The below-the-radar deal saw 135 titles and 700 hours of CBC's international sales catalogue, including new dramas such as The Border and Heartland, sold to ContentFilm just days before Christmas.
The CBC has released few details of the deal, which allows ContentFilm to sell the rights to the CBC shows to broadcasters around the world.
“This is a public trust that every Canadian taxpayer has contributed to in this library,” veteran actor Paul Gross said. “The fact that it appears to have been sold with absolutely no open bidding, discussion, or presentation to the public is bizarre. This is a question of national ownership. What's up for grabs next? Algonquin Park? PEI?”
While CBC board members would not return calls Tuesday, several sources in the CBC's directorial ranks say they had no knowledge of the negotiations between ContentFilm and the CBC. Nor did they approve the deal. Two board members have confirmed they had no clue the deal had been cut until they saw a brief press release about it that was issued just after the sale.
Tuesday, Steve Billinger, executive director of CBC's digital programming and business development, disputed the assertion that the board was kept in the dark. “The board was informed that we were in discussions with them. I don't know if they gave a stamp of approval to the deal ... but we're proceeding with it, so …”
Asked why no other players were informed the asset was on the block, he said: “There are no other substantive Canadian distributors who would have been interested in these titles.”
Robert Lantos, the Toronto film producer and part-owner of Toronto distributor Oasis International, said Tuesday he would have jumped at the opportunity.
“It should have been a transparent process whereby the highest bidder takes it,” said the founder of boutique movie house Serendipity Point Films.
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CBC Sells Off Catalogue Of Programs To British Company
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<br />
GAYLE MACDONALD <br />
From Saturday's Globe and Mail<br />
January 11, 2008 at 10:46 PM EST<br />
<br />
Canadian distributors were furious to hear Richard Stursberg, executive vice-president of CBC's English services, declare on live radio that no local players were fiscally strong and competitive enough to sell his network's shows internationally.<br />
<br />
In an interview on Thursday night on As It Happens, Mr. Stursberg defended his network's pre-Christmas decision to sell the international rights to 700 hours of CBC programs to Fireworks International, a subsidiary of U.K.-based ContentFilm.<br />
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The deal angered many in Canada's entertainment sector who argue the sale of a publicly funded asset should be an open tender to ensure the best price.<br />
<br />
On the show, Mr. Stursberg said the CBC made the deal with Fireworks/ContentFilm (which has since been tentatively sold to Toronto-based Peace Arch Entertainment) because “we did not see any company specialized in selling TV programs that was even remotely as well-capitalized, with as big a catalogue, or as extensive set of international relationships, to be able to sell these programs.”<br />
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Peter Emerson, president of Toronto-based distributor Oasis International, called Mr. Stursberg's comments “appalling.”<br />
<br />
“He has only one thing to lean on, and it's hollow,” said Mr. Emerson, whose company has been operating for 15 years. “Fireworks is not a big company. They have a large backing from ContentFilm, but Oasis has every bit of a presence as Fireworks, with the same number of sales people and the same size library.<br />
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<a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080111.cbc12/BNStory/Entertainment/">http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080111.cbc12/BNStory/Entertainment/</a><p>---<br>"George Bush has declared the war on terrorism to be the cause of his generation. The cause of Canadian sovereignty will be ours." - John Godfrey, MP for Don Va