CanCon and Cultural Protectionism

[Arwon]

But if their product is "cheap" why do local industries need help to compete with it?

Pretty much because having local culture on TV is popular politically, and so the law reflects that. The idea that TV should just be all random American and British shows with no local voice because it's cheaper to buy than than make your own stuff, would not be a winning proposition.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Pretty much because having local culture on TV is popular politically, and so the law reflects that. The idea that TV should just be all random American and British shows with no local voice because it's cheaper to buy than than make your own stuff, would not be a winning proposition.

I would think that that wouldn't be a winning proposition with the viewing or listening audiences. Particularly viewing. Whether drama or comedy, a show that uses current local idiom in the dialog, even if it might lack a bit in other production values, should resonate better with audiences. Dramas succeed, generally, if they have that 'ripped from the headlines' quality, to steal a phrase from a successful USian producer of dramas. Comedies thrive on topical humor. One would think that these factors would combine, even without any regulation, to give local production a strong edge.

 

[Arwon]

I think living within it, you may be under-estimating the sheer economic force exerted by cultural hegemony

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I think living within it, you may be under-estimating the sheer economic force exerted by cultural hegemony

Quite possible.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

Is a culture that needs protecting really worth protecting?

have you heard of the uyghur people?

 

[Zkribbler]

 

[hobbsyoyo]

And I've never heard of any tax breaks in the industry.

There are quite a few; it's why so much production has shifted from SoCal to Georgia, Vancouver and London. California was a bit flat-footed in its response and a lot of production houses pulled up stakes and moved - especially within the visual effects community. The tax breaks have been pretty heavily abused to the point where the states and cities that have pulled in new production houses often lose overall money on the deals but politicians get to brag about bringing new jobs and industries to the area and the locals don't tend to track the fine print of the deals so it carries on. Another important part of these trends have been wage suppression. Shops in Vancouver in particular are pretty notorious for super low wages - even if the local minimum wage in Vancouver is higher than other locales, the prevailing wages for the movie/tv production industry are a lot lower there than they were back in SoCal. I listened to a podcast recently that had heartbreaking stories of families that were forced to move up to Vancouver as their companies moved from SoCal only they couldn't make it on the lower wages and ended up having to leave the industry entirely and had their lives upended by it all.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Is a culture that needs protecting really worth protecting?

But what if nobody has a chance to even see that culture in the first place?

 

[Synobun]

There are quite a few; it's why so much production has shifted from SoCal to Georgia, Vancouver and London. California was a bit flat-footed in its response and a lot of production houses pulled up stakes and moved - especially within the visual effects community. The tax breaks have been pretty heavily abused to the point where the states and cities that have pulled in new production houses often lose overall money on the deals but politicians get to brag about bringing new jobs and industries to the area and the locals don't tend to track the fine print of the deals so it carries on. Another important part of these trends have been wage suppression. Shops in Vancouver in particular are pretty notorious for super low wages - even if the local minimum wage in Vancouver is higher than other locales, the prevailing wages for the movie/tv production industry are a lot lower there than they were back in SoCal. I listened to a podcast recently that had heartbreaking stories of families that were forced to move up to Vancouver as their companies moved from SoCal only they couldn't make it on the lower wages and ended up having to leave the industry entirely and had their lives upended by it all.

Canadian wages by themselves are lower when compared to US wages. This is more pronounced in Vancouver, despite being in the top-5 most expensive cities list.

For Canadian media workers, wages in Vancouver are "fine," in the sense that they're used to it and know how to deal with it.

I can see how someone used to Californian US wages would find the transition up here to be like a frigid shower, especially now that many of the studios have switched to paying CAD instead of USD (which, with our newly weakened dollar, is... not great!). Five years ago when I worked at a popular filming location here, there was some opportunity for being an extra in certain productions (either on-screen or set work), and back then they offered a USD stipend. Nowadays I hear they've switched to CAD while keeping the rates stagnant, so people who moved from the US to here in order to keep work flowing in took a 25% pay cut right then and there on top of the already lower wages offered up here.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

There's certainly a race to the bottom going on when it comes to economic growth. I remember seeing a billboard ad in SoCal from the governor of Florida trying to entice businesses to Florida as the minimum wage there is lower. All I could think was why the hell the leader of a state would think that playing up how low paid the workers of his state was a selling point to anyone from that state. Obviously the add wasn't in Florida and was targeted to business owners and not workers but I just can't grok why selling out your own people is something to brag about. Of course, the former governor of Florida was exactly the kind of scum-sucking fraudster made rich off the labor of the poor people of his state so I guess it does grok.

 

[uppi]

I would think that that wouldn't be a winning proposition with the viewing or listening audiences. Particularly viewing. Whether drama or comedy, a show that uses current local idiom in the dialog, even if it might lack a bit in other production values, should resonate better with audiences. Dramas succeed, generally, if they have that 'ripped from the headlines' quality, to steal a phrase from a successful USian producer of dramas. Comedies thrive on topical humor. One would think that these factors would combine, even without any regulation, to give local production a strong edge.

It is certainly true that local productions have a strong edge. The question is, whether that is enough. Economics of scale is massive in the media business, because production costs stay virtually the same, no matter whether 10 thousand or 10 million people watch it. So a huge domestic market enables so much potential for undercutting against local productions in other countries.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

The question is, whether that is enough.

Definitely not which is why there are so many tax breaks and subsidies.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I'm pretty sure the only "cultural protectionism" we Americans engage in is the inherent superiority of our culture /s

I guess there must be some reason why so much of your stuff is geoblocked so Canadians can't watch it (online, that is; many of your shows are simulcast with Canadian channels/networks so we get Canadian commercials rather than American ones).

For instance, it's getting incredibly annoying to watch the American version of Big Brother. Now they don't even finish the interview with the evictee on the regular channel; they just say, "go to cbs.com to see the rest of it" and don't give a damn that Canadians can't do that.

Oh, and Netflix? We get a small fraction of what's available in the U.S.

It seems fair to say less than 40% of the pop culture Canadians want to watch or listen to is Canadian.

I wouldn't know about percentages, but I think it might be a generational thing.

I grew up listening to CBC radio and getting my TV news from CBC. In the internet age, I get my news from cbc.ca, and am currently engaged in an argument related to the election that we're expecting to be called within the next week or so.

One would think that these factors would combine, even without any regulation, to give local production a strong edge.

Define "local". Decades ago Red Deer had our own TV station and a studio that produced its own news programs and other local productions. I remember how pleased my grandmother was back in the '80s, when I was involved in a theatre production of "The King and I." I inherited the position of head of the properties crew when the crew head abruptly handed me his clipboard, notes, and script one night at rehearsal, announced he was quitting, and said, "Have fun." So I had to scramble to find out what we still needed, and one of the items was a doll wearing a Scottish folk costume.

I realized that trying to find one commercially would take too much time and $$, so I raided my grandmother's doll collection for a doll that would pass. I did the doll's hair and asked my grandmother to please, please, PLEASE make a costume for her (she had a pattern book of international costumes for dolls).

She agreed to do it and when it was done, I took the doll to the director and producer for their approval, and they were happy. That doll was one of the props that were brought to the local TV studio when they did a segment on our theatre production. My grandmother was on the proverbial "Cloud 9" to have something she had made featured on a TV show, however local it was. But we usually had a sell-out audience for our shows, so her work was seen on stage as well as on TV.


That's all gone now. We don't have any TV studios here anymore, and "local" news means having to go to the Edmonton or Calgary sections of the CBC website. Once in awhile they mention Red Deer, if something unusual happens or there's a big drug bust, or something.

"Raisins in the grape Kool-ade"... now that was funny. Reminds me of the time when my dad insisted that he had canned bananas in his shopping cart and wouldn't believe me when I told him it was really canned pineapple.

 

[plarq]

For any country who tries to limit cultural content, my suggestion is to buy VPN services so you can subscribe whatever region that offers best content portfolio.

For PRC, the hell with Chinese Communist Party and their Department of Propaganda. Move out of PRC if you want enjoy any cultural fest.

 

[Lexicus]

For instance, it's getting incredibly annoying to watch the American version of Big Brother. Now they don't even finish the interview with the evictee on the regular channel; they just say, "go to cbs.com to see the rest of it" and don't give a damn that Canadians can't do that.

I just looked this up and cannot understand why anyone would want to watch it, but to each their own I suppose...

 

[yung.carl.jung]

I just looked this up and cannot understand why anyone would want to watch it, but to each their own I suppose...

it's pure, unadultered ideology garbage

 

[Farm Boy]

We unironically have Confederates in rural Canada.

I'm not sure it's always so much following, it's intertwined. It's still probably less "Confederate" and more "rebel."

Look at it this way. Are local theater and arts worth maintaining? They cost money, they aren't well incentivized under current capital-heavy for-profit economic models. You can get all the music and art you want, already done better, on the internet and tv and in the Megalopolises. Local theater subsidies, price breaks for tax paying locals at parks, all forms of protectionism. Just with the lines drawn around them differently.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Define "local".

Well, that was originally in a conversation with Arwon, and even though the thread is about Canada what I was saying was related to Australia. Since 90% of Canadians live within broadcast range of US stations only the advent of cable allows for any control in Canada at all. Much different circumstances.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

Isn't this the thing was was ultimately responsible for the Strange Brew film (which I haven't seen)?

 

[Farm Boy]

You should put on your favorite 80s fashion and remedy that.