An amendment was made to bill 96, which was adopted on Wednesday, to take into account the reality of the film industry. The latter feared that increased requirements in terms of French -language communication among companies would scare off from Montreal to large American studios wanting to shoot their films in Canada.
This amendment amends article 142 of the Charter of the French language and specifies that the francization program adopted by companies does not target activities directly related to the manufacture of these cultural goods when their linguistic content is in a language other than French, and that these activities cannot be conducted other than in that other language.
The Quebec Office of Cinema and Television (BCTQ) is pleased to see the law clarified. This reaffirms to our partners, to American studios and other foreign countries, our desire to create the most competitive conditions to attract more foreign filmmaking to Quebec. emphasizes Christine Maestracci, President and CEO of BCTQ.
Same pleasure with AQTIS 514 IATSE, which represents 8,000 freelancers working in audiovisual production. I am very happy with the reaction of the government, the Minister of Culture and Communications Nathalie Roy was very attentive to our reality, reacted its president Christian Lemay. The government felt the need to protect job creation in this company.
Changes in bill address concerns He added.
Stay competitive in Toronto and Vancouver
In fact, members of this union organization are afraid to see their jobs lost if foreign productions start leaving Montreal, especially as the summer promises to be hard on filmmaking. major American productions. Only the next film in the Scream series, with a budget of 50 million US dollars (about 64 million Canadian dollars), will be shot in two months in the Quebec metropolis. Will Smith’s slap in the face of Chris Rock at the Oscars led to the cancellation of the film’s sequel project. Clearlyto shoot in Montreal.
American producers don’t know all the details of Act 96. The rumor, a rumor, is enough for them to say to themselves: “we’re going to choose Toronto to shoot our film, it’s going to be easier “explains Jean-Charles Myrand, a cinema lighting designer primarily working in American mega-productions.
Quebec is not always a first choice destination, he added. Obtaining permits for filming locations has become difficult in Montreal.
French will be heard on the set
According to this professional, French is already spoken on the film sets of major American films. Health and safety discussions take place in French, members of the technical staff speak to each other in the Molière language and English is mainly used to communicate with the chefs, who are from the United States.
Efforts have been made to translate contracts into French and, at times, we see Americans trying their hand at French. said Jean-Charles Myrand.
The only time he was forced to speak English on a set was in filming a Hockey Night in Canadaat the Bell Center, eight years ago. Don Cherry said “you don’t speak French on this show”he recalled.
According to Christian Lemay, the Quebec government should now educate producers about law 96 to ensure they do. If we explain the situation, we will probably revive our industry he said.
Regarding the drop in the number of large-scale American production shots this summer, Christine Maestracci sees it as a return to normal after last year’s records. 2021 is an extraordinary year for all indicators of the audiovisual industry.
This text was written frominterviews conducted by Catherine Richercultural columnist on the show 15-18. Comments may have been edited for clarity or brevity.
Source: Radio-Canada
