The Labeaume era ended with a marked increase over the past few years in the number of productions and shoots made in Quebec. But the capital still has a lot to do to build a film and television industry worthy of the name, which is not limited to being the school club of Montreal.
“The main problem is retaining the workforce. Every time someone is good, he goes to Montreal or we come to pick him up, ”regrets Nancy Florence Savard, founder of the production company 10e Ave, which makes animation films.
Despite the success of these latest projects, Mr.me Savard deliberately chose to stay in his hometown, at the cost of sometimes having to entrust certain stages of the post-production to Montreal, for lack of personnel in Quebec. A scenario that presents itself less and less often, she assures, welcoming the various initiatives put in place during the 14 years of Régis Labeaume’s reign.
Beneficial measures
In collaboration with the Government of Quebec, the outgoing administration will, among other things, have increased production aid, condition sine qua non for the realization of large-scale projects in the capital. “We took advantage of these measures. Because there are additional costs to come and shoot here. You have to pay for gasoline and hotels for artists and artisans who cannot be found on site. […] The assistance programs have enabled us to go from two productions a year 10 years ago to 17 this year ”, explains Sylvain Parent-Bédard, the founder of ComediHa !, both a comedy festival and a house of production.
ComediHa! notably gave birth to the sitcom Squad 99, an adaptation of the American series Brooklyn nine-nine broadcast on the Club Illico platform and produced from A to Z in Quebec City. All genres combined, 44 projects from a regional production company went ahead in 2020. This is more than double compared to 2010, three years after the start of Mayor Labeaume’s reign.
“Our objective is for the Capitale-Nationale to represent 10% of productions made in Quebec, which corresponds to the region’s weight in the population and in Quebec’s GDP. In 2020, we were at 7.7% of the number of productions, so we are approaching it. On the other hand, the value of these productions amounted to only 5.8% of the entire Quebec budget. There is an increase, but we are far from 10% ”, analyzes with cautious optimism Renaud Sylvain, president of the Table de concertation de l ‘industry du cinema et de la television de la Capitale-Nationale.
These figures do not take into account the many film and program shoots that have recently taken place in Quebec, but which were not produced by a local box. Let us think, among others, of the second season of The Rift, produced by Montreal-based Pixcom and offered since last month to Club Illico subscribers.
Our objective is that the Capitale-Nationale represents 10% of the productions that are made in Quebec, which corresponds to the weight of the region in the population and in the Quebec GDP.
Still dependent on Montreal
The Quebec City region has also attracted some foreign shoots in recent years, starting with that of the American big budget series. Barkskins, two years ago.
“It would have been a lot less complicated to shoot in the Laurentians, but we couldn’t find a place so majestic, with mountains around. Quebec really has immense potential for foreign shoots, ”suggests Isabelle Guay, who worked on this set as a visual designer.
She has fond memories of her experience, but remembers having to call in Montreal technicians because she could not find anyone nearby for certain tasks. For meme Guay, this lack of personnel is the main obstacle to the growth of the film industry in Quebec.
Director Jeremy Peter Allen, who has a career in the capital, makes the same observation, but insists that retaining talent will not pass an increase in tax credits and grants.
“As long as there are no quotas for projects outside Montreal in funding organizations, we will not move forward. People will continue to go to Montreal. To give a comparison: for a long time, women in production did not succeed in breaking through. Now that we have set clear objectives, we are almost at parity, ”argues the one who remains in Quebec for family reasons.
Otherwise, he too would have gone into exile in the metropolis, convinced that he would have had many more professional opportunities. “Even if everything is available on the Internet, we must not hide it: a good part of the funding comes through cocktails, through premieres, through corridor discussions. And all this takes place in Montreal, not in Quebec, ”observes Jeremy Peter Allen.
According to the Quebec Media Production Association, the regions of Laval and Montreal monopolize, year after year, around 80% of production budgets in Quebec, while they only represent 30% of the population.