TiPsters -

Why does it feel like 20 years ago when the Sars crisis closed down the film industry. Had it not been for TiP there would have been zero productions going on. TiP productions exceeded the entire production listings on the board. At the time, to save money it was suggested to close down the program but Brian Topp and the council who hired me to create and run the program thought otherwise. Now I'm hearing there is a dearth of Canadian productions, licensing fees are half, and there's no choice for some indie producers but to go non-union. I don't know what my former colleagues are up to, however, there is this perception that the current low-budget program which followed TiP does not allow seasoned producers to access the program. I find this interesting that the Unions want exclusivity of Telefilm funding, low budget motion picture projects are only available to emerging producers, and the licensing is now reduced by half. I'm not making this up this is what I was told. The TiP program was initially set up to compete against low-budget non-union productions and there were no restrictions with respect how many times you employed the program. Of course, few repeat producers applied because they wanted to produce bigger projects with higher budgets. Now the license fees are so low that Union performers cannot participate in low budget productions because seasoned producers can't access low-budget union programs. What does this mean? More work for non union performers and crews because the unions don't fit into their business plan. So if you haven't had a good year in 2024 why would you expect 2025 to be any better? I understand everyone has a position on this. I don't. All I know is if I were a producer I would find the best talent with the best crew and shoot the best possible picture and take it to the film market. If it is good it will be bought. Good films, well thought out, and understanding the market is the key to success. For what it is worth. The difference between people who know what they are doing and not knowing what they are doing is well studied talent.
How many know that when the original Degrassi Street series came to the market it was sold to CBC Children's Programming as one of the first Independently produced series, You didn't know that it was completely non-union for several years. No one had a problem with that except the Unions of course. Nothing more, nothing less, hope y'all figure it out.
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Why does it feel like 20 years ago when the SARS crisis closed down the film industry? Had it not been for TiP, there would have been zero productions going on. TiP productions exceeded the entire production listings on the board. At the time, to save money, it was suggested to close down the program, but Brian Topp and the council who hired me to create and run the program thought otherwise.

Now I'm hearing there is a dearth of Canadian productions, licensing fees are half, and some indie producers have no choice but to go non-union.

I don't know what my former colleagues are up to; however, there is this perception that the current low-budget program which followed TiP does not allow seasoned producers to access the program. I find it interesting that the unions want exclusivity of Telefilm funding. Low budget motion picture projects are only available to emerging producers, and the licensing fees are now reduced by half. I'm not making this up; this is what I was told.

The TiP program was initially set up to compete against low-budget non-union productions, and there were no restrictions on how many times you could employ the program. Of course, few repeat producers applied because they wanted to produce bigger projects with higher budgets. Now the license fees are so low that union performers cannot participate in low budget productions because seasoned producers can't access low-budget programs. What does this mean? More work for non-union performers and crews because the unions don't fit into their business plan. So if you haven't had a good year in 2024, why would you expect 2025 to be any better?

I understand everyone has a position on this. I don't. All I know is if I were a producer, I would find the best talent with the best crew and shoot the best possible picture and take it to the film market. If it is good, it will be bought. Good films, well thought out, understanding the market is the key to success. For what it's worth, the difference between people who know what they are doing and those who don't is well-studied talent. How many know that when the original Degrassi Street series came to market, it was sold to CBC Children's Programming as one of the first independently produced series, and it was non-union for several years? No one had a problem with that except the unions, of course. Nothing more, nothing less. Hope y'all figure it out.