Controversial comments by Alberta’s culture minister are an affront to people working in the Alberta film and television industry, said St. Albert filmmaker Sharon Murphy.
Culture and Community Spirit Minister Lindsay Blackett has been in hot water since Monday when he asked a panel at a film and television conference why his department and others in the country “fund so much shit.”
“The comments are an affront and an insult because so many skilled and talented people live and work in Alberta,” said Murphy, who won an Alberta film industry award in 2009 for her film Breakout of the Masala Kid.
Many Alberta productions are self-financed, with crews working for free because they believe in the project, she said.
“We have a lot of skilled people making really great stuff and I think if people had proper funding it would really help to bring it up a notch,” she said.
One positive to come from Blackett’s comments is that they’ve generated a lot of discussion, Murphy added.
“If his comments were provocative and it’s going to get people talking in a way that’s going to make some big changes, then that is a good thing,” she said.
Blackett’s comments came during a panel discussion during last week’s Banff World Television Festival. Blackett was in the audience at a Monday session that had five prominent Canadian actors discussing the pros and cons of working in Canada versus the United States. During the Q & A portion, Blackett asked:
“I sit here as a government representative for film and television for the province of Alberta and I look at what we produce and if we’re honest with ourselves I look at it and I say, why do I produce so much shit? Why do I fund so much crap?”
“Why [are] the broadcasters not picking up more Canadian content? Because the Canadian content isn’t what it should be,” Blackett continued.
Prior to Blackett’s question, actor Peter Keleghan, who stars on CBC’s 18 to Life, said Canada should reward television networks who air Canadian shows that attract large viewership for a certain number of years rather than providing support up front.
The actor responded to the question by suggesting that it’s much cheaper for Canadian networks to buy American programs than buy high-calibre Canadian content. They satisfy Canadian content requirements by supporting cheap content, even while knowing Canadians will reject it, he said.
Panelist Kenny Hotz, co-producer and co-star of Kenny vs. Spenny, said networks can make lots of money from popular shows, regardless of where they’re made.
“People are just not making good content here,” he said.
Blackett has said he’s sorry for his choice of words but stands by his message, that Canadians produce many quality shows but can and should do better. He said feedback he’s received largely supports this view.
“The majority of the people agree with it. They think it’s inappropriate the way I said it and I don’t disagree with them but if it generates a national discussion on how we can become better, I think that’s a good thing,” he told CBC on Thursday.
St. Albert actor-producer Mary-Lou Drachenberg was at the Banff conference but didn’t witness Blackett’s comments. She gave the minister credit for being highly engaged with industry players.
“I don’t know the context of Mr. Blackett’s statements but I do know that he was there every single day for the event,” Drachenberg said. “I’m a producer and I feel that he really wants to see us somehow succeed.”
Canadian television commentator Diane Wild, who operates the website www.tv-eh.com, was at the session where Blackett spoke. She said his question displayed a “worrying” level of ignorance about Canadian television but also hit on a relevant issue.
“I started my site five years ago because I sat in that very room listening to Canadian television executives saying what the minister was saying, only in more nuanced terms, that Canadian television has a quality problem and we need to find a way to make it better,” she said.
Wild posted her recording of the session on her blog at: http://unifiedtheorynothingmuch.blogspot.com/2010/06/audio-lindsay-blackett-comments.html
Alberta’s opposition parties have called for Blackett to resign.
