MIC Views

As I meet filmmakers, I learn about the different opportunities Canada provides, or doesn’t provide, in order for films to be produced. After talking with director/producer Jeffery Scott Lando, I realized the potential Canada has when they join together with the international market. Currently, Canada has 54 partners in all regions of the world that work together in order to complete a film.

You can’t please everyone. Some companies will pass on projects and others will support them, it is dependent on how the film is catered to the international market. He goes on to say that Telefilm is like “the girlfriend.” Everyone wants to please her by creating an image that fits into her expectations. Lando suggests that creating this one image can leave a filmmaker’s identity construed to what the market wants them to be rather than who they truly are.

The image companies want film/filmmaker’s to be can be defied by selecting an appropriate genre that one’s film fits into. Lando adds that filmmakers can get caught up in pleasing the market through genre filmmaking, which results in the creation of a filmmaker who is untrue to their true selves. I agree, by wanting to fit one’s film into specific genre leads filmmakers astray from who they truly are as filmmakers. Lando brings light to the importance of balancing the marketability of one’s film while projecting your own sense of style and interpretations into the film before it is slated for an international marketplace such as Festival de Cannes.

Hollywood may be the powerhouse of success, but with the support of other countries from around the world, Canada creates another outlet to gain their own success. Canada currently provides international support to 54 regions to craft a strong platform of teamwork that can better face the overwhelming success of Hollywood cinema. This is one way that Canadian films are currently gaining success within the film industry.

Thanks again to Jeffery Lando for his time and insight.

Link the video below for more words from producer/director Jeffery Lando.