Deirdre Logue likely has one of the most enviable jobs on the international film festival circuit.

As executive director of the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre (CFMDC), Logue is responsible for representing about 550 Canadian filmmakers and distributing their 2,600 film titles.

Festival organizers call her Toronto office when they are looking for a hot new director or a rising young star.

Those calls come from around the world, including the Berlin International Film Festival, Rotterdam International Film Festival, Short Film Market in Clermont-Ferrand, France, and the Contemporary Film Festival in Mexico City.

One of the first steps is for a committee to screen every film that comes into the office for distribution to assess its marketing potential.

"I can only recall once or twice when we've turned down a film because it's demeaning to women or particularly graphic and violent. In cases where the content is in question, we will talk to that filmmaker about what they were thinking," Logue says.

"It all comes down to what a film's marketing potential is."

Every year, films from the CFMDC collection are viewed more than 5,500 times.

An estimated 800 films are rented to more than 150 international festivals and other venues, while more than 150 titles are sold to broadcasters and educational institutions. The collections cover a wide variety of topics, in some cases dating as far back as the 1950s, Logue says. "The CFMDC has made a significant contribution to thousands of filmmakers (for) more than 35 years now," Logue says.

"We have two main purposes: To create distribution opportunities for Canadian filmmakers and to help them generate revenue for their films."

That revenue comes from an artist's fee that the CFMDC charges any event organizers, which ranges from $250 to $400 for a full-length feature film.

As the distributor, CFMDC officials keep 30 per cent and send the filmmaker a cheque for the balance.

Logue says the CFMDC will talk to every film festival organizer who calls and try to accommodate the smallest detail. But one thing that is not flexible is the artist's fee.

"We believe it's an important principle that they deserve to be paid for their work. We try to keep the fees low to encourage festivals to rent our films, but at the same time, artists should always be paid," she says.

Standing up for that principle has created other issues for the CFMDC. It means the centre's artist films are passed over by some high-profile cinematic events, including the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

The Toronto festival celebrated its 30th anniversary this year with a reported $14.6 million annual budget.

In August, Canadian Business magazine reported organizers declared excess revenue over expenses of $166,313 for 2004 - making it the only Canadian film festival that is profitable.

But festival organizers refuse to pay the CFMDC any fees for filmmakers' work, Logue says.

"They feel the exposure is payment enough. It's a very high-profile event with major film industry players from all over the world. I think they believe Canadian filmmakers should be honoured they want to show their work."

The CFMDC works with other Canadian festivals, including the Banff Film and Television Festival, Montreal's Festival du Nouveau Cinéma and Toronto's Reel Asian International Film Festival.

Charging artist's fees means the CFMDC must forgo any charitable status with the Canada Revenue Agency.

"We make some money to pay our costs from the percentage of fees and renting out some of our facilities, which means technically we're not a charity," Logue says.

Asked about the group's annual budge, Logue says she is "embarrassed" to say it is less than $500,000.

She adds that the CFMDC relies heavily on donations from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Canadian Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, AV Trust and Canadian Heritage.

Another problem the CFMDC is facing is the quality of its collection because films frequently return from festivals scratched or otherwise damaged, Logue says.

"The more popular the film is, the more chance of it getting damaged when it's rented out. This is an important part of Canadian history," she says.

"I would love to reprint some of the films in our collection, but that's an expensive process."

(David Hatton can be reached at hatton@businessedge.ca)