It is the turn of the Society for the Development of Cultural Enterprises (SODEC), the largest funder of the film industry in Quebec, to criticize the end of the broadcast of the Gala Quebec Cinema on Radio-Canada. SODEC also asks the public broadcaster, if not to reconsider its decision, at least to create new means to encourage the promotion of films from here, in all respect for its basic mandate requiring that programming inform, inform and entertain.
“Anything related to the promotion, distribution and visibility of cinema concerns us, because we finance these activities and not just the production of films,” said Louise Lantagne, president and chief executive officer of SODEC, in an interview with To have to. We just lost a piece. The reflection must continue. It would be a credit to the public broadcaster to say that we will all review the decision together. »
The choice to end the broadcast of the Iris awards ceremony (the former Jutras), announced at the start of the week, was unanimously deplored by organizations in the sector, artists and specialist columnists. The generalist channel of Radio-Canada (RC) has been broadcasting the gala for 20 years.
Special shows
The decline in audiences to less than 500,000 viewers for the June 2021 version justified the pronouncement of a fatal sentence. RC has, however, promised to devote special programs to the cinema in the future, for example within the framework of the talk show Good evening !.
“The end of the gala concerns us deeply,” said Ms.me Lantagne, who has headed SODEC since 2018. Previously, she held several senior positions at Radio-Canada, including that of general manager of television, from 2008 to 2014. “I certainly don’t want to play mother-in-law with my alma mater. I first want to talk about us, at SODEC, and say why we are very disappointed, like the community. »
She explains that her organization supports the entire film and television chain, from production to distribution. SODEC is the major financier of screens with Telefilm Canada and, to tell the truth, the main one in Quebec. The Company can inject up to 4 million in a feature film.
“Our responsibility does not end with funding,” said President Lantagne. Our responsibility is to support distribution, theatrical release, export, market presence, the presence of directors at major festivals. We do not let go of the product, until the end. Promotion is as important as production. A gala is an ultra-powerful means of dissemination. I’m sorry, but reaching 485,000 people in the month of June is something powerful. We cannot do without television. »
In 2021, SODEC devoted more than $160 million to its general programs and to the financing of film companies, to which must be added approximately another $145 million in tax credits. The promotion and dissemination assistance programs total a dozen million. Québec Cinéma received $182,500 to organize the last and final broadcast gala.
A model to review?
SODEC was not consulted before the Jarnac coup. The organization learned of the end of the Iris television party when it received the Radio-Canadian press release on Monday. “Me, I still believe in the gala,” said M.me Lantagna. I still believe in this formula. I don’t think the broadcasters will stop showing the Gémeaux, the ADISQ gala or the Oliviers. I also think it’s always time to revisit a formula, more than ever now that we are coming out of the pandemic and theaters need to find their audiences. »
The director evokes the possibility of creating a celebration, in one form or another, of all Quebec productions produced for the screens. “I like to talk about a creative bridge in Web, TV and film fiction. I take nothing away from the cinema. She points out that the different platforms are already exchanging craftsmen, artists and even subjects.
The idea could therefore point to a sort of gala at the Golden Globes. This annual ceremony rewards at the same time the productions of television and cinema of the United States.
“We have a challenge for the development of new audiences, on television and in theaters, says Mme Lantagna. We must also reflect on how to interest young people more in our cultural productions. In this sense, we cannot do without television. »
However, young people do not watch it, or almost not. “In Denmark, when you create a youth program, you don’t just add a little website on the side,” replies the president. Promotion happens everywhere, on TikTok, everywhere. You have to find the public where it is. We also need to think about how to develop tentacles around a promising medium like television. »