Telefilm Head: Synergy Will Be Good For Canada

“A deal between Telefilm Canada and Creative Artists Agency will help ‘speed up’ Ottawa’s plan to see Canadian films score 5 per cent of the total domestic gross box office by the end of 2006, the head of Telefilm says… The deal, which sees Telefilm pay CAA a ‘very modest retainer fee,’ allows a Canadian producer with a sufficient track record to access CAA’s talent pool (at present there are an estimated 2,200 registered Canadian-born actors, directors and writers in and around Los Angeles) and for CAA representatives to approach a Canadian producer with relevant scripts and/or talent.” The arrangement has been widely criticized by actors’ and writers’ unions as compromising Canadian creativity.