A recent headline in the sports section of The Press made me react. What if, like American hockey, which is increasingly resplendent at the heart of our national sport, our Quebec television managed to make its mark with our neighbors to the south, by showcasing our exceptional talent pool?
Posted yesterday at 9:00 a.m.
The announcement of the presence of Jamie Lee Curtis in the production alliance of a Quebec-inspired television series signals an increasingly important breakthrough beyond the borders of the talent and competence that we find in abundance. here on our screens.
It must be said that Quebec television, without being completely closed in on itself, had not yet managed to assert itself solidly outside the country, international successes often remaining on the level of anecdote. Unlike other territories of similar size or even smaller, such as Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and even Iceland with a population of barely 350,000 inhabitants.
But now a major digital broadcaster decides to open up its programming schedules significantly to ideas and Quebec productions. What’s all the more pleasing about Prime Video’s (Amazon) leadership in this story is that it doesn’t seem to speak out under pressure from governments and regulators. The binding effects of legislative and regulatory measures will not be felt for a few years anyway, not until the federal law is passed and the CRTC (the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) defines and implements put in place the relevant regulatory framework. At the rate at which the structures for distributing audiovisual content are being redefined, the train of internationalization could have quite often passed under our noses!
But fortunately, Prime Video seems determined to give a new and structuring breath to our creative audiovisual industry by multiplying these days the agreements made with Quebec creators and producers.
I quote here the comment of Josée Vallée, vice-president of Sphère Média, who will work alongside Jamie Lee Curtis in the production of the series. The Sticky, inspired by the unimaginable theft of giant shipments of maple syrup in 2012 in Cœur-du-Québec, for which the author has just been sentenced to a fine of 9 million dollars. Josée Vallée had every reason to rejoice at “the opportunity offered to show what we can do”.
At Prime, The Sticky is not a first foray into the Quebec system of creation and production. No less than 10 Quebec projects will see the light of day on its platforms. Even the iconic Patrick Huard will be at the helm of a comedy series on Prime Video in an Attraction Media production. The streaming broadcaster also shows its confidence in Muse, another major production company, but also in young talents such as actor, screenwriter and producer Julian Doucet and documentary filmmaker Nathalie Bibeau. To add to its thunderclap yesterday, Prime Video is also announcing an animated series made in Quebec with the actors of The Kids in the Hall.
Hats off to Amazon Prime, Quebecers should not hesitate to accept the announced increase in subscription prices to the platform. And hope that your recognition of Quebec talent can inspire both other foreign broadcasters and creators and producers who will dare to knock on their doors.
The rise of Quebec television has more interest in taking root in creative talent and know-how than in regulatory constraints. Television is fundamentally a world of ideas based on the value of creation, emulation and audacity. As the streaming market begins to show worrying signs of saturation, the battle to retain subscribers is going to be even more about the best ideas that fit their distinctive editorial lines. It is essential that Quebec television be on the ice at that time to show everything it has in its heart and in its stomach.