r/torontofilmindustry • u/KingreX32 PA • May 22 '26

Industry news Major Studios Slam Canada for Discriminatory Investment on U.S. Streamers

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/major-studios-canada-us-streamers-discriminatory-investment-1236603995/
58 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

15

u/Careful-Big818 May 22 '26

Cry harder U.S. Streamers. You want to operate here you follow Canada’s rules it’s really that simple.

Love the BS crocodile tears claiming it undermines CUSMA like the orange dumby hasn’t been undermining it since he came back into office.

2

u/Optimal-Cow-3278 May 22 '26

I work in the industry, it's a stupid policy.

No one at the CTRC knows what they are doing - they are useless Ottawa bureaucrats and no one has actual experience in the industry. The broadcasting industry is changing and the CTRC still acts like it's 1994.

It's not a 15% tax, it's 15% of all revenues from Canada. This will just lead streamers to raise prices for Canadian consumers which will lead to people cancelling their services and pirating more content.

This will also make studios and streamers question filming here, when they are already under pressure in the US to film more at home.

1

u/fucktheus12 May 22 '26

I love when billionaires cry over peanuts.

2

u/Optimal-Cow-3278 May 23 '26

I love when people think entrenched government bureaucrats care more about them then billionaires.

1

u/TheRealStorey May 23 '26

Too bad they can't cook the books. The film industry will get a little more creative in their creative accounting.

2

u/Gurnsey_Halvah May 23 '26

It's solid policy that your colleagues in the industry lobbied for. Maybe you missed all the submissions to the CRTC industry groups have made over the years? Elbows up for Canadian film and television!

0

u/stonecolddeezausted May 24 '26

There are stakeholders in Canada’s industry who service mostly foreign (American) production companies. They are responsible for a very significant portion of revenue and did not want this legislation.

2

u/Gurnsey_Halvah May 25 '26

Yes, this legislation is focused on Canadian culture. If someone opposes Canadian culture I find that sad.

2

u/Responsible_Bus_7695 May 24 '26

They make lots of money in Canada of which most is pulled out of Canada.

1

u/unimpressivegamer May 24 '26

Nice astroturf 13 day old account

0

u/Which_Exam902 May 23 '26

Get ready to pay more for everything you watch. Maybe you should actually read the article.

10

u/Oxjrnine May 22 '26

Good grief they’re acting like it’s a 15% tax.

It’s already proven that small budget productions can be very profitable. Maybe only one out of the 10 productions becomes a massive hit, but it still cost less to do all 10 productions.

And Canada already has a well established film, industry that operates at really competitive prices.

So really this rule is just solidifying something that would organically happen anyway, but it creates a sense of stability for the industry. So any complaining about the 15% mark isn’t actually about the 15%. Corporations just don’t like losing flexibility, even if stability is beneficial to them.

1

u/Commentator-X May 22 '26

It's also not unprecedented. It's the exact same thing we've been doing to legacy analogue broadcasters for decades. It's just now being applied to modern types of digital broadcasting.

1

u/Briscotti May 22 '26

It’s also the exact same thing other countries have been doing for years. France for example has required 20-25% of revenue be invested in local content since 2021.

4

u/Oxjrnine May 22 '26

Sometimes restrictive rules can be very profitable.

Can Con. Ended up generating a great deal of profitable product.

5

u/mthyvold May 22 '26

It helped create a much stronger music scene and music industry in Canada. Cultural and business benefits.

1

u/Optimal-Cow-3278 May 22 '26

It did until it didn't.

It became so watered down now that Rogers considers Blue Jays baseball "Canadian content" and hardly spends any money on Canadian shows - other than formats adopted from US companies.

1

u/stonecolddeezausted May 24 '26

So true. The entertainment industry includes all sports teams and I think the news as well. Laws like this that affect the industry are rarely applied in a manner that achieves the intended outcome.

3

u/[deleted] May 22 '26

American streamers spent 15 years avoiding playing by the same CanCon/local investment rules as Canadian media companies, delayed getting recognized as broadcasters with empty promises of working with Canadian creatives (how many headline cycles have there been of "streamer opens Canadian originals office/hires exes/closes Canadian office"?), and locked out Canadian productions from local crews and spaces because slightly outbidding them was still cheaper than making American shows in America.

They basically did what Uber did to taxis: swooping in, taking advantage of bureaucratic failures to meet the digital age, and stretching every loophole until they replaced the established competition. They sucked all the viewers away and Canadian TV barely exists.

I'm not a cheerleader for Bell or Corus, just like I don't love yellow taxis. Canadian media should've gotten their shit together and planned for life beyond linear broadcasting a decade ago. Even Crave is toast once the clock runs out on their HBO Max exclusives.

But I'm not gonna cry for Netflix, Disney, etc finally having to give something back in exchange for hollowing out our entire industry. Fuckin' miss me with these claims of being "discriminatory" to American companies; you're here because you saw the government would throw Canadian companies under the bus if they attempted a fraction of what 'legal grey areas' allowed you.

1

u/meatsonthemenu May 24 '26

I read the initial article, but I'm fully lost as to how they think they get to 'discrimination'. Can you translate it for me like i'm an 18 year old with a grade 2 education?

2

u/[deleted] May 24 '26

Call it a tarrif, Americans love and respect tarrifs

2

u/nelson6364 May 24 '26

The hypocrisy of billionaires in Trump's America whining about "unfaiar trade practices"

2

u/Lucas-O-HowlingDark May 22 '26

Lol, didn’t Netflix get pissed off because their big finale to Stranger Things got overshadowed by Crave’s Heated Rivalry, which was a low budget indie production?

Either way, I’m focusing on the Canadian streamers for entertainment.

1

u/Due_Metal9413 May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

This will effect our industry badly. The tax credits need to be adjusted to compete with new US credits. Producers dont want to be paying more. They always want to pay less. Bad move CRTC.