Outgoing CEO of Telefilm Canada Talks Diversity Amid Racial Failure: ‘It’s About Reducing Barriers’

When Krista Dickenson steps down as CEO and CEO of Telefilm Canada after four years at the helm of the country’s biggest film financer, she looks back on a four-year term shaken by the pandemic and protests.

“For me, that meant 2020 was the catalyst for a real cultural shift in television,” says Dickenson. the hollywood reporter Because the COVID-19 crisis and the murder of George Floyd, whose death sparked protests for racial justice, has become a point of transformation and modernization for the main financier of Canadian cinema.

In addition to investing in the reopening and reconstruction of the Canadian film sector the root of the pandemic, Dickenson has also overcome the criticism and opposition to a greater diversity of Canadian creative voices, including new talents from the black, indigenous and color del communities. Country.

“We really appreciate how they’ve held onto the Canadian production industry for a long time,” the former TV movie executive said of black Canadian filmmakers, some of whom will debut their most recent films at TIFF.

Before leaving, Dickenson sat down the hollywood reporter to reflect on his tumultuous four years at the helm of Telefilm Canada and the legacy he left behind for his successor.

Canada’s film industry and the federal government have committed to investing more in diverse local talent, in front of and behind the camera. How did that affect your tenure at Telefilm Canada?

had a big impact. Collaboration has been instrumental in our transformation journey at Telefilm. The federal government supported our priorities beyond diversity. And the industry was really ready.

Television has also been affected by the pandemic and you have created a temporary fund to provide basic insurance coverage for movies, TV and web series whose production schedules have been disrupted by the COVID-19 crisis.

The federal government has made an incredible investment during COVID. This was unheard of. This made it possible to invest in companies with previous projects, but to produce and promote Canadian films and creators. So it’s no surprise that the last two years and nearly three years of my tenure have been incredible.

When Telefilm Canada took on the responsibility of making the industry more representative of black, indigenous and people of color by funding its films, its organization created its own critique of the systemic racism that permeated the industry.

We have received very harsh criticism and recognize the systemic racism that has existed for decades. For me, that meant that 2020 was the catalyst for a real cultural shift in the telefilm, and secondly, that we really made a clear commitment to the government. It was a unique approach to delivering on our promise and strategic plan to be the partner of choice.

From the beginning, the telefilm made great strides in bridging the gender gap in Canadian industry. But obstacles to advancing and promoting BIPOC’s talent took longer to overcome. Because

You are right to say this. When I arrived at Telefilm, we already had a working group on gender equality and a local working group. The work we’ve been doing in these areas has been deliberate, slow and incremental to get clear results. In terms of gender equality, we look at the producer, director and screenwriter. In early 2016, our goal was to achieve gender parity of approximately 60-40, and we did.

But we started looking at the annual data to be more granular, because you might find a way to say, “Great, we’ve achieved gender equality.” But in what categories and how? We found that gender equality was stronger in low-budget documentaries or films than in big-budget films. What we’ve seen in recent years is that women are making more money, and that’s when we know we’re really starting to move the needle. This is not simple interest. He looks at the whole picture.

At the same time, some BIPOC talent was wary of TV movie funding, not sure if they qualified for the investment, but then felt welcome when they showed up. Have you made an effort to help diverse talent navigate your application process?

I’m glad you say this because, as I said before, 2020 was a catalyst for cultural change and I started to bring that to TV, but they were baby steps. What we did was stop and do a lot of introspection. The approach had to start from within. How can you change your programs if you haven’t changed your own composition at the institution? Who we are, what we do, it’s not just how we look, it’s how we behave, how we speak, the language we use. We’ve changed and evolved, and that’s reflected in our programs, our process, our decision-making process, and our guiding principles, and they’re evolving. So what we did was change the dialogue with the industry.

And has that brought more diverse developers to your door to invest?

It should have started with communication. There were some creators who didn’t recognize themselves or who visited Telefilm’s website and felt they didn’t know how to deal with the problem. So we started with a pan-Canadian consultation from coast to coast. In doing so, we introduce more transparency, more accountability and consistency. And we removed the exception mode. “Oh, we have a problem. Well, let’s make an exception. Well, that’s not fair. You have to be consistent. Many arrived late. And frankly, and not naively, there is still a lot of work to be done. I feel that Telefilm as an institution, as an executive team, as a board of directors, has played an important role in what I hope will be the construction and normalization of a more representative and sustainable audiovisual industry.

An independent film these days, especially on streaming platforms, includes foreign language fees. Canadian cities are multicultural. Has Telefilm advanced foreign language filmmaking, or only partially, by investing in local creators?

We really moved the needle on this one. Now we begin to search our world for authentic narratives. This is a very hot topic in Canada, and it’s a sensitive one. who says what A telefilm is more about how the story is told. We take care to ensure that scripts are read sensitively to ensure they are spoken sensitively. Authentic storytelling is a big part of inclusiveness and diversity.

Telefilm reconsidered funding its films in light of Canada’s election reports, establishing a two-tier industry where major producers received generous, automatic funding that smaller filmmakers, including those in the BIPOC communities, did not. Tell us about this effort.

From a financing point of view, it is about reducing barriers. We had a pan-Canadian consultation where we discussed the development program, the talent scouting program and the success rate. The main finding was the success rate that generated automatic financing for certain producers and was outdated. We don’t have it anymore. There are more people with access to more dollars in the selective stream, which by default means more votes. And at Talent to Watch, we double funding on each project.

The telefilm focuses on supporting first-time filmmakers. Then there’s the challenge of funding the second and third films to launch and sustain a career. How did you overcome these obstacles for the creators of BIPOC?

This is a challenge in all countries. For any group seeking capital, it’s even harder for them. Blacks and blacks face even more challenges, even if this is a problem common to any first-time director. So, as part of Telefilm’s modernization, we looked at, for example, Talent to Watch. We’ve optimized it to focus more on funding first-time filmmakers. But then there’s the struggle to get them to do a second and a third movie. This is an industry-wide problem. We put incredible emphasis on promotion. We’re not just going to fund a project and tell filmmakers to find their place in the world. We are very focused on promoting Canadian talent at international festivals and we are focused on training and mentoring workshops. We strive to improve filmmakers’ careers.

Where is Telefilm’s diversity and inclusion initiative paying dividends in terms of the directors it supports?

I’m thinking of the first local co-production, night invaders, by Denis Goulet, and in Berlin and TIFF last year. In 2019, I remember the New Zealand Network meeting where it all started. These opportunities, investor to investor or funder to production team and talent to funder, are all about understanding how we work together. We may not necessarily be there for the funding, but we will be there for the conversation and how to connect people. and also Antigone Director Sophie Desrappe is making her second feature film, Pascal Plante is working on her third film. to blush, and Heather Young is now in her second film. I can see what happens. And that won’t happen to everyone.

And specifically black filmmakers in Canada?

We really appreciate how they stayed in the Canadian manufacturing industry for a long time. We created a dedicated stream for black creators. I was excited when I found out when the Black Screen Office was created. We have support. These steps are very important. We learned from the indigenous community from their paths to the protocol they implemented. We responded by listening first and then making sure the dialogue was taking place.