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Warning: the following comments are extremely uninformed and represent my own opinions.

So just for the heck of it, I was searching through torrentspy. I searched for “korean”, looking for, well, South Korean films. Plenty of results. This is to little surprise to anyone that’s familiar with South Korean flicks: it’s a strong market. They first mandated that their theaters play homegrown films for 146 days of the year, and eventually the industry kicked in. Japanese films also brought in a good number of titles, as did the Hong Kong industry.

I like Korean films, and some of them even reached our shores. Oldboy came out in theaters, and I bought a copy of Tae-Guk-Gi over at HMV. They’re popular films, as they follow the Hollywood formula: good action, good music, good pace. It’s a bit shallow, but every industry needs those kinds of films.

Then I searched for Canada and Canadian. Nothing. And it’s quite reflective of the state of our industry. Actually, it’s more a reflection of the industry outside of Quebec. Let’s look at the most popular Canadian releases in the last few years: C.R.A.Z.Y., Bon Cop Bad Cop, Barbarian Invasions, Atanarjuat, The Delicate Art of Parking. Of these, three originate from Quebec. And for the Canadians reading this blog entry: just how many could you actually see in your local big-chain theater? Just how many Canadian films can you see in these at all? The likely answer is probably one or two a year. If that. Even our own “big hits” which we tout in the news don’t make it into our own theaters. What does that say of the health of the industry?

The theaters don’t want to play them because Canadian films make less money than American ones. And until our government steps in to mandate some percentage of Canadian content in cinemas, they’ll never be played. That is, unless, there’s the odd Canadian hit that made money in even the US.

Now if you go to Quebec, the situation is the opposite. There are lots of American films, yes, and imports from France; but there’s lots of homegrown talent as well, and you see them in theaters regularly. Les Boys, Elvis Gratton, C.R.A.Z.Y. are all films that made their rounds in Quebec theaters. And best of all: Quebec-made films are shown regularly in the province’s theaters. But then you go outside of Quebec, and there’s nothing but American films.

Canadian films have that reputation of making up for a lack of budget with really complex storylines. Those are wonderful. However, it needs to be complemented with horror, action, and nearly every other genre. The budget of those may seem prohibitive, but it’s doable. Sorta.

Beyond a complete lack of support from theater chains (can you blame them?), there’s no support from anyone. I was looking into all sources of funding for my fiction title… and guess what: unless you’re making documentaries that are intended to be aired on television, or a French-language film, you’re S.O.L. The support framework for, say, an Ontarian full-feature fiction film is nill. [I hold reservations about Telefilm.]

I thought I was alone voicing these opinions, until I googled for “Canada Film Industry.” And you know what the first result is? A page with this gem of a quote:

The Canadian Film Industry Filmmaker Paul Donovan once compared the difficulty of making a movie in Canada to climbing Mount Everest without oxygen. Faced with an indifferent public, harsh critics, limited funds, and foreign-owned movie houses, filmmaking in Canada is, by necessity, a labour of love. Canadian gems like The Barbarian Invasions and Nobody Waved Goodbye have succeeded because of steadfast determination.

Amen.

Until we mandate a percentage of Canadian films to be played in our own theaters, money won’t ever be generated. Unless that money is generated, there won’t ever be interest in private entities funding films. Without that funding, we won’t ever make the kind of titles we need to puncture foreign markets. But none of this will ever happen if the public continues to not care. And they won’t care until we actually have an industry to care for.

As it stands, English-Canadian films represent 1% of our domestic box office revenues. One percent. That’s quite a powerful testament to the state of our industry.

When it comes to film making, sometimes not asking for permission to do certain shots is better than to ask. I’ve been researching to see if I’m allowed to incorporate real products in the H4CK3R5. So that instead of using a can of generic energy drink in a shot, I can just use Red Bull or whatnot.

This is what I came across, from the Philip Morris website:

Unfortunately, the fact that Philip Morris USA does not engage in product placement does not mean that our brands are never shown. Some producers and directors choose to depict Philip Morris USA brands in their work without our permission.

But we are limited in our ability to stop all displays of our brands, because federal and state trademark laws, as well as the U.S. Constitution, protect freedom of expression and the “fair use” of trademarks in works such as movies and television shows.

But if you chose to ask their permission:

Philip Morris USA continues to deny all product placement requests for its brands.

So the trick is not to ask. Same when you’re requestion to film in certain locations: sometimes its better to ask. Because if you ask, you’re most likely going to be told “no.” Being told “no” and filming anyways opens you to far greater risk. But if you don’t ask, and its in a generic locale, then no one will ever be the wiser. Of course, exert some common sense.

When it comes to filming people, however, I tend to be a fair bit more cautious. If an individual is in the foreground of the shot, or the focus of the shot, then I always ask their permission. On film or on paper. I don’t consider simple vocal agreements to be enough. Yes, you’ll have plenty of people refusing for no good reason. But really, that’s better than a lawsuit.

First they came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.

by Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945

I am in the midst of organizing a screening for the documentary Before the Music Dies at the University of Ottawa. You can check more about the documentary here.

I’ll issue out a date as soon as I’ve paid for the room, come this Monday the eleventh. There’ll be a $2/3 cover, to take care of the costs of renting the room, printing promo posters, shipping the DVD. All net proceeds will go to Ottawa’s non-profit radio station, CHUO.

Expect the screening early/mid January.

A professor of mine was talking about his days as a diplomat, and a trip he took to Kosovo following the mass exodus of people. He described a sea of plastic bags strewn to the sides of the roads. He explained that when the Albanians fled, they brought food in those bags. When they used up all they could, they simply left those bags behind.

Needless to say, that was powerful imagery. The professor then went on and shared some horrific accounts. That was Kosovo’s ethnic cleansing. But before that, there was Rwanda’s genocide. How many times have we heard politicians exclaim in a furor “never again”? Never, they say, shall we allow another genocide.

And yet that’s exactly what they’re doing in Darfur. They’re letting thousands of people die. Let’s look at some statistics briefly: since 2003, there have been over 300,000 killings in Darfur. Over 2 million others have become refugees. The stories are both horrific and yet so plentiful: refugee camps entirely devoid of adult men, women being raped on a regular basis as they exit these camps to obtain water.

Yet where are the politicians? They have forgotten. Because we, have forgotten. We have forgotten because we do not care. Africa does not resonate for us. Oh sure, there’s been action. Or at least promises of action. But when it comes down to it – we’re already past the point of no return. The UN has announced today that it is to support he AU some time in the future in its peace keeping efforts. The AU, which is by the way, severely short of equipment.

Canada has donated some equipment, but to be honest, its contributions were rather pathetic. I believed they consisted of a few outdated vehicles. And yes, Canada has attempted to push through resolutions with the UN. However, these are all insignificant steps. It’s the kind of step one does to say they’ve done it, when it reality it amounts to no tangibles.

These donations help. UN action helps. However, we could be doing so much more. Yes, it would cost more money. But who said stopping genocides was free? In any case, it all comes down to my innate cynicism of the system. There’s no action because no one, frankly, cares. If it was happening to Jews.. meh… maybe then we’d think about it. But Africans? What are their lives worth.