THE SUPPLY AND FINANCING OF CANADIAN DOCUMENTARIES 1999-00 TO 2003-04 April 25, 2005

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Purpose of the Study

 Part of environmental scan for Documentary Policy Advisory Group  The study examines:   The volume of documentary production The main financiers   Aggregate financing structures Historic trends (over the past five years) in the financing of documentaries

Volume of Documentary Production

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 Over the past 5 years, over 6,000 hours have been made by independent producers

Hours of Canadian Documentary Production, 1999-00 to 2003-04 Year

1999-00 2000-01 2001-02

Television Feature Film

983.8

35.3

1,405.7

1,419.8

32.1

33.1

Total 1,019.1

1,437.8

1,453.0

2002-03 2003-04 1,378.5

1,229.9

28.4

22.9

1,407.0

1,252.8

5-year total 6,417.8

151.9

Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in-house production)

6,569.6

Volume of Documentary Production

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 Over $1 billion in independent documentary production activity

Year Canadian Documentary Production Volume, 1999-00 to 2003-04 Television Feature Film Total ($ millions)

1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 $155.07

$206.37

$237.68

$252.67

$15.82

$9.48

$9.22

$7.58

2003-04 $232.99

$6.54

5-year total $1,084.78

$48.65

Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in-house production)

$170.8

$215.85

$246.91

$260.25

$239.54

$1,133.43

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Volume of Documentary Production

 The NFB in 2003-04 contributed some $20M to Canadian documentary production; $2.1M of which is co productions with independent producers

Source: NFB, CAVCO

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English-language documentaries: volume of production

 About 3,800 hours produced in 5 years

Year Hours of English-Language Documentary Production 1999-00 to 2003-04

1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

5-year total Television

609.0

726.1

891.4

798.3

671.8

3,696.6

Feature Film (hours)

24.9

24.3

15.5

17.4

16.6

98.7

Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in-house production)

Total 633.9

750.4

906.9

815.7

688.4

3,795.3

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English-language documentaries: financing

 In English, most of the financing comes from broadcasters

Share of Financing Provided by Various Sources, 1999-00 to 2003-04 (Selected Years) Year

1999-00 2001-02 2003-04

3-year Public Private Broadcasters Foreign

30.4% 27.1% 26.5% 26.2% 28.8% 23.6% 28.6% 38.6% 37.4%

average 28.3% 25.5% 35.5%

Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in-house production)

13.9% 8.7% 10.2%

10.6%

English-language documentaries: financing by format

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For feature length production, most of the financing is from broadcasting sources (Volume of production = $5.2 M)

Financing of Feature Docs, 2003-04 Source of Financing Share of Financing

Federal tax credits 8.5%

CTF

NFB

24.8%

4.6% Provincial tax credits Provincial - other Private funds

Public broadcasters

Private broadcasters 10.0% 3.0% 5.6%

12.5%

0.3%

Pay/specialty broadcasters

Canadian Distributors Canadian Producers Other Canadian Foreign

12.3%

10.0% 5.7% 1.7% 0.9%

English-language documentaries: financing by format

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One-offs are financed mainly via CTF (Volume of production = $44.7M)

Financing of Television One-Offs, 2003-04 Source of Financing

Federal

CTF

NFB Provincial tax credits Provincial - other Private funds

Public broadcasters

Private broadcasters Pay/specialty broadcasters Canadian Distributors Canadian Producers Other Canadian Foreign

Share of Financing

10.3%

20.0%

1.9% 9.6% 2.8% 3.2%

13.5%

5.4% 9.0% 4.0% 8.3% 2.1% 10.0%

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Series have strong domestic (especially broadcasters) and foreign financing (Volume of production = $121.4M)

Financing of Television Series, 2003-04 Source of Financing

Federal tax credits CTF NFB Provincial tax credits Provincial - other Private funds Public broadcasters Private broadcasters

Specialty broadcasters

Canadian Distributors Canadian Producers Other Canadian Foreign

Share of Financing

5.6% 10.7% 0.2% 10.5% 0.9% 3.2% 4.9% 4.9%

29.6%

6.3% 2.8% 0.3% 20.2%

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English-language documentaries for television

The bulk of television production is series, which account for five times more production hours than one-offs

Hours of Television Production by Format Year One-offs

1999-00 100.6

2000-01 2001-02 142.2

152.0

Series

510.8

602.8

752.5

2002-03 2003-04 157.0

124.7

650.8

579.3

5-year total 676.5

3,096.3

Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in-house production)

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English-language documentaries for television

Per-hour production budgets have remained flat over the past five years If inflation is factored in, per-hour budgets have declined in constant dollars

Volume of Television Production in millions of dollars One-offs Series

1999-00 $27.10

2000-01 $45.29

2001-02 $50.09

$81.01

$112.06

$120.91

2002-03 $49.48

2003-04 $43.04

$126.13

$121.43

5-year total $215.01

Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in house production)

$561.5

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English-language broadcasters licensing documentaries

Over the past few years, more broadcasters are licensing documentaries   In terms of one-off documentaries:   Mid-budget productions attract the most broadcaster interest Low-budget productions, however, are attracting more broadcasters In terms of series productions:  Lower-budget series have increased in popularity, particularly with specialty services  Big-budget series continue to be of interest to a small number of broadcasters

Source: CTF

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English-language broadcasters licensing documentaries

While at least two dozen broadcasters access CTF funding for English-language documentaries, that access is highly concentrated  In the past three years, five broadcasters have accessed 70% of CTF funding to English-language documentaries  The CBC claims almost ¼ of the CTF’s funding to English-language documentaries  Specialty services, in total, account for about 2/3 of CTF documentary funding

Source: CTF

French-language documentaries: volume of production

 About 2,800 hours in 5 years, overwhelmingly in television

15 French-Language Documentary Production, 1999-00 to 2003-04 Year Television

1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 374.8

679.6

528.5

580.3

2003-04 558.1

5-year total 2,721.2

Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in-house production)

Feature Film (hours)

10.4

7.8

17.6

11.0

6.3

53.2

Total 385.2

687.4

546.0

591.3

564.4

2,774.4

French-language documentaries: financing

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 In French, most of the financing comes from the public sector

Share of Financing Provided by Various Sources, 1999-00 to 2003-04 (Selected Years) Year

1999-00 2001-02 2003-04

Public

41.2% 40.9% 39.5%

3-year average 40.5%

Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in-house production)

Private Broadcasters Foreign

29.5% 27.5% 1.8% 24.7% 24.9%

26.1%

31.1% 35.3%

31.7%

3.3% 0.3%

1.8%

French-language documentaries: financing by format

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 Feature-length docs account for only $1.2M in production, financed largely via tax credits and CTF

Financing of Feature-Length Documentaries, 2003-04 Source of Financing Share of Financing

Federal 9.6%

CTF

NFB

Provincial tax credits

Provincial - other Private funds

18.6%

8.4%

19.2%

8.7% 3.7% Public broadcasters Private broadcasters 7.5% 1.5% Pay/specialty broadcasters6.3% Canadian Distributors Canadian Producers Other Canadian 0.8% 14.6% 1.1%

French-language documentaries: financing by format

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 One-offs are financed mainly via CTF and Quebec incentives  (volume of production = $21.7M)

Financing of One-Offs, 2003-04 Source of Financing Share of Financing

Federal tax credits 8.3%

CTF

NFB

24.5%

2.5%

Provincial tax credits

Provincial - other Private funds Public broadcasters Private broadcasters

19.4%

5.3% 2.3% 19.3% 2.3% Pay/specialty broadcasters3.7% Canadian Distributors 5.6% Canadian Producers 5.5% Other Canadian Foreign 0.8% 0.3%

French-language documentaries: financing by format

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 Series are financed heavily via CTF and specialty services (volume of production = $46.7M)

Financing of Series, 2003-04 Source of Financing Share of Financing

Federal tax credits

CTF

NFB 9.9%

21.5%

0.4% Provincial tax credits Provincial - other Private funds Public broadcasters Private broadcasters

Specialty broadcasters

Canadian Distributors Canadian Producers Other Canadian Foreign 16.3% 1.2% 3.1% 13.1% 8.5%

19.0%

1.6% 3.7% 1.8% 0.1%

French-language documentaries for television

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 Series account for over 7 times as many hours as one offs  One-offs have nonetheless grown steadily; series are more volatile

Hours of Television Production by Format, 1999-00 to 2003-04 Year

1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

5-year total One-offs Series

40.0

334.8

51.0

64.6

628.5

463.9

70.2

78.6

304.4

521.6

479.5

2,428.4

Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in house production)

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French-language documentaries for television

 In dollar terms, however, series volume is only twice as high as one-off volume, which confirms that one-offs cost more to produce per hour

Volume of Production in millions of dollars 1999-00 to 2003-04 Year One-offs

1999-00 $11.94

2000-01 $14.29

2001-02 $18.03

2002-03 $19.99

2003-04 $21.77

5-year total $86.02

Series

$35.02

$34.73

$48.66

$57.07

$46.75

$222.2

Source: CAVCO (excludes NFB and public broadcaster in house production)

French-language broadcasters licensing documentaries

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 Far fewer broadcasters license documentaries in French compared to English   In terms of one-offs, specialty and public broadcasters are most active There has been a decline in broadcaster hours of low- and mid-budget one-offs, but increased licensing activity in big-budget one-offs  Specialty services are most active in lower-budget series licensing  Big-budget series are more popular with the SRC than other broadcasters

Source: CTF

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French-language broadcasters licensing documentaries

 In the past three years, 5 broadcasters have accessed 3/4 of CTF funding to French language documentaries  The SRC claims over ¼ of the funding in documentaries  Educational broadcasters account for another 30%

Source: CTF

Canadian Documentary Producers

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 The annual

Playback

survey shows that, in 2003, there were at least 75 documentary producers in Canada  20 producers account for over 70% of the documentary production volume   Another 55 producers account for less than 30% of total documentary production volume Fewer than half of the largest documentary producers also produce “magazine/lifestyle/reality” productions

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Concluding Observations

 Documentaries are not homogeneous  Policy-makers should be aware of the large volume of documentary production, and its significant contribution to economic activity.

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Concluding Observations

 The public sector provides a majority of the financing, and CRTC-regulated broadcasters contribute a significant share. Policy and regulation need to be aligned.

 If feature-length documentaries are important to policy-makers, then need to develop a theatrical market and financing tailored to their specific needs