When U.S. film industry people think of Canada and movies, default thoughts might jump to Jim Carrey or Ivan Reitman or the Toronto Film Festival. Yank art-house fans or film scholars might make associations with the likes of the National Film Board of Canada, Sweet Hereafter director Atom Egoyan or Winnipeg auteur Guy Maddin. And older minds may drift to images of screen legend Nelson Eddy as a Mountie in Canada’s wilderness.

But zoom in on the Province of Quebec (P.Q.), with an approximate population approaching ten million people, and there’s a whole other Canada to consider, where a vast majority of people speak French as their first language, embrace Hollywood films like crazy, but create enough traffic to keep their local French-language production industry vibrant and growing.

With 90% of Canada’s French-speaking population residing in Quebec, it’s no surprise then that the industry and fans are all about films en francais and that films in the French language are the mainstay of a robust exhibition business.

But don’t think of Quebec as a foreign market. In important ways, their industry and its audiences mimic their neighbors in the U.S. About 85% of the Quebec box office goes to Hollywood films. These are dubbed in French, as French Canadians, like their European brethren, aren’t big fans of subtitles. And the dubbing for French Canadians, done in Quebec’s filmmaking hub of Montreal, reflects the patois of the province’s French-speaking majority.
Notes Victor Rego, VP of marketing and distribution for Montreal-based Seville Pictures/Les Films Seville, “A slang term used in France today may not be used here. And we’re more protective of the French language in Quebec than the French are.” Humorously referring to the stuffy French Academy, which in France provides oversight, he adds, “Yes, there is the French Academy, but we have laws—which is better than having a bunch of academic…” Rego uses a derogatory term reflecting Canada’s U.K. ties, a word no Academy, French or otherwise, would smile upon.

To cite just one example of Quebec lingo, while France’s French use the word “e-mail,” Quebeckers send and receive “courriel.”

Theatres in Quebec number about 150 locations and 800 screens, says Marcel Venne, president of the Association des Proprietaires de salles de cinema et cine-parcs du Quebec (APCCQ), and offer overwhelmingly French-language fare. There are only about ten theatres and 150 screens showing films mainly in English and these are usually on the west side of Montreal. Exhibitors Cineplex Entertainment and Cinemas Guzzo have such locations.
While Cinemas Guzzo operates in the greater Montreal area, Cineplex Entertainment, Canada’s largest chain, has about 22 theatres, including a few partnerships in the border city of Gatineau, in the province of Quebec and 227 screens. French is spoken there, of course, with maybe only 10 to 15% offering English only; this minority includes 2 drive-ins, known as cine-parcs to the natives.

Cineplex’s two fully English-language theatres are both in Montreal. A few other Cineplex locations around Montreal are mixed, meaning the same film may be playing on separate screens in French or English.

It is rare that English-language films in Quebec are subtitled rather than dubbed, and Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 a few years back was one such rarity. More recently, the Quebec release of the Italian hit Gomorrah played with French subtitles. But dubbed films rule.

Says Seville’s Rego, “Francophone filmgoers are used to the convention of dubbing and accept it. Dubbing is for films that are truly genre and are not being sold as art films. There is that dividing line, so we have to make judicious choices about whether to dub or subtitle and we have that option.”

Besides the language spoken there and the resistance to subtitles, the other major differences separating the Quebec and the U.S. industries are Quebec’s loyalty to and pride in their local culture and talent and the immense support the local industry gets from government organizations and programs.

While the U.S. film industry and government are about as separate as religion and the state, Canada’s government seems to worship and respect its industry and creators like crazy.
The socially engaged National Film Board of Canada (NFB), Canada’s public film producer and distributor, has been thriving for about 65 years, mainly supporting animation, documentaries and what it calls “alternative drama.”



Impacting more in the commercial feature realm are Telefilm Canada (TC), a federal entity, and Quebec’s SODEC (Societe des Investissement dans les enterprises culturelles), two government funders that support local French-language features primarily aimed at theatrical exhibition. While SODEC is active in a number of other Quebecois cultural areas, including books, recordings and new media, TC is focused on Canada’s audiovisual efforts, mainly TV and feature film product.

SODEC and TC are usually joint funders in a single French Canadian feature, as TC has a cap of 49% of a film’s budget and producers need SODEC and other financing sources for the rest.
About one-third of TC’s funds go to French Canadian productions versus two-thirds to English-speaking Canada. Canadian government funding support can begin at script stage and carry through to promotion and even to the theatre owners—an impressive stretch of involvement considering that, in the U.S., feature films and government are mainly joined at the lobbying hip.

To help filmmakers reach theatres with their movies, TC administers the Canada Feature Film Fund. TC takes applications submitted from producers, determines whether certain criteria have been fulfilled, and chooses which projects to fund. According to TC communications officer Alejandra Sosa, the fund supports about 10 to 12 French-language films out of approximately 40 Canadian films and co-productions selected yearly.

Other groups supporting the Quebec film industry, exclusively or not, include the Montreal-based Quebec Film and Television Council, the Montreal Film and Television Commission, the Association Canadienne des Distributeurs et Exportateurs de Films (Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters), the Association des producteurs de films et de télévision du Québec (APFTQ) and the Canadian Film Institute.

And while Canada’s well-known, Oscar-like Genie Awards cover all of Canada, French Canadians have the TC-supported “La Soiree des Jutra” and its Jutra Awards, named after the late Quebec filmmaker Claude Jutra, long identified with the National Film Board of Canada.

On the commercial front, Quebec has its share of important movie trade groups. The whole of Canada has a NATO equivalent in the Toronto-based Motion Picture Theatre Associations of Canada (MPTAC), headed by executive director Adina Lebo. And the P.Q. boasts its own group in the aforementioned APCCQ, known in English as the Quebec Theatre Owners Association. Their dinner at ShowCanada this year is a tribute to Ellis Jacob, president and CEO of Cineplex Entertainment.

And as Canada has its annual ShoWest-like ShowCanada, the P.Q. has Ciné-Québec, an annual gathering of all those involved in Quebec cinema, from creators to exhibitors.
Again mimicking the U.S., filmgoing is robust in P.Q. but which are the films Quebeckers are embracing? Hollywood product dubbed in French reigns supreme; The Dark Knight, for instance, was the most successful film ever released in Quebec. But it’s the dubbing that ensures the impact. Says Seville’s Rego, “A strong majority of the prints we handle, including last winter’s smash Twilight, are French-dubbed and 90% of our releases are in the French language.”

The Quebec arm of E1 Entertainment, Seville distributes only in Quebec, so English-only releases are rare. One example is the current Sunshine Cleaning, which Seville worked in Montreal with only two prints.

Because of its Quebec focus, Seville picks up films independent of E1. Notes Rego, “We get a lot of French films from France and pre-buy local French productions for distribution.”
Rego reminds that the French Canadian market is so special that Seville won’t use prints that the Hollywood studios customize for France. “We take care of dubbing locally because we have to be careful regarding our local culture, not merely the language. Just as there are clear differences between British English and American, these exist between French and French Canadian.”



As in the U.S., where Hollywood taps stars for animation voice-overs, the French Canadians pick their own stars for dubbing chores. For the Up-coming Quebec release of Pixar’s much-anticipated 3D Up, France’s singing and acting legend Charles Aznavour and Quebec comedian Rachid Badouri—both Quebec favorites—are lending their voices. And when Disney needed voices for the Quebec release of Bolt, local stars Guy Jodoin and Claude Legeault were recruited. For Horton Hears a Who!, Fox used locals Joel Legendre and Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge.

Hollywood films, 3D and dubbed, do extremely well in Quebec and have proved to be “a great investment,” says Montreal-based Daniel Séguin, VP of operations, Eastern Canada, and general manager, Québec, Cineplex Entertainment.

While studio films represent about 85% of the Quebec market, Quebeckers also love their homegrown French-language films and their rise in popularity is an important factor in today’s Quebec market. According to APCCQ’s Venne, local productions account for about 10% of films shown in Quebec and their market share has fluctuated from year to year from about 9.5% to about 20%. These films, which began their climb about 15 years ago, reached their 20% peak of popularity in 2005 but have recently dipped. The consensus is that 2009 already looks like it will be a good vintage for the local output.

Venne observes, “No matter these small gyrations, the local films attract large crowds and this is very important to us. Hollywood is great, but we also want to play other product. This local product is important to our culture, so theatres make an effort to afford the local films better dates, like those in summer. And we work hard to get the screens.”

In fact, the close relationship between exhibition and distribution has been and continues to be a contributing factor to the growth of local product. Cineplex’s Seguin says the chain pays close attention to promotion by maintaining good relationships with all distributors. “If a local film distributor wants to put a film on our screens, we’ll accommodate because our priority [in Quebec] is that local productions get seen and are in demand.”

According to statistics compiled by MPTAC and Zoom Services, of the 625 films released in Canada last year, about 300 came from Hollywood, 70 were imported from France, and 56 were locally produced in Quebec. These latter represented only 2% of the Canadian market but scored substantially higher in the P.Q.

The 2006 action comedy Bon Cop, Bad Cop, for instance, was a homegrown hit that grossed about ten million Canadian dollars in Quebec and was one of all of Canada’s top grossers. Other strong performers in the local category have included Denys Arcand’s 2003 Oscar-winning Les Invasions barbares (The Barbarian Invasions); La Grande Seduction; Serafen; Jean-Marc Vallée’s 2005 gay-themed C.R.A.Z.Y; Cruising Bar 2, a comedy in which one actor plays four roles; and the recent Genie and Jutra winner Ce qu’il faut pour vivre (The Necessities of Life), which only played art-house markets last year but reportedly did quite well. Another local winner was the hockey-themed, feel-good comedy-drama Les Boys, which in 2005 outgrossed the French-dubbed version of Titanic.

The promise that 2009 holds is largely due to two current local productions which are short-listed for this year’s Cannes and performing strongly: the biographical drama Dédé à travers les brumes and Denis Villeneuve’s Polytechnique, about a real-life random mass murder at a Quebec university about 20 years ago.

The film’s gruesome subject aside, Venne explains the appeal of Polytechnique: “The film was made with respect. It’s just in black-and-white, and although the real story had so much violence, it isn’t shown here. It’s told in a way that people can manage.”

Looking at the recent and sustained success of local product, Michel Prader, Montreal-based Quebec bureau head and national director, investment portfolio, for Telefilm Canada, explains, “The people here relate to the local films because their stars often migrate from Quebec TV and are familiar. And since 2000, distributors have really been making strong efforts to promote these films because the producers are more intent on making popular films and there are government incentives to get them to boost box office.”

Cineplex Entertainment’s Seguin explains the strength of local films this way: “We began trending upwards around 2000 because the quality of Quebec production went up. We have impressive local talent in Quebec and our local industry is so strong compared to rest of Canada. We have created our own business.”

Quebec theatres, in fact, are behind this local movement as if it were their civic duty. Notes Seguin, “We promote the culture by giving back to the community the films it has created.”
Political trends don’t seem to be part of the equation, so don’t expect too soon any films about Quebec seceding from Canada. While the sociopolitical zeitgeist has occasionally impacted U.S. films and film-going, especially in the ’60s and ’70s and as the Vietnam War emerged a theme, Quebec filmgoers, observes Seguin, seem to avoid weighty political material, even when the Quebec separatist Quebec Libre movement makes some noise.

The smallest segment of French-language films playing the province are those catering more to upscale audiences, usually the films imported from France. These are titles familiar to art-house fans south of the Canadian border. Seguin concedes that “the French imports could do better, but there’s still a niche for it.” Of interest is the fact that that local film production has stolen some of the thunder.



Surprisingly, French imports tend to play as they do in U.S. theatres—as art-house or specialty product that are especially strong in the larger markets. Thus, U.S. specialty hits Tell No One, Entre les murs (The Class), and La Vie en rose were robust performers in the province. But they did art-house business. Seguin observes, “We have art-house-like screens that play specialty product which could also be arty niche, especially around Montreal and Quebec City. It has to do with the population around these theatres. In this niche, we’re really looking forward to [French gangster hit] Mesrine.” An interesting anomaly is France’s un-arty, hit populist comedy Bienvenue aux Chi’tis, which hasn’t and probably won’t reach U.S. theatres but did well in Quebec.

Seville’s Rego says that Quebec theatres play a lot of French imports, but these have lost a lot of market share over the past 20 years to the French Canadian films which now are the distant second to Hollywood product. Rego suggests that Seville Pictures’ success with Tell No One probably had a lot to do with the fact that the distributor promoted the film as a thriller.

But Quebec has moved away from films from France in the past 15 or 20 years and the trend has much to do with the popularity of French-Canadian films. As Rego explains, “This shift has much to do with the cultural disparity between the two areas. The Quebecois today have more of an identity. And we have our local stars of film and TV.”

Still, he and other Quebec distributors interface regularly with France’s international film promotion arm Unifrance. But suggesting that the Quebec market is deemed too small or the cultural differences and affinity for local product too big, Unifrance does not maintain an office in Canada.

Hollywood-dubbed, local films and the art-house handful aside, opera offerings in theatres are proving that Quebec theatre-goers can also be adventurous. Says Venne, “We now offer opera from places like Emerging Pictures. We get a much older crowd with these presentations and these presentations are working very well, especially because we are now pulling in older audiences.” Emerging Pictures, unlike the in-theatre Metropolitan Opera shows, provides French subtitles with its non-French presentations.

Cineplex Entertainment’s Seguin concurs that “the movie experience with the Metropolitan Opera is bringing back people to theatres and is very popular in P.Q., especially as compared to other Canadian provinces. Even more rural Quebec corners and smaller regions like Three Rivers can play the operas, he adds. These operas are live broadcasts and subtitles when needed are only in English. He explains the appeal: “The Quebec population is educated, looking for diversity and new entertainment venues. And they’ll try new things, even Italian operas with English subtitles.”

So who are these Quebec audiences, these “avid” filmgoers who love dubbed Hollywood, loyally embrace local fare that rarely strays from P.Q., may regularly go arty, enjoy a night at the opera but generally resist subtitles?

Venne has seen the Quebec audiences evolve. “Maybe 20 years ago, we just had the young people. But today the main audiences begin at the age of 14 and all the way through to seniors. There’s no problem of age today. But we need the variety of product, the range to sustain this. The opera offerings are the latest example of this stretch.”

Cineplex’s Seguin observes, “They want to see quality and have a good time. They want to escape, and movie habits haven’t changed. There are so many other things to do, but our surveys show that going to the movies is a priority.”

Smaller chains, too, embrace Hollywood and homegrown product because that is what Quebec audiences want. Vincenzo Guzzo, executive VP of Montreal-based Cinemas Guzzo, now celebrating its 35th year, takes a decidedly populist position on the matter of audience taste. His theatres are in 12 locations and represent about 151 screens.

“Depending on where our theatres are located, some play 100% English-language or some 100% French-language or some 50/50. Both of our 18-screen multiplexes are about 60% English-language. And we have theatres in immigrant neighborhoods where we might offer a screen playing a film in Indian, Egyptian, Arabic or Mandarin.” Such is the melting pot that is Canada, especially in larger cities like Montreal.



About 70% of what Cinemas Guzzos plays are Hollywood movies dubbed into French. About 20% are French-Canadian local productions and about 10% of the films booked come from outside North America. “Our audiences now want to be entertained,” says Guzzo. “They don’t need other people’s problems because they have their own.”

Just as audiences have challenges to deal with, especially in this economy, so does the Quebec industry. Venne observes, “The challenge to get audiences into seats for smaller films remains. But we need to show what people want to see. We need pictures for a large crowd, for families in some cases. So playing films d’auteurs is hard. Just like Hollywood, we need to deliver good stories well-made.”

Telefilm’s Pradier notes that most TC-funded pictures are films d’auteurs. He acknowledges the challenge of having to compete with Hollywood product and that the two markets in Quebec are very different and must reach different audiences.

“American releases need aggressive promotion and those huge marketing budgets, so it’s hard for our films to compete,” he reflects. “But it’s not impossible. Look at 2005, when Quebec had an exceptional year with our [locally produced] films, and this year so far is looking strong.”

Still, the pressure mounts so that “there is a bigger and bigger appetite to do films that are more appealing to the public.” TC’s portfolio, therefore, has become diversified. But the public’s desire for niche won’t die, he says, because their confidence in local product has grown, thanks to the locally made comedies and thrillers of a few years back that began triggering audience interest.

How to market and cut through the clutter is a big issue, as it is everywhere. Pradier says that promotion is important, no matter the film. A lot of box office is generated out of the big centers, so getting Quebec films to find the attention of regional audiences is the challenge. Thankfully, the strong relationship between distributors and exhibitors “helps smooth the way.”

Guzzo underscores the similarities in film marketing in the U.S. and Quebec. “The whole industry in the U.S. and Quebec is in a big transition and the studios have lost their way a bit. They’ve switched budgets too quickly to the Web, forgetting that a lot of people still read newspapers. And the studios don’t make the cost of this transition clear. What I mean is that I can look at a newspaper and know what the ad costs are. But the Web is a mystery. The studios maintain they are spending the same in advertising with this shift to the Net, but at the same time they’re increasing their rental fees.”

So in Montreal, says Guzzo, you no longer see full-page ads for films in the newspapers. And as an exhibitor, he’s only allowed to sell his theatres, not the films he’s playing.
But there are other ways theatres sell films. Says Venne, “We know promotion is important, so we’ll create special events around the appropriate releases, like premieres with the actors who star. And this is easier for us because the talent lives among us and we’ll also get good [media] coverage because it’s local.”

Seville’s Rego and others also cite the challenge of getting older audiences into theatres and giving films longer runs. Says Rego, “The big difference with our market is that we have more product—the Hollywood films, local films and some arthouse/niche—and this gives us a crowded marketplace that threatens shelf life.”

But APCCQ’s Venne thinks “our number-one issue is digital transformation. And there’s the problem of money being blocked.” On an optimistic note, he predicts that by next summer there will be about 60 3D-capable screens in Quebec theatres.

Predictably, TC’s Pradier takes up the cause of local productions. “It’s a very fragile environment because there is this shift of revenue streams like VOD. So we have to look at these platforms carefully. And because we’re a government agency, we look at small companies and want them to succeed in this environment.”

The French famously proclaimed “Vive la difference!” and the French-Canadian film industry maintains it with interesting precision, considering Quebec is just one French-speaking province in the vast sprawl that is mainly English-speaking Canada. Cineplex Entertainment’s Seguin shares an interesting example of the healthy difference P.Q. is able to maintain. The chain is partnered in two theatres in the Quebec city of Gatineau, which shares a border with the city of Ottawa. "About 80% of what we play in Gatineau is in French. But cross that bridge [to Ottawa] and you find 100% English-language film product.”



But when it comes to Quebec’s audiences and theatre owners, la difference diminishes. Speaking like a seasoned U.S. exhibitor and sounding pretty familiar, Guzzo says that “French-speaking Canadian audiences aren’t so different from U.S. filmgoers, meaning that Canada can also be seen as a microcosm of the U.S. market. We have lots of teenagers going to the movies, which is why the Hollywood films do so well. Older audiences want more of the local films or titles coming from France and other places overseas, but very few of these films will play a long time.”

Suggesting the pressures emanating from the imbalance, Guzzo adds, “People don’t want to face the fact that it’s not that we’re not showing these [non-Hollywood] pictures, but you have to deliver the films people want to see.”

As for artier fare, Guzzo says, “I’m not thinking of the artist; he got paid. I’m thinking of the audience. This is mostly the younger demographic that goes through our megaplexes. They’re not interested in fancy food; they are popcorn eaters.”

And like their counterparts south of their border, the Quebec industry says prayers every Friday that their films will reach their target audiences. Cheerleading for accessible films, Guzzo’s words cross borders when he says, “The challenge is to get filmmakers to make the films people want to see. Hollywood understands this best and reaches out to the people who are the key demographic.”