CHPC Committee Report

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Committee Report

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APPENDIX E
CHRONOLOGY OF CANADIAN FEATURE FILM

1896	The first public exhibition of motion pictures in Canada takes place in Montreal.
1897	The first Canadian films are produced by James Freer, a Manitoba farmer. They depicted life on the Prairies.
1903	The first Canadian film exchange is opened in Montreal by Léo-Ernest Ouimet.
1906	Ouimet opens the first permanent cinema in Montreal.
	Brothers Jay J. and Jules Allen open a theatre in Brantford, Ontario; they would go on to build the Allen Theatres chain.
1911	Ontario establishes the Ontario Board of Censors.
	The Allen brothers build their first luxury theatre in Calgary.
1913	The first Canadian feature film – Evangeline – is produced.
1916	N.L. Nathanson opens a theatre in Toronto; he would go on to build the Paramount Theatres chain.
1917	The Ontario government establishes the Ontario Motion Picture Bureau.
	The first film studio in Canada opens in Trenton, Ontario.
1919	American producer Adolph Zukor acquires a substantial interest in the Paramount Theatres chain.
1920	The Famous Players Canadian Corporation (FPCC) is incorporated, backed by Zukor with Nathanson in charge.
1922	The Allen Theatres chain goes bankrupt.
1923	The federal government establishes the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau.
	FPCC gains control of the Canadian exhibition market when it acquires all of the Allen Theatres.
1930	Zukor acquires direct control of FPCC, which becomes a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures.
	The federal government launches an investigation into the Canadian film industry under the Federal Combines Investigation Act. Commissioner Peter White conducts the hearings.
1931	Commissioner White reports that FPCC is a combine. Legal action is launched in Ontario, but FPCC is found not guilty.
1934	The Ontario Motion Picture Bureau and the film studio in Trenton are closed down.
1935	The National Film Society of Canada is incorporated.
1938	The federal government invites John Grierson, a Scottish film producer, to study government film activities. Grierson recommends creating the National Film Commission.
1939	The federal government creates the National Film Commission (soon the National Film Board of Canada – NFB), with Grierson as its first commissioner.
1941	The NFB absorbs the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau.
	Nathanson launches the Odeon Theatres chain, with his son Paul as head of the company.
1944	Commercial feature-film production begins in Quebec with the establishment of Renaissance Films.
1946	The first Canadian feature film in both English and French – Whispering City/La Forteresse – is shot by Québec Productions of St-Hyacinthe.
	Budge and Judith Crawley incorporate Crawley Films in Ottawa.
	Paul Nathanson sells his interests in Odeon to the Rank Organization of Great Britain.
1948	The Canadian Co-operation Project enters into effect. To prevent the taxation of profits and the imposition of a quota system, the Motion Picture Association of America agrees to make films in Canada, refer to Canada in feature films, and distribute more NFB shorts. It lasts until 1958.
1949	The Canadian Film Awards are inaugurated.
	The federal government creates the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences, known as the Massey Commission after its chairman, Vincent Massey.
1950	Parliament passes the National Film Act expanding the mandate of the NFB.
	The National Film Society of Canada is renamed the Canadian Film Institute.
	The first film festival in North America is held in Yorkton, Saskatchewan.
1951	The Massey Commission submits its report.
	The Canadian Film Archives Committee is formed, with the NFB as temporary custodian of historical films.
1954	The federal government introduces the 60% capital cost allowance (CCA) to encourage private investment in feature film.
1958	The Canadian Co-operation Project comes to an end.
1962	Connaissance du cinéma is founded.
1963	The Government of Canada signs its first co-production treaty with a foreign government – France.
	The federal government establishes the Interdepartmental Committee on the Possible Development of Feature Film Production in Canada, chaired by Guy Roberge, the Commissioner of the NFB.
	The Canadian Film Institute establishes the Canadian Film Archives.
1965	The Interdepartmental Committee on the Possible Development of Feature Film Production in Canada releases a report by O.J. Firestone, a professor of economics at the University of Ottawa, entitled Film distribution practices, problems, and prospects.
1967	The federal government creates the Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC) and allocates $10 million.
	A fire at the NFB destroys the historical holdings of the Canadian Film Archives.
1968	FPCC is replaced by Famous Players Ltd., 51% of which is owned by Gulf+Western (Canada) Ltd, which is wholly owned by Gulf+Western of the United States.
1969	The Ontario Film Institute is founded.
1971	The federal government increases the CFDC budget by a further $10 million.
	Connaissance du cinéma is renamed the Cinémathèque québécoise.
1972	The Pacific Cinematheque is formed in Vancouver.
	The Council of Canadian Filmmakers (CCFM) is formed.
1973	The federal government negotiates a voluntary quota with the two major theatre chains.
	The Public Archives of Canada establishes the National Film Archives Division.
1974	The CCFM calls for radical solutions for getting Canadian films shown in Canada.
	The Capital Cost Allowance (CCA) in the Income Tax Act is extended to feature film production, allowing 100% deduction of investments in Canadian film production.
	The federal government creates the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) to administer the CCA program for feature films.
	A point system for measuring Canadian content is introduced.
	The Canadian Film Institute devolves its film collections to the Public Archives of Canada.
1975	The federal government negotiates another voluntary quota agreement with Famous Players and Odeon Theatres.
	The Institut québécois du cinéma is created.
	RSL Films is established.
1976	The federal government increases the CFDC budget by $5 million and decides to fund the CFDC through an annual parliamentary appropriation.
	The first Festival of Festivals is held in Toronto.
	The Moving Image and Sound Archives Division of the Public Archives of Canada is created in Ottawa.
	Odeon Theatres is bought by Canadian interests.
	The federal government abandons voluntary quotas.
1977	The first World Film Festival is held in Montreal.
1978	The release of The Silent Partner marks the beginning of the “tax-shelter” boom.
	Atlantis Films is established.
1979	The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television is created to implement the Genie Awards, which replace the Canadian Film Awards.
	Cineplex opens a 21-screen theatre in Toronto’s Eaton Centre.
	International Cinema Corporation is established.
1980	The federal government establishes the Federal Cultural Policy Review Committee, chaired by Louis Applebaum and Jacques Hébert.
1981	The Alberta Motion Picture Development Corporation is created.
	Porky’s is released and becomes the highest-grossing Canadian feature film.
1982	The Applebaum-Hébert Committee issues its report.
	The Vancouver International Film Festival begins.
1983	Quebec creates La Société générale du cinéma.
	The Supreme Court of Ontario rules the Ontario Board of Censors is operating in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
1984	The federal government issues the National Film and Video Policy.
	The CFDC becomes Telefilm Canada.
	Cineplex buys Odeon Theatres, creating Cineplex Odeon Corporation.
1985	The Ontario Board of Censors is disbanded and replaced by the Ontario Film Review Board.
	The Task Force on the Canadian Film Industry is created to analyze the structural problems of the industry. Co-chaired by Marie-Josée Raymond and Stephen Roth, it presents its report entitled Canadian Cinema: A Solid Base.
	RSL Films and International Cinema Corporation join forces and become Alliance Entertainment Corporation.
1986	The federal government creates the Feature Film Fund.
	Cineplex Odeon comes under American control when MCA Inc. acquires 49%.
	Ontario creates the Ontario Film Development Corporation.
1987	British Columbia Film is established.
	Manitoba and the federal government create the Cultural Industries Development Office.
	The Public Archives of Canada becomes the National Archives of Canada.
	The federal government introduces legislation to limit the rights of American distributors. However, following intense lobbying by Hollywood studios, the legislation dies on the Order Paper.
1988	The federal government announces the Feature Film Distribution Policy. It includes foreign investment policy guidelines under the Investment Canada Act.
	The federal government creates the Feature Film Distribution Fund.
	Canadian-born filmmaker Norman Jewison founds the Canadian Film Centre to provide training for emerging film professionals.
	The Canadian Film Institute merges with the Conservatory of Cinematographic Art of Montreal to form Cinémathèque Canada.
	Saskatchewan creates SaskFilm.
1990	The federal government establishes the Cultural Industries Development Fund, administered by the Business Development Bank of Canada.
	The Ontario Film Institute becomes Cinematheque Ontario and the Film Reference Library when the Toronto International Film Festival Group takes over its management.
	The Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation is formed.
1991	The Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund is established as a national, non-profit organization to fund private film production in Canada.
1994	The federal government approves the takeover of Famous Players by Viacom Inc., the world’s third largest media company.
	The Festival of Festivals in Toronto becomes the Toronto International Film Festival.
	The Institut québécois du cinéma is combined with the Société générale des industries culturelles (SOGIC) to create the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC).
	The federal government creates the Task Force on the Preservation and Enhanced Use of Canada’s Audio-Visual Heritage.
1995	The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC) program replaces the CCA program. The CPTC provides a refundable tax credit of up to 12% on Canadian productions.
	The Task Force on the Preservation and Enhanced Use of Canada’s Audio-Visual Heritage issues a report entitled Fading Away: Strategic Options to Ensure the Protection of and Access to our Audio-Visual Memory.
	The federal government reduces funding to a number of cultural programs, including Telefilm Canada and the NFB.
	The federal government establishes the Mandate Review Committee under the chairmanship of Pierre Juneau to carry out a study of the mandates of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the National Film Board, and Telefilm Canada.
1996	The Mandate Review Committee issues its report, entitled Making Your Voices Heard: Canadian Broadcasting and Film for the 21^st Century.
	The Alliance for Canada’s Audio-Visual Heritage is founded; it is subsequently renamed the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada.
	The Alberta Motion Picture Development Corporation ceases operations.
1997	The federal government creates the Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit.
1998	Cineplex Odeon Corporation merges with Loews Theatres, creating Loews Cineplex Entertainment.
	Alliance Communications and Atlantis Films merge to become Alliance Atlantis Communications.
	The chain of Cineplex Odeon theatres is bought by Sony, while the Canadian distribution division, Cineplex Odeon Films, is sold to Alliance Atlantis.
	The Minister of Canadian Heritage, Sheila Copps, launches a review of Canada’s feature film policy. The Department of Canadian Heritage releases a discussion paper entitled A Review of Canadian Feature Film Policy and creates the Feature Film Advisory Committee.
	Manitoba’s Cultural Industries Development Office becomes Manitoba Film & Sound.
1999	The Feature Film Advisory Committee issues its report, entitled The Road to Success.
	The House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage releases its report entitled A Sense of Place, A Sense of Being: The Evolving Role of the Federal Government in Support of Culture in Canada.
	The Minister of Canadian Heritage, Sheila Copps, requests a review of management practices of federal mechanisms in support of film and television production.
	Galaxy Entertainment Inc. is founded.
2000	The Report of the Review of Management Practices of Federal Mechanisms in Support of Film and Television Production is released in February.
	The Follow-up Report on the Review of the Federal System of Support to Film and Television Production is released in September.
	The federal government launches the new Canadian Feature Film Policy, entitled From Script to Screen.
2001	The Canadian Feature Film Fund, managed by Telefilm Canada, begins operations with an annual budget of $100 million.
2002	The Minister of Canadian Heritage, Sheila Copps, commissions François Macerola to prepare a report on Canadian content in film and television productions.
	The Department of Canadian Heritage issues a discussion paper entitled Canadian Content in the 21^st Century.
	Loews Cineplex Entertainment is acquired by Onex Corporation and Oaktree Capital Management.
2003	François Macerola submits his report entitled Canadian Content in the 21^st Century in Film and Television Productions: A Matter of Cultural Identity.
	The Canadian assets of Cineplex Odeon Corporation are merged with Galaxy Entertainment Inc. to create Cineplex Galaxy LP.
2004	Les Invasions Barbares wins the Academy Award for best foreign language film.
	Onex and Oaktree sell their interests in Loews Cineplex Entertainment, but retain control of Cineplex Galaxy LP.
2005	Cineplex Galaxy acquires Famous Players from Viacom Inc. A consent agreement with Canada’s Commissioner of Competition requires Cineplex Galaxy to sell 34 theatres.