and over and over and over again or audiences will flee from it over and over and over again.
    • If it’s a comedy, make the promo funny. Actually funny. If it’s a drama, make it dramatic. This applies to the shows too, by the way.
    • Put the promos online and make them embeddable so other websites can help do your marketing for you. Show promotion shouldn’t be treated like a state secret.
  • Create episode-specific promos
    • See above – exciting, embeddable.
  • Have episode-specific photos available to media and fans. How many times do we have to use the same group cast shot, with all of them standing and staring at the camera?
  • Populate the show’s website well up front, and keep it updated.
    • At a minimum, I should be able to easily tell when the next episode will air and what’s exciting about it.
    • Use your promos, make all other content you do embeddable or copy and paste-able (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to grab an epsiode description only to have it be Flash or part of an image and therefore not grabbable).
  • Make sure the show’s IMDb page and Wikipedia page are updated.
  • Social media the hell out of your show… but not in a spammy or smarmy marketing way.
    • Teach everyone involved with the show the mores of the social media channels they’re using.
    • Get your cast and key creatives (showrunner, director, whoever) to not just live-tweet shows but respond to fans – set up a search for the name of the show and the star and respond to comments and questions.
    • Find out where your audience is and go there. Think beyond your own official channels. Tumblr? Pinterest? A Facebook page other than the official one? Forums? Fansites?
  • Research before getting interactive. See what your fans do online, or fans of similar shows … especially before you try to make them do something else. Are they making videos, or fan art, or discussing issues? Tap into that. Go where they are, and support them in doing what they do. Tap into a competitive spirit or a desire for recognition.
  • Cut the BS. Don’t get ridiculous parsing the ratings, or call everything a hit.
  • Respond quickly to journalists on deadlines. Treat credible bloggers like online journalists. Offer actual stars for interviews.
  • The usual marketing suspects: ads, billboards, bus ads, banner ads on the network’s family of sites and other targeted websites, etc.

The rest

  • Get creative, think outside the box, be the first to do something new and shiny, and I’ll cheer you on. But first make sure you’ve got the basics covered. Few Canadian shows do.

I’m sure I’m missing some basics – any others you can add?

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Continuum, Featured

Interview: Rachel Nichols of Continuum thinks scifi fans are the most intelligent of all

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Continuum returns to Showcase today for a second season. TV, eh?‘s Martha Marcin spoke to star Rachel Nichols about  algorithms, corporatocracies and other fun

Martha Marcin: I took a look at your resume and it looks like you did a double major in math and economics, then took up modelling, then acting, so I have to ask, did you envision yourself as the bad ass futuristic cop on Continuum while you were studying algorithms at Columbia?

Rachel Nichols: Oh heck no! My first year at Columbia I had visions of Wall Street and power suits and briefcases, I really had these grandiose ideas about I would go do. Everybody was reading Liars Poker, watching the movie Wall Street and it all seems pretty glamorous  So when I told my parents, three weeks into Columbia, that I was going to graduate school they went, “Good for you but we’re going to be out of money so you’re going to have to pay for that yourself,” and I legitimately started modelling to pay for graduate school and then ended up … well, here. (Laugh).

That’s interesting that you were enraptured by that Wall Street culture and now you are star in TV series that is rather ambiguous about whether or not the corporatocracy is good or bad. But I’m getting ahead of myself, we’ll get to that later.

Of course I’m ahead, I’m from the future, remember?! (Laugh).

So what drew you to the character of Kiera initially?

You know I started reading the script and I was about 10 pages in and I thought, “Holy cow! I have to play this role,” because there was everything: she’s smart, she’s got a family, she’s travelling in time, she’s doing fight scenes, she’s forging her way 65 years into the past. There were so many elements to the script and I just thought, “Wow man, there are not a lot of female characters like this on TV.” There are not a lot of female characters like this in general.

You’re right, there is a definite lack of good strong female characters on TV now, and when I find one I tend to latch onto the show.

We see Kiera’s journey from the hard ass “Protector” of the futuristic corporate government, defending them against the alleged “Terrorists”, to someone conflicted about her beliefs and what side she should fight for. Can you could give us a little sneak peak; does she pick a side in season two?

You know season one was very much about, “I got to get home. I got to get home. I’ll team up with the bad guys, I don’t care. I have to get home.” Season two is very centred around the idea of responsibility and at the end of season one Kagami had this speech where he asks, “If you drop a pebble in the ocean does it create a tsunami on the other side of the world?” That ripple effect, and it’s the idea of what I do now changing the future entirely, and it’s very much about responsibility. So yeah, Kiera this season doesn’t necessarily choose a side but really has to identify the ramifications of her interactions in 2012/13 might be.

There is an inherent ambiguity in the philosophical leanings of Continuum. Is the show pro-capitalism, right wing, left wing, who is the terrorist, who is the freedom fighter? A lot of that is left up to the viewer to fill in. Do you agree and if so why does this help or hinder the story?

You know I love the scifi genre because you can get away with a lot, you know what I mean? You can make some “social commentary statements” and some “sorta-kinda political statements,” and yeah it is a very important part of the show.

Scifi fans are very intelligent and they are very articulate, and if you do something well they will love you forever. If you do it half assed they will have your head on the end of a stick and I completely support that. It’s like inquiring minds want to know, they have ideas, they have thoughts, and on Twitter after every episode you got people being like, “Oh it’s so capitalistic!” or “It’s such a leftist show!” or “That is so political!” and they are saying all of these different things, and that’s what we want.

Ideally you want people to be interactive and ask questions and have opinions about your show. I don’t think we are one way or the other, we’re just making people ask all the right questions and maybe apply it to what is happening in the world today. And if you can do that with a show I’m all for it.

I think you’re absolutely right, that having the conversation started, even if people are disagreeing, and especially if they are disagreeing passionately, it shows that you’ve done something right.

Absolutely.

As a Vancouverite it is not a novelty to watch a show filmed in my city, but it is a novelty to watch one where the story is based in Vancouver as well. Do you like our city? Fair warning, before you answer, that we still haven’t forgiven David Duchovny for complaining about the rain.

Listen, I LOVE it here. I have a realtor here. I’m looking to BUY here! I can’t say enough good things, I love the people, I love the restaurants. My parents were so excited when the show got picked up for a second season so that they could come back. The first weekend they were here I walked 14 miles with them.

I’m in love with Vancouver, it’s an unbelievable city!

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Dramas and Comedies, Featured, Lost Girl

Lost Girl Season 3 Finale and Mobile App

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For all you scifi fans out there, the season finale of Lost Girl aired Sunday night on Showcase. Now in its third season, this Canadian scifi drama explores the world of a succubus named Bo who embarks on a quest to find her origins and winds up embroiled in the world of the Fae, a race of creatures known mainly to folklore and kept secret from humans.

If you’re a fan of Lost Girl, you’ll love this action packed season finale. Bo, caught between the dark Fae and the light Fae, is on a quest to save Dyson (a werewolf) from a sociopathic scientist. Bo risks enlisting the help of the Valkyrie Tamsen, whose loyalties are in question. When Bo and Tamsen “storm the castle” they find a little more than they bargained for, and struggle to keep up with the twists and turns that are thrown at them.

The finale kept me interested from start to finish with lots of twists and turns. The setup for the story points made sense, and the payoffs throughout the episode didn’t fall flat. The one thing that struck me a bit odd was the confusion in tone. The moments of hard emotion came through on the heels of a light-hearted joke. The stormy backdrop would give way to light, bright scenes, leaving me uncertain of how I was supposed to feel. It seemed as though the viewer wasn’t given enough time to digest the weight of any heartfelt emotion from Bo before she turned her frown upside down and headed into a new emotional state. That being said, I haven’t been an avid watcher of every episode so perhaps this tonal setup has been a staple of the show that the established fan base finds no fault with.

The main reason I watched this week’s finale (out of order) was so I could try out the accompanying game. The Lost Girl App was released for iOS and Android devices for fans of the show to enjoy some additional content.

I gamely (yep, I said it) downloaded the app to my iPad and launched into personal Fae-Dom … for about 20 minutes. When I had to leave the game for a time, I couldn’t get it to reopen on my iPad. Certainly this could be an Apple issue, but I left it, shut the game down and have yet to have success getting it to operate again.

What I did experience in my limited playtime was a puzzle/search game tacking on some pseudo role-playing elements. Though the advertisements say “interaction” with characters from the show, I would classify it more as listening to what they tell you, and continuing on in your objective, which primarily involves sussing out items that adorn the wall of the first level (the bar).

Though the moments of searching for items is enjoyable and certainly belongs to the type of mobile game that would be easy to get addicted to, the long loading screens and lack of instructions make it less worth the wait. The great thing about Fruit Ninja is that you spend 90% of your play time slicing through watermelons. I spent the majority of my play time waiting here on loading screens and trying to figure out how to get to the next puzzle.

While it was cool to start my own Fae character and customize it (mine is a Succubus named Pax) the atmosphere of the game didn’t match the play style. Then again, who knows, maybe once you get more than 20 minutes in, things pick up.

The show certainly did its job in making me want to get caught up right quick, and overall it wasn’t the worst effort I’ve seen from bonus content in app form, but I’d prefer to see shows able to use this money in a way that truly benefits them. If the show demands a mobile game app – great, but maybe it’s not a bandaid to be used on every show. Wouldn’t it be great to have a working customized digital plan that fits each individual show and caters to what the show and audience demands? I’m no stranger to the importance of a digital strategy, but with the extremely high caliber of games that exist today you really have to nut up or shut up when it comes to a mobile app and game content, even if it is in a really cool universe where I get to be a succubus. Or you know, they could just let them use the cash to make more content.

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Dragons' Den, Featured

Interview: David Chilton on life as a Dragon and his adorably appalling appliances

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DragonsDen_david_chilton-gallery-thumb-638xauto-242674The season finale of Dragons’ Den aired last night — if you missed it, catch it tonight on CBC as well. TV, eh?’s Martha Marcin chatted with David Chilton, celebrated author of The Wealthy Barber and one of the Dragons.

Martha Marcin: You are the newest Dragon, with two seasons under your belt. What’s it like to be a Dragon, and how has your life changed, if at all? 

David Chilton: It’s changed fairly dramatically on three weird fronts. Number one: As the “Wealthy Barber” everywhere I have gone in my life people have recognized me and asked me one question: should I pay off my mortgage or max my RRSP? And now everywhere I go people say, “Can I ask you one question? Is Kevin really like that in real life?” I get that question 30, 40 to 50 times a day, and often it’s not phrased that politely. The second is that you get pitched non-stop; there was one week where I got between 300-400 pitches. The final thing is that you get your picture taken constantly, so I always have to have a nice shirt on now. In the old days I just wore whatever (laugh).

In the final episode of the season we are given a backstage pass to the life, the loves, the drama that is David Chilton… 

I don’t have a lot of drama!

Sorry, let me rephrase. We get to see you in day to day life, how you run your businesses, and your amazing golfing prowess…

Oh yeah, I think I hit like one good shot on that trip and they happened to catch it on camera. It was a very big coincidence.

I’m sure you’re just being modest. 

Honestly I was shocked when I hit a good shot on camera because I was very nervous. But it worked out well.

But seriously, what are the new and shocking secrets are your fans going to learn about you after seeing you at home and away from “the Den?” 

In my case not a whole lot — people know that I live a very modest life. I live in a very small house, and that might catch some people off guard because they think of Dragons being ultra wealthy and living in gigantic mansions. I’m a huge home body. When I’m not on the road travelling for speaking or for business I almost never leave my house. I think people will be happy to learn that I’m very much the same guy I’ve always been. I hang around with the same friends from high school, I see my parents 4-5 days a week when I’m home. My life is fairly normal.

We did see your home, and yes it is very modest. But I have to say, I was appalled by your kitchen. 

A lot of people are (laugh).

David, you have a half size stove and laminate counter tops. I’m all for frugality, but really? 

Ok, I’ve got to tell you a story, and I don’t ever tell this story, but it is so funny and embarrassing. I lived in my house for months and I had two people over. And one of the wives said, “Oh isn’t this the cutest little dishwasher.” And, I’m telling you the truth, I didn’t even know I had it.

OMG!

I know! It was to the left of the garbage — I never even noticed it. I know, my kitchen is very, very humble. I don’t do any cooking at all. I know, I’m horrible in the kitchen.

It is a modest kitchen, but that stove is appalling.

Well appall is a little strong! It’s like an Easy Bake Oven. It shouldn’t appall you, it should take you back to your youth. You need to use your words more diplomatically. Maybe you can mix your language up and say, “I was appalled by his adorable appliances.”

Ok, the stove is cute and adorable. In fact the whole thing felt a bit like an episode of MTV’s Cribs — all that was missing was the bedroom tour and you turning to the camera and saying “This is where the magic happens.”

You know why? Because everybody would know it was a lie, so there is no point there.

On the final episode they showed a clip of Mary McQueen of Hand and Beak,  a rather eccentric woman who created unique cards with strips of paper her lovebird Luigi shredded for her. It might have been the editing, but some of your cohosts seemed to think the lady was a bit of a joke (COUGH Kevin O’Leary COUGH), yet you took her on and successfully launched her with Hallmark. What did you see that they didn’t?

She had such a quick wit and I will never forget how she was talking about the back-up bird Binky as an apprentice to Luigi. And she looked at Kevin and said, “Oh, I should let you know Kevin, that they are not unionized.” And I loved that, it caught my attention. But the biggest thing was the quality of the cards. I actually don’t like the greeting card business for entrepreneurs, it’s just so tough on the distribution side. But I loved her cards; she had such a great eye. The fact that Arlene loved the cards impressed me because she’s got good instincts in that area. But all that being said, to be honest, I was not confident that it was going to work out as it has.

You won’t believe this but Luigi was hired as the spokesperson for shredding company. He is now on the side of a truck. Mary is very sharp — the more I get to know her the more I am impressed by her.

Do you feel that your criteria is different from the other Dragons in how you choose someone to invest in? Or is it a matter of taste?

You know it’s funny, I think one of the reasons Dragons’ Den works is that there is no checklist because every pitch is so different. I do want someone who has a good attention to detail. I think that is the common denominator in those that I ended up partnering with. One thing I did last year was gravitate towards dog deals. Holy smoke, I’m a sucker for a dog. In fact as soon as a dog came down the stairs all the Dragons would look at me a say, “Oh here goes Dave.”

I also look for an opportunity to take advantage of our contacts. It hit me last year in Dragons’ Den that I didn’t realize how many people I knew. I’m so old now that throughout 30 years on the road speaking to people, you make a lot of contacts.

To be able to share those contacts with those people working on their dream must be very satisfying for you. 

Honestly it sounds corny, but that really is one of the most delightful parts of this. You get a good product and they can’t get it in front of the right people. And that’s the thing you can do, you can open those doors.

It’s been almost 25 years since The Wealthy Barber was first published, you’ve had 2 seasons on Dragons’ Den, what’s next for you?

You know in my whole career I’ve never really had a 5 year plan or anything. I never really know where I’m going myself and I kind of like it that way. I don’t know what I want to do next. I know I’ll never retire. But I love what I do and I enjoy my work.

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