2009-07-28 PARTNERSHIP DEAL BETWEEN THE QFTC AND IMAGINOVE
The Québec Film and Television Council (BCTQ) and Imaginove, the Rhône-Alpes region’s Competitiveness Center, are pleased to announce they have signed a partnership deal that will emphasize collaboration and economic development opportunities between Québec and Rhône-Alpes businesses.
After a first encounter during the ‘entretiens Jacques-Cartier’ (held in Montréal on 6 and 7 October 2008), talks continued between the two film clusters in order to discuss their respective positionings. A cooperative agreement was then drafted in the objective of creating mutually beneficial projects.
The two regions have significant complementarities: Montréal is a gateway to the north-American market, while Lyon is the gateway to the European markets.
With this partnership, beyond the obvious exchanges of information and business practices, the QFTC and Imaginove would also like for their respective members to develop working relations by encouraging them to meet and to discuss subjects of common interest: through development projects on innovation, commercialization, and training (schools); mutual invitations to events organised by both clusters; and by participation in key trade shows.
The partnership was signed on June 11th, during the “Marché International du Film d’Animation (MIFA)” in Annecy, France. A first joint activity was organised during MIFA: Quebec businesses present at the event were invited to take part in the “Cluster Tour”, organised by Imaginove. This “Cluster Tour” included visits to studios in Annecy as well as networking activities with delegations from the Rhône-Alpes region of France, Japan, Korea and Belgium.
The Québec Film and Television Council’s Film Commissioner, Mr Hans Fraikin, is very happy about this agreement: “there is no doubt that within the current economic context, businesses wishing to stand apart from the competition and to accelerate their growth must focus on strategies that will develop international markets. The resulting projects of this partnership will offer new opportunities of co-productions, research and exportation for our animation, visual effects and even video games industries”.
Both the QFTC and Imaginove will continue to work throughout the summer months to prepare common interest projects that could see the light of day as early as this autumn.
2009-06-22 PASSAGE OF BILL 32 - NEW GOVERNMENT MEASURE
Montreal, Friday, June 19, 2009 – The Quebec Film and Television Council (QFTC) is extremely pleased to learn that Bill 32, which is intended to amend the Act governing artists’ status, was passed by the National Assembly yesterday. This Bill – the government’s response to a demand for recognition of artisans and technicians working in Quebec’s audiovisual production industry – heralds a return to labour peace, which is an essential criterion for hosting foreign film productions.
Coupled with the improved tax credits for foreign film productions announced by the government last Friday, Bill 32 ensures a surge of Hollywood and foreign film productions returning to Quebec. Hans Fraikin, Quebec Film Commissioner for the QFTC, anticipates that these measures will help Quebec regain its status as one of the world’s most dynamic film production locations: “Quebec is now open for business...”
The QFTC wishes to thank Christine St-Pierre, Minister of Culture, Communications and the Status of Women, for her commitment to this important issue and the concrete action taken over the past few days to benefit Quebec’s film industry.
2009-06-15 MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS TO TAX CREDIT FOR FOREIGN FILM PRODUCTION SERVICES
The Quebec Film and Television Council (QFTC) is extremely pleased with the Quebec government’s important announcement today, regarding the change in tax credits for foreign film production services. The 25% rate, applicable to labour costs, has now been extended to include all eligible expenses. An additional 5% enhancement for special effects, digital animation and green-screen shooting brings the effective rate for any eligible production to 30%.
The QFTC extends a special thanks to Raymond Bachand, Minister of Finance, and Christine St-Pierre, Minister of Culture, Communications and the Status of Women, for their quick involvement in this important tax credit issue. The concrete action they have taken, at a time of intensified international competition, is certain to impact positively on efforts to promote Quebec’s assets to American producers.
This decision, which bespeaks a strong commitment to Quebec’s film and television industry, is also evidence of the dynamic, open relationship the industry has forged with government, and of solid support for the QFTC’s mission: to develop Quebec’s competitiveness as a world-class film production centre. Film Commissioner Hans Fraikin is pleased with the Quebec government‘s response to requests for changes in the foreign film production services tax credits, which can now be applied to all eligible expenses, while maintaining the enhancement for special effects. "The entire industry will benefit considerably – in both the short and long term – from these measures. Quebec has returned to the foreground, with tax breaks that are more than typically competitive.”
2008-05-01 The QFTC is mandated to promote the Québec dubbing industry to American distributors
Montréal – April 30, 2008 – Ms. Christine St-Pierre, Minister of Culture, Communications and the Status of Women, has entrusted the Québec Film and Television Council (QFTC) with a three-year mandate to promote Québec dubbing know-how and incentives to the American industry, in collaboration with the Heenan Blaikie law firm.
This decision follows Minister St-Pierre’s announcement rejecting any recourse to legislative measures to prohibit the distribution of films dubbed in French elsewhere than in Québec. By avoiding the legislative route to promote dubbing, the Minister subscribes to the recent recommendations of Mr. Roy L. Heenan, founder and President of Heenan Blaikie, whom she had mandated last year to study this major issue. The observations and conclusions submitted by Mr. Blaikie corroborate those of a previous study, the Lampron Report. The two studies arrive at the same conclusion, confirming that the advantageous incentives have proven their value and have increased the volume of films dubbed in Québec.
It seems that many American studios, particularly the majors, are still unaware of the incentives established by the Government of Québec. This is the perspective in which the QFTC has been assigned the responsibility of promoting the many incentives introduced for the Québec dubbing industry. As QFTC Commissioner Hans Fraikin pointed out, “This mandate is congruous to our mission of contributing to Québec’s development and competitiveness as a world-class film production centre. I am convinced that the dubbing industry will emerge a winner from this more targeted promotional strategy and thus will continue to make a major contribution to our entire industry.”
Finally, in order to further promote our incentives and initiate discussions with the major American studios, the QFTC, over the next few months, will facilitate a dubbing observatory, attended by the American majors, Québec distributors and representatives of the Department and the Régie du cinéma. Of course, promotional tools will be created to support the Commissioner’s sensitization visits to companies that do little or no dubbing in Québec.
