“It’s a good recipe I stand by it!”
Canadian actor and comedian Colin Mochrie was speaking of a sausage dish posted on his own website, but he could have been referring to a proposal to fund new media content creation in Canada.
Speaking on the opening day of hearings held by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission into the future of new media and the broadcast industry, Mochrie was one of several representatives of the Canadian creative community that called for support and funding for the new distribution platform.
CRTC panel members were asked to look at setting up a $100-million fund to support Canadian content on the Internet.
It’s a controversial proposal, one that can put the media production community on the opposite side of the argument from service providers that sell Internet access to consumers. It also speaks to issues of national culture and identity, at least as expressed in the media.
"We must respect the principles of openness and individual choice that govern the Internet, while maintaining access to, and for, Canadian stories, opinions and ideas," CRTC Chair Konrad Von Finckenstein said yesterday on the first day of the new media hearings.
Canada's biggest ISPs include Rogers, Bell, Shaw and Telus, but smaller independent companies may also have to contribute to a fund, or at least pass along funding costs to consumers.
For nearly ten years, the CRTC has avoided treating online content (and content aimed at mobile media devices) as part of the broadcast industry. But under a scenario proposed yesterday, Internet service providers would be asked to contribute to help produce Canadian programs for the Web.
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) said up to $100-million could be raised through a levy on ISP revenue earned from charging Canadians for Internet access.
Wireless service providers would also be asked to contribute, but at a smaller percentage.
Mochrie spoke as part of ACTRA’s presentation.
Members of the TV production community, including actors and directors, are behind some sort of funding mechanism for online content, saying it could be similar to the Canadian Television Fund, which collects monies from cable and satellite TV companies to help fund domestic comedies, dramas and documentaries.
"The Internet is just another media-distribution platform like any other that we've had," said Stephen Waddell, ACTRA’s Executive Director. "If the CRTC doesn't give some opportunity to Canadian content to have a place on that platform, we're going to be immersed in non-Canadian content."
While their call for action by the federal regulator "doesn't mean the CRTC should regulate videos of kids or singing dogs on YouTube," Mochrie said, it does mean "our stories will get lost and our culture will drown in a sea of non-Canadian content" if there’s no action.
Online programming can include anything from documentaries and webisodes to comedy skits and Internet games (which should also be covered), the hearings were told.
User-generated material, like personal videos on YouTube or content by fledgling new media companies could also be considered – and that seems to include Mochrie’s own site, where recipes and other materials can be found.
Alain Pineau, director of the Canadian Conference for the Arts, said the CRTC should focus on professional producers "who are repurposing TV and radio broadcasting" for users to consume online, on cell phones and via other new technologies.
"Broadcasting is broadcasting, no matter what the distribution form," Pineau said, noting that new funding mechanisms from the proposed levy could be similar to the existing Canadian Television Fund.
However, any new funding should be earmarked specifically for new media, urged filmmaker Sturla Gunnarson, speaking as president of the Director's Guild of Canada. The DGC also called for a levy on ISPs similar to that for cable and satellite companies, albeit at a lower rate.
"[This is] not just a backdoor route for supporting TV production," Gunnarson said. "I see it as an opportunity and not a threat...We don't see the conventional business model disappearing anytime soon. We see an integration of the two."
Panel members also repeatedly asked how financing models for digital media would work, and whether productions would have to generate a certain return on investment.
Sources of cash such as the Canadian New Media Fund and the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund already contribute to the creation of online Canadian content, but “it’s not enough”, Waddell added.
The hearings in Gatineau, QC, will continue over the next few weeks, with representatives from ISPs slated to appear in the latter stages.
The CRTC will then hear arguments about federal law, and whether to treat Internet service providers as broadcasters or as “dumb” data pipes. TV networks have responsibilities under the Broadcasting Act to support Canadian culture, but none exist for Internet or wireless service providers.