Telefilm Canada Investment in Feature Films: Empirical Foundations for Public Policy

Abstract

The most important current approach to supporting the feature film industry is through direct investment by Telefilm Canada. In this paper we set out to provide empirical foundations to guide Telefilm's investment strategy. To provide context for the empirical analysis, the rationale for government subsidy is analysed to determine the appropriate goals for such a strategy. Our empirical analysis is primarily designed to determine whether, as is commonly supposed, these goals are in conflict and hence policy-makers are inevitably faced with difficult trade-offs. We find that, generally speaking, this is not the case. Our empirical work also sheds light on the advisability of the Federal Government's general policy direction away from tax incentives and toward direct investment and negotiation of international co-production treaties.