Some of Canada’s silver screen royalty are looking to make their next hit at home.
Driving the news: As part of a push to sell more Canadian TV shows globally, Bell Media has signed a flurry of deals with local stars to produce new programming. Since mid-December, the company has inked production deals with actors Seth Rogen, Elliot Page, and Tom Green.
- The deal with Rogen’s production company, Point Grey Pictures, will see the Vancouver native develop an original scripted TV series for Bell Media’s platforms — its first scripted show for the Canadian TV market.
- Meanwhile, Bell Media acquired a majority stake in global content distributor Sphere Abacus last week — a deal aimed at expanding the international reach of its Canadian content.
Catch-up: Local media companies and broadcasters have to make a certain amount of Canadian content by law, but few shows have been big enough to be widely distributed. While tax incentives have lured many big Hollywood productions to Canada, most of those projects are U.S.-owned, and their profits are brought back to the States.
Why it matters: In 2023, only about a third of the $12.19 billion spent on movie and TV production in Canada was for Canadian-owned TV and feature films. Developing more content that’s not only owned by local creators and companies but is also distributed internationally could help Canada hold on to a bigger chunk of the industry’s profits.—LA