Industry
Hollywood Goes North: Ontario Reaches Record $3.15B Production Spend
Thanks to studios and streamers shooting original content in Canada, Ontario reached a whopping $3.15 billion in 2022. Of that number, $1.94 billion comes from foreign film and television expenditures, as reported by Ontario Creates. This foreign spending is up from the previous year’s number, $1.91 billion, which is itself a large jump from $1.12 billion in 2019. While these numbers show strong continued growth in foreign industry, local production still makes up 38% of total spending. Justin Cutler, the Ontario Film Commissioner at Ontario Creates, said, “what’s always encouraging about Ontario is that we also have a very strong domestic industry and we saw the rise of that in terms of production volume over the last year.” Looking ahead, 2023 appears promising as a lot of peak TV productions seem to be rushing to film in Canada. A total of 70 projects were filmed in Ontario during 2022, seven fewer than in 2021 (though production budgets were higher). Some Hollywood shows based in Canada are The Boys, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Ginny & Georgia. Film production also made a higher 2022 spend in Canada with $226.4 million, compared to $161.8 million 2021. Ontario is a hot spot for independent film productions, including Academy Award winner Women Talking and Sofia Coppola’s upcoming productions Priscilla and Fingernails. Things like commercials, music videos, and other specified local filmmaking projects may not be counted at a domestic expenditure, according to Ontario Creates, as they are not channeled through local film funds. Ontario currently has 3.8 million square feet in studio space and another 2.4 million square feet are currently being built, making it a prime location for big companies like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu to establish long-term production bases.
DEI
‘Where We Are On TV’ ... GLAAD Reports on LGBTQ Representation
In their eighteenth annual “Where We Are On TV” report, GLAAD shared that there were 596 total LGBTQ leading or recurring characters across all of television between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023. While that number is high, it is a slight decrease from the previous year, which counted a total of 637 LGBTQ characters. Most of this representation is on streaming platforms, with online original content creating 356 characters. Meanwhile, broadcast touted 141 characters and cable had 139. The biggest decrease comes from broadcast networks, which saw 2.3 percent less LGBTQ representation. In addition, 304 of 596 LGBTQ characters (or 51 percent) were also people of color. And for the first time, streaming represents a majority of characters who identify as LGBTQ and are people of color. But racial diversity dipped in broadcast to a five-year low of 48 percent. Transgender representation decreased as well. Only 32 characters, including transgender men, transgender women, and transgender nonbinary persons, were counted across broadcast, cable, and streaming. This is 10 fewer characters than the previous year. Content churn may be a reason for these decreases, as 24 percent of LGBTQ characters are from canceled series or shows currently in their final season. In addition to that number, 35 of the counted LGBTQ characters are part of a miniseries or anthology. Notably, this includes all eight LGBTQ characters living with HIV. GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis says that “Hollywood has more influence than ever and it’s critical the stories they invest in telling include fair and accurate depictions of LGBTQ people that reflect the humanity of our community.”
International
Soft Money Funds: Saudi Arabia Goes Beyond Tax Rebates To Boost Local Industry
Saudi Arabia is making an additional effort to launch their local film and television industry with their recently announced Film Sector Financing Program, which adds $234 million in soft money schemes to both local and international producers over the next three years. This Saudi soft money pot will be split into two, with $154 million available in loans and $80 million set aside for investments. The Saudi Arabian loan incentive is channeled through two banks, Lendo and Sukuk Capital. In order to have access to these funds, companies must be incorporated in Saudi Arabia or have a Saudi partner. And these loans can be applied to all aspects of filmmaking for features, television shows, or documentaries, beginning in development and all throughout postproduction. Eligible projects can be partially shot in Saudi Arabia, so long as at least 25 percent of all spend was invested locally and 25 percent of local crew is made up of Saudi nationals. Najla AlNomair, the cultural development fund’s chief strategy and business development officer, said the funds are not limited to productions, as they can also be “for a company that provides services to the production [such as companies that provide film props] and also for marketing and distribution services as well as for infrastructure.” While this soft money can’t be applied to the exhibition sector, Saudi Arabia is making strong efforts to build out the local industry. Back in 2017, the nation lifted its religious ban on cinema, which had been in effect for 35 years. Since then, it’s become the top-grossing box office territory in the Middle East. These funds are in addition to the tax rebate, which was announced at Cannes 2022, and is 40 percent cashback program for productions that recruit Saudi talent.
Television
Rise of Comfort TV: Nielsen Finds That Women Stream More Classic Content
In 2022, streaming television shows like Stranger Things, Ozark, and Wednesday, broke records and became some of the most-watched programs of the year. Nielsen, a global leader in audience insights, found that a particular demographic was more likely to watch older programming rather than the latest shows. For women aged 18 to 34, the most popular show of the year was Grey’s Anatomy, which first aired in 2005 and is now on its nineteenth season. The second most-popular show for this demographic was 2000’s Gilmore Girls, which ended in 2007. Considering the content boom that has produced popular new shows like Bridgerton, it’s surprising to see the rise in viewership of programs that sometimes began over 20 years ago. According to Gracenote, as of January 2023, there are 926,000 titles available on both linear and streaming channels. Other older shows that made it into the top 25 last year included The Simpsons, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and Seinfeld. Of the top 25, 14 were shows that began well before 2022. Women streamed 105 billion minutes of the top 25 shows and men in the same age group watched 67 billion minutes. These numbers show that acquired content on streaming platform libraries is still a hot commodity despite considerable time off the air. More specifically, 18 of the 25 most-streamed shows were licensed from other companies. Seinfeld, considered one of the most influential shows of the 90s, is not primarily being watched by those who saw it when it originally aired. Only 2 percent of the women who watched the show viewed it with someone who was 35 or older. With the growth of streaming, women are gravitating towards “comfort TV.”
Sustainability
Eco-Friendly Investments: Sustainable Efforts Made by Hollywood Studios
According to Morningstar, investors poured $157.3 billion dollars into businesses in 2022 that valued sustainability and made eco-friendly efforts. With billions of dollars going to companies that are sharing their eco-credentials, entertainment companies are also competing in the area. Disney’s theme park division has made several moves, including with their Spaceship Earth ride in Epcot, sharing humanity’s greatest sustainability achievements with their 22-acre solar panel plot. It provides all the electricity for Disney World. Other theme parks and entertainment companies are building similar solar panel arrays for their own eco-efforts. In their latest Corporate Social Responsibility Report, Fox Corportation shared that they use solar-powered generators for their daily news and are expanding their waste management initiatives. Over on Fox Sports, employees have formed their own “Fox Sports Carbon Council” to come up with ideas and help introduce environmental programs. NBCUniversal, owned by Comcast, has charted their recycling plans in their latest Impact Report. At Netflix, they hope to replace all diesel generators for production with rechargeable batteries. While media companies don’t have heavy carbon footprints compared to other industries (like oil or mining, for example), these companies are still making efforts to become fully transparent about their environmental impact. In their latest ESG (environmental, social, and governance), Paramount reported that they “cannot separate ourselves from the growing need for collective action.” But these entertainment companies are also competing with their environmental content. Netflix partnered with General Motive to feature electric vehicles in all its films and TV series. Disney has a growing library of nature content through National Geographic, Comcast, and are hoping to create programming with a purpose. Other companies are making similar commitments to show that they care.
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