Director Xavier Dolan

Is the new trend in the Canadian film industry solicitation for public funding directly from the public?

Years after American producers (Hollywood studios) developed the private sector financing stream for films it seems as we have just arrived with our virtual coin can in hand. But the real question should be, is the public ready to dig deep into their change purse for films that are rarely support according to box office figures? Maybe not so much in English Canada but Quebec filmmakers could just benefit greatly. With a long standing support for the francophone stories, the star system and their culture, this may just be a clever idea.

touscoprod.com, with the support of Telefilm Canada has launched the first participatory co-production website in Canada. Anyone interested can invest funds from $10 to $100 online toward films in development or pre-production. The most interesting film in this line-up is Xavier Dolan’s next film, Laurence Anyways, Dolan is Canada’s next hot young director. After leaving his mark on Cannes Film Festival twice with the films I Killed My Mother and Heartbeats, the young genius from Quebec is back. This time, Dolan will stay behind the camera to direct and offer up an impossible love story.

If you would like to support this young Canadian director, just visit www.touscoprod.ca become a coprod of his third film and be part of his world; or at the very least you can say “I produced that”!

Released at the end of September, Telefilm’s International Market Report revealed that there was an increase in foreign sales achieved by Canadian producers and distributors at international markets and festivals where Telefilm organizes and runs the Canada Pavilion: the European Film Market at the Berlin Film Festival, MIPTV, the Cannes Film Market and MIPCOM. Despite the economic downturn during the year, the report highlights the following, every dollar invested abroad by Telefilm generated $16 in sales for Canadian companies. 

Other Highlights:

Telefilm invested about $1.2M in support of Canadian companies’ participation at international markets. Every dollar invested by Telefilm within the framework of its foreign activities generated $16 in sales deals for Canadian film companies, compared with $11 in 2008 and $9 in 2007. If we include pre-sales and probable sales (that is, sales deals likely to be closed quickly after the market), this figure jumps to $100 for every dollar invested.

In 2009, total sales and pre-sales of Canadian films and television programs stood at $17.6M, a 26% increase over the $14M earned in 2008. Negotiations conducted during the international markets generated $90.7M in probable sales. This brings the total of sales, pre-sales and probable sales to $108.3M, a 27% increase over the previous year’s total of $85M.

In 2009, the Cannes Festival was the most profitable market in terms of the ratio of sales, pre-sales and co-production/co-venturing agreements per dollar invested: every dollar invested by Telefilm generated more than $333 in economic activity. 

“There’s no doubt that Canada’s audiovisual industry benefits from the strategic support it obtains abroad from Telefilm,” said Carolle Brabant, Executive Director of Telefilm Canada. “We’re very pleased to see how dynamic our companies are when they negotiate co-production and co-venturing agreements with foreign partners. Telefilm’s activities at international markets provide a real showcase for Canadian talent abroad and prove that Canadian products can compete on the world stage.”

2009 International Market Report:  http://bit.ly/9bq2uM

Source: Telefilm Canada