ROLE REVERSAL.

STURSBERG, Richard; COPPS, Sheila, 1952-

The article discusses the Canadian film industry. Telefilm Canada is the federal agency charged with investing in and promoting indigenous film and TV production. In an effort to boost the woeful performance of Canadian films at the domestic box office in 2001, then Canadian heritage minister Sheila Copps raised Telefilm's film funding. But the films had to capture an average of 5% of the local box office within five years. Under the dictates of what Richard Stursberg dubbed "the Math," a film producer seeking more than $1 million from Telefilm would have to present a business plan showing how the film would earn at least that much at the Canadian box office. A so-called "performance envelope" was structured around a reward ratio that paid a premium for every dollar grossed. Now, midway through the five-year plan, the 5% national level is within grasp. But the achievement is lopsided, only increasing the disparity between English and French. Bill House, who established an independent film and television production company, House of Films, spent 15 years in public-sector film financing, 12 of those years at Telefilm. House thinks Telefilm's benchmark should be pegged against the Canadian box-office take of non-U.S. films, where $500,000 would be considered a hit. A funding system based on unrealistic box-office expectations is necessarily skewed against English-Canadian film. The true benefit of Telefilm's nearly 40 years of investment may not be apparent for another 40 years. To appreciate the current state of Canada's film industry, one must consider what things would be like had the investment never happened. The coming generation of Canadian filmmakers will get their start because of the presence of a film industry that would otherwise not exist.