THE SUPPLY AND FINANCING OF CANADIAN DOCUMENTARIES 1999-00 TO 2003-04 April 25, 2005

THE SUPPLY AND FINANCING OF CANADIAN DOCUMENTARIES

1999-00 TO 2003-04

April 25, 2005

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Purpose of the Study

Part of environmental scan for Documentary Policy Advisory Group

The study examines: The volume of documentary production The main financiers Aggregate financing structures Historic trends (over the past five years) in the

financing of documentaries

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Volume of Documentary Production

Over the past 5 years, over 6,000 hours have been made by independent producers

Hours of Canadian Documentary Production, 1999-00 to 2003-04

Year Television Feature Film Total1999-00 983.8 35.3 1,019.12000-01 1,405.7 32.1 1,437.82001-02 1,419.8 33.1 1,453.02002-03 1,378.5 28.4 1,407.02003-04 1,229.9 22.9 1,252.85-year total 6,417.8 151.9 6,569.6Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in-house production)

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Over $1 billion in independent documentary production activity

Canadian Documentary Production Volume, 1999-00 to 2003-04

Year Television Feature Film Total($ millions)

1999-00 $155.07 $15.82 $170.82000-01 $206.37 $9.48 $215.852001-02 $237.68 $9.22 $246.912002-03 $252.67 $7.58 $260.252003-04 $232.99 $6.54 $239.545-year total $1,084.78 $48.65 $1,133.43Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in-house production)

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The NFB in 2003-04 contributed some $20M to Canadian documentary production; $2.1M of which is co-productions with independent producers

Source: NFB, CAVCO

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English-language documentaries: volume of production

About 3,800 hours produced in 5 years

Hours of English-Language Documentary Production1999-00 to 2003-04

Year Television Feature Film Total(hours)

1999-00 609.0 24.9 633.92000-01 726.1 24.3 750.42001-02 891.4 15.5 906.92002-03 798.3 17.4 815.72003-04 671.8 16.6 688.45-year total 3,696.6 98.7 3,795.3

Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in-house production)

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English-language documentaries: financing

In English, most of the financing comes from broadcasters

Share of Financing Provided by Various Sources, 1999-00 to 2003-04 (Selected Years)

Year Public Private Broadcasters Foreign

1999-00 30.4% 27.1% 28.6% 13.9%2001-02 26.5% 26.2% 38.6% 8.7%2003-04 28.8% 23.6% 37.4% 10.2%3-year average 28.3% 25.5% 35.5% 10.6%Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in-house production)

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English-language documentaries: financing by format

For feature-length production, most of the financing is from broadcasting sources

(Volume of production = $5.2 M)

Financing of Feature Docs, 2003-04

Source of Financing Share of Financing Federal tax credits 8.5%CTF 24.8%NFB 4.6%Provincial tax credits 10.0%Provincial - other 3.0%Private funds 5.6%Public broadcasters 12.5%Private broadcasters 0.3%Pay/specialty broadcasters 12.3%Canadian Distributors 10.0%Canadian Producers 5.7%Other Canadian 1.7%Foreign 0.9%

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One-offs are financed mainly via CTF

(Volume of production = $44.7M)

Financing of Television One-Offs, 2003-04

Source of Financing Share of FinancingFederal 10.3%CTF 20.0%NFB 1.9%Provincial tax credits 9.6%Provincial - other 2.8%Private funds 3.2%Public broadcasters 13.5%Private broadcasters 5.4%Pay/specialty broadcasters 9.0%Canadian Distributors 4.0%Canadian Producers 8.3%Other Canadian 2.1%Foreign 10.0%

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Series have strong domestic (especially broadcasters) and foreign financing(Volume of production = $121.4M)

Financing of Television Series, 2003-04

Source of Financing Share of FinancingFederal tax credits 5.6%CTF 10.7%NFB 0.2%Provincial tax credits 10.5%Provincial - other 0.9%Private funds 3.2%Public broadcasters 4.9%Private broadcasters 4.9%Specialty broadcasters 29.6%Canadian Distributors 6.3%Canadian Producers 2.8%Other Canadian 0.3%Foreign 20.2%

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English-language documentaries for television

The bulk of television production is series, which account for five times more production hours than one-offs

Hours of Television Production by Format

Year One-offs Series1999-00 100.6 510.82000-01 142.2 602.82001-02 152.0 752.52002-03 157.0 650.82003-04 124.7 579.35-year total 676.5 3,096.3Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in-

house production)

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English-language documentaries for television

Per-hour production budgets have remained flat over the past five years

If inflation is factored in, per-hour budgets have declined in constant dollars

Volume of Television Production in millions of dollars

One-offs Series1999-00 $27.10 $81.012000-01 $45.29 $112.062001-02 $50.09 $120.912002-03 $49.48 $126.132003-04 $43.04 $121.435-year total $215.01 $561.5Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in-

house production)

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English-language broadcasters licensing documentaries

Over the past few years, more broadcasters are licensing documentaries

In terms of one-off documentaries: Mid-budget productions attract the most broadcaster interest Low-budget productions, however, are attracting more

broadcasters In terms of series productions:

Lower-budget series have increased in popularity, particularly with specialty services

Big-budget series continue to be of interest to a small number of broadcasters

Source: CTF

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English-language broadcasters licensing documentaries

While at least two dozen broadcasters access CTF funding for English-language documentaries, that access is highly concentrated

In the past three years, five broadcasters have accessed 70% of CTF funding to English-language documentaries

The CBC claims almost ¼ of the CTF’s funding to English-language documentaries

Specialty services, in total, account for about 2/3 of CTF documentary funding

Source: CTF

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French-language documentaries: volume of production

About 2,800 hours in 5 years, overwhelmingly in television

French-Language Documentary Production, 1999-00 to 2003-04

Year Television Feature Film Total(hours)

1999-00 374.8 10.4 385.22000-01 679.6 7.8 687.42001-02 528.5 17.6 546.02002-03 580.3 11.0 591.32003-04 558.1 6.3 564.45-year total 2,721.2 53.2 2,774.4


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French-language documentaries: financing

In French, most of the financing comes from the public sector

Share of Financing Provided by Various Sources, 1999-00 to 2003-04 (Selected Years)

Year Public Private Broadcasters Foreign1999-00 41.2% 29.5% 27.5% 1.8%2001-02 40.9% 24.7% 31.1% 3.3%2003-04 39.5% 24.9% 35.3% 0.3%3-year average 40.5% 26.1% 31.7% 1.8%Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in-house production)

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French-language documentaries: financing by format

Feature-length docs account for only $1.2M in production, financed largely via tax credits and CTF

Financing of Feature-Length Documentaries, 2003-04

Source of Financing Share of Financing Federal 9.6%CTF 18.6%NFB 8.4%Provincial tax credits 19.2%Provincial - other 8.7%Private funds 3.7%Public broadcasters 7.5%Private broadcasters 1.5%Pay/specialty broadcasters 6.3%Canadian Distributors 0.8%Canadian Producers 14.6%Other Canadian 1.1%

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One-offs are financed mainly via CTF and Quebec incentives

(volume of production = $21.7M)

Financing of One-Offs, 2003-04

Source of Financing Share of Financing Federal tax credits 8.3%CTF 24.5%NFB 2.5%Provincial tax credits 19.4%Provincial - other 5.3%Private funds 2.3%Public broadcasters 19.3%Private broadcasters 2.3%Pay/specialty broadcasters 3.7%Canadian Distributors 5.6%Canadian Producers 5.5%Other Canadian 0.8%Foreign 0.3%

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Series are financed heavily via CTF and specialty services (volume of production = $46.7M)

Financing of Series, 2003-04

Source of Financing Share of FinancingFederal tax credits 9.9%CTF 21.5%NFB 0.4%Provincial tax credits 16.3%Provincial - other 1.2%Private funds 3.1%Public broadcasters 13.1%Private broadcasters 8.5%Specialty broadcasters 19.0%Canadian Distributors 1.6%Canadian Producers 3.7%Other Canadian 1.8%Foreign 0.1%

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French-language documentaries for television

Series account for over 7 times as many hours as one-offs

One-offs have nonetheless grown steadily; series are more volatile

Hours of Television Production by Format, 1999-00 to 2003-04

Year One-offs Series1999-00 40.0 334.82000-01 51.0 628.52001-02 64.6 463.92002-03 70.2 521.62003-04 78.6 479.55-year total 304.4 2,428.4


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French-language documentaries for television

In dollar terms, however, series volume is only twice as high as one-off volume, which confirms that one-offs cost more to produce per hour

Volume of Production in millions of dollars 1999-00 to 2003-04

Year One-offs Series1999-00 $11.94 $35.022000-01 $14.29 $34.732001-02 $18.03 $48.662002-03 $19.99 $57.072003-04 $21.77 $46.755-year total $86.02 $222.2Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in-

house production)

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French-language broadcasters licensing documentaries

Far fewer broadcasters license documentaries in French compared to English In terms of one-offs, specialty and public

broadcasters are most active There has been a decline in broadcaster hours of

low- and mid-budget one-offs, but increased licensing activity in big-budget one-offs

Specialty services are most active in lower-budget series licensing

Big-budget series are more popular with the SRC than other broadcasters

Source: CTF

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French-language broadcasters licensing documentaries

In the past three years, 5 broadcasters have accessed 3/4 of CTF funding to French-language documentaries The SRC claims over ¼ of the funding in

documentaries Educational broadcasters account for another 30%

Source: CTF

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Canadian Documentary Producers

The annual Playback survey shows that, in 2003, there were at least 75 documentary producers in Canada 20 producers account for over 70% of the

documentary production volume Another 55 producers account for less than 30% of

total documentary production volume Fewer than half of the largest documentary

producers also produce “magazine/lifestyle/reality” productions

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Concluding Observations

Documentaries are not homogeneous

Policy-makers should be aware of the large volume of documentary production, and its significant contribution to economic activity.

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Concluding Observations

The public sector provides a majority of the financing, and CRTC-regulated broadcasters contribute a significant share. Policy and regulation need to be aligned.

If feature-length documentaries are important to policy-makers, then need to develop a theatrical market and financing tailored to their specific needs

Documents

THE SUPPLY AND FINANCING OF CANADIAN DOCUMENTARIES 1999-00 TO 2003-04 April 25, 2005