Official statement from Carolle Brabant, Executive Director of Telefilm Canada, and Valerie Creighton, President and CEO of the Canada Media Fund, regarding gender parity in screen content financing

Official statement from Carolle Brabant, Executive Director of Telefilm Canada, and Valerie Creighton, President and CEO of the Canada Media Fund, regarding gender parity in screen content financing

MONTREAL, April 27, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - "Increasingly, gender parity and Canadian screen content is a much-discussed topic in the media, on social media and in conversations between industry colleagues. And justifiably so.

"Gender parity is a priority for both Telefilm Canada and the Canada Media Fund (CMF). It's also a personal preoccupation for us as two women working in the Canadian audiovisual sector who head up teams comprised 70 per cent of women with over 50 per cent of managers also being women.

"We've partnered together on several occasions to support the role of women in Canadian media, in terms of promotion (St. John's International Women's Film Festival); professional development (Women in Film & Television); and research (Women in View--2 x More and Much Ado About Women in the Screen Industries in Canada). We've also ensured that women have their rightful place in international markets by featuring their talent at events such as the Cannes Film Festival, Kidscreen, the Berlin International Film Festival, MIPTV and the Bogotá Audiovisual Market, to name a few.

"Since last fall, gender parity has been the subject of Carolle Brabant's ongoing one-on-one consultations with women filmmakers across the country. The topic was also raised as part of the CMF's cross-country consultation in fall 2015; the CMF is reviewing a number of options provided by the industry on this issue.

"It's important for Telefilm and the CMF that any proposed course of action take into account all aspects of this complex issue and end in concrete results. As leaders of national cultural funding agencies that develop and promote Canadian feature film, television and digital media, we assure that input from the industry we receive will lead to action.

"We have committed Telefilm and the CMF to finding viable and lasting solutions to the question of gender parity in the audiovisual industry and that these solutions be implemented in a timely manner.

"Finally, we would like to thank the stakeholders who have provided us with a diversity of ideas on how to address this important issue. We are inspired by the positivity to finding solutions to this challenge."



SOURCE Telefilm Canada

Photo:http://photos.newswire.ca/images/thumbnail/20160427_C3291_PHOTO_EN_676787.jpg
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
Telefilm Canada

CONTACT: Media enquiries: Douglas Chow, Head of Public Relations, Telefilm Canada, (514) 283-0838 ext. 2048 or 1-800-567-0890, douglas.chow@telefilm.ca; André Ferreira, Communications Manager, Canada Media Fund, (416) 554-2768, aferreira@cmf-fmc.ca

Web Site: http://www.telefilm.ca/


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