Vancouver BlogCritic and Blogger Diane Kristine (Unified Theory of Nothing Much) has moved beyond HOUSE to home: specifically that brand of Television that she hasn't really checked out too much in the past: the homegrown, Canadian kind.
One of these days, I'll get back to my prescription for how to raise awareness for homegrown tv, based on the conversation I had with Diane a few weeks back. But one of my remedies was going to be something very much like what Diane has already set up:
I had an interesting exchange last week on my Invisible Networks post with a couple of people, one who admonished - me? the other commenters? - to give Canadian TV time to grow, and offered to help line up an interview I'd tried to get about The Jane Show. The other made this challenge:There's so much funny and sad in that post. Identify a need: a website promoting Canadian TV. Anonymous person says, "you do it!" and polite Canadian says, "I'd like to, but so far I've tried to get one interview with a Canadian show and they've ignored me." It is, as they say, to cry.
A website promoting Canadian Television! Well...you've identified something that we need, and it seems to bother you that there is no such thing....Why not be the one to create it?!
He/she basically said stop whining, or be part of the solution. My attempt to get an interview about The Jane Show was part of trying to be part of the solution, but is now part of my frustration. Besides, how is it my role to publicize the industry, especially if they won't help?
Canadian TV frequently suffers from a lack of promotion. Some of it is sheer incompetence -- publicists who don't have the right materials or who aren't very good. Some of it is budget driven -- not enough money for ads, etc. And it's hard to establish an audience for a show that keeps moving around the schedule to take advantage of more valuable simulcasting opportunties.
What Diane has started, in a relatively lo-fi and pretty way, is a clearinghouse for info about Canadian shows, where they are, and when they're on. It's called Canadian TV, and it's here.
If unit and network publicists ever wake up to this, this could be a great development for promoting Canadian TV as a brand, and not just an afterthought. Diane does great interviews, too -- so creatives from these Canadian shows should get in touch with her. (One of the problems you're going to face, Diane, is that short ep runs mean that by the time the show gets close to air the people are long onto their next project.) Daddy's gotta eat.
Diane should be commended for taking a stab at this. And you know what? If there's anyone else out there who's interested in Canadian TV, but not embroiled working in it yet -- I'd suggest dropping Diane a line and asking how you can help.
Now, industry -- go and give her content that creates buzz. Go on. Kick in that self-preservation instinct.
10 comments:
Thanks for the plea for help on my behalf! I'm not sure if I've bitten off more than I can chew, or if I won't be able to painlessly get enough information to make it worth chewing on. I'll see how it goes before I try to promote it much, so people don't get scared away by how sparse it is right now, but in the meantime ... any suggestions are welcome.
(One of the problems you're going to face, Diane, is that short ep runs mean that by the time the show gets close to air the people are long onto their next project.)
But that's true of movies too, and people usually make themselves available for publicity anyway. I don't know if it's contractual, or just the realization that their work's success or failure reflects on them, but either way, maybe Canadian shows should consider how they can make it happen. I don't mean to slam the Jane Show though – there could very well be good reasons they can't/don't want to do an interview, plus I'm the world's worst follow-up-er. It's just sad that that's my first experience with trying to do something on a Canadian show.
Hiya Denis,
If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them. I checked the blog you linked to, unfortunately I don't consider "Canada's Next Top Model", "Canadian Idol", etc., Canadian shows - they are American shows that have been ripped off.
I mean, if you get a bunch of Canadians, give them the scripts from "Friends" and call it "Friends, Eh?" is it a Canadian show?
Cheers!
Justin
Justin,
I don't think that kind of elitist thinking is actually something that does public broadcasting or Canadian Television any good.
It's that kind of thinking that leads places like CBC to come up with well intentioned but fatally flawed shows like, "North of 60."
Put another way -- Because Pop Idol (the original British version) was licensed to become American Idol, does that mean it's not an American show? Is Survivor not American because it was originally Swedish?
By your logic, the American "Office" isn't an American show. And "All in the Family" wasn't American either, because it was just a rejig of "Til Death Do Us Part."
Steptoe to Sanford and Son, Man About the House to Three's Company -- television is full of these kinds of remakes and deals.
Hell Yes Canadian Idol and Canada's Next Top Models are Canadian shows. You know why? They feature people from Canada. The editors, the shooters, the writers, the producers, the directors, the production company - the jobs - they are all filled by people here.
American Idol, like it or not, is one of the few shows that is cross generational now. Canadian Idol fulfills the same purpose here. If the revenue it makes allows a network to make more Canadian shows, or have a healthier bottom line, and if it means that a company like Insight can continue to develop dramas that may not be as high impact but keep people here employed, then sniffing down your nose at them solves nothing, does not help the cause, and lays out a rather provincial and naive view of what constitutes Canadian Culture.
At least that's how I see it.
I have been calling for the adoption of a European directive that requires that TV networks must show 60% domestic content.
We need more CanCon, and if the networks don't give it to us, then they'll have to be forced to do so by law.
Yeah, I can't really see a good argument for excluding those shows. Plus, they tend to be the Canadian programs that already get eyeballs on them, and actually publicize themselves, so why not try to use their popularity to draw a few eyeballs to other homegrown shows? If nothing else, hopefully they'll end up drawing more traffic to the site.
Let me ask this question:
When Canadian Idol or Next Top model air, do they feature commercials of primarily CanCon shows or do they primarily promote US shows?
(and let's exclude those promos announcing what's coming up next on the station - those are a given)
I'd have to actually watch those shows to know that, Bill. There's only so much I'm willing to do for Canadian TV, ya know?
Jump! Jump into the volcano, Diane!
The god of the volcano needs a sacrifice or two...
Sorry for the late reply Dennis, but no I don't consider the Office an American show, it's a cheap rip off and not done very well.
Elitist or not Steve Martin isn't the pink panther and I don't consider Canadian Idol, Canada's next top model or 'the One' to be Canadian shows regardless of where they are made.
Thought I'd flag an LJ community that's doing some of the same sort of thing. Justin's already got a feed set up at pb.ca, but here you go anyway:
http://community.livejournal.com/canadiantv/
Hope it also contributes to a solution...
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