An Introduction to Canadian Film and the

Canadian Film Industry

 An Introduction
to Canadian
Film and the
Canadian Film
Industry

By Austin Mardon, Kyra Droog, Alyssa

Kulchisky, Theoren Tolsma, and Mark Unruh
Copyright © 2020 by By Austin Mardon, Kyra Droog, Alyssa
Kulchisky, Theoren Tolsma, and Mark Unruh

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not
be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the
express written permission of the publisher except for the use
of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2020

Typeset and Cover Design by Kelsey Skene

ISBN 978-1-77369-144-2

Golden Meteorite Press

103 11919 82 St NW
Edmonton, AB T5B 2W3
www.goldenmeteoritepress.com
 Table of Contents

Introduction......................................................................................... 1
A Brief History of Film..............................................................................................1
Section 1: A Brief History of Canadian Film..........................................................11
Introduction................................................................................................................12
Chapter 1: Canadian Film: A History....................................................................13
Early Canadian Film................................................................................................14
An Increased Role of Government..........................................................................16
The 1980s to the Present..........................................................................................17
Chapter 2: Canadian TV vs Canadian Film.........................................................19
The Introduction of Television to the World...........................................................19
Carving out Canadian Content...............................................................................20
Landscapes of Canadian TV...................................................................................21
Canadian Government and TV...............................................................................22
The American Shadow............................................................................................22
Conclusion...............................................................................................................24
Chapter 3: Prominent Storylines within Canadian Film..................................25
Introduction.............................................................................................................25
Atanarjuat................................................................................................................26
The Sweet Hereafter................................................................................................28
Mon oncle Antoine..................................................................................................30
Conclusion...............................................................................................................32
Chapter 4: Canadian Film Locations....................................................................33
Introduction:............................................................................................................33
Toronto....................................................................................................................33
Vancouver................................................................................................................36
Conclusion...............................................................................................................40
 Chapter 5: Canadian Content: A Brief Explanation..........................................41
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.................41
A Candian Film in Full: The Sweet Hereafter.........................................................43
A Canadian Film in Part: Pompeii...........................................................................44
Conclusion...............................................................................................................44
Conclusion..................................................................................................................46
Section 2: Canadian Film Theory..............................................................................47
Introduction................................................................................................................48
Chapter 6: Canadian Communication and Media Theory...............................49
Introduction.............................................................................................................49
Marshall McLuhan..................................................................................................49
John Grierson...........................................................................................................55
Gertrude Joch Robinson..........................................................................................60
Conclusion...............................................................................................................66
Chapter 7: Philosophical Film Theory..................................................................67
Introduction.............................................................................................................67
Style..........................................................................................................................68
Avant-Garde.............................................................................................................71
Cinema and Photography........................................................................................72
Conclusion...............................................................................................................74
Conclusion..................................................................................................................76
Section 3: Politics of Canadian Film.........................................................................77
Introduction................................................................................................................78
Chapter 8: Culture and Censorship.......................................................................79
Chapter 9: Canadian Film and Cultural Diplomacy..........................................83
Conclusion..................................................................................................................87
Section 4: Famous Canadians in Film.......................................................................88
Introduction................................................................................................................89
Chapter 10: Famous Canadian Actors..................................................................90
Introduction.............................................................................................................90
Nell Shipman...........................................................................................................90
Jim Carrey................................................................................................................94
Keanu Reeves...........................................................................................................98
Chapter 11: Famous Canadian Directors...........................................................102
Introduction...........................................................................................................102
James Cameron......................................................................................................102
David Cronenberg.................................................................................................105
Denis Villeneuve....................................................................................................108
Chapter 12: Famous Canadian Composers.......................................................111
Introduction...........................................................................................................111
Howard Shore........................................................................................................111
 Robert Carli...........................................................................................................116
Lesley Barber.........................................................................................................121
Mychael Danna......................................................................................................125
Chapter 13: Famous Canadian Film Writers.....................................................131
Introduction...........................................................................................................131
Sarah Polley............................................................................................................131
Atom Egoyan.........................................................................................................133
Deepa Mehta.........................................................................................................136
Conclusion................................................................................................................139
Conclusion........................................................................................ 140
Works Cited:..................................................................................... 144
 Introduction

Traversing the vast and fascinating history of Canadian film and the Canadian
film industry is no easy task; to explore the entirety of its nuances would take
a room full of books and a lifetime of study and writing. As you will come to
know, Canadian film is extremely unique and fascinating, and the Canadian
film industry supports far more than just Canadian films. Our exploration of
this topic will take us through five sections: a brief history of Canadian film, in
which we will explore the history of Canadian film and the film industry; Ca-
nadian film theory, in which we will explore some prominent communication
and philosophy film theorists; Canadian film demographics, in which we will
learn about the ways that Canadian and American film demographics are sim-
ilar and different; the politics of Canadian film, in which we will explore the
political side of creating films in Canada and some of the more political films
that Canada has produced; and famous Canadians in film, in which we will
explore some of Canada’s most famous writers, composers, actors, and direc-
tors. Before we can begin to explore Canadian film, however, we must situate
ourselves within a history of film itself. By doing so, we will be able to draw a
brief timeline of film overall, which will allow us to better understand where
Canadian film fits in the overall film industry, as well as in cinematic history.

A Brief History of Film

As many things in history do, the first film ties back to a fascinating early in-
vention that would end up becoming a multi-billion dollar industry many years
down the road. It’s important for us to take a moment and understand exactly

1
how these motion pictures, as they would become known, function. As David
Cook, professor and director of the Film Studies program at Emory University
in Georgia, explains:

The illusion of motion pictures is based on the optical phenomena known as per-
sistence of vision and the phi phenomenon. The first of these causes the brain to
retain images cast upon the retina of the eye for a fraction of a second beyond their
disappearance from the field of sight, while the latter creates apparent movement
between images when they succeed one another rapidly. Together these phenomena
permit the succession of still frames on a motion-picture film strip to represent con-
tinuous movement when projected at the proper speed (traditionally 16 frames per
second for silent films and 24 frames per second for sound films) (2020).

The very first motion picture was taken by setting up 12 cameras to take con-
current photos of a racing horse; the resulting motion picture occurred when
the images were taken together in such a way that it appeared the horse was
galloping in real time (Cook, 2020). This feat, which occurred in 1877, began
a fascinating study into what would become the creation of motion pictures.
The beginning of film ties to the Edison Company, which in 1891 “success-
fully demonstrated a prototype of the kinetoscope, which enabled one person
at a time to view moving pictures” (Science + Media Museum, 2020). It took
the company two years to be able to provide a public demonstration of the
kinetoscope, which allowed multiple individuals to witness moving pictures at
a same time; by 1894, these moving pictures had become a stunning sensation
across the world, and were available in many public parlors (Science + Media
Museum, 2020). Thomas Edison found the kinetoscope to be a profitable ven-
ture at that point, because each individual who watched a moving picture on a
kinetoscope paid twenty-five cents for the experience. Interestingly, there were
two places in which Edison could have expanded upon his venture. The first of
these places was finding a way for more than one person to watch a film on a
kinetoscope; however, “when friends and collaborators suggested that Edison
find a way to project his kinetoscope images for audience viewing, he appar-
ently refused, claiming that such an invention would be a less profitable ven-
ture (University of Minnesota, 2020; Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020). The
second expansion could have been securing an international patent for the
kinetoscope; “because Edison hadn’t secured an international patent for his in-
vention, variations of the kinetoscope were soon being copied and distributed
throughout Europe” (University of Minnesota, 2020).
Because there was no patent on the kinetoscope, global inventors were able
to continue to explore the world of moving pictures, and attempt to invent
something better and more accessible than the kinetoscope. In fact, even the

2
simple act of seeing the kinetoscope in motion was enough to get inventive
minds whirring, and to eventually create the first ever projector. The projector
was invented by the Lumiere brothers, Auguste and Louis, and “functioned as
a camera and a printer as well as a projector, [and] ran at the economical speed
of 16 frames per second” (Cook, 2020). There were many differences between
the kinetoscope and the projector, with the most important difference being
in their weight: where the kinetoscope weighed a hefty 453kg, the projector -
called the cinematographe - weighed a measly 9kg (Cook, 2020). Interestingly,
however, the kinetoscope continued at the forefront of American attention,
where the cinematographe took flight in Europe.
Over the coming years, many different versions of projectors and kinetoscopes
were invented, and the motion picture industry began to grow. In the begin-
ning, films were simple, they “were very short, sometimes only a few minutes or
less. They were shown at fairgrounds, music halls, or anywhere a screen could
be set up and a room darkened. Subjects included local scenes and activities,
views of foreign lands, short comedies and newsworthy events” (Science +
Media Museum, 2020). They often included audience participation or lectures
along with the film, to help people understand exactly what the film was at-
tempting to portray. Of course, as people continued to create more films and
hone in on their craft, the films slowly became more intricate and sophisticat-
ed. It was during this time that filmmakers started including storylines and
narrative into their works; telling stories through this new medium.
We have to keep in mind that filmmaking during this time was equally as cre-
ative as it was short; many films were less than 15 minutes long simply because
a feasible method of recording and sharing lengthy films hadn’t yet been in-
vented. It was the creativity of companies like the Star Film company, under
the leadership of Georges Méliès that really drove the industry forward, as
their creativity continued to challenge the possibilities that this new medium
offered. Initially, Méliès worked with stop motion, but he worked his way up to
multi-scene films and found new ways to tell short stories within his films. “By
1902 he had produced the influential 30-scene narrative Le Voyage dans la
lune (A Trip to the Moon). Adapted from a novel by Jules Verne, it was nearly
one reel in length (about 825 feet [251 metres], or 14 minutes)” (Cook, 2020).
This film was a massive success, and not only brought Star Film to the forefront
of film creation, but also squarely placed fiction stories as the main medium of
film moving forward.
As film moved forwards - and more films were made - new and innovative film-
making techniques were welcomed to the film industry. “Motion pictures [..]
exist in time as well as space, and the major problem for early filmmakers was
the establishment of temporal continuity from one shot to the next” (Cook,
2020). It was the breaking of this barrier, or the exploration of film continuity

3
that really changed the film industry, opening up a new world of opportunities
for filmmakers. This particular innovation was created by Edwin Porter - in
fact:

Porter’s The Great Train Robbery (1903) is widely acknowledged to be the first
narrative film to have achieved such continuity of action. Comprising 14 separate
shots of noncontinuous, nonoverlapping action, the film contains an early example
of parallel editing, two credible back, or rear, projections (the projection from the
rear of previously filmed action or scenery onto a translucent screen to provide the
background for new action filmed in front of the screen), two camera pans, and
several shots composed diagonally and staged in depth—a major departure from the
frontally composed, theatrical staging of Méliès (Cook, 2020).

This new ability, of course, lent itself to the creation of many new films that
encouraged depth and continuity in films. Another new ability, which came
shortly after The Great Train Robbery was the inclusion of colour in films: “by
1906, the principles of colour separation were used to produce so-called ‘natu-
ral colour’ moving images with the British Kinemacolor process, first presented
to the public in 1909” (Science + Media Museum, 2020). This colour was
added by hand, through various techniques like tinting and hand-colouring,
which meant that including colour in a film was a long, delicate, and arduous
process (Science + Media Museum, 2020). Kinemacolor wasn’t used for longer
films until 1912, when the film With Our King and Queen Through India, a
two-hour show, was fully coloured (Science + Media Museum, 2020).
It’s also important to note that in the early 1900s, films were being created
across the world: “by 1914, several national film industries were established.
At this time, Europe, Russia and Scandinavia were the dominant industries;
America was much less important. Films became longer and storytelling, or
narrative, became the dominant form” (Science + Media Museum, 2020).
Remembering that America wasn’t the centre of film creation is important,
particularly since so many films are created in modern America now. In fact,
between 1905 and 1914, the largest film studios lived in La Villette, France.
These studios had considerably advanced technology, and “they effectively
brought to an end the artisanal mode of filmmaking practiced by Méliès and
his British contemporaries” (Cook, 2020).
Of course, there had to be new ways to watch films, since they were becoming
such an important part of modern society. The Library of Congress notes that:

New storefront theaters, dubbed nickelodeons, were a wildly successful innovation.

Appearing first in 1905, nickelodeons featured movie shows all day long, and in
contrast to the vaudeville theaters which had showed many actuality films, the nick-

4
 elodeons featured more fictional films. The first nickelodeon was built in Pittsburgh
in June 1905 by Harry Davis, a vaudeville magnate. Soon nickelodeons began to
appear in cities around the country (Library of Congress, 2020).

Nickelodeons, named for the nickels it cost for individuals to watch a film, were
particularly popular with the working class audiences, mostly because of the
comedy or action-based short films that were shown. As Cook notes, “feature
films made motion pictures respectable for the middle class by providing a
format that was analogous to that of the legitimate theatre and was suitable
for the adaptation of middle-class novels and plays” (Cook, 2020). This was
particular in pre-WWI cinema, especially in America.
We noted earlier that the dominant film industries in the early 1900s did not
include America, but with that in mind, let’s look at what America was gaining
from the film industry. “By 1915 approximately 15,000 workers were employed
by the motion-picture industry in Hollywood, and more than 60 percent of
American production was centred there” (Cook, 2020). At the same time,
capital investment in American film had exceeded $500 million (Cook, 2020).
The film organizations that were created during this time, such as Universal
Pictures (1912), Goldwyn Picture Corporation (1916), Fox Film Corporation
(1915), and Metro Picture Corporation (1915), became the backbone for what
would soon make up the American film dream: Hollywood.
Cook notes that “although narrative film was and continues to be strongly
influenced by a combination of economic, technological, and social factors, it
also owes a great deal to the individual artists who viewed film as a medium
of personal expression” (Cook, 2020). One of these individual artists had a
particularly important part in creating the idea of the American film, and it’s
important for us to discuss some of his innovations, as well as his particular-
ly controversial work The Birth of a Nation to demonstrate just one use of
the film industry in early America. D. W. Griffith had a large impact on both
reinventing certain filmmaking techniques and inventing new ones, and is a
controversial figure in early film history.
We will begin by discussing some of the techniques that Griffith used that
changed the film industry. His first preferred technique was to utilize the dis-
tance in a scene in a unique way: he would take “shots from multiple camera
setups—long shots, full shots, medium shots, close shots, and, ultimately, close-
ups—and combining their separate perspectives into single dramatic scenes”
(Cook, 2020). Eventually, this tendency led Griffith towards what the Soviets
would call a montage almost a decade later (Cook, 2020). Griffith also tended
towards utilizing various camera angles, which allowed him to express deeper
and different meaning depending on the angle of the camera: something every
film studies student will learn in their introductory classes nowadays. Many of

5
these techniques are ones that make up the basis of modern day film - addi-
tions that have specific meaning to viewers.
Griffith’s most notable film, which he introduced many of these techniques in,
was The Birth of a Nation, a 1915 film that swept through the nation with both
success and outrage. As author and professor Dick Lehr notes:

The Birth of a Nation, landmark silent film, released in 1915, that was the first
blockbuster Hollywood hit [sic]. It was the longest and most-profitable film then
produced and the most artistically advanced film of its day. It secured both the future
of feature-length films and the reception of film as a serious medium. An epic about
the American Civil War (1861–65) and the Reconstruction era that followed, it
has long been hailed for its technical and dramatic innovations but condemned for the
racism inherent in the script and its positive portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
(Lehr, 2020).

In a technical sense, the film was unmatched: “the completed film contained
1,544 separate shots at a time when the most elaborate of foreign spectacles
boasted fewer than 100” (Cook, 2020). When it was initially released, it re-
ceived much praise; however:

Despite its brilliantly conceived battle sequences, its tender domestic scenes, and
its dignified historical reconstructions, the film provoked fear and disgust with its
shocking images of miscegenation and racial violence. As the film’s popularity swept
the nation, denunciations followed, and many who had originally praised it, such
as President Woodrow Wilson, were forced to recant. Ultimately, after screenings
of The Birth of a Nation had caused riots in several cities, it was banned in eight
Northern and Midwestern states. (First Amendment protection was not extended to
motion pictures in the United States until 1952.) Such measures, however, did not
prevent The Birth of a Nation from becoming the single most popular film in history
throughout much of the 20th century; it achieved national distribution in the year of
its release and was seen by nearly three million people (Cook, 2020).

For many reasons, the film itself went down in history, but for our purposes, it
is important to note that film as a medium wasn’t just used for comedy: it was
early in film history that film stories began relating to public issues, and taking
a stance on one side or the other. Film continues to be used to portray and
persuade in the modern day, but this is not new, as The Birth of a Nation was
one of the first large and controversial films that tried to convince viewers that
the KKK were on the side of good.
World War I fundamentally changed the film industry in a few ways; notably,
“European film production virtually ceased, in part because the same chem-

6
icals used in the production of celluloid were necessary for the manufacture
of gunpowder. The American cinema, meanwhile, experienced a period of
unprecedented prosperity and growth” (Cook, 2020). After the war, American
cinema came out on top: the industry was booming, and raking in millions
of dollars. This was the age of slapstick comedy, where Charlie Chaplin and
Buster Keaton ruled the screen and made audiences laugh more than they
thought possible.
We also have to remember that at this time, films were still silent: if music was
to be written for a film, it had to be performed by a live band at the same time
as the film was played. These experiences did exist, though for the amount of
effort and cost it took to ensure there were paid musicians at each film screen-
ing, they did not exist often, and were usually to higher-class or higher-paying
audiences, until the early 1900s, when the tendency to have at least one page
of written music per film was high, and composers were hired specifically to
write music for film. It wasn’t until after WWI that the technology existed to
record sound; in 1097, Lee De Forest invented the Audion tube, which was
“a three-element, or triode, vacuum tube that magnified sound and drove it
through speakers so that it could be heard by a large audience” (Cook, 2020).
Even then, the cost for film producers was too high, and they saw little help in
creating talking films instead of the silent films that were already making them
so much money.
Warner Brothers, which was a minor studio in the mid-1920s, decided that
it might actually be worth creating a talking film, for the short term, at least.
Their $3 million endeavour began in 1926 with the release of Don Juan, and
resulted in the announcement that all Warner Brothers films for 1927 “would
be released with synchronized musical accompaniment and then turned im-
mediately to the production of its second Vitaphone feature” (Cross, 2020).
Other companies noted Warner Brothers’ success, and by 1928, nearly ev-
ery film company was on board with creating movies with sound. Of course,
there were huge technological difficulties, as limitations of microphones and
sound recording equipment were particularly large in the early days, but most
technological problems had solutions by the mid-1930s, as more invasive ad-
venturing into the new technology led to inevitably better equipment. It is also
important to note that these early films were recording sound and video at the
same time; it took until the late 1930s for polysynchronous sound to become
industry standard.
The addition of sound to film changed more than just the number of senses
that a film engaged: it also changed the kinds of films that were being made.
Slapstick humour was harder to continue with sound, and faded into the back-
ground, encouraging more biopic-style films to step into the spotlight. Sound
comedies also took a step forward, as they became the new popular form of co-

7
medic film. In addition, “Universal Pictures’ three great horror classics—Tod
Browning’s Dracula (1931), James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931), and Karl Fre-
und’s The Mummy (1932)—were all early sound films” (Cook, 2020). The new
sound of film also inspired the new sound of the decade; encouraging genre
music to find its way into the films that were being created in each decade.
All this time, too, films had only existed in black and white: the only time co-
lour was included in film was when it was hand-coloured, a process which was
time-consuming and often not cost-effective. In 1922, the Technicolour Cor-
poration found a successful way to add colour to film, but it wasn’t until 1928
that the same company “introduced an improved process in which two gelatin
positives were used as relief matrices to “print” colour onto a single strip of
film. This printing process, known as imbibition, or dye-transfer, made it possi-
ble to mass-produce sturdy, high-quality prints” (Cook, 2020). In short, “colour
was not used more widely until the introduction of its three‑colour process in
1932. It was used for films such as Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz
(both 1939) in Hollywood and A Matter of Life and Death (1946) in the UK”
(Science + Media Museum, 2020). Once this process became the standard,
film changed dramatically again, as the transition from black and white to co-
lour created new and innovative techniques in the filming industry.
The 1930s truly were the golden age of cinema, when films were hugely pop-
ular, and attended on a weekly if not daily basis. Interestingly:

During the 1930s and 1940s, cinema was the principal form of popular entertain-
ment, with people often attending cinemas twice a week. Ornate ’super’ cinemas or
‘picture palaces’, offering extra facilities such as cafés and ballrooms, came to towns
and cities; many of them could hold over 3,000 people in a single auditorium. In
Britain, the highest attendances occurred in 1946, with over 31 million visits to the
cinema each week (Science + Media Museum, 2020).

As film continued to evolve through the 1930s and early 1940s, Hollywood
continued to thrive, and find new ways to bring entertaining and informative
films to excited and expectant audiences. However, at the start of WWII, the
film industry changed yet again. “Following the declaration of war on Japan,
the government created a Bureau of Motion Picture Affairs to coordinate the
production of entertainment features with patriotic, morale-boosting themes
and messages about the “American way of life,” the nature of the enemy and
the allies, civilian responsibility on the home front, and the fighting forces
themselves” (Cook, 2020). At this point, the focus of American films changed:
they wanted to instil a sense of nationalism within the general public so they
would support the USA through the war. Even after the war, smaller-budget
films that had a higher focus on real-life experiences like racism, alcoholism,

8
and other thought-provoking topics, meaning that the focus had shifted away
from the high-budget Hollywood films (Cook, 2020).
At that time, however, the film industry was threatened. It was threatened by a
fear of communism, and within that fear, saw the industry blacklisting individ-
uals who had any perceived association with communists, meaning that some
innocent people were never able to work in the industry again. At the same
time, television was also threatening the film industry for many reasons; most
importantly, television was less expensive to produce than film. For this reason,
film was in a decline through the 50s and 60s as television appeared to take
over. That said, film did make a recovery in the 70s when films like Jaws and
Star Wars produced huge profits and brought audiences streaming back to the-
atres. Film continued through the 80s and 90s on a shaky trail back up towards
its previous glory, fighting to stay ahead of television every step of the way.
At the same time, the technology used to create film continued to change, and
as the decades passed, film became more complicated, but also more beautiful
as an art form, as new technology was able to share and capture more and
more of the film experience. At the turn of the century, film not only lived
in the home, but was available on VCRs (since the 1980s), with DVDs soon
to come. The act of watching film had changed in itself, because films had
become accessible outside of the theatre and inside the home, either through
VCR or live on television. As film continued to grow through the early 2000s,
so did the Hollywood industry, which expanded across the globe. Film budgets
became huge to accompany some massive CGI opportunities as technology
allowed, as well as to pay well-known actors, directors, and crews for their hard
work on films.
The film industry has exploded in terms of opportunities: technological ad-
vances have made nearly anything possible in the film world. From out-of-this-
world sets to CGI to shutting down huge buildings for a day of filming, the film
industry is large and wide-reaching. When we consider its roots, we realize that
what started as a small movement to bring comedy to people who would use
a laugh has become something much more. Films make us laugh, cry, and ev-
erything in-between, and will continue to have a massive impact on our world
for years to come.

9
10
 Section 1: A
Brief History of
Canadian Film

11
 Introduction

Though we have been introduced to a brief history of film overall, it makes

logical sense that before we delve into the meat and potatoes of a book about
Canadian film, we should lay out some basic must-know information about
Canadian film. The first chapter in this section will take us through a brief
history of Canadian film, in which we will learn about the ways in which the
Canadian Government, the American film industry, and Canada’s environ-
ment have impacted the Canadian film industry from the very beginning. The
second chapter will discuss some of the important similarities and differences
between Canadian TV and Canadian film, both in terms of location and con-
tent. The third chapter will discuss one of the most important questions that
comes up in Canadian film: what makes a film Canadian? By exploring the
history and regulations of the CRTC, this chapter will help us be able to de-
termine the Canadian requirements for film. Overall, this section will prepare
us with all the background information we need to tackle our interesting topic:
Canadian film.

12
 Chapter 1: Canadian Film: A History

The history of Canadian film is dominated by three aspects. The first aspect
is the government’s high level of involvement in the production of Canadi-
an content. For the entirety of Canadian film history, both provincial govern-
ments and the federal government have attempted to create a Canadian film
industry. They have done this through subsidies, tax breaks, and marketing,
with varying levels of success. Their goal has usually been to develop as many
Canadian film professionals as possible in all film-related fields: acting, direct-
ing, cinematography, producing, special effects, and more. Additionally, they
have encouraged film producers to tell Canadian stories, be it through cultur-
ally Canadian plotlines and/or the use of Canadian settings.
The second dominant aspect in Canadian film history’s story is the centrality
of the American film industry - Hollywood - over the Canadian domestic mar-
ket. Despite the efforts of Canadian governments to develop Canada’s own
film industry, Hollywood has always found ways to control the Canadian mar-
ket. In fact, many of these governmental initiatives attempted to incentivize
Hollywood into shooting films in Canada, about Canada, and with Canadian
industry professionals. These first two aspects tell the behind the scenes story
of Canadian film history; the push and pull between Canadian identity and
American capital, which is largely in line with the larger story of the overall
relationship between Canada and the United States.
The third dominant aspect of the Canadian film history is Canada’s environ-
ment. From the very origins of Canadian film through to today, it is the envi-
ronment of Canada - particularly its harsher settings - that has been the most
common on-screen ‘character’ of Canadian film. This fits the larger trend of
Canadian art altogether, where the harsh wilderness of Canada has defined
Canadian stories for centuries. However, this aspect is not as prominent today

13
as it once was. As the following pages spell out the history of Canadian film,
these three aspects are worth remembering and carefully considering during
our analysis of Canadian film history.

Early Canadian Film

The first Canadian films were created in 1897 (Handling, Magder, & Morris,
2019a). Their creator was a Manitoban farmer by the name of James Freer
(Editor, 2017). Although the term did not yet exist, today we would call his
films documentaries: they showed life on the Canadian prairies. They were
“so popular … that he was eventually sponsored to tour England as part of an
attempt to encourage British immigration to Manitoba” (Editor, 2017). The
potential of film was immediately recognized by the Canadian Pacific Railway
and they created a series called Living Canada which was “designed to encour-
age British immigration to Canada” (Handling, Magder, & Morris, 2019a).
This established a pattern that lasted throughout the early decades of Canadi-
an film - it was meant more or less as marketing. Films were financed by Cana-
dians, made by non-Canadians, and tried to attract immigrants, sell Canadian
products, and portray Canada in a positive (and profitable) light. The first Ca-
nadian feature-length film - where one ‘motion picture’ was long enough to be
the principal focus of the film - was not produced until 1913. This film, Evan-
geline, was produced in Halifax by the Canadian Bioscope Company, but the
material was drawn from a poem of the same name written by American poet
Henry Wadsworth (better known for writing “Paul Revere’s Ride”) (Handling,
Magder, & Morris, 2019a).
It was not until the First World War that any sustained production of Canadi-
an film occurred. The accomplishments of Canada during the war led to an
increase of Canadian nationalism, which influenced all aspects of Canadian
society, including the film industry (Meza, 2018). Even to this day, Canadian
culture and consciousness - and therefore art and film - relies more on the na-
tion’s accomplishments in the First World War than its accomplishments in the
Second World War. However, this is also due to the fact that Canada suffered
twice as many casualties in the First World War compared to the Second World
War, despite sending the same amount of troops overseas (Statistics Canada,
2009).
Underlying these developments was the central role of government in the Ca-
nadian film industry. From the very beginning, the government played the crit-
ical role in developing a Canadian film industry. ‘Government’ refers to both
the Federal government of Canada and the provincial governments. In fact,
“the Ontario Motion Picture Bureau (OMPB) was the first state-sponsored film
organization in the world. It was founded in May 1917 to provide “educational

14
work for farmers, school children, factory workers and other classes”” (empha-
sis added) (Handling, Magder & Morris, 2019a). The Federal government was
not far behind, and like the Ontario Motion Picture Bureau, it also was ahead
of the curve: “the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau was found-
ed as the Exhibits and Publicity Bureau in 1918. It was the first national film
production unit in the world. Its purpose was to produce films that promoted
Canadian trade and industry” (Handling, Magder & Morris, 2019a).
One of the earliest successful Canadian films, Back to God’s Country, was re-
leased in 1919. As the title references, the harsh Canadian wilderness defines
the film - and unlike most of Hollywood at the time, Back to God’s Country
was shot on scene, rather than on a pre-made set. The film’s lingering rel-
evance in today’s Canada is proven by the phrase “the great white north,”
which was used on an intertitle card to describe Canada’s landscape (necessary
information and dialogue during the silent film era was contained on placards
- i.e. intertitle cards - interspersed between scenes) (Armatage, 2019). But, at
the time, Back to God’s Country was notorious because it was the first feature
film in the world to contain a nude scene. The film’s star, Nell Chipman, can
be seen clearly taking a bath in a lake, surrounded by animals and nature. The
marketing for the film even embraced the controversial nudity. Many adver-
tising posters showed a provocative image of Nell Shipman with the phrase
“Don’t Book ‘Back to God’s Country’ unless You want to prove that the Nude
is NOT Rude.” The film grossed triple its production costs (Amatage, 2019).
Overall, however, the Canadian film industry was dominated by the United
States. The Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau engineered this
outcome because “it favoured a business model that saw Canada as a branch
plant of the American industry” (Handling, Magder & Morris, 2019a). Over
the course of the 1920s, the number of Canadian productions increased while
the number of Hollywood films with Canadian plots, settings, or themes in-
creased (Handling, Magder & Morris, 2019a). Distribution of films was also
dominated by the United States. The Motion Picture Exhibitors and Distribu-
tors of Canada was formed in 1924, later becoming the Canadian Motion Pic-
ture Distributors Association in 1940 and then the Motion Picture Association
-- Canada in 2011 (Handling, Magder & Morris, 2019a).

Although Canadian in name, the association consisted of the Canadian offices of

the major American distribution companies. It was essentially a branch of the Mo-
tion Picture Producers and Distributors Association of America. For the purposes of
calculating domestic gross revenue, American distributors began including Canada
in their bottom line (Handling, Magder & Morris, 2019a).

Because American companies controlled distribution - they owned the theatres

15
- they reaped the profits, and therefore were able to maintain control over the
production of films in Canada. Government involvement favoured profiting
off this arrangement, rather than developing Canada’s own domestic film pro-
duction. The next two decades were almost barren of Canadian-produced
films, and “the only memorable Canadian feature of this period was The Vi-
king (1931). It depicted the hazardous life of Newfoundland’s seal hunters”
(Handling, Magder & Morris, 2019a).

An Increased Role of Government

The Federal government started to take an increased interest in developing a

domestic film industry in the late 1930s. They “commissioned Scottish film-
maker John Grierson to study the state of film production in Canada” (Gri-
erson coined the term ‘documentary’) (Handling, Magder & Morris, 2019b).
Grierson’s report resulted in the creation of the National Film Board in 1939.
(Handling, Magder & Morris, 2019b). Although it was initially only meant
to be an advisory board, the Second World War caused it to take over the
Government Motion Picture Bureau and get involved in active production of
Canadian films (Handling, Magder & Morris, 2019b).
Although the increased nationalistic spirit of Canada during the war years led
to the increased production of Canadian film, these were mostly war-related
documentaries and newsreels rather than feature films. It was not until 1954
that one of the most significant developments in the history of Canadian film
happened - the creation of the Capital Cost Allowance (CCA) for the film in-
dustry. This allowed investors to deduct 50 percent of the money they invested
in Canadian films from their taxable income (Handling, Magder & Morris,
2019b).
The CCA took time to produce results. Sidney Furie, a talented Canadian
screenwriter, producer, and director, produced several, critically well-received
films in Canada during the late 1950s to middling commercial success. He em-
igrated to Britain in 1960, saying “I wanted to start a Canadian film industry,
but nobody cared” (Handling, Magder & Morris, 2019b). But if he would have
waited a few more years, he would have seen an “emerging industry [that] was
beginning to produce critically acclaimed films” (Handling, Magder & Morris,
2019b). This emerging industry of the late 1960s and early 1970s was “unmis-
takably Canadian, using regional landscapes and characters with sensitivity
and insight” (Handling, Magder & Morris, 2019b).
Things really took off in 1974, when the CCA was increased to 100 percent,
which “resulted in a massive increase in Canadian production and marked
the beginning of the “tax shelter era”” (Handling, Magder & Morris, 2019c).
Certain standards applied in order for a film to qualify as ‘Canadian’: “it had

16
to be at least 75 minutes long. At least one producer and two-thirds of the
“above the line” creative team had to be Canadian. And at least 75 per cent
of the production and post-production services had to be completed in Cana-
da” (Handling, Magder & Morris, 2019c). As a result, Canadian film priorities
shifted from smaller, indie-like, critical successes to large, commercially-driven
projects. Major Hollywood A-listers such as Henry Fonda, Michael Douglas,
and Donald Sutherland starred in Canadian-made films (Handling, Magder &
Morris, 2019c). The amount of Canadian feature films increased from three
in 1974 to 77 in 1979. But the tax shelter era came to an end in 1982 when
the CCA was reduced back to its original 50 percent. (Handling, Magder &
Morris, 2019c).

The 1980s to the Present

The Canadian flavour of Canadian feature films started to dissipate following

its peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The 1980s and 1990s were hard on
the domestic Canadian film industry, as the austerity-focused, neoliberal spirit
of the age led to cuts in governmental assistance to all things arts related. Since
the industry was “almost wholly dependent upon government financing,” few-
er films were made - particularly films made to appeal to Canadians with Can-
ada-related content. The Canadian film industry shifted back to what it was in
the 1920s: Hollywood North.
Today, there are more Canadian made films than ever. But the focus of do-
mestic pride is oriented toward individuals, particularly actors and actresses,
or especially successful directors and producers such as Dennis Villeneuve or
James Cameron. The former was “named filmmaker of the decade by the
Hollywood Critics Association” (Lau, 2019), while the latter directed, wrote,
and produced Avatar, which was the most profitable film of all time for over a
decade (IMBd, 2019). Interestingly, Avatar is considered an American film, as
it was made by an American film production company. Significant Canadian
film professionals will be discussed later in this book.
However, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique opportunity
for Canadian film production to re-find itself. Because Canada will likely be
able to reopen before the United States, “locals will have a rare window of
access to the crews, equipment, studio space and locations that are usually
scooped up by higher-budget U.S. productions” (Schneller, 2020). This pro-
vides an opportunity for the Canadian film industry to have more bargaining
power, which could result in more Canadian content if the appropriate tax
breaks and investments are provided.

17
18
 Chapter 2: Canadian TV vs Canadian Film

The Introduction of Television to the World

As we just learned, Canadian films consist of three major aspects: a high level
of government involvement, major influence by the American industry, and
the prominence of Canada’s harsh landscapes. How, though, does Canadian
television compare to the film industry? It turns out that, not surprisingly, the
two have followed similar patterns in their respective histories. Here, we will
discuss the history of Canadian television, take a look at its similarities with
film all the while noting differences between the two, as well.
To begin with, the regular use of television within Canada came about in the
early 1950s; over half a century after the technology for rudimentary TV had
been created. Indeed, though we think of the 20th century when discussing
the introduction of the TV to the world, it was actually at the tail end of the
19th century, 1897 to be exact, when Ferdinand Braun invented the cathode
ray tube, an invention that would later be used to produce television images.
Crossing over into the twentieth century, it still took almost another three de-
cades before there were any considerable investments in the invention of the
TV: “by the end of the 1920s, the United States had a total of fifteen experi-
mental stations for mechanical television” (Duke University, 2020). Following
this, television as a consumer’s product came to a halt as, like almost everything
else in the world at the time, the second World War became the forefront con-
cern to most everybody. Nations that were investing time into broadcasting
development, such as Germany and England, froze their efforts as they be-
came, understandably, preoccupied with the war. The result was one where the
United States quickly became the leader in television technology, as they were
the only country to continue their efforts in that field prior to, during and after

19
the war. By the early 1950s, then, the United States was considerably ahead of
the rest of the world in broadcasting television and had several networks such
as NBC, CBS and ABC. Many of these networks, though, shared content with
radio shows as TV shows as we know them today had not yet come into being.

Carving out Canadian Content

Returning to Canada, and not overly behind on the path paved by the U.S. the
first Canadian national broadcasting station was CBC, which was introduced
September 6, 1952. Interestingly, although previous to this date there was no
Canadian content available, “several hundred thousand Canadians who lived
within range of the American signals south of the border already owned tele-
vision sets” (History Museum, 2020). In this way, many Canadian’s first experi-
ence with television was through American services and, thus, the TV industry
within Canada was being influenced by America before it even had a chance
for self-development. Despite the U.S. making its television impression on Ca-
nadians before Canada itself had a chance to do so, our country did end up
consisting of a distinctive and original television palette causing “something of
a mini-boom in culture and education in Canada” (History Museum, 2020).
Unlike American content, Canadian television focused its efforts on providing
educational and informative programs such as Shakespearian dramas, panel
discussions on Canadian literature, science series, public affairs debates, and
folk-singing shows. While this narrative of programming is commendable, it
turns out that is not what the Canadian demographic was looking for in their
television. Of course, it can not be known for sure as to why, but many Canadi-
ans preferred American programming that consisted of more easily-consumed
programs. Eventually, in 1953, CBC did begin to air American programs in
order to appease Canadian viewers.
Despite America’s major influence on Canadian television, Canada still re-
tained marked talent for specific types of programming. Canada’s specific tele-
vision successes included documentaries and news programmes, which were in
keeping with the nation’s educational priorities. Canada was also considerably
successful with sports programming, the most notable of which is still current
and popular today, Hockey Night in Canada. Other successful Canadian pro-
grams include Open House, a show directed towards women that consisted of
household and domestic tips and tricks which ran from 1952 to 1962, and the
C.G.E. Show, which featured multiple musical artists and groups from 1952 to
1959. Though Canada was not at the forefront of television programming or
the highest in producing popular content, the country carved out a distinct and
respectable portion for itself in terms of television.

20
 Landscapes of Canadian TV

In addition to Canadian TV being heavily influenced by the U.S., just like

Canadian film, Canadian television also shares a similarity with its film coun-
terpart in that it featured, at least in the beginning, an abundance of the coun-
ty’s landscapes. This mostly occurred in Canada’s documentaries, which were
popular and a key trait of early Canadian TV. One of the most significant and
popular of these TV documentaries that does well to exemplify our previous
point about landscapes, is About Canada. The show aired weekly for half of
the year in 1956 and 1957: some of the episodes included titles such as Salt
from the Earth, Shadow on the Prairies, Story of Oil, and Arctic Dog Team.
The mere title of these documentaries illustrate well how Canadian program-
ming focused on the land of Canada and its ongoings. Although this program
did not last long, it encapsulates well the type of TV that the country was
producing.
Another significant series was the program, On the Spot, as it was the first
documentary series that was specifically made for television and aired from
1953 to 1954. Made by the National Film Board, (as were most programs at
the time) On the Spot featured 15 minute segments reporting on different as-
pects of life in Canada. One particular episode, Survival in the Bush, is about
instructing those at home how to, well, survive in the bush:

One terrific episode… has Robert Anderson acting as host being dropped off in the
Quebec north trying to survive with the help of an Indigenous guide armed with just
an axe. Although the report is obviously staged(notice how the camera still moves
when the cameraman is off gathering firewood), there are some great tips on how to
start a fire without matches, find food and build a birch bark canoe (NFB, 2020).

At a full 30 minutes, the NFB (National Film Board) ultimately describes the
series as “very primitive.” (NFB, 2020). This description, while severe, was not
merely directed at the content, but at the project as a whole. Aspects such as
each episode’s length, which was originally only 15 minutes, were realized to
be problematic and, thus, the show also served as a valuable prototype, guinea
pig, or any other noun you might use to describe a lacking, but informative, test
run. Despite the show’s shortcomings, it marks the very beginning of Candian
TV and, in line with About Canada, the show does an excellent job of illus-
trating the Canadian programming’s focus on the landscape of the great white
north, just as Canadian film did.

Canadian Government and TV

21
Aside from the shows that the NFB produced, it might be interesting to take a
look at the organization itself. The National FIlm Board “was created by an act
of Parliament in 1939. Its mandate, as set forth in the National Film Act, 1950,
is ‘to produce and distribute and to promote the production and distribution of
films designed to interpret Canada to Canadians and to other nations’” (NFB,
2020). This mission statement reveals a lot. Firstly, in addition to the content
of Canadian programmes showcasing their focus on the nation’s land, this
statement exhibits Canadian television’s priorities of the time. Unlike Amer-
ican programming, which was more geared towards straight entertainment,
the NFB’s main goal was to educate its viewers. We mentioned this difference
a bit earlier in the chapter, but here we can see direct evidence of this contrast
between the two nations. Secondly, and, in light of our discussion perhaps
more significantly, this statement confirms that the NFB is a government orga-
nization. If we recall the last chapter, we will remember that one of Canadian
film’s most defining characteristics is its high level of government influence and
thus we can then see here that this is another shared characteristic between our
nation’s film and television.
Of course, when we are discussing this shared trait, it is in the context of rough-
ly 70 years ago. What about today? We have already seen that, within two years
of Canada broadcasting, American programmes began to be played in Cana-
da. If American television began to take hold within Canada that quickly back
then, what does the modern day landscape of Canadian television look like?
While in the 1950’s the NFB was by far the majority producer of Canadian
programmes, that no longer holds true today. Has Canadian TV been washed
out then? The answer is no. While the NFB still continues to create quality
Canadian content, the government’s role in Canadian television is now more
strongly directed through the CRTC, or the Canadian Radio and Television
Transcommunication Commision. We will discuss the CRTC in depth a little
later in this book, but for now the important factor is that they too are a govern-
ment organization. The CRTC was created in 1968 meaning that they have
given guidance and created mandates for Canadian content for over 50 years.
Thus, between the NFB and the CRTC, Canadian television has always had
a strong government influence. Interestingly, the CRTC plays much the same
role in Canadian film as it does television. This commonality between the two
different media is, thus, undeniable.

The American Shadow

We have now covered Canadian television’s focus on its landscapes and its sig-
nificant influence from the government as similarities with its film counterpart,
but what about American influence? We know that is a defining feature of Ca-

22
nadian film, does that also hold true with television? As was described earlier, it
wasn’t long before American programs were played on Canadian broadcasting
stations. Despite this, we also know that Canada did manage to form a unique
identity by focusing on education based programmes, evident in their any doc-
umentary programs. What about now, though?
While there remains significant Canadian broadcasting stations, such as CBC
and CTV, many of these stations air copious amounts of American produces
television programs. Why is this? According to the Canadian Communications
Foundation:

As the 21st century moved along, and while pressure continued to come from both
the CRTC and the creative community for there to be more and better Canadian
drama produced, all parties continued to recognize, some albeit reluctantly, that U.S.
programming had to continue to be a part of private broadcasters’ schedules. The
fact continued to be that the quality of the series programming that the U.S. econo-
my could afford to finance would always make it a priority for Canadian viewers,
and therefore had to be in Canadian broadcasters’ schedules (Broadcasting History,
2020).

As a result, many Canadian television consumers watch large amounts of

American television. The result is one where, just as it was in the 1950s, Amer-
ican programming is something Canadians enjoy and want to watch. This
demand, in turn, encourages actual Canadian programs to be made in the
image of American shows. One popular Canadian TV show was Corner Gas.
On air from 2004 to 2009, Corner Gas was a full 6 seasons long and reruns
are still played on various CTV stations. The show is also available on Amazon
Prime and Crave streaming services, a further testament to the show’s popu-
larity. Known as a sitcom, or a situational comedy, the show is beloved by its
Canadian fans. The essence of the show, though, is accurately captured when
one reviewer describes it as “similar in spirit to Seinfeld” which, of course, is an
American sitcom (IMDB, 2020). It, therefore, speaks volumes that one of the
most successful Canadian shows is made in the image of American television.
While this section may seem bleak for our Canadian patriots, it is important
to recall that Canadian television still has inherent value and, furthermore,
Canadian content is rigorously encouraged, managed and produced with the
help of the Canadian government. We will recall that the involvement of the
government in the Canadian television and film industries is one of their de-
fining features, and the influence and shadow of America is a good reminder
to be thankful it is so.

Conclusion

23
Just as we saw in film, Canadian television has been marked by its focus on
the landscapes of the country, its significant level of government involvement
and, last but not least, the influence of its American counterpart. We can see
that, historically, the two media platforms, television and film, followed much
in the same path as one another. Early stages of each media most often took
documentary form. As time went on, American shows and films became more
popular, leaving Canada with a significant contender. The Canadian govern-
ment, from the start, has always invested in the welfare of Canadian content
in terms of television and film and has, thus, protected and promoted the in-
dustries. The major difference between the two industries is simply time, as
Canadian film got a headstart on Canadian television by almost 60 years. To-
day, Canadian film could arguably be measured as more successful and more
celebrated than television. Regardless of this, the two industries are closely tied
with creative roles such as directors, screenwriters, and actors and actresses
often contributing to both. In this line of thought, and perhaps with a hint of
optimism, it would not be off base to say that Canadian film and television have
the potential to garner more success and aptitude in the future.

24
 Chapter 3: Prominent Storylines within
Canadian Film

Introduction

Canadian film, like almost any other storytelling medium, has the ability to
narrate a wide selection of genres and tell of any story it might find worth-
while. With this in mind, certain cultures or geographical regions are often
subject or prone to telling particular kinds of stories. So, does the Canadian
film scene have a favourite storyline to portray? Is there a pattern in Canadian
film that is returned to time and again; an old favourite that no matter how
many times it’s already been done, the industry returns to? To review the over
1,600 Canadian films that have been made might be the most statistically accu-
rate way to answer this question but, unfortunately, we have neither the space
nor resources to dedicate to such a large endeavour in this book. Instead, we
have reviewed Canadian films that are deemed to be of the highest quality and
looked for the plot patterns between them.
When we think of Hollywood and American cinema, some stereotypes that
may come to mind are beautiful people, expensive houses, high-speed car chas-
es, and an overall flair for the dramatic. We might say a common American
storyline is the hero, spy, or soldier overcoming almost impossible odds. While
of course it would be a gross inaccuracy to say this is all that American film
consists of, it is undeniable that films produced south of the Canadian border
have an affinity for extremism. In the last chapter we addressed how, often, the
Canadian industry exists in the shadow of the U.S.; hopefully by the end of this
chapter, it will also be apparent that Canadian film has managed to maintain a
sense of autonomy from the States.
It is difficult to encapsulate different narratives under the same umbrella even
when they share similar elements because every story is unique in some way.

25
Even the exact same story told through a different media is not, then, the ex-
act same story, something we will discuss later on in this book. However, if we
analyze some of Canada’s greater films we do nonetheless begin to see consis-
tencies between them. For this chapter, we will be taking a close look at sever-
al beloved Canadian films, discussing their similar storylines, and establishing
how they do well to represent far more films than we have space to discuss here.

Atanarjuat

The first film we will be looking at in this chapter is Atanarjuat or, in English,
The Fast Runner. What is so incredible about this film, and why it deserves
roves of recognition, is that it was the first film to be entirely created in the
Inuktitut language. Inuktitut is an Inuit language spoken widely across North-
ern Canada, predominantly in the Northwest Territories. The film was an in-
stant international success, and received a plethora of awards from around the
world “including the Camera d’or for best first feature at the Cannes Film Fes-
tival and five Genie Awards, including Best Screenplay, Best Direction and Best
Motion Picture, as well as the Claude Jutra Award” (A. McIntosh & W. Wise,
2017) The Toronto Film festival, an internationally recognized event in the
celebration of the art of film, has ranked it as the number one Canadian film
ever made in their top 10 list in 2015. In accordance with CRTC standards, the
majority of consequential creative roles within the film were Canadian. Not
only were the roles mostly filled by Canadians, though: they were mostly filled
by Inuit people. The director, Zacharias Kunuk, along with the entire cast, plus
four out of five screenwriters, were all Inuit Canadians. The result was one
of extreme authenticity. The language was not only used within the film, but
also used in all the proceedings in tangent to the film. Indeed, “all props and
costumes were made by Inuit artisans in accordance with traditional methods”
(A. McIntosh & W. Wise, 2017). Every aspect of the film was steeped in Inuit
culture and, clearly, had a profound effect on the quality of the film itself.
So what was the storyline of such a profound film? The 2001 film takes place
almost exactly two thousand years before at the turn of the millennium, and
is based on an ancient Inuit legend or folktale that has survived through oral
tradition. As with any oral narrative, the tale is sure to have morphed with time
and even to have multiple versions. The storyline for the film then, was not as
simple as taking the oral story and penning it down into a screenplay. Produc-
tion for the film began in 1998 with eight Inuit elders being interviewed and
asked to tell the story as it had been passed down to them by their ancestors.
After the recording of each version, the tale was edited into one final copy by
Paul Apak Angilirq, which became the screenplay for the movie (A. McIntosh
& W. Wise, 2017). Thus, in addition to the film being produced, written and

26
directed entirely in Inuktitut, it was also a direct adaptation of an ancient oral
narrative. While adaptations are quite common in the film industry, oftentimes
the films themselves are a culmination of creative artworks birthed from the
inspiration another storytelling mode may have given. In other words, many
stories in various forms are the inspiration for a film, but the film itself ends up
being a loose adaptation, or a completely recycled story. This, of course, is just
as valid a filmmaking process and story expression as any other. However, with
Atanarjuat, the creative team did not want to completely reimagine or reinvent
the tale; they wanted to simply translate it into an on screen experience with
a couple of tweaks, all the while preserving authentic Inuit culture, heritage,
and tradition.
As the film is clearly a direct product of Inuit culture, it is interesting to see
what the actual storyline itself is and, furthermore, how it ties in with other
Canadian storylines. Atanarjuat is about the spiritual dissolution of an Inuit
community in the Eastern Arctic wilderness. The story opens with the commu-
nity being visited by a Shaman who duels with the camp leader. The Shaman
ends up triumphant in their duel with the camp leader dying and his son,
Sauri, becoming camp leader. As time wears on, it becomes evident that the
Shaman has left a taint within the community. Rivalries are made as Sauri and
his son Oki are pitted against two brothers, Atanarjuat (our protagonist) and
Amaqjuaq. Eventually, Atanarjuat finds himself husband to two wives, Atuat
and Puja, with the latter being Oki’s sister and the former being a love interest
of his. The rivalry between Atanarjuat and Oki is then only heightened by
Oki’s jealousy. As the narrative unfolds, one day, Atanarjuat finds Puja cheating
on him with his brother and, enraged, hits her. Puja flees to her father, Sauri,
and brother, Oki, claiming Atanarjuat attempted to kill her. In retaliation, Oki
attempts to murder Atanarjuat, but fails, only succeeding in stabbing the boots
and clothes of Atanarjuat that were shaped to look as though he were in them.
Atanarjuat then runs for his life across the arctic plains naked and barefoot
which then attests for the name of the character and film, The Fast Runner.
Eventually, Atanarjuat escapes and Oki returns home to rape Atuat and mur-
der his father, succeding him as camp leader. After all this evil, Panikpak, a fe-
male elder of the camp, summons her brother, Qulitalik, to intervene and save
their community. He answers her call and places Oki under a spell where he
forgets all his afflictions. Then, with the community gathered, Qulitalik sum-
mons the evil shaman from all those years ago and dispels him and his evil from
within them. Atanarjuat declares the times of evildoing are at an end. Lastly,
Oki and Puja are forgiven for their misdoings but exiled from the community.
What can we pull from this storyline? It is a story about the bounds of human
experience and emotion. The film, of course, can never be the exact same
as the oral tale and the creative directors did change it, but it serves a similar

27
purpose: a warning to the dangers of allowing evil to fester and not practic-
ing spiritual well-being. The drastic actions taken by the characters - violence,
rape, and attempted murder - all speak to the darkest paths a person can go
down. The film explores quintessential human emotions, like jealousy and an-
ger, and warns how those emotions might lead to damning consequences if not
addressed in a healthy way.

The Sweet Hereafter

The Sweet Hereafter is another quintessential Canadian film. In the next

chapter, we will discuss how it exemplifies meeting all of the CRTC’s standards
of being a Canadian film, but for now, we will focus on its narrative. The film
was made in 1997 and “was nominated for 16 Genie Awards and won eight,
including best picture, director and actor. It also won three major awards at the
Cannes Film Festival, and received Academy Award nominations for adapt-
ed screenplay and director” (J. Leach, 2017). Director and screenwriter Atom
Egoyan is praised for his creative genius in adapting the film from the novel it
was based on (of the same name) by Russel Banks.
Similar to Atanarjuat, the story takes place within a small, tight knit communi-
ty. We are never told where exactly this town is but, based on the many snowy
scenic shots in the film and the portrayal of the town itself, it is safe to assume
it is somewhere in the Canadian rural countryside. Over the first 45 minutes
of the town, the film introduces the audience to its main characters and their
relationships with one another. Mitchell Stephens, a lawyer from out of town
comes to interview all the parents of the town whose children were involved in
a fatal school bus crash. As Mitchell speaks to each of the various town mem-
bers, it becomes clear that this is a small, tight knit community where everyone
knows not only everybody else but their personal ongoings and secrets too.
Suffice it to say, gossip is an active mode of gaining information in the town.
As Mitchell makes his way through the parents affected by the crash, the film
makes it apparent why he is so motivated and insistent on helping these parents
sue for financial gain: he too has lost a child, in a certain manner. Mitchell’s
daughter, Zoe, has estranged herself from her parents through a severe drug
addiction. Mitchell tries many times over the years to help his daughter finan-
cially and with rehabilitation, only for her to continue to scorn him. While
Mitchell cannot get through to his own daughter, and he cannot bring back the
deceased children from the bus accident, he is determined to help the parents
get justice and be financially compensated for their losses.
The narrative of the film unfolds in an intriguing way. Firstly, the main event
that the film revolves around, the school bus accident, isn’t actually shown until
almost exactly halfway through the movie. Up until this point, the audience is

28
left to piece together what has happened through Mitchell’s conversations with
the townspeople. So, rather than the tragic event unfolding dramatically on
scene, it is related to the audience in bits and pieces of pained, hushed, angry,
and heartbroken conversations. The devastation of the event resulting in the
fatalities of too many children is not conveyed through a long, drawn out, dra-
matic scene of a bus accident; rather, through the emotional carnage and en-
durance that the parents display afterwards. The effect of this narrative is one
where the audience is encouraged to empathize with the emotional tragedy of
the town instead of focusing on the physical event itself.
Eventually, and as stated earlier about half way through, the film does show
the accident itself, where the bus runs off the road, through the guardrail, and
then down onto the frozen lake below where it quickly cracks through the ice
and begins sinking into the freezing water. The scene is over quickly and, un-
like other films that might place a more heavy emphasis on the scene, it is shot
from far away and the audience watches the bus crack through the ice surface
as if from a distance. The sound of screaming children is also heard as if from
a distance. This portrayal of the accident supports the film’s focalized narrative
whereby the film isn’t about the accident as it is about the ways the accident
plays out in the interrelated lives of the townspeople.
As the film continues, it continues to explore the complexities of the emotions
and relationships of the people the accident has affected. We learn that one
woman is cheating on her husband with another man whose wife recently
passed away from cancer. We learn that another couple adopted their son who
was on the bus and who was beloved by everyone. We learn that the bus driver
adored the kids, “her kids,” she even referred to them as, and thought of them
as bright ripe berries in their vibrant snowsuit that she collected from the
countryside in her bus as if it were a basket. We learn that Mitchell watched his
daughter have a near death experience when she was only three years old, and
that he still wishes for the daughter he lost to drug abuse. We also learn that
one of the children who survived the accident, Nicole, has grown up with a
father who molests her. All these relationships are unfolded to us through brief
intimate scenes, such as through a grieving conversation in a living room, a
secret rendezvous at a motel, or a candlelit encounter in a barn. While the film
does experience a climax towards the end, it is not in the conventional sense
where something is loudly, brightly and dramatically revealed. There is no mo-
mentous moment that everything has culminated in; instead, there is a layering
of each character’s narrative as all of their stories, emotions, and experiences
overlap and intersect one another’s.
As the film nears its ending, the lawsuit that will allow all the parents to be
compensated if they win rests on the testimony of Nicole. Nicole, having over-
heard her parents insist they go through with the suit so they can receive their

29
payout lies about the accident, saying the bus driver was speeding. This scene
is shot quietly in a private meeting with two lawyers and her father, no judge,
no jury, no large court audience, keeping with the film’s overall narrative tone.
As Nicole lies, she glances towards her father, who has a pained expression on
his face, and without words the film tells us Nicole is standing up to her father,
knowing he has abused her, and taking away his chance at financial gain. The
film then ends on a somber note. It seems all the efforts of Mitchell have been
for nothing, and the pain of each parent’s loss is not to be compensated for, but
is it really an unhappy ending? Like Atanarjuat, the film explores the greatest
lengths of human emotion; the evils and injustices humans can inflict upon
one another, and leaves the audience pondering about morality.

Mon oncle Antoine

These two films do well to illustrate some of Canadian film’s prominent sto-
ry lines, but are there others? Like we said earlier, it would be impractical to
discuss a large amount of films in length on just this one topic, because that
would be another book in itself. For now, though, we will review one additional
film briefly and explore how it too runs along the same storylines. While do-
ing this review and, indeed, while reading the entire book, it is important to
keep in mind that reading about a medium that is not meant to be read, but
rather watched or experienced, can be misleading at times. A summary or a
plot overview will never do a film or television show justice. We encourage you
then to take a look and enjoy some of the films we are discussing. Watch for the
many talented Canadian artists we will discuss throughout the book, as well as
those we didn’t have space to commend. Think about the history of Canadian
film and how it has led to the film(s) you choose to watch. Keep in mind the
philosophical and political natures that surround Canadian film and how they
might thus inform the films. Reading this book will do well to provide a basis
for thinking about and understanding Canadian film, but it is only a supple-
ment to watching the films themselves.
With that in mind, let us now look at another key work of the Canadian film
industry. This film, Mon oncle Antoine or My Uncle Antoine in English, was
made in 1971 and was filmed in French, one of Canada’s national languages.
This film is also well acclaimed, having “won eight Canadian Film Awards,
including Best Feature Film, Direction and Original Screenplay” (J. Leach,
2017). Additionally, the film which is now almost 50 years old has held its
standing and prestige for decades still weighing in at number two of the top 10
Canadian films ever as of 2015 (CBC, 2015). It is also praised for being revolu-
tionary in Canadian film, achieving the title of a cinematic masterpiece when
it was thought that Canadian film couldn’t achieve such heights. Indeed, the

30
film is even quoted by André Loiselle to have paved the way for other Canadian
films that would walk later follow in its path: “the coming-of-age film became
something of a prototypical Canadian genre, with such films as Ján Kadár’s
Lies My Father Told Me (1975), Allan King’s Who Has Seen the Wind (1977),
Francis Mankiewicz’s Les bons débarras (1980), Jean-Claude Lauzon’s Léolo
(1992) and Allan Moyle’s New Waterford Girl (1999) trying to recapture the
magic of Jutra’s masterpiece” (The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2020). Loiselle’s
assessment of the film in its precedent nature also speaks to the film’s ability in
representing common Canadian storylines; perhaps it was a contributing fac-
tor in the prominence of the storylines we are discussing here in this chapter.
Before following this line of thought further, though, a quick synopsis of the
film will be helpful. Mon oncle Antoine takes place in a small rural town some-
where in Quebec and is mostly shot from the perspective of a young boy, Ben-
oît. Benoît is an orphaned child who has been taken in by his aunt and uncle
who own and run the town’s general store; his uncle, Antoine, is the local un-
dertaker. As the film continues, one of the local families have their son tragical-
ly pass away and Benoît and Antoine set out to take the body from the family’s
farm. In the snowy countryside, the coffin ends up falling out of the wagon,
leaving Antoine and Benoît to attempt to heave it back in. Unfortunately, Ben-
oît realizes that his uncle has been drinking progressively throughout the day
and is much too inebriated to be of any help. Benoît is left with no option but
to return to the store and seek someone else’s help. Upon arrival, Antoine
spots his aunt being intimate with another man, the store’s clerk. Despite this
the clerk, Fernand, returns with Benoît to help with the coffin. When Benoît
and Fernand do eventually find the coffin again, though, it is back at the family
farm with all of the deceased loved ones gathered around and staring. The
film, overall, explores human tragedies such as death, substance abuse, and
adultery as young Benoît is exposed to it all and left to ponder the workings of
his adult community.
There are also clear, significant similarities with the previous two films dis-
cussed in this chapter. Let us explore those a little further, now. Firstly, all three
films focus on small communities that are quite removed from any larger cities.
Perhaps this is a testament to how much land Canada has in comparison to
people. Unlike American movies that tend to focus on the big cities and bright
lights, Canadian film focuses more on the quaint and quiet settings, though
certainly not less interesting or eventful. These communities also seem to re-
volve around the relationships that people or families have with one another, be
they friends or neighbors. Within these relationships is, then, where the story
takes place: not in a car chase, a media scandal, or an alien invasion. There are
no momentous, supernatural scenes where the hero defies the odds. Instead,
the subtleties of human nature are explored; emotions and hardships that are

31
uniquely part of the human experience are fleshed out, encouraging empathy
and understanding in the audiences of each. The movies are powerful not in
that they illustrate some wild and vibrant narrative, but in that they capture
the sublime qualities of humans, relationships, and communities. By the end
of each film there is a sense of resolution; not in that the happy ending came
along, but instead a deeper understanding and appreciation for the complexi-
ties explored is realized.

Conclusion

In sum, though Canadian films are extremely varied, there are often similari-
ties that can be found within their storylines. These films differ in particular to
typical Hollywood films, as they explore existence in a different, less flashy way.
Canadian films tend to focus on experience: the ways in which the everyday
human experience is seen through a particular character’s eyes. These films
bring out as many emotions as exist on the spectrum, demonstrating the depth
of the human ability to feel for and connect with the people around them, but
also show some of the deepest, darkest places that individuals can go, and how
that affects the communities of people around them. This tendency is directly
opposing the typical Hollywood superhero story, but does not make Canadian
films any less worthy of recognition and consideration: these films simply pon-
der human existence in different ways. Let us keep this distinction in mind as
we continue to learn about Canadian films, as understanding this difference
is particularly important when we realize the true meaning and impact of the
Canadian film.

32
 Chapter 4: Canadian Film Locations

Introduction:
Now that we’ve learned a bit about prominent storylines in Canadian film,
let’s take some time to learn about some popular Canadian film locations: why
they are so popular, how the film industry thrives in those locations, and what
sorts of famous films include some beautiful Canadian landscapes. We will be
exploring two popular Canadian film locations - Toronto, and Vancouver - to
learn about some of their hidden gems, as well as the ways that filming exists
in these locations. By the end of this chapter, we will have an in-depth under-
standing of the most popular Canadian film locations, and an understanding
of which great films and TV series were shot in and around these beautiful
Canadian locations.

Toronto

There are a number of beneficial reasons for companies to choose to shoot

their films or TV series in Toronto, which is why “Toronto is one of the largest
screen-based production centres in North America” (ACTRA Toronto, 2020).
The city itself, locations surrounding the city, government support, incredible
suppliers, and tax credits are all reasons that directors would choose to shoot
their films in Toronto. In some cases, it’s just because of the overall atmosphere
they want their film to have; in other cases, it’s because of the convenience of
the Canadian location and the support their film will receive because of the
Canadian location. Regardless of the reasonings that individual directors have
to set Toronto as their home base, let’s look at some of the most common rea-
sons to shoot a film in Toronto up close.

33
One of the most beautiful things about Toronto is the city: it has every tall
tower to small bakery that a director could need for a specific scene. That said,
Toronto has a habit of being a ‘city body-double’ for many other cities across
the world, just because the skylines can be modified to look extremely similarly.
The City of Toronto website notes that: “Toronto doubles for New York, Bos-
ton, Washington, Chicago, and other US locales as well as international cities
such as Paris, London, Morocco, Saigon, and Tehran” (City of Toronto, 2020).
One such example of this is the TV show Shadowhunters which was filmed
predominantly in Toronto, but was set in New York; many Toronto landmarks
are similar to those in New York, and thus the filming was able to happen in
Canada instead of the United States.
Within the City of Toronto itself, there is “approximately 2 million square feet
of space to accommodate a full range of large and small productions, [as well
as] studio expansion that will bring over 450,000 sq ft new studio space, state-
or-the-art sound stages, [and] the world’s largest purpose-built sound stage”
(City of Toronto, 2020). With this in mind, there’s no doubt that studio space
is prime and available throughout the City of Toronto, which makes filming on
set less of an arduous process. That said, the City of Toronto also has a variety
of popular on-location places to shoot, such as Lower Bay Station, which was
featured in Total Recall and Suicide Squad, Casa Loma, which functioned
as Xavier’s school in X-Men, and Younge Street, which was featured in The
Incredible Hulk (Flack, 2017). There are many government requirements for
filming in the City of Toronto, however these requirements are clearly laid
out on the City of Toronto website, and include regulations for things such
as drone filming, letters of notification, use of public parking lots, and traffic
prohibitions.
There are also many on-location filming opportunities close to, but outside the
City of Toronto that are popular in films. For example, Shadowhunters was
filmed not only within the City of Toronto, but also in Mississauga, which is
just outside of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Stars are able to commute
to Mississauga from their hotels and/or their indoor sets with ease, and the
film is able to see more diversity in landscape. Other films and TV series that
filmed in Mississauga include The Handmaid’s Tale, Designated Survivor, The
Umbrella Academy, Black Mirror, The Shape of Water, and Room. Another
popular filming location outside of the GTA is Oshawa, which housed filming
for Murdoch Mysteries, It, Warehouse 13, Titans, and The Expanse.
Outside of the sheer beauty of the locations inside and outside the GTA come
the government support because of how important the film industry is to To-
ronto. According to a report from the Canadian Media Producers Association,
between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019, the Toronto film industry brought
in 9.3 billion dollars and created the equivalent of 180,900 full time jobs (AC-

34
TRA Toronto, 2020). In addition “In 2019, film and television production in
Ontario increased 14.5% over 2018, contributing $2.16 billion to Ontario’s
economy; the number of jobs increased by 20%, 7,508 over the previous year”
(ACTRA, 2020). Film brings in a huge amount of revenue to the City of To-
ronto, and it makes sense for the city to be offering incentives to people and
companies who choose to film in Toronto.
There are many reasons listed on the City of Toronto website denoting the ben-
efits of filming in Toronto. One category denotes the world-class talent present
in Ontario: the approximately 10,000 actors that are ACTRA members, the
producers, directors, location managers, animators, sound engineers, editors,
and professional crew members who choose to make Toronto their home (City
of Toronto, 2020). In addition, Toronto is home to a variety of technological
innovations that will help filmmakers have an easier time with the post-produc-
tion of their film. Another category talks about the xoTO Schools program,
which not only provides access to additional Toronto school locations, but also:

Creates interactive educational opportunities for students. Co-op placements will be

created through the academic year in categories such as makeup, hair, sound, special
effects, props, set decoration, costume design, continuity, lighting, grip, construc-
tion, paint and transportation. The students will work with industry professionals,
providing them with unprecedented on-the-job training that will best position those
who want to further their education and employment opportunities in the industry.
Toronto’s unions and guilds will also work with the TDSB to provide students ac-
cess to industry workshops, seminars, events and guest speakers that support existing
TDSB film arts curriculum, and to educate students on the variety of jobs available
in the film industry (City of Toronto, 2020).

As the City of Toronto fosters its current film industry, it is also preparing to
invite the next generation of filmmakers into the industry through carefully
planned co-op placements. This is an all-around benefit: students get experi-
ence for their resume, filmmakers get extra assistance often at a reduced price,
and the City of Toronto becomes instrumental in ensuring the continuity of
the film industry in the GTA for years to come.
Finally, of course, come the tax breaks that filmmakers receive for filming in
Toronto. This benefit was mentioned in the first section of this book, but now
we get a chance to explore it in context. According to the City of Toronto
website, which cites KPMG Focus on Tax, 2016: “Toronto is the world’s most
tax competitive major city for business” (City of Toronto, 2020). Some of the
incentives include:

• Tax incentives include stackable, as well as domestic and treaty co-pro-

35
 duction tax credits.

• Various tax credits can be combined offering savings of up to 45% on

qualified labour costs and up to 35.2% on total production costs.

• The City of Toronto is advocating to maintain up to 33% long term

tax incentive security with the Ontario Premier and with other levels
of government.

• There is no individual cap on the eligible credit per production or on

the number of productions that can access the credits.

• Credits are permanent and fully refundable (City of Toronto,

2020).

There are credits specific to film and television, production services, and com-
puter animation and special effects, as well as the Ontario Interactive Digital
Media Tax Credit (City of Toronto, 2020). In addition, there are tax credits
provided by the CRA for film production and services. Through these tax cred-
its, and particularly through how beneficial these tax credits are, the City of
Toronto, Government of Ontario, and Government of Canada are encourag-
ing the film industry to flourish in Toronto by creating extremely good incen-
tives for the people who choose to film within their city, province, and country.
In short, Toronto makes the list for being one of the top filming locations in
Canada not only because of its beauty, but also because of the amount of
effort that the City of Toronto puts into making Toronto a beneficial filming
location. The industry brings in billions of dollars each year, and it makes sense
for the city to foster its relationships with the films and TV shows that provide
them with their business. There is no doubt that once the industry re-opens
from the COVID-19 shutdown, there will be many shows, from blockbusters
to small-budget films, filmed in the City of Toronto and the GTA.

Vancouver

Vancouver is another incredible Canadian location for the film industry. Its
lush forests, rocky mountains, open water, and city streets provide nearly any
location a film could require. It’s diversity, as well as its beautiful landscape,
lend it nicely to the film industry; not only that, the City of Vancouver - like
the City of Toronto - has taken measures to help the film industry in Vancou-
ver continue to succeed. According to the Vancouver Economic Commission,
“Vancouver is the third largest Film & TV production centre in North Amer-

36
ica” (2020). Like we did with Toronto, we will explore some popular reasons
that filmmakers choose to work in Vancouver, and learn about some of the
popular titles that have been and are currently being filmed in Vancouver.
One of the most, if not the most, captivating resources that Vancouver offers
is landscape. Within the City of Vancouver itself, a variety of locations are
popular for a number of movies and shows. Supernatural has been filming in
Vancouver for all 15 of its seasons, and frequents locations such as Buntzen
Lake, the University of British Columbia, and the Cleveland dam (Canadian
Sky, 2020). X-Men: The Last Stand featured the Vancouver Art Gallery, as did
Night at the Museum. Stanley Park is a particularly popular filming location:
Twilight, Once Upon a Time, and Arrow could frequently be found filming
somewhere in the woods.
Not only that: there are also a variety of locations outside of Vancouver, but
close enough for daily commutes, that serve different films and TV shows
equally as well as the bustling city. The City of Burnaby saw the filming of
shows like Juno, Smallville, and Once Upon a Time; Simon Fraser University
was used for Andromeda, Battlestar Galactica, and Hellcats; the City of Co-
quitlam hosted filming for Psych, X-Files, and Shutter Island; and the Town of
Langley is featured in Twilight, Taken, and Riverdale. Being in close proximity
to the mountains, the ocean, and the forest means that films like Percy Jackson
and the Olympians, Apollo 18, Tomorrowland, 50 Shades of Grey, and Fan-
tastic Four all elected to film in Vancouver (Ludwig, 2015).
Within the City of Vancouver lies a particularly popular filming spot: Vancou-
ver Film Studios. According to their website:

Vancouver Film Studios is conveniently located 15 minutes from downtown and

25 minutes from YVR. Studio facilities include 12 purpose-built sound stages and
additional buildings dedicated to warehouses, mills, office space, a private gym and
other film-related needs. All 12 purpose-built sound stages feature acoustical in-
sulation, 16×16 sound doors, and tilt-up construction (Vancouver Film Studios,
2020).

Not only does the Vancouver Film Studios offer an extensive amount of oppor-
tunities and space for anyone looking to film there, they also have a variety of
sustainable practices that make them unique in their work. First of all, it is “the
first-ever carbon neutral production centre in Canada. Our eco-friendly busi-
ness is also a participant in the City of Vancouver’s Still Creek Enhancement.
Still Creek is one of the last two remaining visible streams in urban Vancouver
and flows, in part, through our studio’s lot” (Vancouver Film Studios, 2020). It
also works to make a difference in the Vancouver area by offering opportunities
to students for equipment rental and advanced learning, as well as provid-

37
ing support to local Vancouver charities such as the Youth Homeless Initiative
(Vancouver Film Studios, 2020).
And that is only one of the Vancouver studios: others include Mammoth, Van-
couver, North Shore, Ironwood Studios, Canadian Motion Pictue Park, and
The Crossing Studios (Vancouver Economic Commission, 2020). The amount
of studios supports the industry in Vancouver; after all, “direct spending on
Film & TV production in British Columbia (BC) totalled more than $3.8 bil-
lion in 2017, making Vancouver the 3rd largest production centre in North
America” (Vancouver Economic Commission, 2020). Even simply the list of
popular, well-recognized films and TV series that have called Vancouver their
filming hub directly indicate a love for the city and its filming opportunities.
After all, if Supernatural films in the same location for 15 years straight, there
must be something truly amazing about the city it chooses to call home.
Another fascinating aspect about Vancouver’s film industry is its focus on the
environment and environmental sustainability. The Creative BC website refers
to this as “Reel Green,” which has the mission of creating “a sustainable and
thriving industry with a positive and healthy relationship with our environ-
ment and society” (Creative BC, 2020). This program shares tips on how to
make production more green, places to donate uneaten food so it can support
the Vancouver population, free climate and sustainability production training,
and an opportunity to calculate the carbon footprint of any BC production
for free (Creative BC, 2020). Considering the appeal of Vancouver’s gorgeous
locations, it makes sense that the BC Government would be supporting the in-
dustry while also encouraging their returned support of its gorgeous locations.
The government has more than one reason to support the film industry in
Vancouver:

The industry has a strong balance of international and domestic production activity,
with foreign productions accounting for three-quarters of total production dollars
spent in BC. Meanwhile, many home-based studios work with strategic foreign
partners on co –productions with the mandate to make quality, commercially viable
feature films and TV shows for a global marketplace (Vancouver Economic Com-
mission, 2020).

With over 42,000 jobs created that are related to the film industry in Vancou-
ver, many of which are created directly in Metro Vancouver, “On average the
city is home to approximately 65+ movies and 55+ TV series annually, as well
as hundreds of other filming days for commercials, TV pilots and other fea-
tures” (Vancouver Economic Commission, 2020). The film industry is boom-
ing in Vancouver, so government support for production companies and other
groups that choose to film in Vancouver just makes good sense.

38
One way in which production in Vancouver is supported is by - you guessed
it - tax benefits. The British Columbia Production Service Tax Credit offers a
“twenty-eight percent refundable tax credit on eligible labour costs,” the Film
Incentive BC Tax Credit offers “a refundable tax credit of 35 per cent to Ca-
nadian-controlled production companies,” and the Canadian Film or Video
Production Tax Credit, which is provided by the Canadian Government, offers
“a credit of 25 per cent of qualified labour to Canadian-controlled production
companies, with a credit of 16 per cent of qualified labour costs to Canadian­
controlled production companies and those with a permanent establishment in
Canada” (Vancouver Economic Commission, 2020), and that is only just the
beginning. By making it fiscally responsible for productions to film in Vancou-
ver, the City of Vancouver, the BC Government, and the Canadian Govern-
ment are encouraging the continuity of the Vancouver film industry.
Vancouver is also home to the number one VFX and Animation Cluster in
the world, which houses over ten thousand animation jobs and over 60 ani-
mation studios in Vancouver alone (Vancouver Economic Commission, 2020).
Universities in and around Vancouver offer high-quality animation and digital
media classes, which encourages not only Canadian animators to study in Van-
couver and make it their home, it also welcomes international students to study,
and then decide to stay in Vancouver. Animation and VFX is another area in
which there are large tax incentives available, to encourage the production of
animated films in Vancouver. The ease of accessibility for production compa-
nies who are already working in Vancouver to have their VFX and animation
also done in Vancouver seals the deal: the logic behind the organization of the
industry is truly astounding.
Vancouver is home to many huge box office hits, and when we analyze the
Vancouver film industry, there is really no question about it: Vancouver is an
incredible place to film. From locations to the ever-important tax credits, there
is support in all the right places for production companies choosing to shoot
their films in this hugely popular Canadian city. There is no doubt that Van-
couver will continue to be recognizable on the big screen, whether it is loca-
tions inside or outside the city: the film industry here will undoubtedly contin-
ue to thrive for decades to come.

Conclusion

Now, Toronto and Vancouver aren’t the only filming hubs in Canada: we could
fill an entire book just by considering some of the fantastic, wild, and beautiful
locations that production companies love to visit when they are filming. That
said, Toronto and Vancouver are the two most popular filming locations, it
makes sense to cover them in detail. Calgary, Quebec City, Halifax, Winni-

39
peg, and the Rocky Mountains are just a few notable runners-up for popular
filming locations. What we need to understand is that there is no shortage of
popular Canadian filming locations, and that the most popular locations are
popular because of their gorgeous scenery, their welcoming industry, and the
governmental support that is provided to production companies. There will
be no shortage of recognizable Canadian landscapes on the big screen in the
coming years thanks to a variety of factors, and now, we might be able to rec-
ognize certain places in our country when we see them in passing during our
next movie night.

40
 Chapter 5: Canadian Content: A Brief
Explanation

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications

Commission

So what actually makes a film Canadian? An East coast accent? Stereotypical

Canadian food chains being abundantly featured? Perhaps the location where
it’s shot simply needs to be within Canada? The answer to all of these, is no.
Regardless of how many Canadian stereotypes, symbols, or landscapes are
found within a film, the film itself can still easily not officially be Canadian.
Even a film about Canada or with a Canadian story could, technically, not be
Canadian. How, then, does a film warrant official Canadian certification?
The answer lies with the CRTC, or the Canadian Radio-television Telecom-
munications Commission. The CRTC, a government-run organization, han-
dles all broadcasting and telecommunication mandates within the country.
The CRTC has been operating since 1976, and continues to dictate and up-
hold standards for any radio, TV, and film pursuits: it is through the CRTC
that Canadian films can officially be declared Canadian.
So what are the actual standards, then? Rather than the film’s status as Ca-
nadian being based off of internal content (though that can play a factor), the
CRTC outlines conditions based off of the Candian citizenship of the people
involved with creating the film along with the expenses of the film. From their
website, the CRTC outline their regulatory obligations as:

• the producer must be Canadian and is responsible for monitoring and

making decisions pertaining to the program;

41
 • the production earns a minimum of 6 out of 10 points based on the
key creative functions that are performed by Canadians;

• at least one of either the director or screenwriter positions and at least

one of the two lead performers must be Canadian;

• a minimum of 75% of program expenses and 75% of post-production

expenses are paid for services provided by Canadians or Canadian
companies (Government of Canada, 2016).

From this set of criteria we can see that the CRTC is promoting Canadian
talent in that those who are actually creating the film must be Canadian, to a
certain degree. Thus, the film ends up being a result of Canadian talents and
efforts. Additionally, because such a large portion of production and post-pro-
duction expenses must be Canadian-based, said film is also supporting other
Candian industries and the Canadian economy.
On top of these four major criteria, the CRTC has also created a points sys-
tem (referenced in the the second criteria) to delegate which films qualify as
Canadian. Unlike other works, such as a novel that often only has one author,
films have a large collaborative team that help to produce the finished product.
The point system by the CRTC helps to clarify whether the team as a whole is
considered Canadian based on its individual players. Each role that is filled by
a Canadian is worth either one or two points:

• Director (2 pts.)

• Screenwriter (2 pts.)

• First and Second Lead Performers (performer or voice) (1 pt. each)

• Production Designer (1 pt.)

• Director of Photography (1 pt.)

• Music Composer (1 pt.)

• Picture Editor (1 pt.) (Government of Canada, 2016)

These are the major roles that people creatively fill to produce a film and, as
was noted earlier, for a film to be considered Canadian there must be a total of
at least 6 points between all of these roles. This point system has been in place

42
since 1984 and has not changed.
Like almost anything else, there are exceptions to these rules, the most notable
being what the CRTC refers to as co-ventures or films produced in conjunc-
tion with another country. These co-ventures are non-treaty co-productions
where all profits, control and financing are split evenly between Canada and
another country. As the CRTC states, “this flexibility has enabled large-scale
productions such as Beauty and the Beast and Reign” (Government of Can-
ada, 2016). In these co-ventures the criteria on the film’s expenses is changed;
however, the 6 point criteria still must be met.
Additionally, the CRTC clarifies the differences between co-ventures and trea-
ty co-productions. Co-ventures, as discussed above, aren’t treaty-based where
as treaty co-productions are:

[Treaty co-productions] are joint film and television productions that obtain certi-
fication by meeting the requirements of various treaties and memoranda of under-
standing signed between the Government of Canada and several other countries.
The various treaties provide significant flexibility to pool resources and creative pro-
gramming that enjoys recognition as Canadian (Government of Canada, 2016).

Through the CRTC, what a Canadian film is and consists of becomes clear,
as do their mandates help to simultaneously facilitate Canadian talent, ensure
quality content, and support Canadian industries and economy.

A Candian Film in Full: The Sweet Hereafter

Discussing the finer points of Canadian content can be a bit tedious and so,
to provide a more engaging illustration, we will now discuss two films and how
they qualify as Canadian (or don’t). Firstly, we will discuss a film that meets all
of the CRTC standards for being a Canadian film, The Sweet Hereafter.
Atom Agoya, adheres to the CRTC’s first requirement, as he is Canadian and
the producer of the film. The second requirement, where the film must meet
at least 6/10 points for key creative functions being filled by Canadians, is also
fulfilled. Atom Agoya was also the director of the film and that is worth two
points. Maury Chaykin, a Canadian actor, bumping the film up to 3 points.
The music composer, a Canadian named Mychael Danna (who we will discuss
in section 5), adds another point, totalling 4. Susan Shipman is a Canadian
film editor, worth 1 point and rounding the film at 5 points. Paul Sarossy acts
as the last necessary point being a Canadian director of photography for the
film. If all these Canadians were not enough, Atom Agoya was also the film’s
screenwriter, adding another 2 points and equaling a total of 8 out of 10 pos-
sible points. The third criteria of the CRTC is met as well since the director,

43
screenwriter and one of the lead roles all belong to Canadians. Finally, the
film was shot in both the provinces of British Columbia and Ontario. While
a Canadian filming location isn’t a specification of the CRTC’s for the film’s
status as Canadian, it does contribute to one the expenses criteria. Remember,
at least 75% of production and post production expenses must be within Can-
ada. Having a film shot on location would result in the support of Canadian
workers and industries, thus contributing to the expenses criteria. Thus,The
Sweet Hereafter is undoubtedly a Candian film in full.

A Canadian Film in Part: Pompeii

So what about those coproductions we mentioned earlier? What would that look
like? In 2014 Canada and Germany teamed up to produce the film Pompeii.
The film is a historical romance and was fairly successful in box office terms,
making 117.8 million. In comparison to the last film we looked at, though, one
that was fully Canadian, how does this one measure up? Although it doesn’t
adhere to the CRTC’s four specific criteria, it still consists of considerable Ca-
nadian talent and influence. Firstly, the film had a total of four producers and
one of them was Canadian: Don Carmondy. The lead actress, Emily Brown-
ing, is also Canadian and was joined by other fellow Canadians in the film
including Jessica Lucad and Keifer Sutherland. Other Canadian contributors
to the film include Clinton Shorter, the composer, and Glen MacPherson, the
cinematographer. Aside from individuals, the film was co-produced by Impact
Pictures, a Canadian company, which means a significant portion of the ex-
penses were within Canada. Lastly, the film was shot in Toronto, meaning the
film directly contributed to the Canadian economy. So, while the producer and
other roles were not filled by Canadians and many financial expenditures were
placed outside of the Canadian economy, the film was significantly affected by
Canadians and fostered economic profits within the country.

Conclusion

Overall, the CRTC has a high level of involvement within the Canadian film
industry and, as it is a government run organization, it can attest to one of
our earlier discussions in Chapter 1 that the Canadian film industry is largely
defined by its level of governmental interaction. The regulations by the CRTC
ensure that Canada not only produces quality content but that Canadian talent
and creativity is strongly supported, showcased, and valued. That being said,
Canada has also often and successfully partnered with other countries that
result in a mutually beneficial production with the potential to be a much larg-
er endeavour than if it were to be exclusively Canadian. In this way, co-pro-

44
ductions provide the potential for Candians and Canadian content to reach
a larger viewership, to give Canadian film pursuits a larger pool of resources,
and to reap the benefits of larger funding and/or budget levels. Whether a film
is produced solely by the country or in partnership with another, though, Ca-
nadian content is something to be valued, enjoyed and celebrated as it exhibits
excellence in both quality and creativity.

45
 Conclusion

There is much to know about the history and general make-up of Canadian
film that will be particularly important as we continue to embark on our jour-
ney of learning about and understanding Canadian film and the film industry.
That said, what we have managed to cover so far only scratches the surface of
the history and nature of Canadian film: to uncover its whole history would
take many books over many years. What we have accomplished so far is a
high-level overview of the history of Canadian film, the difference between
Canadian TV and Canadian film, prominent storylines within Canadian film,
and the legal requirement for a film or television series to be considered truly
Canadian. As we move into some of the fascinating theories that can be used
to add another layer to our depth of understanding, we must keep the main
topics of this first section in mind so that we can work to create a wide and en-
compassing understanding of the ways in which Canadian film have an impact
on viewers, the film industry overall, and eventually, the entire world.

46
 Section 2:
Canadian Film
Theory

47
 Introduction

In order to best understand the impact of Canadian film in particular, we

need to understand some of the theories that set the basis for Canadian film
and the Canadian film industry. To provide us with this greater understand-
ing, which will allow us to analyze the coming sections more deeply, we will
spend this section considering some great Canadian theorists who put their
minds at work to consider Canadian media - particularly Canadian film. We
will explore communication theorists and Canadian philosophers, look into the
prominent storylines within Canadian film and how they tell a story in them-
selves, and provide an analysis of a quintessentially Canadian film so we can
understand how these theories and storylines come together to provide us with
the incredible cinematic experience we all know and love.

48
Chapter 6: Canadian Communication and Media
Theory

Introduction

We will begin our interest in Canadian film theory with some extremely preva-
lent and fascinating communication theorists who laid the groundwork for the
Canadian film industry, as well as found new and innovative ways to consider
the effects of Canadian film. Our journey will take us through the communi-
cation thought of Marshall McLuhan, a prominent digital scholar; John Gri-
erson, known as the father of Canadian documentary film; and Gertrude Joch
Robinson, a German-Canadian communication scholar who explored the fas-
cinating methods of gatekeeping in media. Through considering the thought
of each of these communication scholars, we will not only be expanding our
understanding about ways to think about Canadian film and the remainder
of the content within this book; we will also be creating the opportunity to
consider the television and movies that we watch on a daily basis in new ways.
Overall, this section will expand our ways of thinking about media, film, and
Canadian media and film in particular.

Marshall McLuhan

We begin our exploration with the most quintessential Canadian thinker as

relates to media studies: Marshall McLuhan. Marshall McLuhan put much
of his life towards studying the media, and many of his theories are still being
proved today - long after his death, and with technological evolution that not
even he could have imagined. For many, McLuhan is the first name to come to
mind when the topic of conversation regards media theory, or even communi-

49
cation theory. To begin our dive into Marshall McLuhan, we will unpack his
most famous saying: “the medium is the message.”
In order to understand McLuhan’s famous statement, we need to understand
what he means when he refers to “the medium.” According to communica-
tion scholars and authors, Em Griffin, Andrew Ledbetter, and Glenn Sparks,
when McLuhan referred to a medium, he is referring to “a specific type of
media; for example, a book, newspaper, radio, television, telephone, film, web-
site, or media” (2015, p. 317). A media, for McLuhan, was “a generic term
for all human-invented technology that extends the range, speed, or channels
of communication” (Griffin et al., 2015, p. 317). This distinction is particu-
larly important, as ‘the media’ has taken on a different definition these days;
it typically refers to the news media. For the purposes of this book, we need
to understand that when we refer to media from here on out, we are utilizing
McLuhan’s definition, and not referring to news media.
So, then, when McLuhan refers to the media being the message, he is saying
that the message we receive is dependent on the medium through which we
receive it. Let’s consider this explanation that Em Griffin and his colleagues
share:

We focus on the content and overlook the medium [sic] - even though content doesn’t
exist outside of the way it’s mediated. Moby Dick is a book. Moby Dick is a movie.
Moby Dick is an oral tale. These are different stories. For this reason, we shouldn’t
complain that a movie is not like the book, because a movie can never be like a book.
A movie can only be a movie (Griffin et al., 2015, p. 317).

It’s this important distinction - that content doesn’t exist outside of the way
it’s mediated - that was truly groundbreaking theory from McLuhan. The re-
alization that the book you are reading right now would be different if it was
presented as a film than it would as a podcast series is difficult to wrap one’s
brain around; after all, how much could the message change? When we take
into account the circumstances under which people read, listen to podcasts,
and watch television, and how much effort and intensity and brain power they
put into each activity, we can begin to understand the way in which you, our
reader, will take something away from this book that you couldn’t take away
from this message in any other form.
With that said, McLuhan continued his study of media ecology, or “the study
of different personal and social environments created by the use of different
communication technologies” (Griffin et al., 2015, p. 317), and coined four
laws of media that helps us to understand exactly how a medium can shape a
message. By considering these laws, we can begin to understand what McLu-
han was thinking about when he considered the message he was receiving and

50
the medium he was receiving it from:

• What does the artefact enhance or intensify or make possible or

accelerate?

• If some aspect of a situation is enlarged or enhanced, simultaneously

the old condition or unenhanced situation is displaced thereby. What
is pushed aside or obsolesced by the new ‘organ’?

• What recurrence or retrieval of earlier actions and services is brought

into play simultaneously by the new form?

• When pushed to the limits… the new form will tend to reverse what
had been its original characteristics. What is the reversal potential of
the new form? (Babe, 2014, p. 276).

The best way to understand how McLuhan intended these laws to be put into
practice is to examine an example. Robert Babe, author of Canadian Com-
munication Thought: Ten Foundational Writers utilizes the example of a tele-
phone:, “the telephone (i) enhances dialogue; (ii) renders obsolete privacy by
eroding barriers between physical spaces; (iii) retrieves instant access to users,
as in a tribal village; and (iv) reverses into the mythic world of discarnate,
disembodied intelligences (‘the sender is sent’) (2014, p. 276). The simple ex-
istence of the telephone changes the way in which we communicate; allowing
us to connect with family and friends that are long distances away, connecting
loved ones in mere seconds no matter how far apart they may be, and intro-
ducing communication in which the speakers cannot read each other’s body
language to aid communication. The telephone truly alters the way in which
we communicate, but unless we actively think about how we would word a
conversation if it was a text, a phone call, or an in-person chat, we don’t real-
ize how the medium affects the message until we select a medium and begin
crafting a message.
McLuhan also created two separate groups for technology to live in: hot media
and cool media. “A hot medium like radio and the movies extends a single
sense in high definition. High definition of the state of being well filled with
data. Hot media, therefore, are low in audience participation” (Babe, 2014,
p. 284). Babe uses the example of the movies: audiences sit and watch, and
perhaps clap or cheer or cry if they see something on the screen that’s par-
ticularly meaningful, but there is no two-sided interaction nor immense en-
gagement with the audience and the hot medium. On the other hand, “a cool
medium, one low in definition (for example, a voice over the telephone or a

51
cartoon), gives relatively little information, thereby requiring the recipient to
fill in or supplement the information” (Babe, 2014, p. 284). As we mentioned
before, there is no body language to read during a telephone call, so speakers
are forced to listen carefully to the tones of voice and other vocal cues of the
person on the other end of the line, and fill in the blanks that the lack of body
language leaves. This requires engagement on the speaker and listener’s part,
meaning that there is more focus and brain power devoted towards the deci-
phering of the conversation.
To continue our interest in the telephone as a medium, let’s consider Babe’s
declaration, under the logic of McLuhan, that “when we use the telephone, we
are transported, angelically, without bodies, to distant locations. When we use
television, we are grafted into the logic of the medium that is our prosthesis”
(Babe, 2014, p. 278). This statement continues to prove McLuhan’s assertion
that the medium is the message: by using the telephone, we are transported,
because the person that we are talking to could be thousands of miles away. By
watching television, we are inserted into whatever spy film or historical docu-
mentary we are watching, as if we are plopped into the middle of a moment
in history, the present, or the future. In this way, the medium is equally if not
more so important than the message we are receiving.
This brings us to another theory of McLuhan’s. As succinctly worded by Rob-
ert Babe, McLuhan believed that “media, whether print or electronic, modify
both individuals and cultures by reshaping ideas and perception; that media
‘massage’ users imperceptibly; and that culture has become a product or com-
modity (Babe, 2014, p. 270). In order for us best to understand this theory,
we need to unpack exactly what McLuhan means by the three aspects of his
thesis: media reshaping ideas and perception, media ‘massaging’ users, and
culture as a product or commodity.
Our study of the ways in which the media is the message begins to unravel the
first portion of McLuhan’s thesis; because the media affects the message, then
the media itself reshapes ideas. Let’s, for example, consider the way in which
you would communicate to your girlfriend that you are breaking up with her.
There are perceptions behind the three typical breakup methods: over text,
over the phone, and in-person. Text is often perceived as being cold and un-
caring, over the phone is impersonal and uncomfortable, and in-person is also
often uncomfortable but also provides the opportunity for complete communi-
cation and dialogue in the moment. The words you use to break up with your
girlfriend are going to be different if you text her versus if you’re looking at her
standing in front of you as you tell her. Some of the perceptions behind the
way you communicate your breakup can be skewed, however; if your girlfriend
is away on a trip and you can’t see her in person, the best option isn’t to fly out
to the Bahamas just to break up with her - it’s to break up with her over the

52
phone. Perhaps your relationship with your girlfriend is such that if you texted
her and said “we’re through,” she would appreciate those two words more
than a long speech about how she deserves someone better. The media we use
shapes not only the way we perceive the communication we have, but also the
way outsiders perceive our communication, even though they have no way to
understand the relationship you have with the person you are communicating
with.
Media massage is another fascinating concept of McLuhan’s: the idea that me-
dia can direct individuals towards a specific idea without their recognition. Let’s
think about a common theme in modern films: the unexpected betrayal. A film
goes by, and the hero and their group of supporters successfully battle evil, but
at a key moment, it is revealed that one of the hero’s supporters has been ac-
tually supporting the villain and sabotaging the hero’s journey throughout the
film. The film was written and filmed in such a way that we, the viewers, never
saw the hero’s supporter sabotaging the hero: the saboteur is revealed after
the fact, and often after a montage depicting what went on behind the scenes.
This is much like the way that McLuhan believes media massage works. Think
about the advertising you receive on Facebook, advertising that’s often based
on your recent google searches. Facebook won’t set up a neon sign outside your
house reminding you that you need to buy baby clothes because you recently
looked up baby names; instead, they will subtly change the way they market to
you - offering you soothers and baby clothes instead of the traditional women’s
clothes or beauty products they originally marketed to you. Similar to the way
that films massage you in one direction of belief about the supporter and then
reveal him to be a saboteur, certain marketing schemes massage you towards
specific purchases based on your browsing history.
To be completely and distinctively clear: McLuhan was not referring to media
massage in terms of the political alliances of specific news media outlets and
the spin on the news they share with the world. Remember that we distin-
guished between news media and media (human-invented technology that aids
communication), which means that McLuhan is referring to the technology,
not the news media. Being that the term “media” has such connotation associ-
ated with it, and that the terms “media” and “news media” are nigh insepara-
ble in the current time, it is particularly important for us as readers to recognize
our associations with specific words, and denote the difference between what
we believe a term to mean, and what it actually means. So when we refer to
media massage, we are referring to McLuhan’s logic:

According to McLuhan, it’s not technological abnormality that demands our atten-
tion, since it’s hard not [sic] to notice the new and different. Instead, we need to
focus on our everyday experience of technology[sic]. A medium shapes us because

53
 we partake of it over and over until it becomes an extension of ourselves. Because
every medium emphasizes different senses and encourages different habits, engaging
a medium day after day conditions the senses to take in some stimuli and not regis-
ter others. A medium that emphasizes the ear over the eye alters the ratios of sense
perception. Like a blind man who begins to develop a heightened sense of hearing,
society is shaped in accordance with the dominant medium of the day (Griffin et
al., 2015, p. 318).

McLuhan’s final point reflects the idea that culture has become a product or
commodity. He encompassed this idea in a major thought, which he coined
the global village: “a worldwide electronic community where everyone knows
everyone’s business and all are somewhat testy” (Griffin et al., p. 321). The
essence of a global village suggests that the world is now more interconnected
than ever, for better or worse. It has never been easier to reach a friend of yours
that lives across the country or even across the world: you can send them a text
or call them and have a conversation in minutes that, years ago, would have
required you to take a trip across the world to see them in order to have that
conversation. Robert Babe exemplifies this belief of McLuhan’s:

Electronic technologies do not simply amplify select body parts, but extend and
‘outer’ the entire central nervous system. The result is to ‘involve us in the whole of
mankind and to incorporate the whole of mankind in us.’ Through electronics, we
approach a state of cosmic consciousness whereby each person is, and knows him- or
herself to be, part of everyone else. It is no longer possible to adopt the ‘aloof and
dissociated role of the literate Westerner’” (Babe, 2014, p. 289).

Within this quote, Babe suggests that McLuhan’s argument centers around the
state of connection we are now a part of: we know what our friends are doing
through their social media, we connect with them across thousands of miles
via text and phone, and we can read the news from a country across the world
within seconds. An easy way to consider the global village is to consider our
Facebook: each person has a global village of their own, filled with friends,
families, and colleagues. Within our timeline, we see their vacations, their odes
to lost pets, and their general activities on a day-to-day basis; everyone knows
what everyone is up to when it comes to Facebook. Of course, McLuhan’s
concept of the global village is much larger, but a Facebook timeline can be
considered a global village on a much smaller scale.
In sum, much of McLuhan’s media arguments focus around the way the hu-
man race and the world itself is evolving based on the technology available to
us. Of course, we must remember that McLuhan had a wide range of thought,
much of which extends past the scope of this book, but we have covered some

54
of his most important theories, particularly the ones that discuss the ways in
which technological advances have changed the way we interpret messages.
Em Griffin and his colleagues explain some of the ways that electronic media
have changed our lives:

Electronic media bring us in touch with everyone, everywhere, instantaneously.

Whereas the book extended the eye, electronic circuitry extends the central nervous
system. Constant contact with the world becomes a daily reality. All-at-once-ness
is our state of being. Closed human systems no longer exist. The rumble of empty
stomachs in Bangladesh and of roadside bombs in Baghdad vibrate in the living
rooms of Boston. For us, the first postliterate generation, privacy is either a luxury
or a curse of the past (Griffin et al., 2015, p. 321).

When McLuhan refers to the medium being the message, he is bringing aware-
ness to the ways in which the medium through which we receive a message af-
fects the message we receive. This concept is particularly important as we con-
sider the ways in which technology has made our world smaller and brought
us closer together; the more media we have through which to send messages,
the more ways that messages can be interpreted because of the media through
which they were sent. Let’s keep this in the back of our minds as we continue to
study Canadian film, as it will give us the opportunity to garner a higher-level
understanding of the way we understand the stories that are told to us through
film.

John Grierson

Though John Grierson was not born in Canada, nor did he die in Canada, his
role in Canadian film is undeniably important, and unquestionably changed
the course of the Canadian film industry. Through his theories regarding me-
dia, propaganda, and documentary film, he brought the importance of creat-
ing understanding and togetherness through film to the forefront of communi-
cation film theory. To focus our understanding of Grierson’s thought, we will
be analyzing three specific aspects of his studies as they relate to media and
film: democracy, propaganda, and art.
Throughout our world, there are a vast many ways that individuals can define
a true democracy. Because there are so many ways to define democracy, and
also so many perceptions and biases surrounding the term, before we begin dis-
cussing the way in which Grierson thought about democracy, we must consider
the way in which he defined it. Grierson’s definition of democracy was based
on that of a hero of his: Walter Lippman, a political scientist and journalist. As
noted by the University of Florida:

55
 Lippman argued that the system of democracy that emerged after the first world war,
that is, parliamentary democracy, representative democracy, democracy in all areas
of life - trade unions and the like - did not work well, in part, because democracy
had become a very specialised activity for a very few people, the ones who got a man-
date to represent the masses of the people. And the masses for the most part were dis-
interested or not interested enough and certainly not informed of what was going on
in the world. [...] [Lippman’s] major concern was the lack of information (2020).

Likewise, Grierson’s thought on democracy reflected Lippman’s major con-

cern: that the masses were disinterested and uninformed when it came to mak-
ing democratic decisions. As Robert Babe declares: “democracies, in [Grier-
son’s] sense, then, are political systems that encourage discussion, initiative,
and activity at the local level” (Babe, 2014, p. 97). With this in mind, we can
understand that Grierson took his concerns and folded them into his under-
standing of a democracy: that a democracy didn’t exist without discussion,
initiative, and activity. For Grierson, a democracy wasn’t a true democracy
unless the masses were interested and involved in decision-making; not only
that, they also needed to be well informed regarding such decisions. This logic
followed that of Lippman: “for a pure or ideal democracy to exist, Lippman
insisted, citizens need to be rational, well informed, and of generous spirit”
(Babe, 2014, p. 90).
It is Grierson’s fundamental beliefs about true democracy that truly influenced
his work in the media, for he believed that “authentic democracy [...] requires
‘a quick and living system’ of communication - particularly for a country so
vast yet sparsely settled as Canada” (Babe, 2014, p. 101). One of the ways he
intended to assist in the creation of a true democracy, was to ensure that there
was a constant stream of media communication coming from the government
to the people of Canada; media that ensured it would be easy for the general
masses to understand some of the issues surrounding them. It was this desire
that created the idea of the documentary film. As Robert Babe explains:

[...] the concept of documentary film [sic] was practically invented by Grierson. He
variously defined documentary as ‘the creative treatment of actuality,’ as film ‘made
from natural material,’’ and as the cinematic presentation of ‘drama that resides
from living fact.’ He chose film [sic] as his principal medium because it enabled him
to reach a wider audience. And he selected documentary film [sic] because, he said,
it is ‘closer to the people and events.’ (Babe, 2014, p. 91)

With these principles in mind, Grierson put his efforts towards creating a doc-
umentary film that would accurately portray the lives of a specific group of
people. “In his first film, Drifters (1929), the silent depiction of the harsh life

56
of herring fisherman in the North Sea revolutionized the portrayal of working
people in the cinema” (Marsh, 2015). Though this was his first, and one of his
only, directed films, the film was a success in many fronts, as it created a specific
feeling for documentary film that would continue to be used for decades.
It was after Grierson’s first film that his true Canadian influence began to
shine. “In 1938 the Canadian government invited Grierson to come to Can-
ada to counsel on the use of film. Grierson prepared a report and on his rec-
ommendation King created the National Film Board (NFB) in May 1939 and
appointed Grierson its first commissioner in October 1939” (Marsh, 2015).
His work with the Government of Canada within the National Film Board
was particularly important for Canadian cinema, and is the reason he is con-
sidered to be a particularly important communication and media theorist in
Canada. The National Film Board leads us naturally, then, to the next point of
Grierson’s study that we will consider: propaganda. Consider this informative
paragraph on the National Film Board:

The NFB was originally designed as a modestly staffed advisory board, but the
demands of wartime production, together with John Grierson’s personality, led to a
shift into active production by absorbing (1941) the Canadian Government Motion
Picture Bureau (formerly the Exhibits and Publicity Bureau, established in 1919).
By 1945 the NFB had grown into one of the world’s largest film studios with a
staff of 787. More than 500 films had been released (including 2 propaganda
series, The World in Action and Canada Carries On, shown monthly in Canadi-
an and foreign theatres), an animation unit had been set up under the supervision
of Scottish-born animator Norman McLaren, non-theatrical distribution circuits
were established and many young Canadian filmmakers trained (Morris & Wise,
2015).

Particularly during times of war, the concept of propaganda is brought to the

forefront of people’s minds. John Grierson held a particularly interesting view
of propaganda and what propaganda could do, and it was this view that tended
to lead to disagreements between him and the Canadian and British govern-
ment, to name two notable entities that hold a different view of propaganda
than Grierson. “In using the term, Grierson meant not lies or attempts to sub-
vert audiences, but inspirational and dramatic approaches to public education.
His intention was to uplift, not ‘circumvent;’ he strove to stimulate dialogue,
not stifle it” (Babe, 2014, p. 100). In short, Grierson’s intent for propaganda
and Nazi Germany’s intent for propaganda were for opposing purposes: Gri-
erson intended to encourage dialogue and share unbiased, educational infor-
mation to the masses through documentary films, which he considered to be
propaganda.

57
We will remember that Grierson believed that fundamental democracy de-
pended on having interested and informed masses that participate in discus-
sions surrounding particularly important issues. In his mind, the best way to
create an interested and informed mass was to share critical information with
them in a way that people can easily understand and connect to: through nar-
rative. By taking real life events, capturing their narrative, and sharing them
in the form of documentary film, Grierson believed he could help educate the
general public and bring them closer to what he believed to be a true democ-
racy. As Robert Babe notes: “granted people today receive disproportionate
amounts of information on public affairs from television, a medium in which
the ‘image’ is supreme; nonetheless, one can argue, education for democracy
requires that education supplement, not replace, as Grierson recommended,
analytical and factually based pedagogy” (2014, p. 105). With this in mind,
we see that Babe recognizes that Grierson’s recommendation that education
replace analytics and facts is likely stepping too deep towards controlling pro-
paganda; instead, Babe suggests that supplementing analytics and facts with
narrative is a better way to utilize propaganda in a democratic sense.
It’s important to focus on the idea that Grierson’s propaganda is focused on
education: sharing the appropriate information with the masses. After all:

No, Grierson attested, the average person is not sufficiently aware; nor can he or she
be expected to be an expert in much. But, if guided by democratically inspired edu-
cators and artists, people can make wise decisions in choosing their coals, and they
can act in ways that lead to the realization of them (Babe, 2014, p. 98).

Grierson truly believed in the power of the masses: that when educated prop-
erly, they could engage with and create a truly democratic society. He also truly
believed that utilizing the media and communicating with the public through
the media was the best way to encourage this level of engagement: by sharing
compelling stories with the public, he could assist them in understanding some
of the complicated aspects of democratic decision making. He didn’t want
to use his documentary films to force the public to land on one specific view
versus another; instead, he wanted to provide them with enough information
that they were able to actively decide on their stance based on the information
available to them. Regarding education and democracy, Grierson declared:

‘Education has concentrated so much on people knowing things that it has not suf-
ficiently taught them to feel things’; and again ‘[education] gives them facts but has
not sufficiently given them faith’ - faith in themselves, faith in democratic modes of
decision making, faith in the goodness of their fellow citizens. Education for democ-
racy, he insisted, requires that issues be simplified and presented in dramatic ways,

58
 first to attract attention, and second to stir people to action, initiative for him being
‘the heart and soul of the democratic idea’ (Grierson, quoted in Babe, 2014, p. 99).

In essence, Grierson believed that democratic propaganda was necessary to

ensure that democracy could properly occur; without propaganda, how were
individuals expected to be able to make educated decisions, or believe that the
people around them were also making educated decisions? Though his view of
propaganda varied drastically from most propaganda views at the time, Gri-
erson was adamant that the best way to create democracy was to utilize dem-
ocratic propaganda, a claim that is still discussed to this day. Interestingly, his
chosen method of propaganda, documentary film, will lead us into our third
topic of discussion surrounding Grierson’s thought and study: the purpose of
art in media, in propaganda, and in democracy.
Grierson had many beliefs surrounding the way that art could be specifically
utilized within democracy, and particularly within the education provided by
democratic propaganda. In particular, it was his claim regarding the way that
art impacts our understanding of ourselves and the world around us through
documentary film that truly exposed the way he considered art:

“Art is not a mirror,” [Grierson] said, “but a hammer. It is a weapon in our hands
to see and say what is good and right and beautiful.” Nevertheless, Grierson did not
believe that documentary film is a mere public report of the activities of daily life
but a visual art that can convey a sense of beauty about the ordinary world (Marsh,
2015).

The concept of art being a hammer is a curious one; though, it correctly ex-
plains the way in which art (or in the case of Grierson, democratic propaganda
like documentary film) can be used for good, but also for evil. If we consider
the artful propaganda that the Nazis released during the second world war,
we can realize that art can have a hidden purpose: it can be beautiful, but the
beauty can hide the evil. Grierson’s practical thought, though, is that by using
documentary film in a democratic propaganda sense, he can share the un-
abashed beauty of the way the world works, and encourage the people to care
about the world around them and the way it works.
Not only that: Grierson believed there was a distinct reason to use art to cap-
ture reality: “for Grierson, then, art was to be, first and foremost, a means to
heighten awareness of the real [sic], no matter how cruel, how unjust, how
objectionable that reality might be’’ (Babe, 2014, p. 103). Documentary film
was Grierson’s way of sharing the real world with the people who likely didn’t
get the chance to experience that portion of the real world. If we consider the
ways in which Hollywood glamorizes specific aspects of the world, we realize

59
that our understanding of these aspects of the world is distinctly skewed. Gri-
erson’s purpose of using artistic measures to disseminate information, then,
was to break down the glamorous world of Hollywood and show the general
population what it was really like to live a day in the life of someone like a
sex worker or a fisherman. Though we, the readers and viewers, think we un-
derstand how these occupations work, our understanding is primarily based
on extremely dramatized and fictionalized versions of these occupations as
demonstrated in Hollywood. Grierson’s intent is to ensure we see the real, raw
side of these occupations, regardless of how ugly or jarring that reality is.
In short, through Grierson’s exploration of the democratic purpose of docu-
mentary film, he really explored the importance of education for the general
population, and the best way for governments to provide that education with-
out specifically directing their citizens to a single answer. His thought is par-
ticularly important in Canada not only because of his work with the National
Film Board, but also because of the films he helped produce in Canada; some
which helped bring Canadians together during the second world war. We will
remember that though Grierson is not Canadian by blood, “as a filmmaker
and teacher, Grierson inspired thousands of Canadians, and his institutional
legacy persists to this day. These considerations warrant the acclaim of his
being considered foundational to Canadian communication thought” (Babe,
2014, p. 95).

Gertrude Joch Robinson

The final communication theorist that this chapter will consider is Gertrude
Joch Robinson, a German-Canadian theorist who was born in Germany and
has lived in Canada since 1970. Her thoughts on the basis of truth, the so-
cial construction of reality, and studies of gatekeeping in Canadian media are
particularly important not only to our discussion on the history and theory of
Canadian film, but also to the very way we consider the media we intake. Inter-
estingly, her theories work in tandem with many other great Canadian commu-
nication theorists, but as a Canadian thinker and as a female Canadian thinker,
she greatly expanded the direction of Canadian communication thought, and
is therefore considered an essential Canadian communication theorist.

To begin our conversation surrounding Robinson’s thought, we must first un-

derstand a theory that underlies much of her thought: symbolic interaction-
ism. Symbolic interactionism is a theory of George Herbert Mead, wherein
symbolic interaction is “the ongoing use of language and gestures in anticipa-
tion of how the other will react; a conversation” (Griffin et al., 2015, p. 54).
Herbert Blumer, another founder of symbolic interactionism, had three core

60
principles that explained symbolic interactionism:

1. Humans act toward people or things on the basis of the meanings they
assign to those people or things

2. Meaning arises out of the social interaction that people have with each
other

3. An individual’s interpretation of symbols is modified by his or her own

thought process (Blumer, cited in Griffin et al., 2015, p. 55 - 57)

We will be exploring each of these three core principles throughout Robin-

son’s work, however, it’s important to note them here as it gives us a broader
understanding as we move into the three areas of Robinson’s theory that relate
directly to our topic. We will begin by discussing her take on truth and raw
data, which will lean heavily on Blumer’s first core principle. Then will come
Robinson’s explanation and research surrounding the social construction of
reality, the second of Blumer’s core principles, and finally, we will explore her
fascinating research on gatekeeping in the media, which considers government
media in particular.
According to Robinson, and in accordance with Blumer’s first core principle
of symbolic interactionism, “there are no ‘raw data’ - not even in the physical
sciences. Interpretation, rather, is key. But interpretation is always couched in
a social context” (Babe, 2014, p. 212). This means that, for Robinson, even
truth is cemented within social interactions: we see our own truths based on
the understanding we have of the world around us. Robinson and Grierson,
then, would disagree on the truth of documentary film: where Grierson would
argue that because he is showing the real side of the issue, he is showing the
true side of the issue; Robinson would rebut that the truth of the issue lies in
the minds and social contexts of the people viewing the documentary. Robert
Babe explains that “a startling implication of [Robinson’s] position, therefore,
is that the ‘value’ or ‘truth’ of a scholarly contribution can be assessed only by
the author’s peers: ‘truth’ in the sense of correspondence to a reality existing
outside the verbal structure, she insists, cannot be a criterion’ (Babe, 2014, p.
213).
Let’s take a moment and deconstruct this idea. In essence, Robinson is suggest-
ing that a set of results from an experiment don’t have value or truth until they
are assessed by the experimenter’s peers: until they are discussed and given a
truth and value within the social construction of their overall scientific work.
“For [Robinson], therefore, membership is key in determining the nature of an
author’s creative output as well as its validity or truthfulness” (Babe, 2014, p.

61
213). When we consider the social realities we exist in, we realize that much of
the truth and validity we assign to objects or data relates directly to our reality
and our understanding of our reality. According to Robinson:

I reject, in other words, a theory of ‘truth’ defined in terms of a one-to-one corre-

spondence, because humans are ‘symbol using animals’ whose understandings [sic]
of their social realities change not only themselves, but what these realities mean.
Example: the [1999] nurses’ strike in Montreal was initially interpreted as being
about pay and working conditions. Now, seven days later, the nurses have turned
the meaning of the strike into one about ‘the safety of patients in a hospital system
which has been badly mismanaged by the PQ government.’ This government in-
troduced the scarcity of doctors and nurses through a buy-out and is perpetuating
unsafe conditions by not paying nurses enough to attract new ones (Robinson, cited
in Babe, 2014, p. 213)

Robinson clearly recognizes the ability for the social construction of our re-
alities to change based on our understanding of the realities and how those
understandings change based on the meanings we assign them. The change in
the nurses strike in her example was because of a change in the meaning of
the social reality of the nurses; how originally they wanted more pay and better
working conditions, but then realized that the reason for their unsafe working
conditions and poor pay was because of the PQ government, and that their
situation meant that patient safety within their hospitals was at a minimum.
Through this realization, their social construction of the strike was altered, and
they continued their strike, but for a larger cause.
As we can note from the explanation above, Robinson’s beliefs about truth
and raw data and the social construction of reality are closely entwined. That
said, there are more ways to explore her beliefs about the social construction
of reality than just specifically related to truth and raw data. Robinson found
great delight in the field of historiography, or as she calls it “the placing of idea
structures in their historical time and place” (Robinson, cited in Babe, 2014, p.
213). Social construction of reality is particularly important in historiography,
as historiographers are provided the ‘facts’ of history, and are required to in-
terpret them. In her article Remembering Our Past: Reconstructing the Field
of Canadian Communication Studies, Robinson notes that:

The fact that the historiographer’s task is a provisional one because it is based
on textual evidence, which is itself interpreted. In this “dialogue with the past,”
as Dominick La Capra (1983) calls it, the historiographer can never become an
“omniscient” narrator of human events. All we can do is to provide, in Clifford
Geertz’s (1973) words, as “full” or “thick” a description as possible, using varied

62
 documentary accounts of events and people to begin to describe our field (2000).

In terms of historiography, then, Robinson notes that the historiographer can-

not fall into the folly of utilizing their own social construction of reality to
describe the past; instead, they must do extensive research and provide a broad
range of descriptions so as to ensure that the full reality of the past is being
provided and explored. By providing a ‘full or thick’ description of history,
the historiographer is hopefully able to ensure that the information they put
together is able to be interpreted as accurately to history as possible.
So what do Robinson’s theories regarding truth and social construction of re-
ality have to do with film? If we consider film at its most basic, it is information
that we are provided. We, as the consumers of this media, are aware that it is
our job to establish what information we are provided through film is accu-
rate or true and what is inaccurate or false. Robinson’s argument, however, is
that no matter whether what information we are provided, we will base our
understanding of its truth or falsity based on our social construction of our
own reality. This means that contrary to John Grierson’s belief in the pow-
er of the documentary film, Robinson believes that we will only understand
the information provided to us in the documentary based on our own social
construction of reality, no matter how ‘true’ or ‘false’ the information in the
documentary may be.
This discussion, and the differences between John Grierson’s thought on dem-
ocratic propaganda and Robinson’s belief in truth and raw data, brings us
to Robinson’s most fascinating theory as relates to film studies: gatekeeping
within the media. In terms of the media, a gatekeeper is “a person or thing
that controls access, as to information, often acting as an arbiter of quality
or legitimacy” (Dictionary.com, 2020). A gatekeeper’s job is, quite literally, to
keep the gates: to ensure that only the information they believe to be of high
quality or truth is allowed out into the world. There are hundreds of thousands
of gatekeepers in this world: parents decide what television programs are ap-
propriate for their kids to watch, news channels decide what stories to air and
how they want to portray the stories themselves, and each person with a social
media account decides what information they want to share with their follow-
ers. That said, when Robinson talks about gatekeepers, she is talking about the
news media: journalists and news organizations from whom the vast majority
of the public get their information.
Robinson believes that: “’all journalistic reports [are] reconstructions of events
which include an inevitable interpretive bias.’ Purported ‘objectivity’ in report-
ing, she continued, is little more than a ‘strategic ritual’ whose main purpose
is to protect the reporter from criticism” (Robinson, quoted in Babe, 2014, p.
223). In essence, Robinson realizes that because the understanding of truth

63
is based upon a person’s social construction of reality, the truth that they see
is not always the truth for others around them, thereby meaning that without
intention, every individual has a bias. Because of that bias, there is no physical
way for news media to be objective: there is always an angle or a bias attached
to a news story, whether the angle or bias is intentional or not. That being
said, the same goes for the gatekeepers: the media companies, the journalists,
and everyone that is involved in the creation of a news story. Bias is inevitable,
Robinson believes, and because of that, we need to be aware of that bias and
be able to extract our own truth from the news stories, no matter how they are
presented to us.
An interesting study of Robinson’s looked into the differences between the
English and French press coverage of the 1970 October Crisis, which “en-
tailed the kidnapping and eventual release, fifty-nine days later, of British trade
commissioner James Cross, by the Front de Libération de Québec (FLQ), and
within that period also the kidnapping and murder of Quebec’s Labour and
Immigration Minister, Pierre Laporte” (Babe, 2014, p. 214). Robinson’s focus
was on the ways in which the French and English press coverages differed in
their perspectives, and the ways in which they elected to report upon the Oc-
tober Crisis. “In Canada, [Robinson] claimed, French and English cultural/
symbolic systems ‘rarely intersect,’ and differences in media portrayals of the
crisis provided ‘a unique opportunity for exploring in greater detail how En-
glish and French Canadians conceive of their alternative realities and what
implications these conception have for theories of communications and po-
litical behaviour” (Robinson, cited in Babe, 2014, p. 214). Through exploring
these differences in media portrayals, Robinson was able to consider the ways
in which the social construction of reality, and therefore the understanding of
truth and reality, differed between French Canadians and English Canadians.
Her results proved that the social construction of reality between French Ca-
nadians and English Canadians differed greatly, when it came to the news
coverage of the October Crisis:

According to Robinson’s content analyses, coverage by the two press systems differed
fundamentally with regard to themes, geographic sources of items, and personali-
ties. Although the English and French dailies afforded approximately equal front
page space to stories focusing on ‘kidnapping’ and ‘security,’ the French dailies
devoted significantly more attention to: ‘negotiations,’ ‘religious aspects/funeral,’
‘the position of the Federal Government,’ ‘the position of the Quebec government,’
and ‘time.’ English papers, in contrast, emphasized ‘manhunt,’ ‘the War Measures
Act,’ ‘murder,’ and ‘Parliament.’ For the French papers, the crisis concerned lives of
captives, whereas, for the English papers, the crisis concerned terrorism and police
activity in tracking down and arresting criminals (Babe, 2014, p. 215).

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By considering the focus of the news stories, Robinson was able to establish
the difference in emphasis on specific issues by the gatekeepers within the news
media. Whereas the French news media focused more on the victims, the En-
glish media put their focus more on the perpetrators, and the desire for justice
to be served. Robinson concluded that the difference in social realities between
the English and French Canadians existed in part because of the ways in which
their respective news media portrayed reality and fact. “’Reality,’ according to
[the social construction of reality thesis], is not something external or separate,
but comprises selected aspects that our culture teaches us are important and to
which therefore we should pay attention’ (Robinson, quoted in Babe, 2014, p.
215). In this example, the English news media suggested that the perpetrators
deserved more focus than the victims, and the French news media suggested
vice versa. Robinson suggests that this difference has an effect on the social and
cultural realities of French and English Canadians, as it is suggesting to them
which value should be more important to them.
This is only one example of Gertrude Joch Robinson’s exploration into the
media and how different news media portray different events, but it is the most
applicable to this book because it deals with Canadian history. Her explora-
tion brings an important note to this book: that we cannot simply accept the
information we receive from film and television at face value; instead, we must
practically consider where the information is coming from, and what bias - in-
tentional or unintentional - is present. At the same time, we must also realize
exactly how much of the information we are receiving we believe to be true,
and we must question our understanding of the truth based on our own social
construction of the world around us. As we continue on in this book, let us
consider some of the ways in which we can manage this mode of questioning,
whether it is within news media or fictional TV and film.
Getrtude Joch Robinson was a pioneer in the Canadian communication theo-
ry sector for a number of reasons; most notably because she was a prominent
female professor and scholar at McGill University, as well as because of her
intensive studies that brought out some fascinating yet terrifying facts about
the news media we receive and how we manage the social construction of
our reality based on that news media. Her studies are particularly important
during this day and age, where electronic communication is becoming even
more common because face-to-face contact is limited due to the COVID-19
virus. Her work is impressive, and will continue to inspire us to challenge the
ways we think, and the ways we understand and accept the information we are
provided, no matter who that information is from.

Conclusion

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There are a wide variety of important communication theorists when it comes
to discussions surrounding media theory and film: discussing all of them would
take books upon books. Our focus on Marshall McLuhan, John Grierson, and
Gertrude Joch Robinson has provided us with a multitude of different ways
to consider the media we use, the information that media provides us, and
the ways in which that information should be understood and taken into con-
sideration before being accepted as fact. By considering the communication
thought of these prevalent Canadian theorists, we are able to continue forward
with a greater understanding of the communication theory surrounding film,
and think critically about film itself, as well as the ways in which it disseminates
information, and how we as individuals take in and accept that information as
fact or fiction.

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 Chapter 7: Philosophical Film Theory

Introduction
Film is one of the youngest artistic mediums and consequently film theory is
also in its nascent stages. As a result there are not a plethora of Canadian film
theorists, especially within the mainstream, with prominent theories that have
shifted the philosophical world of film and film theory. This is not to say that
there are no Canadian film theorists that are worth anyone’s while, but it is
to say that we have only just begun to dive into the endless world of cinema.
Much of film theory, as we will see, comes from the filmmakers themselves.
Nor, either, is there a plethora of Canadian films. Although Canadian film has
had a history nearly as long as any other country in the world, the number of
films produced each year is hardly comparable to the top producing countries.
There are many factors that contribute to this fact; most prominently, eco-
nomic factors. Films are costly to produce, and production is only one of three
life-stages of a film. After production there is still distribution and exhibition,
which take almost as much time as production, and are quite costly (Magder
et. al., 2019). The national audience for Canada’s own films hardly exists and
when the demand is small, so too is the supply. The small demand is likely less
a result of low quality films and more a result of the constant battle against
Hollywood’s monopoly on the film market (Magder et. al., 2019). A Quebec
film may be more likely to succeed simply because of the language difference
and the Quebecois audience’s desire to watch films in their own tongue, which
Hollywood rarely provides. There is, therefore, a certain correlation between
the number of films, filmmakers, and film theorists, in that, when there are
few Canadian films, there are likely to be few Canadian filmmakers and also
few theorists. That is to say, the film, the actual picture, is at the very heart of

67
theory. There must be films for us to be able to think and speak about film.
A film must in some way be purposeful or meaningful. Any filmmaker worth
their salt has some idea of what they mean to accomplish when they create a
film. Every aspect of filmmaking must be taken into account when attempting
to create the desired effect. Everything from dialogue and narrative to light and
colour must be made intentional, even if the intention is to be spontaneous or
chaotic. The film theorist’s role is, then, to think in-between the filmmaker and
the audience member, or to put themselves in both positions at once (it is true
a good filmmaker must be able to put themselves in the mind of the audience
member as well - the film theorist plays a more academic role). From this point
of view they must examine the very nature of film, what makes it what it is -
what does it set out to accomplish - and how does it or does it not accomplish
this? In other words, the film theorist approaches a film with the expectation
that it will present meaningful ideas that can be extracted and applied to a
philosophical framework so that it can be analysed and be understood better,
rather than viewing a film for the mere pleasure of the experience (although
pleasure or displeasure remains an important part of film theory). For the film
theorist, a film is a piece of art, and is treated as such. Within the history of
philosophy, philosophical film theory is within the branch of philosophy called
aesthetics, which examines the concepts of art, beauty, judgement, and taste,
among others. Film theory is indicative of the current state of philosophy in
that it, for the most part, considers concepts in relation to our lived experiences
and in connection with the world in which we live.
In this chapter, we have made the assumption that a film that is considered
“Canadian”, that is, a film that meets the requirements and criteria for con-
stituting a Canadian film according to the CRTC, and therefore, Canadian
films and filmmakers are representative or are able to represent in some way
Canadian films as a whole. We will look at the thought of some of the more
influential Canadian film theorists and filmmakers. Our purpose is to have a
better understanding of what is at the heart of Canadian cinema and attempt
to get closer to an idea of what makes Canadian cinema unique. We shall ac-
complish this by analysing the different aspects that make up a film from the
perspective of influential Canadians in the cinema world.

Style

Right away, however, one finds that pinning down one specific singular style,
or even one general concept, that all Canadian films can fall under is a su-
perfluous undertaking, for that would in all likelihood lead to reducing a film
and thus missing out on other significant attributes of that film. We shall not
attempt to fully grasp a film and put it in a box; rather, we will come at the film

68
as it is with as few pretenses as possible. To find some universal Canadian-ness
of Canadian cinema would be to anticipate the consequent before one has
even begun, which likely ends in fallacy. It seems that the most we can say in
this regard is that what unifies Canadian cinema is its multifaceted relationship
with the country of Canada. Just as Canada as a nation is an incredibly diverse
collection of immigrants and natives, so too is Canadian film. Now, we might
ask ourselves if there is something unique about a film’s creation in relation to
this country? Or rather, is Canada unique as a film producing country? This
is to ask something about the interrelatedness of a work of art and its place of
origin or its creator. Do Canadian films differ from films from other countries
in content? Instead of finding essences, let us first examine various styles of
films called “Canadian” and explore what film theorists say about tendencies
in Canadian film.
The one stylistic tendency we will examine is a result of the history of Cana-
dian film. Peter Harcourt writes that Canadian film is “nurtured by documen-
tary” (Harcourt, 2004, p. 241). This, I believe, can be taken in two directions.
First, more practically, the art of film in Canada had somewhat political un-
derpinnings in that the National Film Board of Canada grants money to film-
makers to create films that represent the country. The National Film Board is a
government agency, and is therefore influenced in part by those in power. This
also means, however, that there is in fact some money to be had if a filmmaker
was to create films in Canada, and, because the film board produced many
documentaries, especially in the early stages of the board, as the documentary
style was what was ubiquitous. Elder writes that “the realistic tendency of our
feature film has its origins in our feature cinema’s roots in the documentary
movement of the 1960s” (Elder, 1989, p. 3). There was money in the documen-
tary business, and this influenced the films that followed. Second, which comes
as a result of the first thought, the documentary style lends itself to the kind
of films that Canadian filmmakers wanted to make. Because many filmmakers
learned to make documentary films, they thought and worked in this manner.
The realist style came naturally after working with documentaries and watch-
ing many documentaries. Let us examine the nature of the documentary and
the realistic style.
Rather than being in the style of escapism or otherworldliness, Harcourt claims
that Canadian films tend toward a more realistic approach (Harcourt, 2004,
p. 241). Bruce Elder writes that “most Canadian film has been a part of the
realist tradition” (R.B. Elder, 1989, p. 3). Realism is a common style described
in film theory and it usually is attached to films that have long takes, which
means fewer edits, deep focus, and often non-professional actors or actors that
are lesser known in the mainstream. All these factors contribute to a film that is
closer to reality in that it re-presents everyday life in a more genuine way. Doc-

69
umentary films, of course, follow real events and real people in an attempt to
understand or explore an aspect of life. They intend to make the viewer think
and reflect on the topic, to see it in a new way, one that they would not have
access to in their everyday lives. Hence, it invokes a more contemplative atti-
tude. Elder calls realist film the “lyricism of the everyday” (Elder, 1989, p. 4).
Although the documentary style is more true-to-life than most other styles, it
still remains influenced by the mediating nature of the camera. The documen-
tary style often features more close up shots in dialogue exchanges and hand-
held-camera action sequences, which results in more camera motion giving it
a lifelike effect. But film is and always remains a sort of secondary experience,
or a third person point of view. We are one step removed from the real mo-
ment in time and space when the events occurred, and thus we are susceptible
to the influence and guidance of the one controlling the camera. We do not
have an objective lens for what we are seeing, but it is simply one point of view:
the camera’s point of view. Within this frame there is a smaller gaze and that
our tracks, focussing on one point in the frame, rather than keeping the entire
frame always within our focus.
The director and the camera operator direct your eye to what is important
or meaningful for that scene in the film. Editing, lighting, and colour also af-
fect the way our eyes move across the screen. The eye is drawn to things that
stand out and are in focus. Often faces immediately stand out, but eye-catching
objects may also stand out if they have a vibrant colour juxtaposed against
a background or if they are lit up against a dark background. So, our eye is
always influenced by what is on the screen. This is what allows us to be drawn
into the film. We are taken hold of and brought along on the journey that
the film takes. The fact of the influence on our eyes can also account for how
we can watch a film over and over again and still notice new things about it,
because our eyes move all over the screen, and where we might have missed
something the first time, we can possibly see it the next time.
We have seen that one of the main or prolific styles in Canadian film is the
realist style. Within Canadian film history, the realist style has its roots in the
documentary, following real events and granting knowledge to the viewer who
would not otherwise have the opportunity to see the places the camera goes
in their everyday lives. Often backed by government funding, documentaries
can have a political bend, focussing on what the people in power believe are
important and worthwhile ideas to pursue. Documentaries also grant a certain
deconstruction of the nature of film when we dig a little deeper. Even though it
is, in a way, closer to reality, it remains a story, once removed for the first-person
experience that non-mediated life has. This is not to discount the style, but to
show the underpinnings of the nature of film.

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 Avant-Garde

Films that fall under the concept of avant-garde are known to have a decon-
structing effect as well. They push boundaries and experiment with art in ways
that are not conceived of in the mainstream. When artworks move outside
the realm of norms and the usual, it begins to expand, innovate, and progress
art. It is common in the avant-garde to not take anything for granted but to
examine every aspect of not only a piece of art, but also the conditions and
necessities that allow for a work of art to exist in the first place. These artists
re-examine their tools and their materials in order to create new and fresh
works, while also granting new meanings and possible interpretations for the
art that came before them.
Torontonian artist and filmmaker Michael Snow’s works are a great example
of the possibilities and understandings that the avant-garde can provide. For
example, let us consider his films La Region Centrale and Back and Forth.
Neither of these films contain narratives in the usual sense. Although both of
these films are set in a certain setting and have motion in front of the camera,
the central focus is not necessarily what is in front of the camera, rather the
focus is what the camera is doing. In La Region Centrale, the camera moves in
“completely spherical space” on two different axis, that is, the camera, set on a
rotating arm, moves in every possible direction from circles, counter-clockwise
and clockwise, vertical and horizontal pans, to figure-eights (Griffiths, 1983).
The purpose is to represent the planetary motion, like the earth’s motion, and
represents time passing as essentially related to motion. For Back and Forth, the
camera pans back and forth quickly.
What both these films do, and especially Back and Forth, as Snow says in his
own words, is allow for “an inspection of camera motion”, that is to say that
they “look at the vocabulary of possibilities that there are in this particular me-
dium” (Snow, cited in Griffiths, 1983). Both films are “an attempt to bring out
the content that’s latent in these techniques so that they don’t disappear in their
use...so they’re not lost but that they are seen” to create “a more purely filmic
experience” (Griffiths, 1983). Whereas “usual” films want the viewer to look
past the movement of the camera toward the action within the story on screen
- to look past the illusion that is film - Snow wants to point out this illusion and
create film content out of it.
At their heart, La Region Central and Back and Forth show that action can
happen on both sides of the camera, whether it be the subject that is being
filmed or the filming itself. The movement of the camera becomes the action
and narrative of the film. As we have alluded to before, a film is not a pure
vantage point at a world, rather, it is an embodied eye that we must use to see
through and into a world. We cannot see from nowhere. The camera is the

71
essential window to get to the action. This can truly be acknowledged when
the action in front of the camera is stripped away and we are left with the bare
materials: a camera and a setting. Then we see that the camera moves the way
our eyes do and must in order to see, and that the camera in a sense has its own
body that is necessary for the visual representation to occur, just as we need a
body in order to experience anything at all.
What the avant-garde films like Snow’s accomplish is that they shine light
on the viewer’s interaction with the film when they watch it. Elder states that
Snow “utilized the structure of the film to comment upon the structure of
experience” (Elder, 1989, p. 194). Snow shows that what we have come to
know as a standard film - the usual Hollywood film - are dependent on a great
variety of preceding factors in order for it to work as a film. Aspects like edit-
ing, camera functions such as panning and zoom, sounds, and lighting, are all
fundamental to the cinematic experience and yet they go unnoticed because
we are so drawn into the moments of the film. Badly made films also work as
examples for displaying the fundamentals of film in an opposite way in that
they show the audience what not to do. What was once hidden in plain sight
by a great film - whether it be clever editing or the perfect music at the perfect
moment - becomes glaringly obvious as a wrong decision in a bad film. This
is all to say that Snow provides and displays the very fundamentals of film in
an abstract way so that we may better understand and experience not only a
wider range of cinematic ideas but also enjoy and have a greater appreciation
for a great mainstream film.

Cinema and Photography

Arising out of a contemplation of the nature of film, we may consider the sim-
ilarities and differences between the art of film and photography. Of course,
films are essentially made up of moving pictures, hence the name “motion
picture”. What underlying meaning does this injection of motion into photog-
raphy, so to speak, give to film? What does a look at photography tell us about
the nature of film? Let us explore these questions.
Although these are two distinct art forms, cinema is of course heavily depen-
dent on photography as far as the history of film goes. But we find today that
cinema is far more popular, as an art form, than photography. The vast ma-
jority of people today have a camera in their pockets at nearly all times, and
there are certainly less famed photographers out there than there are famed
filmmakers. Also, considering each of the two art’s yearly revenues, the film in-
dustry gathers much more each year (over 100 billion USD globally each year
for at least the past five years) than photography (about 10 billion USD each
year the past five years) (IBIS World, 2019; Vault, 2020). Why are people more

72
interested in paying to go see a film at the cinema or on a streaming service at
home, than paying to view photos, either at home or at an art gallery? Why is
it much more common to buy and own popular films than it is to buy and own
popular photographs?
This is, at least in part, because film is more true to life, and true to our lived
experiences. Cinema, like music, is a time art. A photograph is frozen in place,
depicting a single moment in time, removed from time, like a miniscule slice of
life. A film has duration - a beginning, middle, and end, just like life. Films con-
tain action and a narrative, that puts moving pictures into a secondary move-
ment or progression called the plot. This is not to say that photography does
not in a sense contain movement or motion. A photo can have an immense
amount of built up tension or potential energy that it is like we feel the move-
ment that the photo displays while not actually seeing real movement. Frozen
images can hold in themselves a great deal of energy, as can painting and
sculpture. Caravaggio was known for his displays of realistic images combined
with a dazzling use of light and show, along with emotional scenes to create
an intense feeling of energy or energeia in his paintings. This term, energeia,
comes from the ancient Greeks, particularly Aristotle, and it represents a latent
or innate potentiality or possibility. This is all to say that images can have the
movement which mimics this life-like effect.
However, film gives life to story and characters in a unique way. This is cer-
tainly the case when considering the philosophical implications of cinema. Ac-
cording to Elder,

The cinema seems to be a privileged art form for artists concerned with epistemo-
logical questions. For some the cinema’s epistemological privilege is grounded in the
belief that the flow of images in a film can directly represent the changing contents
of consciousness. For others, it is based in the belief that the cinema offers a structure
or set of structures isomorphic to certain structures of consciousness (Elder, 1989,
p. 188).

Film has a unique relationship with time that is similar to our consciousness
in that we can go back in our memories and re-encounter certain experiences
from our past. Consciousness does not display images in a linear fashion, but
the images and thoughts in our minds are outside of normal clock-time, and
exist in a non-linear kind of time. Scenes within film do not have to be dis-
played in a linear fashion either; they can also jump around to different points
in time, tapping into memories or showing flashbacks. Cinematic scenes are
better described as a “flow” than as a line.
Time and movement are deeply intertwined, and they create certain expecta-
tions on the part of the viewer. Even when there are images that do not move,

73
say a landscape with no camera motion or a close up of a character’s face that
remains completely still, we have the expectation that it will only last a brief
moment before continuing onto the next scene or image. Underlying the view-
ing of a film is the expectation of movement and change. An essential part
of making a good film, then, is to understand the viewer’s expectations and
to play with their expectations just enough to draw them into the scene and
keep them guessing. A great film creates an air of uncertainty about the future,
about what will happen next. Life itself has this same quality - there is a certain
chaos in life where we do not know what the future will hold.

Conclusion

Human consciousness is structured to get a handle, in one way or another, on

life itself so that we can live in the world. Films are lived pieces of art. We must
live in the moments that the film delivers up in order to understand or com-
prehend what is happening on the screen. Cinema is likely the most accessible
form of art, but it asks much from its viewer. Film requires a certain amount of
empathy from the viewer for it to affect them in some sort of way. We have to
put ourselves in the situation of the characters and feel what they feel. Having
access to the character’s emotion within film differs from other visual arts or
written and oral arts in that we can see the physical gestures of the characters,
hear their voice, and observe them within their setting. This entire experience
allows for a more full-bodied form of empathy, one that remains true to life
while still being a sort of illusion and artifactual. Film is more than simply mov-
ing images. Film brings images to life. It both re-creates our lived experiences
while also creating new experiences, all while expanding our understanding of
the world and broadening the meaning that the world presents us with.

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75
 Conclusion

Being able to consider the creation and experience of Canadian film through
the eyes of different schools of thought allows us to experience film in different
ways. Being able to deeply consider the reasons certain films are created, why
they are created in certain ways, and how the medium itself affects the ways in
which we accept and understand film provides us an opportunity to take great-
er control over the ways in which films impact us. With this in mind, we are
then able to take a more informed stance on the films we choose to watch: do
we enjoy films with a more avant-garde style, or do we prefer the mainstream
Hollywood film because of the expectations each type of film sets? Because of
our understanding of these different theories, we can take a moment to con-
sider our own film preference and, more importantly, the reasoning behind our
film preferences. Perhaps it’s the medium that speaks to us, and we prefer films
to books. Perhaps we never really understood why we didn’t enjoy avant-garde
style films until we learned exactly why avant-garde films exist as they do. Re-
gardless of the reasoning, we are now better equipped to dive into our deeper
understanding of Canadian film and film theory overall.

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Section 3: Politics
of Canadian Film

77
 Introduction

Film - like all art - and politics have always been connected. Their connections
are not always obvious, direct, or even deliberate. That said, the connections
between film and politics in Canada are easy to examine, primarily because of
the central role that the government plays in the Canadian film industry. This
connection makes it easier to draw clear lines between particular films and par-
ticular policies, such as how newsreel films in World War One were produced
to engineer support for the war effort. That does not mean that complex con-
nections do not exist in Canada, such as how a certain cultural era that shapes
and is shaped by government may produce films critiquing that culture and
therefore implicitly critique the government. This brief section will examine
the politics of Canadian film production.

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 Chapter 8: Culture and Censorship

One of the defining features of the film industry is censorship. This might
seem like a hyperbolic statement, but this chapter will show that it is not. The
most obvious example of censorship is the movie ratings system. The most
famous international example of a movie ratings system of the Motion Pic-
ture Association film rating system, which starts at “G” for ‘general audiences,’
goes to “PG” for ‘parental guidance suggested, then to “PG-13” for ‘parents
strongly cautioned, next to “R” for ‘restricted’ - meaning that anyone under
17 needs to be accompanied by a parent or guardian - and finally ends with
“NC-17,” which permits no exceptions for anyone under the age of 18 (MPA,
n.d.). Perhaps surprisingly, this is an entirely voluntary rating system - there is
no American federal or state laws enforcing these classifications beyond the
rights of the theatres to run their business as they wish - and they wish to work
with the Motion Picture Association to follow these classifications.
The Motion Picture Association of Canada has a slightly different classifica-
tion system, but the two systems are not interchangeable as they both use the
same terms to refer to different age groups. The Canadian system starts with
“G”, which denoted “suitable for all ages,” then moves to “PG”, which means
that “parental guidance is advised,” next is the first different name, “14A”,
which means the movie is suitable for those “14 years of age or older.” And
then things get a bit tricky: “18A” is next and means “suitable for those 18 years
of age or older” but those under 18 can view the film with an adult; but last is
“R,” which is equivalent to America’s “NC-17” (MPAC, n.d.).
These sorts of associations that rate films are not without their own internal
politics. Since the higher ratings (NC-17 in America, R in Canada) can severe-
ly limit the ability of a film to make money, more powerful film studios can put
pressure on the associations to rate their movie lower than if that movie were
produced by a poorer independent film studio. And the ratings are an overall

79
reflection of the cultures they exist within - for example, many have noted that
in the United States (and Canada, to a slightly lesser extent), far more emphasis
is placed on restricting sexual and nude scenes than scenes depicting gruesome
violence.
A documentary entitled This Film is Not Yet Rated was released in 2006 that
examined the Motion Picture Association of America’s rating system, and
much of the film’s content applies to the Motion Picture Association of Cana-
da’s rating system as well. The documentary made some troubling discoveries,
such as how homosexual scenes received far harsher ratings than heterosex-
ual scenes depicting equivalent acts, or how female sexual pleasure received
harsher ratings than male sexual pleasure. It also uncovered how far more films
receive an NC-17 rating for sexual content than violent content. Extremely
violent films such as Saving Private Ryan or Django Unchained escape the
dreaded NC-17 rating that This Film is Not Yet Rated itself could not escape
for giving examples of sexual NC-17 material (Schmidt & Dick, 2006).
The story of Canadian film censorship is more complex and wide-ranging
than what is contained in the classifications applied by the Motion Picture
Association of Canada. Because the government, both federal and provincial,
has played a large role in the development of the Canadian film industry, the
film industry has been forced to be more sensitive than it otherwise might be to
the government’s approval. And although governmental film institutions such
as the National Film Board of Canada insist that they allow their filmmakers
to produce whatever they wish without interference, this is simply not true: the
filmmakers are very aware where their funding comes from. The content of
This Film is Not Yet Rated is important to remember because if a film is pro-
duced using money from the government that the majority of the public finds
offensive, that government might face electoral repercussions.
The origins of Canadian film censorship do not derive from public moral out-
cry, but from war time propaganda. During the First World War, the Canadian
government was keenly aware of public morale, and “in November 1914 the
province of Ontario banned all war films, and, early in 1915, the Canadian
Department of Militia and Defence directed the censor boards of each prov-
ince to ban all war films. The Department was concerned that actual war
scenes might discourage enlistment” (Trovers, 1999, p. 96). This approach sep-
arated Canada from that of Britain because of their wildly different relation
to the war. For example, “Canada’s Chief Press Censor, Lieutenant Colonel
Ernest J. Chambers, actually cut out some scenes of the British epic, Battle of
the Somme, because although Britain was used to seeing wounded men arriv-
ing from the battle fronts Canada was not” (Trovers, 1999, p. 96).
As the First World War dragged on, Canada became desperate for soldiers.
They had so far managed to get by only using volunteers, but this source was

80
drying up. This led to the Conscription Crisis of 1917, which was primari-
ly caused by divides between French speaking Canada and English speaking
Canada and exacerbated by that year’s federal election. The power of the gov-
ernment during war time was already under fire; for example, conscientious
objectors were denied the right to vote in that year’s election. But in general,
Canada’s English speaking population felt a closer connection to Britain than
its French speaking population felt to France (or Britain). The Military Service
Act was passed, which allowed the government to conscript men for military
service if it wished to, although it was fairly easy to receive an exemption. Still,
the Act led to the Easter Riots, where armed Quebecois civilians clashed with
the military, leading to at least five people killed and hundreds wounded; ad-
ditionally, the Canadian government initiated a harsh military rule of Quebec
that lasted the rest of the war (Auger, 2008).
This unfolding crisis caused the government to focus its film efforts on propa-
ganda depicting the devastation of France and the suffering of its people in
the hope that this would engender sympathy in Quebec and increase support
for the war effort. This concerted effort led to films showcasing things such as
the ruined French town of Senlis or wounded and starving French civilians.
However, it is unknown whether these attempts were successful in their goal of
increasing support in Quebec for the war - and considering the Easter Riots, it
is likely they had no effect (Trovers, 1999).
Unlike during the Second World War, the Canadian film industry did not pro-
duce any feature films about the ongoing war during World War One, and
“it was not until the post-war era that Canada produced its first full-length
feature film that focused entirely on World War One. That film was Carry on
Sergeant!, released in 1928” (Trovers, 1999). The film was controversial, as its
protagonist, a Canadian soldier, cheats on his wife with a French prostitute, but
the controversy did not amount to official censorship, only public disapproval
(Wise, 2001, p. 38).
However, outside of war time, Canadian censorship has rarely been “official.”
Outside of child pornography laws, there is nothing a filmmaker can do or
show that is illegal as long as no laws were broken while filming. That is, a film-
maker can depict a murder as long as no one is murdered for the sake of the
film. But for many years, film production in Canada ran through the National
Film Board of Canada (NFB). The NFB was “established in 1939 by Act of
Parliament, was instructed to “produce and distribute, and to promote the pro-
duction and distribution of, films designed to interpret Canada to Canadians
and to other nations”” (Roberge, 1960). The next chapter will examine how
Canada has used film to advance its image across the globe through ‘cultural
diplomacy,’ but the remainder of this chapter will focus on how politics has led
to censorship in Canada despite official censorship laws.

81
The most succinct explanation of NFB censorship was given by Howard Junker
in 1964 in an early report on the NFB: “In short, although there are infrequent
complaints of outright censorship, for the most part the Board simply avoids
potentially disturbing subjects” (Junker, 1964, p. 25). He goes on to explain that
if a film director wishes to make a film they believe will upset the government
then they will “take a leave of absence and do it outside” (Junker, 1964, p. 25).
But notably, during the height of Quebec unrest in the early 1970s, “the pre-
siding government film commissioner banned several Québec films made by
the French unit … on political grounds” (Véronneau, 2013).
As Canadian culture changes, the type of content considered permissible to
show on screen has changed as well. Public pressure for much of the 20th
century, for example, made it impossible to produce a film in the United States
or Canada that depicted communism in a positive light. This ‘Red Scare’ was
one example of how “censorship was justified on the grounds of protecting the
public interest against outrages to morality” (Véronneau, 2013). In Canada,
these ‘outrages to morality’ vary across province and time, but they are gener-
ally reflected in the ratings given by the Motion Picture Association of Cana-
da: sex, violence, drugs, improper language - these are all categories wherein
Canadians self censor themselves. What Canadians choose to emphasize gives
insight into our culture, perhaps telling Canadians more about themselves than
the content of the next chapter: the image Canada wishes to sell to the world
through film.

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 Chapter 9: Canadian Film and Cultural
Diplomacy

It is important to note that cultural diplomacy is not necessarily an insidious,

manipulative evil. It is understandable that a nation might wish to control its
image, just as it is understandable and desirable for some types of content to
be censored from films, such as child pornography. Of course, it is incredibly
easy to look at history and see how such cultural diplomacy is little more than
propaganda designed to beautify the moral image of dictators, despots, and
authoritarian regimes across the globe. But cultural diplomacy is often inad-
vertent; that is, the people of a country produce art and culture unrestricted
or mandated by the government of that country. The government can take
advantage of their cultural production by showcasing it to the world, but the
bottom line is that it is not always the case that the government is pulling the
strings of the cultural world from behind the scenes.
For the purposes of this chapter, however, that is exactly what we will focus on:
deliberate efforts by the Canadian government to use cultural diplomacy to
expand its ‘soft power’ around the globe. ‘Soft power’ is the idea that there are
other types of power separate from ‘hard power’ (i.e. military power). A nation
might decline to go to war with you (or join a war against you), for example, if
their people trust your nation. This trust can be engendered in many ways, but
cultural diplomacy is one of them. Through the familiarity of music, literature,
film, dance, and other types of art, mutual understanding and friendship can
be built between nations. These connections lead to benefits such as alliances
or economic profit through trade and tourism, which further increase the cul-
tural ties between the nations, therefore producing a feedback loop that contin-
uously strengthens itself. Simply put, the art of cultural diplomacy is often just
getting others to like your nation.

83
Considering Canada’s positive image across much of the world, it seems as if
its cultural diplomacy has been successful. Although other factors play a role,
such as Canada’s ability to rely on the hard power of the United States to en-
sure its security, it can be seen through film, television, and other forms of art
that Canada has a good international reputation.
The earliest use of film in cultural diplomacy, however, has not aged well when
its overall context is considered. During the last few years of the 1890s and the
first couple decades of the 20th century, Canada used film to attract immi-
grants: but only white immigrants. By showcasing newsreels and early forms of
the documentary that depicted lush farmland in the prairies, Canada hoped to
attract white British and American settlers (Troper, 2017). In fact, the govern-
ment had a set of priorities of who they wanted to immigrate:

British and American agriculturalists were followed by French, Belgians, Dutch,

Scandinavians, Swiss, Finns, Russians, Austro-Hungarians, Germans, Ukrainians
and Poles. Close to the bottom of the list came those who were, in both the public
and the government’s minds, less assimilable and less desirable, e.g., Italians, South
Slavs, Greeks and Syrians. At the very bottom came Jews, Asians, Roma people and
Black persons (Troper, 2017).

Although this was not always an explicit policy, it was nevertheless rigorously
enforced, and films showcasing ‘the Canadian dream’ focused on the White-
ness of Canada’s population. One of the incidents that shows how this looked
in action took place in Alberta in the early 1910s:

In 1910 and 1911, rumours had spread that a group of Blacks was preparing to
migrate to central Alberta. Descendants of freed slaves, they were being pushed from
their land in Oklahoma territory, where they had been granted holdings and hoped
to build new lives … The government merely instructed immigration inspectors
and their medical aides along the American border to reject all Blacks as unfit for
admission on medical grounds (Troper, 2017).

As the years progressed the government’s focus on cultural diplomacy shifted

away from attracting immigration and toward attracting tourists (although im-
migration was still important). “By the 1930s, films had become an important
part of Canadian tourism publicity; and “if tourists, especially American tour-
ists, wanted to see quaint little villages or the glories of Canada’s parks, streams
and wildlife the [Motion Picture] Bureau was only too willing to supply them
with a preview on film”” (MacKenzie, 2013, p. 577). And when economic di-
saster loomed, Canada looked to film as one way to help rescue itself.
Immediately after the Second World War, Canada suffered an acute dollar

84
shortage. When “J.J. McCann, the minister of national revenue, reported that
films “were a most effective means of presenting information about Canada
to audiences abroad,” the cabinet agreed, and the Canadian Co-operation
Project was born (MacKenzie, 2013, p. 577). The project has been viewed as
a failure by many because of its failure to directly benefit the Canadian film
production industry. Indeed, over the course of its short existence, the amount
of Canadian films produced did not increase. However, its focus was never
Canada’s domestic film industry - it was tourism:

The success of these activities was measured in terms of increased revenues, in-
vestments, and, especially, tourism, more than through tracking the enhancement or
expansion of the Canadian film industry or by counting the number of people em-
ployed in the film industry. In other words, the use of film to advertise and promote
Canada was an economic activity” (MacKenzie, 2013, p. 577).

In addition, “by the end of 1949, a new tourism record was announced, with
American spending in Canada rising from $234M in 1947 to $270M by the
end of 1948; Newman [the director of the Canadian Co-operation Project]
naturally credited the CCP for this significant increase” (MacKenzie, 2013, p.
584).
If it did not achieve such success through Canada’s domestic film industry,
then what was the focus of the Canadian Co-operation Project? The answer,
more or less, is exposure - Hollywood film studios were given special tax breaks
to film in Canadian settings, and they were encouraged to include positive
mentions of Canada in their stories, even if only in a throwaway line that had
little or no connection to the movie’s plot. These references were often the most
powerful - by associating Canada subliminally with positive traits simply by
the creation of ubiquitous expressions, Canada was conducting cultural diplo-
macy. This helped build the image of Canadians as ‘nice’ and ‘polite’, among
other things (MacKenzie, 2013).
The Canadian Co-operation Project did not last long. “The introduction of
the Marshall Plan in 1948 and its “off-shore purchasing,” which permitted
American dollars to flow to Canada via European purchases, largely solved
Canada’s dollar crisis within a few years” (MacKenzie, 2013, p. 586). Because
the Project was largely an economically motivated enterprise, there was little
reason for it to continue once the cause for its creation was solved. And perhaps
even more importantly, “the advent of television and the growing realization
that it was clearly the better way for advertising and “selling” Canada in the
United States made the CCP unnecessary” (MacKenzie, 2013, p. 586). It was
far easier - and cheaper - for positive messages of Canada to be woven into
cheaply made television shows. In the years since, Canadian cultural diploma-

85
cy has unfolded through many forms of art, but there has been little central
direction from the federal government.
In a Canadian Senate Report from 2019, the Committee notes that “in the
absence of consistent and strategic support from the Canadian government for
cultural diplomacy, important opportunities have been missed” (Senate, 2019,
p. 13). The Report tells how “film can expose someone to a culture, a country
that they may never see, and that connects them to the whole world and makes
others seem less like strangers and more like family” (Senate, 2019, p. 28). It
recommends that Canada create a deliberate strategy that utilizes the film in-
dustry for the express use of cultural diplomacy. They state that ““[w]e have a
rich history in Canada, and we should be encouraging our film-makers to mine
that history and the many cultures, religions and races that make Canada what
it is today” (Senate, 2019, p. 58).
Only the future can tell what the role of film will be in Canada’s foreign re-
lations, but with an entrenched positive international reputation, Canada has
a lot to work with. And governmental involvement notwithstanding, there are
plenty of talented Canadian film professionals who are only too happy to in-
advertently further the cause of cultural diplomacy by proudly representing
Canada in both their personal and professional lives.

86
 Conclusion

The politics of Canadian film revolves around the government. As the de-
cades have progressed, the level of involvement of the federal and provincial
governments in the film industry has dictated the amount of Canadian film
production. These films (and television shows) have helped Canada form its
identity, which it then markets abroad through the process of cultural diploma-
cy. The decades also mark the changing Canadian culture through Canadians’
attitudes toward morals and Canadian identity, which can be seen through the
changing history of Canadian censorship. Together, the censorship of film and
use of film for cultural diplomacy help tell the story of Canada.

87
Section 4: Famous
Canadians in Film

88
 Introduction

Now that we have spent some time exploring the landscape of Canadian films,
it is the perfect time to explore the lives of some of the most famous Canadians
in film - whether they spend the majority of their time working directly on Ca-
nadian films or not. Many of us will recognize famous Canadian actors simply
because we are proud to know that they are Canadian, but this section will be
more than just a biography of Ryan Reynolds; instead, we will explore the lives
of some of Canada’s most famous actors, directors, composers, and writers. It
is a huge amount of work to create a film, and these categories are in no way
comprehensive: it would take an entire book to recognize all of the famous Ca-
nadian makeup artists, animators, and cinematographers that make Canadian
film what it is. Instead, we will pull out some of the most recognizable Cana-
dian names - and even some less recognizable names with highly recognizable
works - and learn a little bit about how each famous Canadian brings a bit of
their country with them into each of their jobs.

89
 Chapter 10: Famous Canadian Actors

Introduction
Despite being only one part of the entire filmmaking process, actors receive
the lion’s share of the glory. They are the visual face of the film, and humans
respond incredibly strongly to visual cues: we have evolved to read faces with
fine-tuned detail. The actors are the vehicles through which a film tells its story.
Canada has had many successful actors throughout its history, and although
this book only draws attention to three of them, there are countless others who
deserve attention for their talent and dedication to the craft of acting.

Nell Shipman

Most people know very little about the silent film era. At best, people may
recognize Charlie Chaplin, but besides ‘the Little Tramp,’ the general public
has forgotten most of the era’s stars - let alone its writers, producers, and di-
rectors. Even in Canada, where people proudly point out that many of today’s
Hollywood stars are Canadian, knowledge of the pioneers of the silent film era
is lacking. This is unfortunate, as there were many interesting, impressive, and
talented Canadian members of the earliest era of film production.
Perhaps the most famous of these early stars was the actress Mary Pickford.
Her nicknames, such as “Queen of the Movies” or “America’s Sweetheart,”
showcase her popularity. But her origins were not American - she was Canadi-
an, born and raised in Toronto. But her Canadian heritage had little effect on
her career. So, despite the fact that Mary Pickford not only won an Oscar, but
she was also a founding member of the Academy, we will turn our eyes toward
another of Canada’s earliest film stars: Nell Shipman.

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Nell Shipman was born on October 25, 1892 in Victoria, British Columbia
(Johnson, 2015). She lived until January 23, 1970, dying in California (John-
son, 2015). But despite her long life, her entire career as an actress in the film
industry lasted little more than a decade: from the mid 1910s to the mid 1920s.
She was more than an actress however - she was a prolific writer of novels,
screenplays, and stories; she was a producer; a director; a stuntwoman; and an
animal trainer. But despite her many talents, her career in these fields did not
last much longer than her career as an actress, and her last three decades of life
were entirely removed from the film industry.
Her career, although short, is interesting because her work was strongly asso-
ciated with the greatest of Canadian art characters - its environment. Mary
Pickford may have been “America’s Sweetheart”, but Nell Shipman was “Can-
ada’s Adventuress” (Fletcher, 2019). Not only was her work strongly focused on
nature, but her on-screen personality was reflective of her real life personality
(Forster, 2017). In fact, Shipman was somewhat unique in this area: “both Nell
and her one-time husband Ernest were great believers of shooting on location,
something that was unusual for the silent era, with Ernest himself calling it
“telling the truth in motion pictures.” This feeds into Nell’s great love for na-
ture and desire to faithfully depict it in the films she made” (Edgesworth, 2019).
Nell Shipman is of further interest because “she was one of a very small num-
ber of women in any country to run her own production company during the
silent era” (Fletcher, 2019). Because of her life and her work, she “was an im-
mensely influential figure in the cinematic feminist movement, the Hollywood
silent era, and Canadian cinema as a whole” (Edgesworth, 2019). Additionally,
her love for nature and its creatures led her to become “talented wildlife trainer
and an animal rights crusader who advocated for the humane treatment of
animals in the film industry (far from a common cause at the time)” (Fletcher,
2019).
Born as Helen Foster Barham in 1892, Nell Shipman’s family was composed
of English immigrants. She took up acting from an early age, performing on
stages in Victoria and Seattle as well as for travelling theatre companies. She
took both dancing and acting lessons in her childhood. But the travelling the-
atre business was dying as films became more popular: “the number of com-
panies touring the United States diminished “from an all-time high of 420
companies in 1904 to 337 in 1908, 236 in 1910, 95 in 1915, and a mere 25 in
1918” (Forster, 2017). She married a Canadian theatre promoter by the name
of Ernest Shipman at the age of 18 (he was decades older) and then they
moved to Southern California two years later, giving up the travelling theatre
business (Strand, 2020).
Fortunately for Nelll Shipman, her talents were versatile: “she found success
as a writer—winning both first and second prize in a scriptwriting contest”

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(Geltzer, 2017). And “within two years, Shipman had established herself as
a writer for the early film industry’s major studios, including Vitagraph, Selig
and Universal” (Strand, 2020). Although notable, her success as a writer was
not atypical: “in the early days of Hollywood before corporate structure was
set in place, several women were able to develop behind-the-scenes power”
(Geltzer, 2017).
But Shipman’s main claim to fame would be her reputation as ‘the girl from
God’s country.’ This sprung from her “first starring role in a major film … the
silent movie God’s Country and the Woman (1916), which was an overnight
success” (Johnson, 2015). Although she starred in other films over the next
few years, none were as successful as God’s Country and the Woman. After
recovering from the Spanish Flu, “in 1919, Shipman and her husband rejected
a lucrative seven-year contract with producer Samuel Goldwyn and decided
to form their own production company” (Fletcher, 2019). This would lead to
Nell’s biggest success - and the most successful Canadian film of the silent era -
Back to God’s Country, for which she co-wrote, co-produced, and acted in the
starring role (Johnson, 2015).
Like many of her other films, Back to God’s County was shot on location - for
this film, that meant Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta. This northern location - 90
kilometers north of Edmonton, Alberta - led “the “Moving Picture World”
[to give] Back to God’s Country ... the distinction of “having been made far-
ther north than any other dramatic picture” (Geltzer, 2017). The plot of the
film centres Nell as the protagonist: “it made a feminist statement: a woman
was seen to have the ability and courage to behave both heroically and inde-
pendently, even rescuing a man in distress. Strong, assertive female characters
became a trademark of all Shipman’s films” (Johnson, 2015). Additionally, an-
imals play a key role in the film. Not only domestic dogs, but trained animals
such as bears were used - all of which were trained by Nell herself.
Unfortunately, much of the movie’s marketing and critical reception surround-
ed one particular scene: a nude scene, with Nell at its centre. It was not a sexual
scene, but instead, it depicted Nell’s character taking a bath in a stream while
a few of the bad guys oogle her from the bushes before being chased away
by a bear (Forster, 2017). The original script called for Nell to be wearing a
nude-colored suit, but she found it uncomfortable and unwieldy and so she
stripped down to nothing for the final cut (Forster, 2017). This caused a scan-
dal, but the movie embraced it, with posters advertising that one should not
watch the film unless you believed that “Nude was NOT rude” (Forster, 2017).
But despite the film’s success - it made a 300% profit - it would be the apex
of Nell’s career (Geltzer, 2017). The next year she would divorce her husband
Ernest and found her own film production company. She “proceeded to write,
direct, star in and produce outdoor adventure movies that always featured a

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variety of “wild” animals. These were actually a travelling menagerie of 70
creatures that Shipman trained herself; they included bears, raccoons and
skunks” (Johnson, 2015). She continued to develop her reputation as ‘the girl
from God’s country’ by writing the “screenplay for, starred in, co-directed and
trained the animals for the company’s 1921 release The Girl from God’s Coun-
try” (Strand, 2020). Unfortunately, none of her films would be as successful
as Back to God’s Country. This is not necessarily a comment on her artistic
talent, but “by the early 1920s, the film business had become dominated by a
handful of major studios that operated as a virtual monopoly, making it nearly
impossible for independent producers such as Shipman to compete in the mar-
ketplace” (Fletcher, 2019). Her company went bankrupt by 1925, and sadly
she had to sell her animals (Fletcher, 2019). The Golden Yukon - her last film
- came two years later, in 1927 (Strand, 2020). Nell Shipman spent the rest of
her life outside the spotlight. She wrote short stories, screenplays - including
the 1935 Wings in the Dark, which starred Cary Grant. She died in 1970, and
her last work - her autobiography titled The Silent Screen and my Talking
Heart - was released posthumously in 1987 (Strand, 2020).
Nell Shipman’s career is worth studying to those interested in early Canadian
film (and early film in general). Her reputation as ‘the girl from God’s country’
tied her to Canada and helped cement the wilderness genre in Hollywood can-
on. Her work deliberately empowered women - frequently, her scripts reversed
the ‘damsel in distress’ trope by having the woman rescue her love interest
from danger. It does not seem that later filmmakers - Canadian or otherwise
- cite Shipman directly as an influence, but her influence is nonetheless felt. If
nothing else, one of Canada’s defining nicknames - ‘the Great White North’
- is drawn from a text slide in Back to God’s Country (Forster, 2017). But her
career as a whole came and went along with the silent film era. She followed in
the wake of its rise as the silent film usurped the theatre and continued to fol-
low it into obscurity as the ‘talkies’ - films with sound - took over. She was and
is not as celebrated as stars such as Mary Pickford, but Shipman was definitely
Canadian at heart, and deserves to be remembered.

Jim Carrey

Canada has always been blessed with an outsized portion of comedic talent.
Some are no longer with us, such as Leslie Nielsen and his dry wit - as show-
cased in the classic Airplane! - or John Candy, who starred in one of the most
successful Canadian comedies of all time, Canadian Bacon, in addition to
many successful Hollywood movies, such as Spaceballs and Home Alone. But
many others are still with us: Seth Rogan, known for both his acting and writ-
ing talents; Norm MacDonald, who is well-respected as an actor and revered

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as a stand-up comic; and Mike Myers, a former Saturday Night Live star also
known for Wayne’s World, Austin Powers, and Shrek. The new mediums of
entertainment are not without their Canadian comic stars: Lilly Singh went
from homegrown YouTube success to the host of her own late night talk show
A Little Late with Lilly Singh, and Andrew Bachelor - known as King Bach
- leveraged his status as the most followed creator on Vine into a movie and
television career that is going strong even after Vine shut down.
But as impressive as these comedians are, no Canadian comedian - and per-
haps no Canadian actor - had or has a career that compares to Jim Carrey. Al-
though Carrey started at the bottom, he rose to such heights that he set records
for the amount of money paid to an actor to do a single film. His natural talent
was both undeniable and unique - described as “one of the last of the great
clowns,” (Leung, 2004) he is “known for his racing energy level and frenetic im-
provisation, he had a comic appeal that was mainly visual. He was a technically
brilliant mimic and boasted more than 100 characterizations, with a repertoire
ranging from Humphrey Bogart to Kermit the Frog” (Britannica, 2020). Over
the course of his career his talent has been recognized both critically - he
has received ““six Golden Globe nominations and two Golden Globe awards”
(Walk of Fame, n.d.) - as well as financially - his “accumulative box-office gross
[is] in excess of $2 billion” (Beard & Townend, 2015). Considering his overall
influence, he may be the “most powerful and influential Canadian-born actor
working in Hollywood since Mary Pickford’’s reign as queen of the American
cinema during the 1920s” (Beard & Townend, 2015). This is not hyperbolic,
because in 1994, his three films - Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and
Dumb and Dumber - had such financial success that comedy “was, at least
for a time, seen as a tentpole, and his personal financial success was in large
part responsible for studios beginning to pay comedy stars like action heroes”
(Siegal, 2019).
These dizzying heights are particularly impressive when Carrey’s origins are
considered. Born as James Eugene Carrey in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
on January 17, 1962, he was the youngest of four children (Fuusha, n.d.). His
father, Percy Carrey, was an accountant, despite his dream of a career in mu-
sic, but he gave up his saxophone and took up accounting when he started a
family (Siegal, 2019). As talented as Jim is, he has always maintained that his
father was every bit as funny, but was never able to pursue comedy because he
needed to support his family (Siegal, 2019). Jim Carrey’s mother, Kathleen,
was a homemaker and perpetually sick, which motivated Jim to try and make
her laugh as often as he could. But everything changed for the family when
Percy lost his job at 51 (Siegal, 2019). Jim and his elder brother worked 8 hour
shifts as a janitor and security guard, respectively, at a factory. For Jim, these
shifts took place after a full day at school, and his grades suffered (Fuusha, n.d.).

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This schedule proved unsustainable, and at 16, he dropped out of school. He
worked as a janitor at the factory for two more years (Britannica, 2020). Even-
tually, the Carreys would end up quitting their jobs at the factory and living out
of a van, which he later described as a much happier, more stable time in their
lives, as it enabled the family to spend far more time together (Rose, 2018).
Despite this harsh environment - or perhaps because of it - Jim always excelled
at comedy. His family encouraged him, always begging him to perform for
them and for company (Rose, 2018). At 8, “he began making faces before a
mirror and discovered a talent for doing impressions” (Britannica, 2020). At
ten, he mailed his resume to The Carol Burnett Show (and received a form
letter in response, which delighted and encouraged him) (Walk of Fame, n.d.).
And when he was “in junior high, he was granted a few precious minutes at
the end of each school day to do stand-up routines for his classmates (provid-
ed, of course, that he kept a lid on it the rest of the day)” (Fuusha, n.d.). He
started performing stand up at local clubs as soon as he was old enough, and
“after bombing at first, the teenaged Carrey honed his impression-filled act
and became a fixture as a stand-up comic in his hometown. Eventually, he
was making enough money from comedy to help support his parents” (Siegal,
2019). Soon enough, he had his first big break - while performing at a club that
he had become a regular at, he attracted the attention of the famous American
stand up comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who was so impressed with Carrey
that he hired him to come to Los Vegas and open for him (Walk of Fame, n.d.).
This gave Jim the confidence he needed. He did not stay in Las Vegas long,
soon moving to Los Angeles permanently in 1981 at the age of 21 (Beard &
Townend, 2015). Only two years later he was performing on Johnny Carson’s
Tonight Show - and tellingly, Carson introduced him as an ‘impressionist’ rath-
er than a stand up comedian (Siegal, 2019). For the rest of the ‘80s Carrey con-
tinued to toil away, slowly and steadily making connections as he performed
in roles on small television shows and movies. His next big break happened
in 1991 when “his first TV special, Jim Carrey: Unnatural Act, received rave
reviews and led to a regular role on the television sketch comedy series In Liv-
ing Color” (Britannica, 2020). By joining the sketch comedy show, which was
awarded an Emmy in 1990, Jim Carrey was finally able to unleash his own
zany brand of comedy that was unlike anything else on television (or film) at
the time: “Unlike any other movie or show he’d ever appeared in, [In Living
Color] took advantage of his physical gifts. Whether he was playing a karate
instructor or Vanilla Ice, he always seemed to be in a state of controlled reck-
lessness” (Siegal, 2019). He grew popular for his impressions and his characters
- particularly Fire Marshall Bill. In Living Color gave Carrey the credibility he
needed for a studio to take a risk on him in a leading role (the show would also
launch the careers of Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Lopez).

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This brings us to 1994 - the year “Jim Carrey took over comedy. Starting that
February with Ace Ventura: Pet Detective—a movie that bucked critical revul-
sion to the tune of $107.2 million against a $15 million budget—and continu-
ing with The Mask and Dumb and Dumber, Carrey set off a chain of events
that changed the business of Hollywood” (Siegal, 2019). Because of these three
movies, “Carrey had become his own franchise. By the end of their collective
run, Carrey’s three films of 1994 piled up $319.3 million domestically and
nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars worldwide” (Siegal, 2019). This was
an unprecedented level of success for comedy films. The film industry was ac-
customed to action movies headlined by the likes of Arnold Schwarzeneggar
and Sylvester Stallone reaping these sorts of profits, not comedies - and cer-
tainly not comedies where the main character’s favourite gag is talking out of
his own butt, as was the case in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Naturally, critics
hated this movie, but it made over $100 million and turned Jim Carrey into
an overnight sensation (Rose, 2018). But Carrey would win over the critics too
with The Mask, his second film of the year. He “played a timid bank clerk who
becomes a hip wisecracking green-faced dandy when he dons a magical mask.
His performance earned Carrey the first of several Golden Globe Award nom-
inations” (Britannica, 2020). The film was written with Carrey in mind, as no
one else was more perfectly suited to the facial contortionism the role required
(Siegal, 2019).
Because Carrey was cast in The Mask before Ace Ventura: Pet Detective hit
theatres, his salary for each was comparatively small - only low-to-mid six fig-
ures for each. By the time it came for his next casting, The Mask had overtaken
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective in financial success by making over $350 million
dollars. So when New Line Cinema came knocking to cast Carrey in Dumb
and Dumber, his stock had risen considerably. A bidding war broke out over
the rights to the film, and when it ended with New Line Cinema on top, they
agreed to pay Carrey “a previously unthinkable $7 million. The movie’s entire
budget was about $16 million” (Siegal, 2019). It was well-received both crit-
ically and commercially and is perhaps known as Carrey’s most iconic role.
Carrey’s next two films - Batman Forever and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
- would continue his streak of successful films (although critics would loathe
the Ace Ventura sequel even more than they had the first Ace Ventura film)
(Siegal, 2019).
It was Jim Carrey’s next role which would simultaneously break his streak of
box office success but also set salary records - The Cable Guy. He was paid $20
million to star in the film, which, at the time, “was the biggest up-front sum that
had been offered to any comic actor” (Fuusha, n.d.). But the film did poorly
with critics, who were offset by Carrey’s character’s creepiness. And although
it recouped its $50 million budget, its $100 million box office showing was far

96
from off from Carrey’s usual numbers. But he recovered quickly in 1997 with
the critically well received comedy Liar Liar, for which he was nominated for
a Golden Globe for his portrayal of a sleazy lawyer struck with the inability to
lie for a day by his son’s birthday wish (Fuusha, n.d.).
And then in 1998 and 1999, Jim Carrey flipped a switch and starred in con-
secutive critically and commercially successful films, The Truman Show and
Man on the Moon, and won a Golden Globe for each film (Britannica, 2020).
For The Truman Show, Carrey “played against type … [as] a man gradually
becoming aware that his whole life is displayed on a TV show watched by mil-
lions” (Beard & Townend, 2015). For Man on the Moon, a biopic about the
comedian Andy Kaufman, Carrey dove into method acting and “practically
transformed himself into the late entertainer Andy Kaufman and Kaufman’s
vulgar alter ego, Tony Clifton, for the duration of the months-long shoot”
(Rose, 2018). And in 2000, Carrey would notch his fourth consecutive (and
fifth total) Golden Globe nomination for his performance as the Grinch in
How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which was the most financially successful
film of his career to date (Beard & Townend, 2015). He broke his personal best
only three years later with Bruce Almighty, which made almost half a billion
dollars (Beard & Townend, 2015). However, the film only received a lukewarm
critical reception, but Carrey would return to the critics’ good graces the next
year with a film that many would call the best acting of his career: Eternal Sun-
shine of the Spotless Mind. A film almost devoid of comedy, Carrey portrayed
“as a man who decides to have his memories of a former girlfriend erased”
(Britannica, 2020). He would receive his sixth (and so far) final Golden Globe
nomination for his performance.
The following years have not produced anything too memorable for Carrey
(although he has been semi-retired for some of those years). He turned out a
good performance in I Love You Phillip Morris, returned to his most iconic role
in Dumb and Dumber To (which was not nearly as well received as the original
Dumb and Dumber, critically or comercially), and starred in the surprisingly
critically well received Sonic the Hedgehog film, for which his performance
drew enormous praise, with some going so far as to say it was one of his best
ever performances (Fuushu, n.d.). Carrey’s film output has decreased over the
last decade as he has focused more on his art. It occasionally causes a stir, as it is
politically focused and usually lambasts Donald Trump and his administration.
But Carrey is not new to controversy - famously, he is one of Hollywood’s most
prominent members of the anti-vaccination movement (Rose, 2018).

Keanu Reeves

Although Keanu Reeves has never ruled the film industry like Jim Carrey did

97
(or Mary Pickford), his impact is undeniable, and as perhaps the only major
Canadian action star, his role in the genre has been vital. But his road to success
has been up and down and all around, and he has never let himself be typecast
as only an action star - or at least, he has attempted to prevent himself from
being typecast. This has led him to build a diverse filmography, with roles rang-
ing from a dumb teenage stoner in the Bill & Ted franchise to Hamlet to an
animated kitten in Keanu to even a motion captured performance in the video
game Cyberpunk 2077. He “has worked across every genre, in tiny art-house
projects and big-budget blockbusters, reciting Shakespeare and doing kung fu”
(Sims, 2020). Although he has sometimes been “panned for his lack of range,
Keanu Reeves’s career has undergone remarkable shifts” (Jones, 2020), and the
most accurate, generous description of his style is that “no matter what role he
plays, he is always himself ” (Fry, 2019).
Until recently, Keanu Reeves was primarily known by the vast majority of
the public for his role as Neo in the Sci Fi action trilogy The Matrix. The
trilogy - especially the first film - completely revolutionized the action genre. It
pioneered the use of slow motion and bullet cam. It “changed the way action
movies looked and felt and moved, changed the culture” (Pappademas, 2019).
It crossed genres, as it is not only one of the most successful action franchises
of all time, but it is also one of the most successful Sci Fi franchises of all time.
And it is beloved not only for its action sequences or Sci Fi concepts, but be-
cause it was not just a dumb action movie - it was obviously saying something,
and debates have raged for decades over the philosophies of The Matrix. This
is unusually, to say the least, about an action film.
Recently, however, Keanu has managed to separate himself from his role as
Neo in The Matrix through his eponymous role in the massively successful
John Wick franchise. Although light on philosophy, it is an incredibly well made
franchise, drawing action fans of all ages who love the supremely competent
hero. It is not without its own quirks, however, and many follow the franchise to
learn more about the surprisingly intricate (under) world building the franchise
accomplishes.
None of this takes away from the rest of Keanu’s career. If The Matrix and
John Wick franchises are the two main pillars of his career, the Bill & Ted
franchise is a third, smaller pillar. And supporting it all is something harder
to quantify - Keanu’s reputation. In a fascinating study of modern culture’s
obsession with celebrities, Keanu Reeves is revered by a legion of cult-like fol-
lowers who believe he can do no wrong. While celebrity obsession is not rare,
the level of reverence bestowed upon Keanu puts him in the rarified airs of
Tom Hanks or Fred Rogers. A large part of this respect for Keanu comes from
his tragic life story: “In 1999 Reeves and his girlfriend Jennifer Syme had a
daughter, Ava Archer Syme-Reeves, born eight months stillborn. The loss of

98
their daughter devastated the couple and caused the end of their relationship
… Two years later, Jennifer was involved in a fatal car accident where she
rammed into three cars and was thrown out of her vehicle” (Biography.com
editors, 2019). Before that, “his close friend and My Own Private Idaho co-star
River Phoenix died of a drug overdose in 1993” (Jones, 2020). And before even
that, “his father, who did a spell in jail for drug dealing, left home when Keanu
was a young boy” (Fry, 2020).
Despite these tragedies, he is admired for not only carrying on, but living a
good, down-to-earth life. Famously, “he gave up back-end profits on The Ma-
trix sequels to the movies’ special-effects and costume teams” - literally tens
of millions of dollars (Jones, 2020). He took a large pay cut to give room in
the budget to cast Al Pacino in The Devil’s Advocate. And there are many
anecdotes of Keanu living up to his larger than life reputation in countless real
life encounters with fans and strangers: “The image of him that emerges from
these anecdotes is of a considerate man who is aware of his status as a celeb-
rity but doesn’t take advantage of it, and who is generous but careful with his
presence” (Fry, 2019).
Adding to his reputation, he “co-founded the band Dogstar in the early 1990s,”
and the band was moderately successful during Keanu’s run as the bass player
(Biography.com editors, 2019). He is “a longtime motorcycle enthusiast. After
asking designer Gard Hollinger to create a custom-built bike for him, the two
went into business together with the formation of Arch Motorcycle Company
LLC in 2011” (Biography.com, 2019). This hobby even cost him an organ af-
ter he lost a spleen in a 1988 motorcycle accident and has lived without it ever
since (Jones, 2020).
Despite the public fascination with Keanu the person, he is famously reticent
about his private life. He “was born on September 2, 1964, in Beirut, Lebanon”
(Biography.com, 2019). His mother was English and his father was Hawaiin
with Chinese ancestry (Fry, 2019). Keanu’s “first name translates from Hawai-
ian to English as ‘cool breeze over the mountains’” (Biography.com, 2019).
His father Samuel Reeves Jr., a geologist, left the family soon after, leaving his
mother, Patricia Taylor, an entertainer and costume designer, to raise Keanu
alone (Biography.com, 2019). Over the next few years Keanu’s mother remar-
ried several times while moving all over the world - from Beirut to Sydney, from
Sydney to New York, and then finally settling in Toronto in 1971 (Fry, 2019).
It is unknown why Keanu gravitated to acting, but he landed his “big-screen
debut in the 1985 Canadian feature One Step Away” - a film produced by the
National Film Board of Canada (Biography.com, 2019). He starred in a few
teenage dramas over the next few years, including River’s Edge, and even had
a role in the Academy Award nominated Dangerous Liaisons, a movie that also
starred John Malkovich, Michelle Pfieffer, and Uma Thurman. But his first

99
big break came in 1989 with “the release of a film for which the young actor
would become associated with for quite some time - Bill & Ted’s Excellent Ad-
venture.” The film was well received, but with a plot that “followed two high
schoolers and their time-traveling high jinks,” Keanu became personally asso-
ciated with his character’s lack of intelligence, an assumption that pigeonholed
him into several similar roles over the next few years. He tried to break the
mold with My Own Private Idaho in 1991, which “chronicled the lives of two
young sex workers living on the streets,” (Biography.com editors, 2019) but his
attempts would prove largely unsuccessful for the next decade. His starring role
in the popular film Point Break, which “turned the actor into an undercover
FBI agent who gets caught up in the criminal lives of surfing bank robbers,”
(Biography.com, 2019) was well received but fed the dopey stereotype further.
The rest of the ‘90s saw Keanu make films across a variety of genres, from
Dracula to Speed to Much Ado About Nothing. But in 1999, everything
changed when he starred in The Matrix. It became “known for its innovative
fight sequences, avant-garde special effects and gorgeous fashion, The Matrix
was an international hit” (Biography.com, 2019). Although the two sequels,
both released in 2003, were not as critically well received, all three films made
hundred of millions of dollars, and altogether the trilogy made almost $2 bil-
lion (Biography.com, 2019).
The next decade would not be a successful one for Keanu. He failed to star in
any box office hits and fared little better with critics. Although his 2005 role
as the superhero John Constantine in Constantine has become something of a
cult film and his directorial debut Man of Chai Ti in 2013 was critically well
received, both were considered financial letdowns, with the latter failing to
recoup its budget. “By the time John Wick was released in 2014, it seemed that
Keanu Reeves’s career as an A-lister might have finally ended” (Sims, 2020).
John Wick was unburdened by any weight of expectations. It was directed by
Keanu’s former stunt double from The Matrix, who used his in-depth knowl-
edge of Keanu’s abilities and limits to push him as far as he could go to produce
a “triumph of economical storytelling and crisp, jaw-dropping action choreog-
raphy” (Sims, 2020). And although “fight-movie fans hailed the first Wick’s use
of long takes and close-up martial-arts action as a bold stylistic throwback—
anti-Bourne,” the truth was that with a small budget of $20 million, the film
makers lacked the money for any other stylistic choice (Sims, 2020). The first
John Wick grossed almost $90 million, the second almost $200 million, and the
third over $300 million. A fourth and fifth are in the works, due to be filmed
back-to-back (Sims, 2020).
The success of John Wick rocketed Keanu Reeves back to A-lister status, and
in the past few years he starred in the third Bill & Ted film, had a role in Toy
Story 4, and parodied his own reputation among his fans by playing “an exag-

100
gerated, insufferable, and completely hilarious version of himself in Ali Wong
and Randall Park’s Netflix rom-com, Always Be My Maybe” (Ruiz, 2019). To
top it off, he played a starring role, through motion capture, in the most antic-
ipated video game of 2020 Cyberpunk 2077. At 56, Keanu Reeves’ career has
never looked brighter.

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 Chapter 11: Famous Canadian Directors

Introduction
A film director has a large role, if not the largest role, in the creation of a film.
They hold the creative power and, most of the time, they have the final say
on what is included in the film. The director is the author of the film. They
are there for the pre-production work (often writing the screenplay, choosing
shooting locations, casting actors amongst other things) for the shooting of
the film, and for the editing and post-production. The film directors that we
will discuss here are some of the most famous and prolific Canadian directors
to date. All of them are known for their unique style and artistic vision. They
have created some of the biggest Hollywood films like Avatar (2009) and Blade
Runner 2049 (2017). In this chapter we will look at their filmographies, their
individual style, and their legacy, including some of the innovations that they
have brought not only to the directing profession, but to film in general.

James Cameron

Cameron was born in the small town of Kapuskasing, Ontario in 1954 and
lived in southern Ontario until his family moved to California, outside Los An-
geles, when he was seventeen. As a child, he took interest in both science and
art, partly because his father was an engineer and his mother was an amateur
artist. In college he studied physics but later switched to a focus on English.
Thus, his combined interest in technology and the visual arts, physics and dra-
ma, paved the way for the many ground-breaking films that he would make in
his adult life.
Living so close to the centre of the American film world, it did not require a

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large geographical leap for Cameron to get his foot in the door of Hollywood
filmmaking. He entered into the film industry with production design and spe-
cial effects working, most notably, on John Carpenter’s 1981 film Escape from
New York. Being on set and watching directors work allowed him to begin to
gain an understanding of how films came together behind the scenes and what
the qualities of a good director were.
Cameron directed his first major full length film in 1982 with Piranha II: The
Spawning. The film was not a favourable entrance into the directorial world
for him as he faced many challenges with its producer and then, furthermore,
was not well received by critics. From there, though, he began to dream up his
next film, Terminator. At first it was a hard pitch to film executives because
Cameron insisted he direct it himself. Eventually, he did manage to sell it as
well as direct it and the film hit the theatres in 1984. Terminator, which stars
Arnold Schwartzenegger, was, of course, a huge commercial success topping
the American box office for two weeks straight and grossing 78.3 million USD
worldwide (IMDbPro, 2020).
Off of the success of Terminator, Cameron was then able to direct even large
films. His next film was the sequel to Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror film Alien
called Aliens which came out in 1986. Aliens received seven Academy award
nominations and won for best sound editing and best visual effects (Oscars.org,
2020). From there, he went on to make another sci-fi film called The Abyss,
which is about a U.S. team that, in search of a sunken submarine, discovers
intelligent life forms. The Abyss received an Oscar for best visual effects. Two
years later, in 1991, Cameron produced and directed the sequel to Terminator,
called Terminator 2: Judgement Day. This was Cameron’s biggest box office
return so far in his career, breaking Hollywood box office records and mak-
ing over 312 million USD just on international earnings (IMDbPro, 2020). In
1994, Cameron continued his work with and made another film, True Lies,
which was his first action-comedy. This film had a bigger budget than any of
his previous films, totalling well over 100 million USD.
Three years later, in 1997, Cameron came out with the record breaking,
smash-hit, Titanic, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Titanic be-
came famous, not only for its epic story and long runtime, but also for its record
breaking box office numbers, being the first to break the billion dollar mark,
totalling 2.195 billion USD (IMDbPro, 2020). Prior to its release, the film ex-
ceeded its budget and went past implemented deadlines. But this, of course,
did not hold it back from being a worldwide success. It received fourteen oscar
nominations and won eleven, including best picture and best director. Today,
Titanic remains a legendary pinnacle in Hollywood film.
After Titanic, Cameron continued his ocean-themed expeditions with two
documentaries: Ghosts of the Abyss in 2003, and Aliens of the Deep in 2005.

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The former is a documentary about the historical ship the RMS, done in part-
nership with Disney, and the latter is about sea creatures.
Then came another ambitious project for Cameron: Avatar. He had the idea
for Avatar about ten years prior to getting the ‘okay’ to shoot the 2009 film,
however, he felt that the state of CGI at the time was not sufficient for the proj-
ect. After significant progress in computer animation software, Cameron was
finally able to bring his vision to the big screen in 3D. To say that Avatar was
a commercial success would be a great understatement. It broke the previous
record held by Titanic in the box office, grossing over 2.7 billion USD world-
wide (IMDbPro, 2020). It is the second highest grossing film of all time when
accounting for inflation (IMDbPro, 2020). Although it was not as successful as
some of his other films in the category of awards, Avatar was truly innovative,
both technologically and visually.
Currently, Cameron has a few upcoming films in the works. His central focus
is on the second and third iterations of the Avatar series. Avatar 2 is set to be
released in December of 2022, and Avatar 3 is supposedly hitting theatres in
December of 2024. Two other films possibly in the works are an adaptation of
Taylor Steven’s novel The Informationist and Charles R. Pelligrino’s The Last
Train From Hiroshima.
As is clear from his filmography, James Cameron has a love for the grandiose.
His is a style that combines epic stories that interject moments that are intimate
and emotional. Cameron is always trying to push the envelope both on the
screen and behind the scenes. His big budgets and extended production times
allows him to create the great films that he has. The style and content of his
films always seem to have a massive appeal to a wide audience, and the box
office continues to support this fact.
So, what is it about his films that appeal to such a wide audience? The nar-
ratives of Cameron’s films are never overly complicated, nor are they usually
subtle. But where he lacks in subtlety, he excels in the visual spectacle. What
Cameron does best is following action scenes that keep the audience engaged
and continue to push the plot forward. His narratives tend toward action films
where it seems that the odds are always stacked heavily against the protago-
nists, where we never really know if the characters will be able to make it out of
their situation and the character the audience roots for, what always seems like,
the underdog. In addition to this, though, the films are never non-stop action,
rather, they balance intense action sequences with meaningful and emotion-
al scenes with a deep underlying meaning. Avatar clearly has an underlying
environmental, anti-colonialism message, yet this is not what makes the film
great. Nor is it the narrative or plot itself that makes the film interesting. It is
the delivery that makes the film captivating. We feel the Na’vi’s (the indiginous
population of the attempted-colonised planet) intimate relationship with the

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land, not only because we hear them speak about how important the land is or
that we see them devastated by the damage that the humans inflict on it, but
because we are immersed in their beautiful world through Cameron’s vibrant
visuals. It is not enough to watch a character put their life at risk. We must feel
as though there are real consequences, we must feel empathetic toward the
character by putting ourselves in their shoes. This is what Cameron does so
well: through the visual spectacle he is able to draw the widest audience into
empathetic feelings with the character in the film.
If there was any doubt that James Cameron is a great filmmaker, his box office
numbers should put that debate to rest. He has set records that a few decades
ago seemed unthinkable. Cameron creates movies that engage an amazingly
wide audience. Through his visuals, special effects, and narratives, he is able
to draw in viewers from many walks of life and give them a unique experience
of cinema. We looked briefly at a few ways that he does this. However, like all
great art, there is a certain mystery about it, that, among many different cul-
tures, times, and places, somehow James Cameron is able to make films that
people love.

David Cronenberg

David Cronenberg was born in Toronto, Ontario, and has lived in Toronto
for the majority of his life. He grew up on Saturday films at the Pilon Theatre,
now called the Royal Theatre, in downtown Toronto. Only a few years after
graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Toron-
to, he began making his first full length films. Before then, Cronenberg had
made a variety of low budget art-house short films. He is probably best known
for his grotesque body-horror films - for his costumes, makeup designs, and
special effects - but in actuality engages in a wide range of styles and genres.
Cronenberg’s career has spanned five decades (six including Stereo) directing
twenty-one films in total, which is one of the longest film careers of any Ca-
nadian director.
His directorial career began with the films Stereo (1969) and Crimes of the
Future (1970), which are both black-and-white and have a run time of about
60 minutes. Following those came the film Shivers, which saw Cronenberg’s
first relative success. Although few critics found the film worthwhile, the box
office return was sizable, seeing about one million CAD, making it one of the
highest grossing Canadian films of all time (Variety, 1979, p.24). A similar suc-
cess came two years later with his next film Rabid about a woman who feeds
on people after a problematic surgery following a motorcycle accident. Rabid
had about the same box office numbers as Shivers. Two years later, Cronen-
berg directed two films that came out the same year, Fast Company and The

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Brood. From these two films, Cronenberg began a relationship with two men
that would be an integral part of his career: Canadian cinematographer Mark
Irwin, who first worked with Cronenberg on Fast Company, and Canadian
composer Howard Shore, who first worked with Cronenberg on The Brood.
Since this original union, Cronenberg has gone on to work with Howard Shore
in an additional fourteen films, and with Mark Irwin, six films in total.
For Cronenberg, the 1980s was likely his most successful decade in terms of
wide scale popularity. It began with the film Scanners in 1981, about “scan-
ners” or people with telepathic powers. After Scanners came the 1983 cult
classic Videodrome, for which Cronenberg won the Academy of Canadian
Cinema award for best direction as well as nominations in seven other cate-
gories. Cronenberg has stated that the idea for Videodrome was inspired by
communications theorist Marshall McLuhan. Cronenberg became interested
in McLuhan’s work as he was studying at the University of Toronto while Mc-
Luhan was simultaneously teaching there. Cronenberg put out a second movie
in 1983 which was an adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dead Zone with the
same name, featuring actors Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, and Tom
Skerritt. The film, overall, received good reviews and Walken was praised for
his convincing portrayal of the protagonist (R. Ebert, 1983). Then, in 1986,
Cronenberg directed the film The Fly, which was, commercially, his most suc-
cessful film, and probably his most popular film to date. The film, starring Jeff
Goldblum, was not only innovative for its science fiction narrative, but also for
its makeup and special effects. It received a box office draw of over 60 mil-
lion USD, making it Cronenberg’s biggest pull. His last film of the 80’s, Dead
Ringers, is a psychological thriller that features Jeremy Irons in a double role as
twin gynecologists. Dead Ringers ranks at number seven on the Toronto film
festival’s top ten Canadian film list in 2015 (CBC, 2015). This film was also the
first of eleven with cinematographer Peter Suschitzky, who, from then on, shot
all of Cronenberg’s films.
In 1991, Cronenberg directed an adaptation of William S. Burrough’s Naked
Lunch, which was a serial film with strange images such as a bug-like typewrit-
er. Next was M. Butterfly, which was released in 1993 and saw a mix of luke-
warm reviews. In 1993, Cronenberg released the successful and controversial
Crash, based on the J.G. Ballard novel, about a group of symphorophiliacs
after a car accident. The controversial nature of the film comes from the mix
of sexuality and violence. Both Roger Ebert and Martin Scorcese gave the film
great reviews, with Scorcese putting it at number eight in his top ten films of
the 1990’s (R. Ebert, 2000). 1999 saw Cronenberg’s film eXistenZ with Jude
Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh, about the character’s immersion in a virtual re-
ality game. It has been compared to The Matrix for involving similar themes,
although most find Cronenberg’s film to be much stranger.

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At the turn of the century, Cronenberg continued to direct films at a consis-
tent pace with access to somewhat higher budgets. The film Spider in 2002
showed the acting prowess of Ralph Fiennes who played a schizophrenic and
Miranda Richardson who plays Fiennes’ character’s mother. It was critically
acclaimed and Cronenberg received best director at the Genie awards (IMDb,
2003). In 2005, Cronenberg began a stint with actor Viggo Mortensen on three
films. The first was A History of Violence, which Mortensen himself called,
“a perfect film noir” (R. Richford, 2014). The second was Eastern Promises,
Cronenberg’s biggest budget film to date at 50 million CAD. The third film
Cronenberg did with Mortensen came in 2011 with A Dangerous Method
where Mortensen played the role of Sigmund Freud alongside Michael Fass-
bender as Carl Jung and Keira Knightley as Sabina Spielrein. Mortensen was
nominated for a Golden Globe for best supporting actor.
Cronenberg directed two films in the 2010’s: Cosmopolis and Maps to the
Stars. Both films feature Robert Pattinson, where, in Cosmopolis, he plays the
lead role, and in Maps to the Stars he plays a supporting role. Maps to the Stars
was the first film in Cronenberg’s career that was shot, in part, in the United
States. It garnered Julianne Moore the award for best actress at the Cannes
film festival and saw decent success at the box office.
Cronenberg’s filmography displays his ability to translate similar themes to a
variety of genres. Most, if not all, of his work involves intense psychological
elements, which display either violence or sexuality, or both. But the violence
or sexuality is never for its own sake, but always serves a meaningful purpose: it
points to some underlying conflict beneath the surface. Outbursts of violence
and sexuality, as well as physical deformations and mutations, or visual hal-
lucinations, often represent physical manifestations of psychological illnesses.
These psychological ills may be expressed by an individual, but are not limited
symbolically to that character and can represent the manifestation of an ill of a
whole group, even society, or human beings in general. Cronenberg represents
the horror and thriller genre well because he provides a visual catharsis to our
inner grotesqueness and deformities, which are present in all people in one way
or another. Somehow, the absurd visuals of Cronenberg’s films connect with
the deep dark basement of the human psyche and sets a part of it free through
the art of film.

Denis Villeneuve

Denis Villeneuve is a French-Canadian, born in Bécancour, Quebec in 1967

(IMDB, 2020). Growing up, he took an interest in science fiction films and nov-
els, stating that some of his favourite films were (and still are) Stanley Kubrick’s
2001: A Space Odyssey, Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third

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Kind, and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (T. Lapointe, 2020). His dream as a
young filmmaker was to create a sci-fi film of that style and caliber and, of late,
he has been living this dream, making both the sequel to Blade Runner - Blade
Runner 2049 - and the upcoming film Dune.
Villeneuve’s film career began with several short films, for one of which he won
first prize in CBC Radio-Canada’s youth film competition (CBC, 2020). He
directed his first full-length film in 1998 called August 32nd on Earth, about a
woman who, after being in a car accident, decides to have a child with her best
friend. It was featured at the 1998 Cannes film festival, one of the biggest and
most influential film festivals in the world. His second film, Maelstrom, came
two years later and won best Canadian film at the Toronto International Film
Festival. In 2009, he directed the black and white film Polytechnique about the
1989 mass shooting at the Montreal École Polytechnique. Polytechnique was
also featured at the Cannes festival and won a Genie for best motion picture
(M. Fountaine, 2010). His next film, Incendies, came in 2010, was a french
language thriller, and won eight Genie awards including best motion picture
and best direction (CBC, 2011). Incendies also garnered Villeneuve his first
Oscar nomination.
Prisoners was Villenueve’s first American film, working with actors Hugh
Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal as well as renowned cinematographer Roger
Deakins. Villeneuve and Deakins found great chemistry together working on
the film and have gone on to make two more films together. That same year,
Villeneuve made another film with Gyllenhaal called Enemy in which Gyl-
lenhaal’s character finds out about his doppelganger which quickly turns into
a conflict. Enemy is a Canadian film, for which Villeneuve won the Canadi-
an screen award for best direction (IMDb, 2020). In 2015, Villeneuve’s next
film, Sicario, was a hit featuring actors Emily Blunt, Benecio del Toro, and
Josh Brolin. It received praise for its sound editing and score done by Jóhann
Jóhannsson. Following Sicario, Villeneuve got to dive into the world of science
fiction with his 2016 film Arrival. Arrival was a box office hit grossing 203.4
million USD in sales (IMDbPro, 2016). Villeneuve’s latest release, and quite
possibly his most challenging and daring work thus far in his career, is the
sequel to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, called Blade Runner 2049. Although
it was not quite as successful at the box office as anticipated, it has gone on to
reach great critical acclaim, especially for its visuals and cinematography. Roll-
ingstone called Blade Runner 2049 “an instant classic” and that “ the Blade
Runner mythos could not be in better hands,” that is, the hands of Villeneuve
(P. Travers, 2017).
Villeneuve has at least three new projects on the way, including an adaptation
of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel Dune, of which the movie will have the same
title. This is the first major film that Villeneuve will act as director, writer, and

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producer for. Dune is set to be released on December 18, 2020. Other projects
supposedly in the works are a revamping of Cleopatra and an adaptation of Jo
Nesbo’s novel The Son (S. Wampler, 2017. D. McNary, 2016).
The style of Villeneuve’s films can be summarized in a single word: ambiguity.
Whether it is the narrative, a plot line, lighting, or the film’s general meaning,
there is always a sense of mystery and questions that never find a clear-cut
answer. Villeneuve himself says, “I love keeping the question alive,” and that,
“questions create vertigo” (Villeneuve, cited in Lapointe, 2020). In his films,
he tries to wrestle with “existential questions” that “bring you in contact with
the unknown, which creates a beautiful vertigo” (Lapointe, 2020). Villeneuve’s
films embody this “beautiful vertigo” by creating unsettling and destabilizing
scenes that draw the audience into the drama. Because of the existential nature
of his films, the scenes he creates often feel very real, even while remaining fic-
tion. He states, “There’s nothing more exciting than reality” (Lapointe, 2020).
Villeneuve magically walks the line between reality and fantasy by grounding
his stories in the human struggle for meaning. What we find in the end is that
there are no straight forward answers, and often we are only left with many
more questions.
How does he achieve this sentiment? Villeneuve’s films are puzzles that are
intellectual, yet playful. This is observable in all aspects of his work, from
character development to lighting and sound. His characters make discoveries
along their way that ignites a struggle both with an inner, personal conflict and
with an external plot-conflict. They pursue their questions to whatever end
is necessary, to the point of risking their very lives. In Arrival Louise Banks is
continually jarred by what appear like memories of her past, while she also
comes face-to-face with foriegn live forms. Another common narrative theme
is the manipulation of time, where the past seems to continually recur and the
future becomes more and more uncertain. In his sets he juxtaposes banal nor-
malcy with the unusual, the foreign, and the exotic. This juxtaposition is then
furthered by lighting and colour within the scene. Colour and light have sig-
nificant meaning in Villeneuve’s films. Darkness often represents uncertainty
and a sense of foreboding - making the viewer anticipate something that is not
there - while a bright colour might be put in place to draw the viewer’s eye to
an important object and feature of a character. His use of colour sets the tone
for the scene. The imagery Villeneuve uses is symbolic and gives clues that help
propel the narrative. Villeneuve is also very deliberate with his sound choice
and editing. Sounds blend together, sometimes with the music, to the point that
it becomes hard to distinguish the sounds in the scene from the music, which
plays with expectations and gives a sense of uncertainty. A well placed stretch
of silence is one of the best ways to either create or release tension. Villeneuve
knows when to use sound and when to take sound away in order to manipulate

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emotions. Throughout all the aspects of film directing, Villeneuve is able to
play with the audience’s expectations and keep them guessing until the very
end, building tension and creating intrigue in the process.
Villeneuve’s work is indicative of his love of film. Regarding his personal infat-
uation with the art, he says, “I like movies that stay with me for days or weeks.
That’s the beauty of cinema: when you create images and those images create
emotions or questions inside yourself. That’s what I would like to do as a film-
maker” (T. Lapointe, 2020). As is clear, the image is very important in his work.
He loves enigmatic images like the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey. We can
see something of an homage to Stanley Kubrick’s icon in Arrival with the black
oblong spherical ship that the tetrapods arrive in.
Villeneuve is a master storyteller and a master manipulator. He creates intel-
lectual works that conjure more questions than answers. Through narratives
that are relatable and human, and at the same time foriegn and mysterious,
he draws the viewer in. With his mastery of cinematic aspects like lighting,
colour, camera angles, and sound, he destabilizes the character’s, as well as the
audience’s expectations in a way that leaves the viewer wanting more. And he
does all this with deepest respect, not only for the history of film, but for the art
of film and film making.

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 Chapter 12: Famous Canadian Composers

Introduction
There is one aspect of a film that is guaranteed to either make or break the
movie experience as a whole: the soundtrack. Imagine watching Darth Vader’s
grand entrance in Star Wars without hearing the Imperial March. Would it
have the same effect? Similarly, there would be little anticipation built up inside
of us if we couldn’t hear the ominous Jaws theme when the Jaws is ready to
attack. Imagine Lord of the Rings without the beautiful, ominous, and calling
Ring theme. Movies simply aren’t the same without their music, and the ge-
niuses behind the music are recognized for the glory they provide these films
far less often than they should be. With this in mind, it’s time for us to explore
some of the creative musical genius that brings us incredible TV and film ex-
periences like Lord of the Rings, Murdoch Mysteries, Little Bear, and The Life
of Pi.

Howard Shore

Howard Leslie Shore was born on October 18th, 1946 in Montreal, Cana-
da, to Bernice Ash and Mark Shore. His mother was a dancer, and his father
worked as a journalist: he is, therefore, one of the few prominent composers
that was born to parents with no musical history. His interest in music was
sparked at the age of eight, and he started to learn a few different instruments
which led him to not only participate in band at school, but to also join bands
outside of school when he was just fourteen.
It was when he was thirteen years old that he met a boy named Lorne Mi-
chaels in a musical summer camp: little did he realise that his friendship with

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this boy would help him greatly later on in his career. The boys bonded during
the summer camp, working together to create their own musical comedy called
“The Fast Show” (Fraiman, 2019). Shore knew from an early age that his sole
love was for music, and after high school, studied at the Forest Hill Collegiate
Institute before proceeding on to the Berklee College of Music in Boston to
continue his musical career.
In 1969, Shore joined the Canadian jazz-fusion band Lighthouse, playing the
alto-saxophone and horn: “for the next five years Shore recorded and toured
with Lighthouse, one of Canada’s most popular bands on the front lines of
jazz fusion. They opened for Jimi Hendrix at the Isle of Wight; in Philadel-
phia, Elton John opened for them” (Greiving, 2016). One of their proudest
moments was being the only band other than Jimi Hendrix asked to play both
evenings at the Isle of Wight Festival, which also featured the Doors, Chicago,
Miles Davis, and The Who. There were lots of changes in band members
during Lighthouse’s active years, but Howard Shore was one of the seven orig-
inal members to stay until the band disbanded in 1972.
In 1970, in-between gigs with Lighthouse, Shore met up with an old friend,
Lorne Michaels, and became the music director for his television series The
Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour. This success led him to write the soundtrack
for Spellbound, the 1974-75 magic/musical by Canadian magician Doug
Henning (IMDB, 2020). Shore continued to work with Michaels, becoming
the music director for Saturday Night Live, Michaels’ NBC late night com-
edy show (IMDB, 2020). Shore also performed in some of the skits done on
the show, as well as performed musically with a few different bands, including
Howard Shore and his All Nurse Band (Greiving, 2016). It was backstage at
one of the filmings of Saturday Night Live where Shore suggested the name
“The Blues Brothers” to Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, which was not only
an impressive step for the band themselves, but Shore himself is extremely
proud that they used his suggestion (Zeaman, 2012).
It was in 1979 that Shore was hired to score his first film: David Cronenbergs’
The Brood. This partnership between Shore and Croneberg led to Shore scor-
ing all but one of Cronenberg’s subsequent films. For Croneberg, Shore scored
The Fly (1986), Dead Ringers (1988) and Naked Lunch (1991). He scored his
first film for a director other than Croneberg for Martin Scorosese’s film After
Hours (1986), and his second was Penny Marshall’s film Big (1988) starring
Tom Hanks. When asked about his score for The Fly, Score said “I always
believed “The Fly” to be a classic opera story. It’s a tale of love and death, true
love surviving in the face of physical decay, and ultimate sacrifice” (Brainy-
Quote, 2020).
On August 3rd, 1990, Shore married Elizabeth Cotnoir, who worked with him
as a music production manager, or a music score coordinator. In title, she is

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also a writer, producer, and documentary film-maker. They have one daughter
named Mae.
1991 led to Shore’s first big hit movie: Silence of the Lambs (1991) which
starred Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins. It was not only the first score that
he received a BAFTA nomination for, but it also became the third and most
recent film to gain success in all five major Academy Award Categories. This
gives Shore the prestige of being the only composer alive to have scored one
of such films.This was the first of many international awards that Shore would
be nominated for throughout his illustrious career. Shore scored three more
movies in 1993: Cronenberg’s M. Butterfly, Mrs Doubtfire, and Philadel-
phia. Though M. Butterfly gained little critical acclaim, Mrs. Doubtfire was
a large hit worldwide, and Philadelphia won Tom Hanks his first ever Oscar.
Throughout 1994, Shore scored The Client, Nobody’s Fool, and Ed Wood,
which is notable because it was one of only two Tim Burton films that wasn’t
scored by Danny Elfman. Between 1995 and 2001, Shore scored many more
films, including Seven (1995), The Truth about Cats and Dogs (1996), The
Game (1997), and The Cell (2000). He also worked alongside Cronenberg for
two more films, as well as working with Tom Hanks through his directing de-
but, 1996’s That Thing You Do! (IMDB, 2020).
Shore’s life took a dramatic change when in 2001, he was asked to score Lord
of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, which was to be the first of six
Tolkien-based movies Shore would compose music for. There had been many
attempts at making a Lord of the Rings film before 2001, most of which were
slashed down by Tolkien himself, including a Disney version and a Beatles
version directed by Stanley Kubrick which was shot down both due to Tolk-
ien’s dislike of the Beatles, and because Kubrick didn’t think that the film was
actually filmable because it was so immense (Sokol, 2015). This was the first
time that the Lord of the Rings had been accepted by a director, so there were
millions of eyes on the project, waiting to see who would direct, act, and most
importantly, who would be in charge of creating the magical world through
the music.
News of Shore’s acceptance came as a surprise to many; since he worked with
mostly dark and ominous films, he had never had the chance to apply himself
to a score this epic in scale. In the end, Shore blew away every expectation and
emerged to win his first Oscar and Grammy award, as well as additional nomi-
nations for Golden Globe and BAFTA awards. Being that this was the first film
of that scale that Shore had ever attempted, he spent a full year working on
the score, drawing his inspiration from eighth and ninth century music scores,
which he believed would help him evoke the magical worlds described so well
in the book. He said that “my first score for ‘The Lord of The Rings’ trilogy,
‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ was the beginning of my journey into the world

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of Tolkien, and I will always hold a special fondness for the music and the ex-
perience” (BrainyQuote, 2020).
2002 provided Shore a year to adapt to his newfound fame. He composed the
music for not only Panic Room and Gangs of New York, (Which earned him
a BAFTA nomination), but also started and finished the score for The Lord of
the Rings: The Two Towers, which led him to another height for fame in the
movie world. He said in an interview that:

I think ‘Two Towers’ is a completely distinct film from ‘Fellowship of the Ring’ or
‘Return of the King.’ I think that you can watch them as a group and watch how
the story evolves, but I think each one was made in its own entirety, and each one has
its own palate of sound and music and color and characterization (BrainyQuote,
2020).

The film was ineligible for the Academy Award due to a new rule that dis-
allowed recurring themes from other movies the first time it was submitted.
The rule was soon removed, yet The Two Towers did not end up winning an
Academy Award nomination.
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003) was not only the most successful
movie of the trilogy, but it was also the most successful of the year, and one of
the most successful for Shore himself. It won him his second and third Oscar
awards for Best Original Score and Best Original song, which went to his song
“Into the West”, co-composed by Fran Walsh and Annie Lennox. The movie
also won Shore his first Golden Globe, his third BAFTA award, and his third
and fourth Grammy awards. Shore also had his first cameo in the movie, play-
ing one of the Rohan Guards during the victory celebration in the Golden
Hall. He can also be seen standing beside Legolas during his drinking game
with Gimli. He talked about his writing of the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy,
saying that “when you see ‘Lord of the Rings,’ you want to feel like you’ve been
dropped into it and that you’re part of it. You don’t want to be aware of how
it’s being done; you just want it to feel really seamless.” (BrainyQuote, 2020)
2004 was the year that Shore started touring the world with a new symphonic
arrangement of the scores from Lord of the Rings, titled Lord of the Rings:
Symphony in Six Movements, and conducting the local orchestras that per-
formed them. The six movements include two scores from each movie, and
include an intermission between either the first or second movements due to
the length of the symphony. Shore always thought that “It [was] very gratifying
to see the music from ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy find a new life on the con-
cert stage as it is performed by different orchestras and choruses throughout
the world.” (BrainyQuote, 2020)
Scoring Martin Scorsese’s 2004 film The Aviator won Shore his second Gold-

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en Globe, his sixth Grammy nomination, and his fifth BAFTA award. This also
made him the third composer in history to win consecutive Globes for Origi-
nal Score. Shore’s score for David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence (2005)
brought in another two Oscar nominations, and his score for the 2006 film The
Departed won four Oscars, one for the director Martin Scorsese, and one for
Best Picture in addition to one for the score. Shore was very proud of his music
for The Departed, saying that “the music for The Departed could have been
played by an orchestra, but you make a decision about orchestration based on
the context of the film. You want the music to broaden the scope of a film, not
just repeat what you’re seeing” (BrainyQuote, 2020). Shore was commissioned
to score Peter Jackson’s adaptation of King Kong, (2006) but due to creative
differences, was replaced by James Newton Howard through an agreement
with Peter Jackson. Shore did, however, perform parts of the original score
close to the end of the movie.
In 2008, director John Patrick Shanley enlisted Shore to score his movie
Doubt, which earned a total of five Oscar nominations. Shore scored Eclipse,
the third Twilight movie, in 2010, and in the same year, scored Edge of Dark-
ness. 2011 brought along A Dangerous Method directed by David Cronenberg
and scored by Shore, as well as the score for Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, which
ended up earning him his sixth Globe nomination and his fourth Oscar nom-
ination. Shore believed “‘Hugo’ is made in the classical style of the 1940s,”
(BrainyQuote, 2020) which led him to draw his inspiration from the music in
that time period. In 2012, Shore scored Robert Sigl’s The Spider, and started
on his fourth Tolkien-based score for The Hobbit which reached internation-
al acclaim. He has since produced the music for The Desolation of Smaug
(2013), and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014). He is currently living happily
in Tuxedo Park, New York so his wife is close to her job, with his wife and his
daughter Mae.
Shore drew worlds of inspiration from the works of Richard Wagner while he
composed the music for Lord of the Rings, especially drawing from his Ring of
the Nibelung cycle of operas. Just as Wagner used many leitmotifs in his com-
positions, Shore also used leitmotifs to draw attention to specific scenes and to
carry similar ideas across the six movies he scored under Lord of the Rings. He
typically used the leitmotifs in order to reveal dramatic meaning, whilst at the
same time giving the audience of listeners a sense of formal and narrative uni-
ty. Shore created different leitmotifs for different ideas, such as the ring itself,
the Shire theme, the fellowship theme, and the Lothlorien theme. The only
exception from the times during which Shore used Wagner as inspiration was
for the scene in Shelob’s Lair, during which Peter Jackson told Shore to ”go off
and pretend you’re making another movie for David Croneberg. This should
sound like The Fly!” (IMDB, 2020)

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Another way that Shore drew his inspiration from Wagner was through his love
for the neoromanticism style. Neoromanticism originated in late 1851, having
first been used by Richard Wagner as a disparaging term for French roman-
ticism of people like Hector Berlioz. Now historians use it to describe music
from the 1850s onwards, and in terms of Wagner’s work, used the term “neo”
to acknowledge that while literature and artwork had moved on to realism and
impressionism in the second half of the nineteenth century, music remained
in a romantic mode through a non-romantic age. Shore always believed that
“music is essentially an emotional language, so you want to feel something
from the relationships and build music based on those feelings.” (BrainyQuote,
2020)
Howard Shore is one of the greatest film composers in history, and has used his
career to change the face of musical history. Not only did he compose the mu-
sic for one of the most recognizable movie themes in history, he also surpassed
his own belief in his abilities by working with many different film genres, and
composing lots of different genres of music. Howard Shore is an inspiration
for every music lover around the world, and uses his music to express not only
the movie’s feelings, but his own feelings in order to bring tears of sadness or
joy out of the most skeptical listener’s eye. He has gone far in his life, and will
continue to soar even higher in the hearts and minds of his listeners as he con-
tinues composing the music that his fans love to hear, at the movies, at home,
or on the TV.

Robert Carli

Though the name Robert Carli may not be familiar to many, much of the
film and television soundtracks that he has produced would certainly spark
recognition in the eyes of most Canadians. Anyone who has seen Murdoch
Mysteries or Wynonna Earp is certain to have not only heard, but also appre-
ciated the subtleties and beauty of the scores that Carli has composed. Carli is
one of Canada’s most in-demand television composers, but he has also scored
TV movies, films, and a variety of documentaries. His work is inspirational in
many ways, and we will explore some of his tendencies that truly demonstrate
his Canadian roots in this coming section.
Carli was born on February 10, 1970, in Toronto, Ontario, and grew up in
Kitchener, Ontario. He studied at the University of Toronto, with a focus on
composition and saxophone performance. Interestingly, his love for the saxo-
phone is one of the influences on his music: he plays particularly diverse music
thanks to “his years of experience as a performer of musical styles ranging from
avante garde and classical, to jazz and rock” (IMC, 2020). He has played with
a wide variety of musicians, ranging from the Barenaked Ladies to the Toronto

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Symphony Orchestra, which is just one reason for his wide range of preferred
musical styles. Carli has never stuck to one singular type of composition either;
instead, he has ranged from composing background for poetry recordings to
composing thousands of hours of music for the Murdoch Mysteries TV series.
It was Carli’s love for film and film composition that really pushed him into
the industry. “I was probably 12 when I went and saw Raiders of the Lost Ark
and The Empire Strikes Back and E.T. and all of [John Williams’] great scores
were like, ‘Wow, this music changes the film’” (Carli, cited in Jaksic, 2019).
Carli was excited to rise to the challenge of creating musical scores that would
have the kind of impact on film and on people that scores like Star Wars and
Indianna Jones did. It was this desire that focused his studies, and brought him
into the film composing world. He believes that “As a young musician, you are
constantly discovering new music and new performers and composers and it
can all be a bit overwhelming. I think you have a certain thirst for knowledge
and understanding, and that can fuel your desire to learn more and try new
things” (Carli, cited in Speed, 2017).
His first film credit was the soundtrack for 1999 TV movie Silver Wolf, which
was quickly followed by the film External Affairs, also in 1999. He continued
to write for TV movies and documentaries for many years, taking on films such
as A Killing Spring, Children of My Heart, and Galileo’s Sons. Many of these
TV movies were Canadian; in fact, the 2003 film Hemingway vs Callaghan
was a Canadian film about a Canadian writer. By his work on these films, Carli
was able to take his own Canadian heritage and bring it to the table, finding
musical ways to express the Canadian story. As he continued his composing
career, these Canadian roots became truly evident, something we will discuss
in particular as relates to Murdoch Mysteries.
Robert Carli has been attached to Murdoch Mysteries from its beginnings as a
TV movie in 2004. It took until 2006 before it was announced that the books
from which the Murdoch Mysteries was based would be adapted into a 13-epi-
sode TV series. Due to prior commitments, the original actor of William Mur-
doch was unable to return, so Yannick Bisson was cast in his place. The series
found its debut in 2008, but Carli’s work was much in advance of the debut:
he composed every second of music from the opening theme to the end credits
for each of the episodes. Carli was able to create a very unique sound for the
series, one that accurately reflected the time in which the show was set, but that
also felt innovative and creative; like something we had never heard before, but
that made us feel comfortable in knowing where the music was likely taking us.
As Yannick Bisson has stated: “we have the best composer in television” (Mur-
doch Mysteries Fandom, 2020).
When asked about the Murdoch Mysteries theme, Carli remembers:

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 I wrote the theme before the visuals were done, so the visual effects people get all
the credit for the lightbulb. I had written a couple of demos for the opening. Three
in fact. I played them for Christina Jennings, the executive producer of Murdoch
Mysteries, and she right away said “That one,” referring to a sketch of what we
now know has the theme of the show. There’s a certain rhythmic bed to the theme
that I think helps propel the piece, and it’s got a few motifs that I can mine regularly
for material in the score. CJ approached me to write the theme as I had done the
three “Murdoch Mystery” movies that they had produced a few years previous to
the start of the series. It’s funny to look back at that first season, having done the
movies, which were quite different in tone and design from the series. At the time,
I don’t think anyone would have guessed the show would become so popular for so
many seasons (Carli, cited in Speed, 2017).

Carli also noted that he preferred writing themes in an episode sense as op-
posed to a character sense, but would certainly utilize recurring themes to
bring back a reminder of a certain episode or moment. In total, Carli has
written the music for nearly 200 episodes of Murdoch Mysteries.
In 2016, Carli took on composing for the new TV series Wynonna Earp, a Ca-
nadian-American production about the great granddaughter of Wyatt Earp
who must return the reincarnated outlaws that her great grandfather killed,
back to Hell. For his work on the show, Carli was nominated alongside co-com-
poser Peter Chapman for Best Original Music Score for a Series. Wynonna
Earp was the first project in a while for which Carli had a co-composer, a fact
for which he was extremely grateful: “the schedule on the show was very tight,
and sharing the burden with someone else made it manageable. But more im-
portantly, the sonic result was something that neither of us would have devel-
oped if we had been on our own. It was a true collaboration, one which I look
forward to trying again” (Carli, cited in SCGC, 2020).
Not only that: Wynonna Earp pushed Carli outside of his comfort zone in that
he got to stretch many of his musical muscles in both working with another
composer, and creating music for such a unique project. As Carli explains:

Musically, we went on a bit of a ride. Peter comes from more of an electronic

background than me, so he is able to bring some pretty wicked sounds and beats to
the sound of the show. We tried to marry that with some heroic orchestral themes to
try to find the epic sound that we thought the show needed (Carli, cited in SCGC,
2020).

The resulting score focused distinctly on leitmotifs, or recurring themes, which

came back in many places when certain characters appeared. Creating the
leitmotifs was a fascinating experience for Carli, and in a way “makes your

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job easier. You know, here comes the ‘stone witch’ from 3 episodes ago, let’s
bring back the ‘distorted gypsy violin run through the crystallizer’ sound. We
certainly weren’t inventing the wheel, but we were having a good time” (Carli,
cited in SCGC, 2020).
After Wynonna Earp, Carli moved on to score the TV series Frankie Drake
Mysteries, which provided Carli a new challenge: recreating the sound of the
1920s in a new and innovative way. As Vanja Jaksic notes: “the hallmark of ‘20s
recordings is a distinctly thin sound with a lot of upper register, and slightly less
bass. But for the Frankie Drake Mysteries modern touch, Carli adds a more
urban sound, using instruments such as electronic kick drums and percussion”
(2019). It was through the process of creating the theme song that Carli really
established the sound for Frankie Drake Mysteries: “Once you have the themes
then you can start to build the score around those elements” (Carli, cited in
Jaksic, 2019).
As Frankie Drake was concerned, Carli stuck to traditional 20s jazz instru-
ments like saxophones, trumpets, and piano, but occasionally swept some real
20s music in: “[the characters from Frankie Drake] might be at a dance or they
might be at a club and there’d be music in the background. That’ll be a record-
ing from the era — a new recording but in the style of the era — but that’s not
me” (Carli, cited in Jaksic, 2019). With that in mind, it is important to note that
“Although all of the music in the show is composed by Robert Carli, there are
exceptions of licensed diegetic music of the era that is used once an episode,
on average” (Jaksic, 2020).
One of the best parts of being a composer is being able to sneak little eas-
ter eggs into music when the opportunity arises. For example, “‘Jonny Harris
played his character of George Crabtree in Frankie, 20 years later, and we put
in a little bit of Murdoch music under him as a little joke,’ [Carli] says. ‘It’s very
rare that we do this, but really kind of fun to do.’” (Carli, cited in Jaksic, 2019).
Being able to play with the music and enjoy the opportunity to nod to the his-
tory of an actor and a character from two separate shows, both which Carli
composed for, is a unique and exciting experience, for sure. Between 2017 and
2019, Carli composed the music for 15 episodes of Frankie Drake Mysteries.
Carli’s most recent project is a TV series called Fortunate Son, which follows
Mary Cox, who helped draft dodgers cross the border to Canada during the
Vietnam War.. The 8-episode show aired in 2020.
Over the course of his career, Carli has been nominated for and won various
awards, including “18 Gemini and Canadian Screen Award nominations, 5
Gemini awards, and 3 Canadian Screen Awards. He is the recipient of 3 SO-
CAN Awards for domestic television” (Murdoch Mysteries Fandom, 2020).
Though many of his awards are related to his work on Murdoch Mysteries,
including his 2017 Canadian Screen Awards’ Best Original Music Score, oth-

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er works of his have been nominated for various awards. When it comes to
awards, Carli feels that:

While I am always grateful to get some acknowledgement from my peers, I don’t

think they can truly make anyone feel like they are a better composer or performer
than they are without the awards or accolades. I think most creative people know
inside their heart when their work is good or not, and similarly, they know when
something is not very good. Whether or not it gets praise or acknowledgement I think
bares [sic] little impact on one’s growth as an artist. It’s always nice to go to the
party, but it only lasts a few hours… (Carli, cited in Speed, 2017).

In sum, Robert Carli has had an incredible career of supporting Canadian TV

and film in the way of providing them with intriguing Canadian soundtracks.
His work has spanned many projects and many years, and his impact is un-
deniable to anyone who has watched Murdoch Mysteries or any other of his
projects. With his laser focus and musical brain, he is able to create incredible
moments out of thin air by sharing music that makes you feel as if you are
exactly in whatever moment he intends. There is no doubt that his influence
will continue to be felt for many years to come, by directors, actors, and viewers
across the globe.

Lesley Barber

Lesley Barber is yet another name that Canadians might not recognize, but
her music is undeniably recognizable, as she has scored a wide variety of films,
many of which have won particularly noteworthy awards. She was born in
1962 in Toronto, Ontario, to a musical family: her father was also a musician.
She feels that: “I learned the architecture of music and its creative potential
right from the beginning. A lot of kids get that taught out of them. But [my
father] knew how to put the right piece of music in front of me at the right
time to enjoy the pleasure of it” (Barber, cited in McKenzie, 2011). Perhaps
it was her father’s influence, and perhaps it was the fact that there was always
music in her house as a child, but for whatever the reason, Barber fell in love
with music and decided fairly early on that she was going to make it her career.
Barber studied at the University of Toronto, emerging with a Masters in Com-
position; from there, she moved to write music for live theatre. Her scores for
live theatre were fascinating and full of depth and creativity. It was within her
composition for live theatre where she found her compositional fingerprint: as
is noted on her website, “Lesley’s interest in modern electronic programming,
loops, and effects adds dimension to her work, creating hybrid atmospheric
scores with lush orchestration with an innate ability to bring the essential to

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light and avoid the cliché” (Barber, 2020). It is this tendency towards creating
new and innovative ways for her scores to connect with both the film and the
viewer that has her so in-demand as a composer.
In the mid-1990s, Barber realized that she wanted to try writing for film in-
stead of for live theatre. As she notes: “I’d done a lot of theatre and I wanted to
do film. I was asked to do some films, and I waited for the right one” (Barber,
cited in McKenzie, 2011). There are certain films that call to Barber, some-
thing she has realized over the course of her career, and she is always ready to
wait for the right film to be introduced to her. In the case of her first film, it was
Patricia Rozema’s When Night is Falling that Barber felt was the right film for
her to start on. About her score for the film, she says:

There were two characters from separate worlds, and they meet and fall in love.
Right from the beginning I wanted aggressive, live and programmed percussion, and
a really tight quartet – like ‘Eleanor Rigby’ meets The Kronos Quartet – to kind
of reflect these two characters’ lives, interacting and crossing paths. It was a really
fun film. The process taught me a lot – about the level of detail, the studio process
of scoring, producing, and conducting an orchestral score with programming in it
(Barber, cited in Ladouceur, 2017).

After When the Night is Falling, Barber was invited to take on a particular-
ly gruelling yet exciting challenge: composing for the world-renowned cellist
Yo-Yo Ma. The film Bach Cello Suite #6: Six Gestures was an incredible op-
portunity for Barber, as it gave her a chance to flex her creative muscles and
compose beautiful music for an incredible musician. The film was nominated
for the Best Long Form Music Video at the 1999 Grammy Awards, and won
the Grammy for Outstanding Classical Music-Dance Programme in 1998. She
was invited to compose for Yo-Yo Ma again in the same year, for Yo-Yo Ma
Inspired by Bach, which was an eight-episode TV series in 1997.
Also in 1997, Barber was contacted by an agent who wanted her to write the
score for an animated movie: Little Bear: Meet Little Bear. Considering her al-
legiances to more contemporary and serious works, Barber considered turning
the gig down, but since she was pregnant with her first child at the time, she
figured it would be a fun job to partake in as she became a mother. Her score
for Little Bear: Meet Little Bear turned into also scoring The Little Bear Movie
in 2001, and a 65-episode TV adventure between 1995 and 2003: the score
itself ended up winning Barber her first Emmy award. The work for Little Bear
however, was quite intense: “every Monday morning I would be given a VHS
of the new show. I would write, orchestrate, conduct and hire the musicians,
and the following Sunday night, record the whole thing. And the next Monday
there would be another episode waiting” (Barber, cited in McKenzie, 2011). It

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was a particularly important project for Barber, however, because it challenged
her creatively in a different way than much of her other work.
Barber also worked on a second animated TV series in the early 2000s: Seven
Little Monsters, which was also created by Maurice Sendak - the same creator
as Little Bear. Even though she enjoyed her work on animated TV series, it’s
important to note that:

[Barber is] especially drawn to features by auteur filmmakers, like Rozema, David
Bezmozgis (Victoria Day) and Yakin, who she first worked with in 1998 on A
Price Above Rubies. “Music is an essential part of their filmmaking,” [Barber]
says. “They take the time to create a sound approach, and they care very deeply.
The music is part of their voice. It’s a really immersive collaboration (Barber, cited
in Ladouceur, 2017).

That said, Barber was particularly excited to work with Kenneth Lonergan on
his film You Can Count on Me, which was released in 2000. The film had 30
wins and 43 nominations for various awards, and was a huge success. Barber
would work with Lonergan again, but noting just how much of a commercial
success their first film together was is important, particularly when we discuss
the even greater success of their second film together. Barber really enjoyed
their partnership on You Can Count on Me, saying:

I think with Kenny and I, when we worked on You Can Count on Me, it was his
first film and one of my first,” she says. “Some years have gone by, and I think we’ve
both really evolved. I think our voices are bolder. [This time] Kenny also brought me
in really early in the process, so I had space to come up with my own ideas – like the
a cappella voices. I could just simply get the singers in, and record them, and send
[the recordings] in, and then we could talk about what worked and didn’t, and we’d
get to music we both agreed on. It’s really exciting to work with a filmmaker like
Kenny repeatedly, and get to the point where you can send really intuitive music and
he’s open to it (Barber, cited in Ladouceur, 2017).

Even more importantly, and more amazingly: Barber had only just over a week
to score the film because it was done over the holidays, and it was due at the
Sundance Festival just after Christmas. It was a busy week, to be sure, but Bar-
ber is a master at working under pressure, and produced an absolutely stellar
score for Kenneth Lonergan.
When considering Barber’s list of composed works, it becomes clear that she
has a preference for independent films, films that have a unique direction and
vision. She notes that:

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 I do think on the medium-sized, sort of independent films, if you do have some own-
ership of the music, it helps you take more entrepreneurial choices with the scope of
your scoring. You’re going to see the financial part of it further down. So you might
do an extra session or you might bring in a player on a very specific instrument.
Because you know that you have a little more ownership in the success of that score
(Barber, cited in Cassidy, 2016).

Being able to put in that extra bit of personalization to the film, to the charac-
ters, and to the director is particularly important to Barber, as it means she is
able to take ownership of that score and make it into exactly what she knows it
should become. In essence, these medium-size independent films give her more
freedom to explore and create, because she knows that is the right place to be
exploring her musical palette and trying something new.
It’s interesting, then, the number of documentaries that Barber has scored:
The Real Jane Austin (2002), Girls on Top (2010), and How to Change the
World (2015) are just a few. The difference is in the script: when Barber scores
documentaries, she may have an initial idea to work from, but “a documen-
tary’s story often emerges in the editing process” (Ladouceur, 2017). The fact
that Barber has worked on so many successful documentaries truly demon-
strates her flexibility in composing: she can take on a wide variety of projects
and be successful in all of them.
One of her most recognized and most successful scores was for the 2016 film
Manchester by the Sea. The film reunited Barber with Kenneth Lonergan,
and overall, the film won 2 Oscars, and took home another 129 wins and 259
nominations. For her score, Barber was nominated for the 2017 ASCAP Film
and Television Music Awards Best Score of the Year, and the 2017 Satellite
Awards Best Original Score. When asked about scoring Manchester by the
Sea, Barber explained that:

With Manchester by the Sea, I became Lee Chandler while I was working on it.
And you’re figuring out what’s at stake for that character, what are they longing for,
what would they be longing for if they had that level of consciousness, and at what
points did the glimmers of light for their own story and journey start to become
stronger? And so it’s really identity with the characters and the essence of what’s
going on in the story (Barber, cited in Cassidy, 2016).

Being a composer means understanding the characters on a personal level: be-

ing able to express their deepest emotions through composition. It also means
being able to use one’s own musical style to bring these emotions to life. Inter-
estingly, “Barber struggles to articulate her own musical style, but perhaps what
defines Barber’s musical voice is the richness of her palette and the fluidity with

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which she moves between and/or blends acoustic with electronica” (Mcken-
zie, 2011). With Manchester by the Sea, “the music ties together the various
threads of the film and its emotional pull. It blends in and unifies with some of
the classical pieces that Kenny always tends to use in his films” (Barber, cited in
DeRosia, 2016). Regardless of her musical style, Barber is particularly good at
pulling deep emotional strings with her music.
Recently, Barber has taken on two notable projects with Mindy Kaling: Late
Night and Four Weddings and a Funeral, both released in 2019. As she contin-
ues to create and bring beautiful music to a wide variety of projects, she offers
up a particularly important piece of advice to up and coming composers:

Pursue work that interests you and that you have a passion for. Open yourself up to
films. Figure out which filmmakers and kinds of filmmaking inspire the storyteller in
you. I would say that even if it seems untouchable or out of reach, gravitate to those
who help you develop your voice, both your own filmmaking voice and composing
voice. With film, it’s all about story, characters and storytelling (Barber, cited in
DeRosia, 2016).

Her tendency to take on varied projects has given her the chance to establish
what films inspire her inner storyteller, and it’s particularly important that she
wants to share that with the next generation. Another way that Barber gives
back to her community and her practice is by being “a proud and active mem-
ber of the Alliance for Women Film Composers, which has taken a leading role
in the much-publicized diversity conversation now occurring in Hollywood”
(Barber, 2020). Barber is finding ways to encourage women to work in the film
industry as composers. When asked about why there isn’t more diversity in
composition, Barber says: I think there maybe has been an unconscious bias in
that there’s a visual image of what a composer looks like that’s probably based
on our experience of music as a kid. You know, the portraits of composers.
And the more visible diversity that we have, [the more] people will start to
change the way that they’re viewing their image of what a composer looks
like” (Barber, cited in Cassidy, 2016). Barber is a leader in encouraging more
diversity within the composing industry.
Lesley Barber is a particularly notable Canadian composer, not only for her
incredible award-winning work, but because of her unique perspective and
deeply meaningful film scores. She knows what projects she wants to work on,
and she creates incredible and meaningful scores for these projects: sending
them forward to musical success. Her work is motivational for young girls who
want to be composers, as she is one of few notable female film composers,
and she actively works to encourage diversity in the film composing industry.
In short, Barber is a phenomenal film composer, whose works will continue to

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have large impacts on the film industry for many years to come.

Mychael Danna

Mychael Danna was born on September 20, 1958 in Winnipeg Manitoba, and
moved with his family to Burlington, Ontario just four weeks after his birth. He
enjoyed playing the piano as a teenager, and had great concert potential, but a
severe hand injury meant he was unable to play at concert level (University of
Toronto, 2020). That said, Danna didn’t give up on music, and like many Ca-
nadian composers before him, studied music at the University of Toronto. For
Danna, the University of Toronto was where he met director Atom Egoyan,
Arsinée Khanjian, and Don McKellar, who would be instrumental in Danna’s
composing career (IMDB, 2020). Not only that: while Danna was at the Uni-
versity of Toronto, “he was the inaugural winner of the Glenn Gould Prize
Composition Scholarship in 1985” (University of Toronto, 2013). In his early
days, Danna released “a handful of ambient neo-classical albums” (Phares,
2020) before he moved on to his true love: composing for TV and film.
One of the most important things to know about Mychael Danna’s compos-
ing is that he is most “recognized for his evocative blending of non-western
traditions with orchestral and electronic music” (University of Toronto, 2020).
It was during his time at the University of Toronto when he was exposed to
much of the world music that he utilizes within his compositions: his university
career truly was a time of learning, listening, and realizing the potential to
bring all these different musical traditions together. His tendency to take com-
plex musical ideas and share them in ways that every listener can understand
and appreciate is a sought-after trait in the compositional world (University of
Toronto, 2020).
Danna’s first film score was for Family Viewing, a film by fellow University of
Toronto alumnus, director Atom Egoyan. Since that score, Danna “has served
as the composer for every theatrically released film that Atom Egoyan has since
directed” (IMDB, 2020). Their partnership, as we will learn, has been partic-
ularly fruitful for Danna, as his scores for Egoyan’s films have reaped many an
award for his intricate and complex yet emotive music. According to Danna:
“[Atom Egoyan and I] learned about film and film scoring together” (Danna,
cited in University of Toronto, 2020). After Family Viewing, Danna scored “a
quick succession of mostly low-budget crime and horror films” (Phares, 2020),
and another Egoyan film in 1989, titled Speaking in Paris.
Beginning in 1987, Danna returned to the McLaughlin Planetarium in To-
ronto and served as the composer-in-residence for 5 years, in-between his TV
and film composing. Much of Danna’s learning about and love for compo-
sition came from his time at the University of Toronto, and returning to the

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McLaughlin Planetarium was a way to share his learnings with the next gen-
erations of composers. For example, “Danna credits the late Walter Buczynski
at the Faculty for having impressed him with the need for a master plan and
for every note to have a purpose” (University of Toronto, 2020); being able to
think about each note having a purpose is something that he could pass down
to new composers, encouraging them to put that same level of intensity and
thought into their work.
According to Danna: “the most gratifying filmmaking experiences are ones
that take effort to unpeel the layers surrounding the heart of the story, and to
find the best musical expression of that heart. Those are always the film scores
that I am most proud of.” (Danna, 2016). Danna’s first score for director Ang
Lee was for The Ice Storm, the score for which is described as “one of the most
distinctive scores of the 1990s, one that constantly challenges perceptions of
the form and function of film music” (Mera, 2007). Though he would work
with Ang Lee again down the road, a partnership which would leave Danna
with a Golden Globe for his score, it’s important to note that his very first score
for Ang Lee was particularly musically and emotionally notable.
Another interesting thing to note about Mychael Danna, is that he scored films
often with his brother, Jeff Danna. The 1996 film A Celtic Tale: The Legend
of Deirdre was just one of such films. The brothers discussed their working
relationship in an interview, saying that: “what we’ve learned over the years is
that criticism and challenge actually makes your score better, makes the music
better and stronger. And that’s the thing that we keep coming back to work-
ing with each other” (Danna, cited in NPR, 2020). Though the brothers have
separate working and composing careers, their paths have crossed on projects
multiple times, which creates a beautiful family compositional experience that
many composers never have the chance to experience.
In the early 2000s, Mychael Danna continued to wow audiences, cast mem-
bers, and directors with his compositional expertise. Just some of his incredible
2000s films include “Capote, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman (2005); Best
Picture Oscar nominee Little Miss Sunshine (2006); the Jeff Danna collabora-
tions Fracture (2007) and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009); and
Egoyan films not limited to Where the Truth Lies (2005) and Chloe (2009)”
(Phares, 2020). For the most part, his compositions between 2000 and 2010
took the form of film, but in a few cases, he scored for TV series such as Open-
ing Night, New Amsterdam, and Dollhouse.
A particularly interesting Canadian film that Danna took on in the early 2000s
was 2003’s Shattered Glass, a biographical story following journalist Steven
Glass and his scandal at The New Republic. The film was written by Billy Ray,
and took quite a large amount of time to write and film due to the biographi-
cal nature of the film: the director and writers wanted to ensure a reasonably

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accurate portrayal of every individual that appeared onscreen. In a review for
the score of Shattered Glass, James Christopher Monger writes:

[Danna’s] score for Shattered Glass, director Billy Ray’s debut about the downfall
of New Republic magazine journalist Stephen Glass, is an elegant triumph that
resonates with a subtle blend of melancholy and whimsy. Danna deftly blends the
electronic and the organic with a cool grace reminiscent of American Beauty com-
poser Thomas Newman. For the rolling “TNR” -- the thread that binds the piece
-- he employs a melodic string motif over a sparse stream of electronica that sounds
like arranger Robert Kirby’s work with ‘60s folk legend Nick Drake. The record
is bookended by a lush theme that is just complex enough to illuminate the sweet
simplicity of the pieces in between, resulting in a unique and balanced work that
manages to enlighten despite its swift 23-minute playing time (2003).

It is important to note that blending the electronic and the organic is one of
Danna’s musical fingerprints: the majority of his music is unique in that it
utilizes electronic and symphonic sound in a variety of innovative and creative
ways. The soundtrack for this film is also particularly short, at only 23 minutes,
but it still takes listeners and viewers on a fascinating and imaginative ride as
we witness Stephen Glass’s fall simply in the music.
Another film that was important in Danna’s career was Deepa Mehta’s Water,
which was released in 2005. Danna’s score for Water won him his fifth Genie
award from the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television; the films for
which he won previously were Ararat, Felicia’s Journey, The Sweet Hereafter,
and Exotica. The soundtrack for Water is particularly known for drawing out
emotion in its listeners, both when the film is playing and when the soundtrack
is heard on its own. In Aakash Gandhi’s review of the film, it is noted that: “the
brilliance of this score lies in the meddling of four instruments that are hard-
ly ever heard playing together: flute, santoor, sitar, and strings. What’s more
beautiful is the eternal melody that resonates through your senses” (2005).
It was between 2010 and 2014 that Mychael Danna really came out into the
public eye as the incredible composer that he is; it was during this time that he
received many of his well-deserved public awards. The 2011 film Moneyball
was nominated for Best Picture, and the 2013 mini-series World Without End
provided Mychael with a well-deserved Emmy award. Mychael and his brother
Jeff were co-nominated for an Emmy for the theme they had co-written for the
2011 TV series Camelot as well.
2012, however, was when Mychael Danna scored the biggest film of his career:
Ang Lee’s Life of Pi. Because of the ending of the book, it took much effort
to find the right director who was willing to take on the film. In the same way,
there were discrepancies in the casting of specific individuals; in some cases,

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entire scenes were reshot to make up for casting changes. In the end, the film
received raving reviews, particularly for Ang Lee’s directing and Danna’s mu-
sical score. Even Yann Martel, the book’s author, was delighted with the film:
“I’m happy it works so well as a film. Even if the ending is not as ambiguous
as the book’s, the possibility that there might be another version of Pi’s sto-
ry comes at you unexpectedly and raises the same important questions about
truth, perception, and belief ” (Martel, cited in Quill, 2012). For his incredibly
moving score, Danna was awarded an Oscar and a Golden Globe.
In the film realm, Mychael Danna also provided incredible films for scores
such as Transcendence, The Captive, The Breadwinner, and The Man Who
Invented Christmas. Notably, he composed the score for On the Basis of
Sex: the biopic about Ruth Bader Ginsburg starring Felicity Jones. About his
soundtrack for the film, Danna notes:

We wanted to take that sound and score Ruth and her idea with that sound. In that
way, the message being that she is the true spirit of America, the spirit of the Con-
stitution, the way the country is designed to change with the times. It was turning
the typical sounds on their heads and in that way helping us to feel the authority of
her ideas and her arguments (Danna, cited in Giardina, 2018).

Danna was extremely successful in bringing Ruth’s battles to the forefront in

the soundtrack of the film, and, as Gaiardina noted “gave the story of the
rule breaker an appropriately unconventional score” (2018). Though Danna
is somewhat known for unconventional scores in terms of his use of instru-
mentation and combination of electronic and traditional music, this score was
particularly fitting to its story. As Danna believes: “making music an integral
part of the storytelling, not simply repeating what is happening on screen, but
adding unexpected dimension and insight that enrich the experience of the
director’s vision” (Danna, 2020).
When it came to animated films, Danna had taken on some new projects with
his brother in the 2010s. They took on composing for projects like The Good
Dinosaur, The Addams Family, and Storks. Most recently, Mychael and Jeff
worked on Onward, which is a story about siblings, and a story that is very
close to home for the brothers. Mychael says that:

[The story] was uncannily personal. And as Dan Scanlon, our director, started
kind of pitching the movie, telling us the plot, we kind of looked at each other out
of the corner of our eyes, going, what? This is our story. And I don’t know - Jeff,
maybe you asked him, but I never asked if they knew that not only are we brothers,
obviously, but that our father also had passed away when we were teenagers like the
elf brothers in the story (Danna, cited in NPR, 2020).

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In Danna’s own words: “I have had exactly the career that I want for many
years now. I’ve been fortunate enough to work alongside many of the world’s
best directors, telling challenging and compelling stories. I hope to continue
doing exactly this” (2020). Mychael Danna is an incredible composer, whose
soundtracks have fundamentally changed the way that his viewers experience
not only the films he composes for, but also the way they understand the world
around them if they choose to listen to his soundtracks separate from their
films. Danna’s tendency towards innovation truly represents his Canadian
roots, and he will unquestionably continue to flex his creative muscles and
create inspirational and emotional soundtracks for many films and TV series
to come.

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 Chapter 13: Famous Canadian Film Writers

Introduction
Screenwriters are an integral piece to the filmmaking puzzle and, like many
other pieces of the puzzle, it can be a difficult yet worthwhile career to pursue.
There is no official education needed to be a screenwriter, but it does require a
lot of talent and an ability to tell a story in a unique way. Many aspiring screen-
writers work for years at the opportunity of having their screenplay translated
onto the big screen. That being said, it is no surprise that many successful
screenwriters often find themselves already in the filmmaking industry as some
other piece of the puzzle, such as an actor/actress, producer or director. Here,
we will be discussing a few of Canada’s greatest screenwriters and the films
they helped take from words on paper to a full on film.

Sarah Polley

Sarah Polley is nothing short of a Canadian national treasure. Born in 1979,

Polley would grow up to be a spirited woman with strong morals and an un-
wavering conscience. Her introduction to the industry began at only four years
old when she acted in a Disney film called One Magic Christmas. She would
go on throughout the rest of her childhood and adolescence to act in other
films and tv shows, the most recognizable of which is probably the CBC show
Road to Avonlea, though others included the tv show Ramona and the film
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Soon after Polley’s success on Road to
Avonlea, Disney picked the show up in order to distribute it to American view-
ers, simultaneously creating an even wider audience for Polley who was, at the
time, already hailed as “Canada’s Sweetheart.” Soon after Disney’s possession

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of the show, Polley was scheduled to walk the red carpet at just twelve years
old. Unexpectedly, though, and what would mark the beginning of a lifetime
of political activity, Polley wore a peace sign to actively speak out against the
first Gulf war that was occuring at the time. Disney asked the young woman to
refrain from wearing it but she refused, advocating for her beliefs despite what
must have been tremendous pressure not to.
As Polley continued to grow up, she proceeded to pursue her interests in the
TV and film industries as well as her political interest. By the age of 14, Polley
was financially independent and decided to drop out of school, leave her fam-
ily home and dedicate more time to left-wing political activism. In fact, by the
age of 18 she had decided to leave the acting scene after performing in one last
film, which was Atom Egoyan’s film, The Sweet Hereafter, and later reflected
on the decision saying, “It seemed like a nice little ending to my acting career
to work with Atom” (The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2020). Of course, we now
know that this really was just the beginning of Polley’s career in the industry as
she would go on to become a great Canadian film director and screenwriter.
The Canadian Encyclopedia captures her transition well when describing the
result of her performance in the internationally acclaimed film: “In addition
to bringing her international attention and Genie nominations for best actress
and best original song, the award-winning, Oscar-nominated film made Polley
realize that acting could be significant and socially relevant, and marked a
clear transition in her career from child actor to adult star.” Following this,
Polley did not leave the industry as she had planned, but rather engaged in it
on her own terms all the while remaining very politically active.
Polley enjoyed working with fellow Canadians and thus, when she continued
her acting career it was often alongside Canadian directors including Thom
Fitzgerald, Clement Virgo, and David Cronenberg. Between her skills as an
actress and the success of the films she starred in, Polley was projected to be
a major Hollywood star. Despite the allure of the glam and fame many fall
subject to, Polley preferred to star in less glamorous, big box office films and
preferred to work in more unconventional, independent films like The Claim
and No Such Thing. One notable movie that she was offered the lead actress
role in was The Bourne Identity, but she turned it down. In regards to her
more humble pursuits Polley has said: “I’m not designed to be famous — my
personality is completely wrong for it” (The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2020).
Unsurprisingly, while Polley did continue to act in her career, she was only
twenty when she ventured behind the camera and into a directorial role for
the short film Don’t Think Twice, which she also wrote. Her second short film,
also written and directed by her, called I Shout Love, won a Genie Award for
Best Live Action Short Drama. Shortly after these successes, in 2001 Polley
made her first full feature length film, which was an adaptation of a short story

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called “The Bear Came Over the Mountain.” Polley’s version of the story,
called Away from Her, was her first major career indicator of her prowess
as a screenwriter. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best
Adapted Screenplay amongst other rave reviews and recognitions. Other film
writing projects of Polley’s include Take this Waltz, The Best Day of My Life,
and Making a Scene.
Later in life, Polley went in a different direction with her film pursuits by writ-
ing and directing a documentary about her own self, family, and secrets be-
tween them. In this confession of a film Polley tells of her dad, Micheal Polley,
not being her biological father and discussing the affair her mother had had,
resulting in her conception. Polley’s mother passed away from cancer when she
was only eleven, but did not find out about the truth of her parents until much
later in life. In a sadly ironic twist, Polley remembers her siblings teasing her as
a child for not sharing a resemblance with them or their father (The Canadian
Encyclopedia, 2020). After handling her personal family affairs through such
a healthy and creative outlet such as the documentary, it is also not surprising
that Polley has come to be outspoken with the scandalizing affairs of Harvey
Weinstein. Polley came into Weinstein’s circle at nineteen years old when she
starred in Guinevere, which was produced by his company. She says that he
made advances and suggestions towards having a closer relationship, but, in
true Polley-fashion, turned him down. When reflecting on Weinstein’s pro-
posal, Polley is quoted as saying: “I’ve grown up in this industry, surrounded
by predatory behavior, and the idea of making people care about it seemed as
distant an ambition as pulling the sun out of the sky” (CBC, 2020).
Polley’s malleability to take on the role of actress to screenwriter to director to
political activist to femisint role-model is nothing short of extraordinary. She is
a beloved Canadian artist who proves that there is plenty of room in Canadian
film to explore more than just the bog blockbuster hits. Her films are a media
of expression and art as well as a way to give herself a voice be it as a femisnist,
a political activist, or simply an artist.

Atom Egoyan

Atom Egoyan was already mentioned in this book, but here, we will take a clos-
er look at him and his screenwriting abilities. Oftentimes in the film industry,
multiple creative roles are filled by the same people and, as a flip side to that,
many people within the industry fill different kinds of creative roles in different
projects. Egoyan is often referred to by the umbrella term of “filmmaker” as
he has played his hand at many different roles within the industry including
director, producere, editor, actor, cinematographer and, of course, screenwrit-
er. Egoyan has certainly proved to be man of many talents with a wide array

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of experience within the film industry. So, before we jump into his talents as a
screenwriter, let’s first brief ourselves with his background.
Egoyan was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1960 making him an Aremenian-Cana-
dian with dual citizenship.Shortly after he was born, at the young age of two,
Egoyan’s parents moved the family to Canada where they settled in Victoria
B.C. where he was raised with his sister. At 18, he moved to Toronto to pursue
his education in International Relations and Classical Guitar at the University
of Toronto. As a teenager he was interested in reading plays which eventually
also lead to an interest in writing them. Throughout his university experience
Egoyan pursued this writing passion by writing and directing plays for the
Dramatic Society. Following this, Egoyan enjoyed considerable success in his
twenties by making short films with the The Hart House Film Board at The
University of Toronto. Since then, Egoyan has produced, crafted and created
dozens of films, plays, short films, art installations and publications.
So, what is it that makes Egoyan so successful? Clearly, at the heart of the mat-
ter, Egoyan is simply a great storyteller. As any story enthusiast will tell you, it’s
not just about the content of the story or the basic plot, it’s about the way the
story is told: the unique way it is portrayed or that it unfolds to the audience.
This is a concept Egoyan has seemed to master. If we recall the brief summary
of the Sweet Hereafter that we provided earlier, we can see that Egoyan does
not do straightforward films; there is no simple cause and effect when he pens
down the screenplay for a film. Instead, Egoyan creates a dense palimpsest
of narratives: “the style of Atom Egoyan’s films is notable for its consciously
non-linear structure, in which events are placed out of sequence in order to
elicit specific emotional reactions from the audience by withholding key infor-
mation” (Web Archive, 2020). An excellent summation of Egoyan’s approach
to portraying his stories, this tactic builds intrigue and emotional investment in
the characters of the film which, in turn, elicits a stronger response from his
audiences.
Egoyan’s approach to storytelling has been quite successful. His most celebrat-
ed film, in terms of awards, is The Sweet Hereafter. Indeed, The Sweet Here-
after has been widely praised while receiving copious amounts of awards:

One of the most honoured Canadian films of all time, Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet
Hereafter (1997) was nominated for 16 Genie Awards and won eight, including
best picture, director and actor. It also won three major awards at the Cannes Film
Festival, and received Academy Award nominations for adapted screenplay and
director. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Canadian films ever made, it was
voted the best Canadian film of all time in a Playback readers’ poll in 2002, and
ranked in the top five in polls of the Top 10 Canadian films of all time conducted
by the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2004 and 2015. It was

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 named one of 150 essential works in Canadian cinema history in a similar poll in
2016 (The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2020).

The most significant of these awards, in terms of this chapter’s focus, is his
Academy Award nomination for best screenplay adaptation. If we will recall
our early discussion on the film, it is obvious why the nomination was warrant-
ed. Aside from that film, though, Egoyan has created many other well received
and celebrated films. His first ever film was written while he was still working in
theatre, and it was called Next of Kin. Right out of the gates, Egoyan enjoyed
success in the film industry as Next of Kin premiered in the 1984 Toronto
International Film Festival. Following that, the film was also presented at the
Manheim Film Festival in Germany, where it received a Gold Ducat award.
Other early works of his include Family Viewing and Speaking Parts, which
were also enjoyed in various parts around the world, sparking Egoyan’s inter-
national success.
As Egoyan’s career in film continued, he turned his focus towards his heritage
in the film Ararat (2002). The film pursues meta-explorations as it is about
the making of a film, thus, a film within a film. The film being made is about
the true historical Armenian holocust that occurred between 1915 and 1918,
a nod by Egoyan to his ancestral history. This film met even wider audiences
than before as it was distributed in over thirty countries around the world, fur-
thering his international success. Ararat also received various awards includ-
ing “including Best Film on Human Rights by The Political Film Society of
Hollywood, and the Freedom of Expression Award from the National Board
of Review in New York” (Ego Film Arts, 2020). Other notable successes on
the global scale include his film Chloe acting as the Opening Night Premiere
for the Sans Sebastian Film Festival that occurs in Spain every year and his
film Remember, which won Best Film and Best Actor at the Hanoi Interna-
tional FIlm Festival. In addition to Egoyan’s international success, he has also
worked with notable actors/actresses such as Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth,
and Ryan Renolds.
In addition to creating many impressive films, Egoyan has led a prestigious and
impressive career contributing to the film industry. With such mastery in his
field, it is no surprise that Egoyan turned to passing on his gift by teaching. In
2006 he taught at the University of Toronto for three years teaching advanced
students and being recognized as a Distinguished Professor. He has also been
the scholar in residence at Ryerson University where he still continues to teach
today. In addition to teaching at these institutions, Egoyan has been an hon-
oured guest lecturer at many schools and events including Tate Modern on
London, University of Chicago, The Sundance Institute and The Marshall
Mcluhan Lecture at The New School in New York, to name but a few (Ego

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Film Arts, 2020).
In light of Egoyan’s many contributions to the film industry, and representing
Canadian talent on an international scale, he has received many prestigious
awards personally that attest to his amazing capabilities. While this list of hon-
orariums could go on for quite some time, some of the most noteworthy in-
clude him being knighted by the French Government, him being a recipient of
State Honors from the Republic of Armenia, is a Companion of the Order of
Canada, and has been awarded a total of ten Honorary Doctorates in Letters
and Laws from various post-secondary institutions. Overall, Egoyan’s excel-
lence cannot be overstated and his contributions to not only the Canadian film
industry but the international film industry as a Canadian are invaluable.

Deepa Mehta

The final screenwriter we will be talking about is Deepa Mehta who was born
in 1950 in Amritsar, India. Mehta has received international acclaim for her
films as both a screenwriter and a director and has caused people to reevalu-
ate what can be considered a Canadian film. From a young age, Mehta had
an interest in film as her father was a film distributor. Her and her brother
would often watch movies without any other audience members during private
showings, a perk of their father’s career. Mehta comments on her love to read
as a child and how that translated into her love of film: “I was a reader and
thought cinema gave another dimension to the written word.” (TIFF, 2020).
Thus, Mehta’s love of film started from a young age. Once she finished high
school, Mehta attended the University of Delhi and graduated with a degree
in philosophy. Mehta’s degree along with her upbringing have a clear influence
on her films, as they are provocative and boundary pushing.
Mehta’s first career stepping stone in film making came in the form of a gov-
ernment job where she helped to create educational documentaries. It was
while working on one of these documentaries that she met her future husband
and Canadian, Paul Saltzman, who happened to be making a film in India at
the time. Eventually, Mehta married him and migrated to Toronto where she
and her husband began joint efforts in filmmaking, giving Canada a jem in the
film industry.
Though she has since remarried, Mehta has gone on to fulfill her younger self ’s
dream of becoming a successful filmmaker both within the Canadian film in-
dustry and the international one. When she came to Canada, Mehta contin-
ued to focus her efforts on documentaries such as At 99: A Portrait of Louise
Tandy Murch and Traveling Light, both of which she directed. In addition to
such documentaries, Mehta also became involved with TV, directing episodes
of shows like CBC’s Danger Bay. Mehta experienced a level of success in this

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early stage of her career having had her short film, Martha, Ruth and Edie
presented at the Cannes Film Festival: the film also won the Best Feature Film
award at the International Film Festival in Florence.
Fastforwarding to 1991, we see Mehta successfully step into the role of direc-
tor for her first feature length film: Sam and Me. At the time, Mehta broke
a record for the highest budget a Canadian film had ever had with a female
director with the budget being eleven million dollars (The Canadian Encyclo-
pedia, 2020). The film takes place in Toronto and tells the story of an Indian
immigrant who becomes friends with an elderly Jewish man. The film would
be the first of many Mehta would create that discussed cross-cultural themes.
Mehta’s success was hard-worked for and all the more impressive in consider-
ation of misogynistic hindrances that women often face in the industry. When
speaking of her initial desires to become a filmmaker, Mehta recalls that it was
unheard of for a woman to be anything but an actress when growing up. Her
parents, however, were supportive and Mehta’s father also allowed her to be
less hindered than other girls her age might have been or felt: “Dad has never
spoken about my gender being a handicap. Instead, what concerned him were
the unrealistic expectations for anyone starting out in the film business” (TIFF,
2020). Mehta, therefore, went on to defy the expectations placed on her cul-
turally, and to overcome the unrealistic expectations her father warned her of.
Mehta’s first film as a screenwriter was made in 1996 and would become the
first installment in an epic trilogy, a trilogy that she is internationally recog-
nized for today. The film Fire would go on to garner much attention, some
negative, much positive. The film tells the tale of two Indian-woman who are
caught in loveless and intimate-free marriages and end up turning to each oth-
er for love and passion. The film is one of the few Indian projects that display
such explicit homosexuality and was thus the cause of much contension. Those
of more conservative values found it distasteful, while many others praised the
film’s brazen and daring narrative. The film won the Most Popular Canadian
Film at the Vancouver International Film Festival.
The next two installments of the trilogy were Earth and Water, both of which
she also wrote the screenplays for. Both films also continued to explore cultural
and religious tensions experienced in India in progressive and innovative ways.
The films were not well received everywhere, however, the third film produc-
tion was placed on hold for several years after violence and vandalism broke
out in protest of Water, which was viewed by some Hindus to be offensive. Me-
hta speaks of the tense time saying “the film’s long journey had been fraught
with disaster — the kind where religious fundamentalists threaten your lives
and burn down your sets” (TIFF, 2020). While political and religious tensions
were high, Mehta also discussed how gaining her Canadian citizenship helped
her through this time: “I felt for the first time ever I was going home to Can-

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ada, a place that I could equate with safety. Becoming Canadian, of course,
means I can be whatever I want” (TIFF, 2020). Mehta’s dual citizenship thus
allowed her a unique advantage where she had the cultural background and
heritage to produce Indian films with an authentic voice along with the agency
and freedoms to create such large scale projects with international audiences.
Another film of Mehta’s is Bollywood/Hollywood, a comedic musical that
took a more light-hearted approach than some of her other previous films.
Mehta also wrote the screenplay and directed this film and it went on to win
a Genie award for Best Original Screenplay. After this, Mehta went on to act
as screenwriter in films regularly including films like Midnight’s Children and
Beeba Boys. While Mehta is not a traditional Canadian filmmaker: her inter-
national films and cross-cultural stories bring an extra dimension to the typical
Canadian film venue. Mehta’s ability to challenge tradition and ask probing
questions through her films has simultaneously created love and admiration as
well as disapproval: “she challenges cultural traditions by using drama to break
down stereotypes and give a voice to marginalized individuals” (The Canadian
Encyclopedia, 2020).

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 Conclusion

The Canadian talent that exists within the film industry and Hollywood is
immeasurable: there are a wide variety of extremely talented Canadians that
share their skills with the industry every single day. It would take books upon
books to describe each and every one of them, but the actors, directors, com-
posers, and screenwriters discussed in this section are particularly notable for
their achievements and successes. Though not all of the individuals we dis-
cussed in this section are household names, they are all particularly important
Canadian film talents in their own ways, and are worth recognizing, learning
about, and appreciating. By taking the time to note some of these important
Canadians in film, we are also recognizing that even in the throes of American
Hollywood, Canadians are making huge strides in the film industry, creating
new and innovative films that simply cannot be ignored.

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Conclusion

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Canadian film is a particularly fascinating industry, and being able to take the
time to explore the industry and history provides an encompassing under-
standing of the film industry outside of Hollywood. Though we as Canadians
can feel a particular connection to a Canadian actor when they appear in a
Hollywood film, there are many more Canadians that make both blockbust-
er films and smaller, independent films happen each and every day, and they
deserve to be recognized and celebrated for their achievements. By exploring
various angles of Canadian film within this book, we were able to recognize
a few of the important ways in which the Canadian film industry has been
shaped and formed by the government, Hollywood’s inevitable influence, and
each individual that is involved in the creation of a Canadian film.
In the first section of our book, we provided you with a high-level overview of
some important aspects of the Canadian film industry. We started by learning
about the history of Canadian film and the three dominating aspects: govern-
ment involvement, the influence of the American film industry, and the beau-
tiful and rugged Canadian environment that plays such an important part in
Canadian films. We then discussed the difference between Canadian TV and
Canadian film, which provided us some important context as we began to dive
into the way in which the Canadian landscape plays into Canadian TV and
Canadian film. Our discussion on prominent storylines within Canadian film
brought out some particularly poignant discussions on the differences between
blockbuster Hollywood films and smaller Canadian films; in essence, discussing
the ways in which each type of film considers and rediscovers the human expe-
rience. Through exploring some of the famous Canadian filming locations, we
gained a high-level understanding of some of the aspects that go into selecting
Canadian filming locations over other global locations, both in terms of sets

141
and production opportunities like tax benefits. The first section concluded with
an explanation of Canadian content, exploring what constituted a Canadian
film and how those guidelines affected the creation of films in general.
The second section of our book explored some prominent theories regard-
ing film, in terms of communication and philosophy. We learned about three
prominent Canadian communication scholars who furthered communication
theory in terms of media and film: Marshall McLuhan, John Grierson, and
Gertrude Joch Robinson. Marshall McLuhan took Canadian media studies
to the forefront of thought with his statement “the medium is the message,” a
concept which we explored in detail as relates to film. John Grierson was con-
sidered the father of Canadian documentary film, and was instrumental in the
creation of the National Film Board; in addition, his thought on democratic
propaganda is particularly interesting. Gertrude Joch Robinson was an inspi-
rational female Canadian theorist, who discussed gatekeeping in the media,
as well as the concepts of raw data and truth, and the social construction of
reality. In terms of philosophy, we explored the philosophical implications of
a film’s particular style, in terms of Canadian films and films in general. This
exploration led us to learn about the avant-garde film, and the philosophical
reasoning of some of those films. In addition, we explored the connections be-
tween cinema and photography, which allowed us to understand some of the
ways in which philosophers can connect the photograph and the movie, con-
sidering their similarities and differences. Throughout our exploration of these
theories, we found new ways to consider the films we take in on a daily basis.
In the third section of our book, we explored the politics of Canadian film, and
the political implications behind some important aspects of Canadian film. We
learned about culture and censorship within Canadian film through explor-
ing the rating system for American and Canadian films, learning who creates
and upkeeps the rating systems, and how the rating systems determine who is
allowed to watch which films. Another interesting topic considered how the
rating system affects films as they are being made, for pressure to fit within a
certain category can be particularly important when considering what can be
included in a film. We also explored some ways in which Canadian cultural
diplomacy exists within films, and the ways in which it is purposefully spread
to bring benefit to the Canadian image. This cleared up one of the reasons that
Canadians are always portrayed as kind, polite, and apologetic within films.
The politics of Canadian films aren’t always clear, and we are thankful for the
clarity that this section provided us when it comes to connecting politics and
film in Canada.
Our fourth and final section discussed some famous Canadians in film. We
considered three famous Canadian actors - Nell Shipman, Jim Carrey, and
Keanu Reeves - and their very different stories as they grew to fame within

142
Canadian and American films. Our discussion of famous Canadian directors
circled around James Cameron, David Cronenberg, and Denis Villeneuve,
allowing us to consider how their directing techniques and tendencies shot
them to particularly glorious fame. Music is a particularly important aspect of
film, and in our famous Canadian composers section, we learned about how
Howard Shore, Robert Carli, Lesley Barber, and Mychael Danna explore their
musical talents to create emotional and innovative soundtracks for each project
they are involved in. Finally, we discussed some famous Canadian screenwrit-
ers - Sarah Polley, Atom Egoyan, and Deepa Mehta - and the ways that their
personal and professional lives have had an undeniable impact on the Canadi-
an film industry as a whole.
Though this book acts only as an introduction to Canadian film, it is a high-lev-
el overview of the truly fascinating and magnificent beast that is Canadian
film. Through learning about some of the intricacies of creating film in Can-
ada, and the implications of Canadian film in Hollywood, in politics, and in
government, we are better able to understand the reasoning behind the films
that cross our screens. This discussion should inspire us to consider the films
we watch - and not just the Canadian films - at a deeper level, as we realize
some of the background work that has to happen before a film appears on our
screens.

143
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