In 1998 Alberta’s independent film-making industry was eviscerated, with $12-million spent on making movies compared to highs in the $60-million range two years earlier.
Still today, questions remain about whether the government’s response to the decline was appropriate.
“How does a disaster of biblical proportions sound?” was what Minds Eye Films producer Josh Miller said to Playback Magazine in 1996.
Miller was describing the Klein government’s decision to eliminate the old Alberta Motion Picture Development Corporation (AMPDC) that year, with no replacement program or transitional stage provided.
Last month, Alberta Community Development Minister Gene Zwozdesky announced to the legislature that the government’s 1998 solution to the crisis, the Alberta Film Development Program (AFDP), will continue unchanged for another three years.
For most producers, the lack of support in 1997 and 1998 did not drive them out of business. It merely drove them to other provinces.
Gary Burns, for example, took his 1997 film Kitchen Party to Vancouver, where he received B.C. taxpayers' dollars.
A small number of producers ploughed through the lean time and even thrived. Chad Oakes, for example, produced the successful film Ebenezer, with Jack Palance, during the hand-out drought.
In the political climate of the day, cutting the AMPDC may have been a relatively easy decision for Premier Ralph Klein. All government departments, including public education and health care were making concessions for the sake of balancing Alberta’s budget.
On top of that, money-losing involvement with businesses such as Novatel and Gainers was giving government “ventures” a bad reputation.
“When the focus of Albertans was to press the government to get out of the business of being in business, they saw AMPDC as being directly involved in the business of making films because of the way it was set up,” explains Zwozdesky.
One of the factors that ensured the harsh local reaction, however, was that no other provinces followed Alberta’s lead, leaving Alberta producers at an disadvantage.
To stem the flow, the government was forced to act, creating a program that treated filmmaking as an art, instead of simply a business needing loans. The Film Development Program provides pure grants, similar in principle to what theatre or dance groups receive. It makes available sums up to $500,000 for films that are produced locally, covering up to 10 per cent of the total budget.
The government has allocated $5 million for this fund. Applicants must be Alberta-based and controlled companies, or co-productions including such companies.
As with any government munificence, not everyone is happy with handouts, sometimes for opposite reasons.
James Gottselig, a producer with Red Devil Films of Calgary, likes the program in principle because it is helps Alberta compete with other provinces. “But the criteria are very loosey-goosey,” he says. “I am afraid that tax dollars could be going to Hollywood producers.”
Zwozdesky defends the program: “We look at: Is the film shot in Alberta? Is the producer, director, writer, director of photography an Albertan? How many of the cast members are Albertan? We get a percentage based on the answers to those questions, and we try to fund accordingly.”
On the other hand, John Carpay, director of the Alberta chapter of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, does not see a distinction between funding for local artists and any other business meddling.
“It’s not fair to taxpayers to have the politicians and bureaucrats taking their money and deciding what kind of cultural spending that’s supposed to go to.”
He suggests capital markets are the right place for someone who wants to make a profit or create a successful film. “You’re going to have a stronger film industry in the long run if it’s based on private investors.”
Someone should tell that to California, which two years ago implemented tax credits of their own, to match what was going on in most Canadian jurisdictions. If Carpay is right, California’s move may explain why, as many believe, the films coming out of Hollywood lately haven’t been up to their usual standards.
But the jury is still out on whether it’s the best thing for Canada.
