Hilarious & Sad Commentary on the Canadian Film Industry

This morning, David Berner, posted a great rant about a bunch of Canadian arts groups who are appealing to the Canadian government to control the Internet. Yes, you read that right. They want our federal government to control what we see on the Internet.

I posted a little comment about this but the fellow before me, "Steve", posted something absolutely brilliant:

Okay, being a filmmaker, this is my OTHER pet peeve (the first being Vancouver's drug policy).

This is best explained by example:

The US method:
Sam Raimi (director of Spiderman), his brother Ted, and friend Bruce Campbell wanted to get into the movie business. So, they made a bunch of 8mm films to learn how and see what audiences liked, then went around to a bunch of doctors and dentists and friends and family, and collected enough to make Evil Dead, which they sold for a profit and started all their careers.

The US Method Version Two:
Ed Sanchez and Dan Myrick wanted to get into the film industry. So they started creating a buzz about their story online. Then, using borrowed equipment, and cheap hi8 tape, they shot Blair Witch Project, which they sold for a profit and started both their careers.

The Canadian method:
Go to Telefilm, Ontario Film, BC Film, the Canada Council, and the CRTC and apply for a Cancon status/a grant/forgiveable loan/interim financing. If the jury deems your project worthy of Canadian Content status, they give you more forms to fill out, and if they think it is culturally Canadian (whatever the hell that means), they might give you some money. Then you can make your film, with creative approval from the funding bodies at every stage, and try to get it on some Canadian broadcaster late at night. Because the kinds of films these juries approve are abysmally unpopular.

Because you've got a bunch of socially disconnected leftist failed artist wannabes who've managed to wangle jury positions, with no oversight or criteria for success, deciding what the public ought to see.

But that's fine. It's their money. They can be as stupid as they want to be about who they give it to.

The real bee in my bonnet is that Canadian filmmakers (with only a couple of exceptions) all buy into this crapola. And make films no one wants to see. And then whine about there being no access to Canadian screens.

And then they apply to the government to create some protectionist legislation to save them.