starlight

Last week, the titans of Canadian cinema joined forces to make their case for a mandatory all-Canadian movie channel that they would own collectively: Robert Lantos, David Cronenberg, Paul Gross, Deepa Mehta, Denys Arcand, Guy Maddin and more — the gang was all there. Each took a turn to present the case in favour of forcing Starlight channel onto every Canadian cable and satellite subscriber’s TV, and obligating each of us to pay for it. Lantos called film “the highest achievement of mass culture.” Cronenberg said our movies “represent the high-water mark in Canadian creative and cultural expression.”

I love movies, too. Who doesn’t? But what they had to say is worth repeating:

Producer Denise Robert said she’s “very concerned” for the future of her teenage daughter who watches too many American movies and not enough Canadian ones.

When asked why the public should be forced to pay for a station many don’t want and won’t watch, Paul Gross said it’s the only way Canadians will realize how much they “need” Canadian films.

Director Deepa Mehta told the CRTC that Starlight will “make piracy impossible” because people will finally be able to watch Canadian films legally.

As self-important (and perhaps, delusional) as the directors were, I believe they were well-intentioned.   And yet producer Robert Lantos, the majority partner in Starlight, said things to the CRTC and to the press that do not seem to match what Starlight said in its official application.

Starlight wants more money from Canadians per year than we give to Telefilm Canada. Unlike Telefilm, Starlight is a private company, and we’ll have no way to hold it accountable once it gets a licence (the CRTC doesn’t audit the books of TV channels).  The CRTC and the public have one chance to scrutinize what Lantos and Co. are proposing to do with our money during the next seven years.

I think it’s crucial to hold them to account while we can.

Here’s what Lantos told my Maclean’s colleague Brian D. Johnson, when presented with the criticism that Starlight wants not only to show Canadian movies, but also to make them, using public funds to finance a private movie studio:
“There is no studio model. Calling it a studio is inaccurate.”
Yet here’s what the Starlight application says:
“… the (Starlight) Fund will operate as a ‘mini-studio’ and will receive and evaluate proposals in the same way that successful studios do.”

 — Paragraph 97 of Starlight’s supplementary brief.

The veteran producer defends his proposed ‘mandatory carriage’ Canadian film channel

Internet startup says the channel will hurt its “unbundled” cable plan