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CFTPA response letter on CTF documentary issue

Mr. Garry Toth
President and CEO
The Canadian Television Fund
111 Queen Street East, Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5C 1S2

Dear Mr. Toth
Having reviewed your response to our letter on the documentary issue, I think I should clarify what issues we were attempting to address.

You are probably correct that we at the CFTPA should have been more aware of your changing communications methods. In the past, our Executive Vice-President, Guy Mayson, and myself received critical e-mails from the Fund. We will ensure that from now on we are registered. However, I am not sure that that is the essential point. Neither am I sure that informing me of your webmaster¡s reports resolves the issue either.

This whole matter arose because changes were made to the eligibility of certain types of documentaries nearly two months after the documentary guidelines had been published. For producers and broadcasters of life style programming, the change was fundamental. The Fund chose to take the route it did to inform the community, and the question is: was that the most effective way to handle communicating that information?

I have information from over 20 senior Business Affairs people in this industry who claim to be subscribers to your system who only became aware of this change in April. I also understand that broadcasters associated with life style channels were also surprised by the change. This seems to mean that some of your most obviously affected clientele, for whatever reason, did not know of the change introduced in January. They continued doing their business planning based on the Guidelines issued in November.

Secondly, I also have heard from a few producers who were approached by your staff this Fall and were told that life style programming would no longer qualify. However, there appears to be no consistency about which producers were chosen to be told of this change. We also know that other well-known Àlife style² producers were not privileged with this information.

From the CFTPA¡s point of view, it is essential that all avenues of communications be used consistently when changes are being made that may have a fundamental impact on the financing plans of productions. In order to be proactive, CFTPA would be very pleased to help disseminate any such information. At one time we did partner with you to communicate your messages to our members. While many may be on your database, in these cases where crucial financing can be effected, using every available tool should help guarantee effectiveness.

I hope this letter clarifies for you and your staff the issues we were hoping to address. Sincerely,
Elizabeth McDonald
President & CEO

c.c. Janet Yale, Canadian Television Fund
Barri Cohen, Canadian Independent Film Caucus
Sandy Crawley, Canadian Independent Film Caucus
Julia Keatley, CFTPA
Laszlo Barna, CFTPA
Richard Stursberg, Telefilm Canada

For more information on this, please contact:

Jane L. Thompson
Director of Communications
Canadian Film and Television Production Association

Tel: 613 233 1444 ext 227