The Quebec Film and Television Council (QFTC) is mandated to promote the Quebec dubbing industry to American distributors

The Quebec Film and Television Council (QFTC) is mandated to promote the Quebec dubbing industry to American distributors

MONTREAL, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Ms. Christine St-Pierre, Minister of Culture, Communications and the Status of Women, has entrusted the Quebec Film and Television Council (QFTC) with a three-year mandate to promote Quebec 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 Quebec. 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 Quebec.

It seems that many American studios, particularly the majors, are still unaware of the incentives established by the Government of Quebec. This is the perspective in which the QFTC has been assigned the responsibility of promoting the many incentives introduced for the Quebec dubbing industry. As QFTC Commissioner Hans Fraikin pointed out, "This mandate is congruous to our mission of contributing to Quebec'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, Quebec distributors and representatives of the Department and the Regie du cinema. Of course, promotional tools will be created to support the Commissioner's sensitization visits to companies that do little or no dubbing in Quebec.

About the QFTC:

The mission of the Quebec Film and Television Council (QFTC) is to contribute to the development of Quebec's competitiveness as a world-class film and television production centre. The QFTC is responsible for the promotion of Quebec's advantages on foreign markets in order to attract interesting business opportunities for Quebec as a whole. In collaboration with the regional film and television commissions, it harmonizes and coordinates the welcoming and support services necessary to produce international productions in Quebec. The QFTC also has the mandate to develop and implement structuring projects beneficial to the industry as a whole, while informing and raising awareness among public and private decision-makers and the general public.

Source: Quebec Film and Television Council (QFTC)

CONTACT: Melanie Dumas, Communications Officer, Quebec Film and
Television Council, (514) 499-7070, extension 225

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Profile: International Entertainment