As a seasoned TV industry enthusiast with a penchant for Canadian content, I find myself both disheartened and intrigued by the latest report from the Writers Guild of Canada. The decline in work opportunities for WGC members, coupled with the continued use of mini rooms, paints a concerning picture for the future of Canadian TV.
The excessive number of “small workspaces” proved a significant challenge in ending the 2023 Writers Guild of America work stoppage, and the recently signed three-year agreement now mandates a certain level of staffing to put an end to the Hollywood writers’ strike.
It appears that the Canadian television industry hasn’t yet been informed about the new minimum staffing requirements for writers rooms, as indicated by the Writers Guild of Canada’s most recent report on equity, diversity, and inclusion. This 2024 report signals a first decrease in the number of TV episodes commissioned by Canadian linear TV and streaming services, which directly impacts employment opportunities for WGC members.
The frequent employment of small writing teams in mini rooms located north of the border, which produce entire television series, contributes significantly to this issue. According to a WGC report, this trend, coupled with a decrease in WGC members contributing to Canadian TV series, is a consequence of the shrinking Canadian domestic audiovisual sector and the adoption of harmful industry practices like ‘mini-rooms.’
More recent Canadian television series debuts include “Murder in a Small Town” on Global TV, which is a mystery-drama featuring Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk, and has been acquired by Fox for distribution in the U.S. market. Additionally, there’s “Little Bird,” an indigenous drama that originally aired on Crave in Canada and is now available on PBS in the United States.
In recent years, when the TV industry was experiencing its peak expansion, several factors contributed to an unprecedented level of TV production in cities like Toronto, Vancouver, and others within Canada. These factors included a lower value of the Canadian dollar compared to the U.S. dollar, attractive tax incentives, and growing demand for original content from American streaming platforms. As a result, domestic production hubs were busier than ever before.
However, as more advertising funds are shifting from traditional local TV broadcasters towards streaming and digital platforms in Canada, the rate of domestic content production has noticeably decreased due to reduced spending by local TV networks.
In a similar vein to how Hollywood works, Canadian TV broadcasters and streaming platforms are increasingly offering series directly without going through the traditional pilot development process that involves large writer’s rooms. The latest WGC report for 2024 highlighted 76 domestic series—33 live-action and 43 animated—produced in 2023, along with an additional 372 series from the period between 2019 and 2022.
This year’s report showed a decrease in the number of writers involved in the series we covered, as compared to previous years, and specifically to 2016. The Canadian Writers Guild found that there was an 11% drop in the number of WGC members contributing to Canadian TV productions.
The Writers Guild of Canada contends that diminishing chances for its members hampers their capacity to join and sustain a presence in the Canadian television industry. This is particularly significant considering that diverse Canadian authors from underrepresented groups aim to move beyond entry-level writers’ room roles, such as story editors, and ascend to the position of showrunners.
To gain experience, aspiring television writers require practical time in television studios to understand tasks prior to production, collaborating with executives during filming, and responsibilities after production. While job openings for diverse writers have expanded, top-level positions continue to be challenging to attain, as the WGC report cautioned.
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2024-10-04 20:54