CRTC updates definition of ‘Canadian content,’ excludes AI

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Fee (CRTC) has up to date its definition of what constitutes “Canadian content material,” also referred to as “CanCon.” This comes after greater than 2,000 Canadians submitted suggestions regarding the definition of CanCon.

As a part of the change, the CRTC will now use a factors system during which productions should earn at the very least 60 per cent of awardable factors. This technique acknowledges productions for having “key inventive roles crammed by Canadians, and requires manufacturing and post-production spending in Canada” — as an illustration, one thing like Canadian filmmaker Matt Johnson’s acclaimed BlackBerry film.

Now, consideration will probably be given to a “broader vary of inventive roles” on Canadian productions, together with positions like showrunners, heads of departments liable for costume design, make-up artists and hair artists, and visible results administrators and particular results administrators. That is along with the present recognition for roles like administrators, scriptwriters and lead performers.

The company provides {that a} Canadian accomplice should maintain at the very least 20 per cent possession in productions between overseas streamers and Canadian firms and “the next proportion of key inventive positions” are crammed by Canadians. The CRTC says it’s streamlined reporting necessities for licensed productions to “scale back regulatory burden on the trade.”

And all through all of this, the CRTC explicitly states that “key” inventive positions like director and screenwriter should be held by precise people, not AI, to qualify. Nevertheless, the particular point out of the “key” roles would seemingly enable for smaller positions on productions to be crammed by AI. (Given how much AI slop is out there and the amount of talent we have across Canada in the entertainment space, let’s hope precise people are used throughout the board on productions.)

For years, there’s been debate about what constitutes “CanCon.” Whereas many motion pictures and TV sequence are filmed in Canada, a number of them come from overseas entities. On high of that, some overseas titles prominently function Canadians and/or Canadian subject material, such as Turning Red from Disney, which firms have usually touted as supporting “CanCon” as an alternative of really producing such content material. Due to this fact, the CRTC’s new definition goals to supply a extra particular define of what constitutes CanCon.

Nevertheless, the CRTC’s up to date CanCon definition has additionally drawn some criticism. Digital rights group OpenMedia has issued a statement saying the newest ruling “fails to mirror Canada” by introducing a bonus level for tales that function Canadian subject material. Nevertheless, it will solely be awarded to content material that’s set in Canada and contains a absolutely Canadian or Indigenous forged. OpenMedia argues it is a inflexible definition of what consitutes a “Canadian story” as a result of “each Canadian’s life is deeply intertwined” with individuals from different international locations.

“Canadians instructed the CRTC by this session that we would like tales that symbolize our lives as they really are to be acknowledged as Canadian. Right this moment’s choice does simply the alternative; by proscribing story-based recognition on such slim phrases, it encourages the telling of slim, nostalgic, and basically unrealistic tales about what Canada is and the lives we dwell inside it,” says OpenMedia.

It’s unclear whether or not the CRTC will collect extra suggestions resembling this to make any future updates. For now, the group notes that that is the primary of two selections ensuing from its session on Canadian audio-visual content material. The second choice will give attention to Canadian packages like information and will probably be revealed “within the close to future.”

Picture credit score: Elevation Photos

Supply: CRTC