TORONTO -- Telefilm Canada, the federal government's film funding agency, has drawn fire for pushing commercially marketable films, allegedly at the expense of auteur directors. "People are upset?" Telefilm Canada executive director Richard Stursberg said. "I'm not surprised. If you make changes in any set of arrangements, people who like the old arrangements won't like the change." Canada's film czar has drawn criticism for encouraging Canadian filmmakers to escape their recent stagnant past by embracing market disciplines. The plan is to build a 5% market share for homegrown movies by 2006 -- by having Telefilm Canada invest in marketable projects that connect with ordinary Canadians and by demanding higher P&A commitments and minimum guarantees from Canadian distributors. In short, Stursberg is looking to reward boxoffice success. Film producers including Robert Lantos, Denis Robert and Atom Egoyan, whose past movies have done at least $750,000 in domestic boxoffice, are being assured of future financing, bigger marketing budgets and wider releases.
- 2/28/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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