Law 96: the shooting of foreign films will not have to be Frenchified

This amendment modifies article 142 of the Charter of the French language and specifies that the francization program adopted by companies does not target activities that are directly linked to the production of these cultural goods when their linguistic content is in another language. than French, and that these activities may not be carried out other than in that other language.

The Office of Cinema and Television of Quebec (BCTQ) is delighted to see that the law has been clarified. This reaffirms to our partners, the American studios and other foreign countries, our desire to create the most competitive conditions to attract more foreign filming to Quebec. emphasizes Christine Maestracci, President and CEO of the BCTQ.

Same satisfaction with AQTIS 514 IATSE, which represents 8,000 freelancers working in audiovisual production. I am very happy with the reaction of the government, the Minister of Culture and Communications Nathalie Roy was very attentive to our reality, reacted its president Christian Lemay. The government felt the need to protect job creation in this company.

Amendments to the bill address concerns he adds.

Stay competitive with Toronto and Vancouver

In fact, the members of this union organization were afraid of seeing their jobs disappear if foreign productions began to desert Montreal, especially since the summer promises to be poor in the filming of major American productions. Only the next film in the Scream series, with a budget of 50 million US dollars (about 64 million Canadian dollars), will be shot for two months in the Quebec metropolis. Will Smith’s slap in the face of Chris Rock at the Oscars caused the film’s sequel project to be canceled Brightwhich was to be shot in Montreal.

American producers do not know all the details of Bill 96. Hearsay, a rumor, is enough for them to say to themselves: we will choose Toronto to shoot our film, it will be simpler, explains Jean-Charles Myrand, a cinema lighting designer who works mainly on American mega-productions.

Quebec is not necessarily a first-choice destination, he adds. Obtaining permits for filming locations has become difficult in Montreal.

French is heard on the sets

According to this professional, French is already spoken on the film sets of major American films. Health and safety discussions take place in French, the technical staff members speak to each other in the language of Molière and English is mainly used to communicate with the chefs, who come from the United States.

Efforts are made to translate contracts into French and, sometimes, we see the Americans try their hand at French says Jean-Charles Myrand.

The only time he was forced to speak English on a set was during the filming of a Hockey Night in Canadaat the Bell Centre, eight years ago. Don Cherry said: you don’t speak French on this show, he recalls.

According to Christian Lemay, the government of Quebec must now educate producers about law 96 to reassure them. If we explain the situation, we will probably revive our industry he said.

As for the drop in the number of shootings of big American productions this summer, Christine Maestracci sees it as a return to normal after the records of last year. 2021 was an exceptional year for all audiovisual industry indicators.

This text was written frominterviews conducted by Catherine Richercultural columnist on the show 15-18. Comments may have been edited for clarity or conciseness.