According to the group, spending on production — as a proportion of the NFB’s overall net expenses — dropped by 56% between 2002 and 2017. The same period saw a rise in spending on salaries for non-filmmakers, and also on institutional, legal, and human resources services, by 21% and 45% respectively. The group offers a concrete example: the budget of the English animation studio has fallen from $1.5 million to $1.1 million. All in all, it says, less than one-fifth of the NFB’s $62M budget now goes toward actually producing content (C$12 million), as priorities shift toward branding and administration.

Joli-Coeur disputes this picture. Speaking to The Globe and Mail (article paywall) after his reappointment, he said that half the NFB’s money is spent on production, with 34% going toward distribution and 16% toward overhead costs.

The disagreement hinges on how production costs are defined. NFB/ONF Creation notes that Joli-Coeur’s calculations factor in “internal costs” covering administration, executive salaries, etc. “These are costs that are incurred regardless of whether films are made or not and, according to the group, should not be part of the calculation.” Their own figures are based on “external costs”: funding for artists, and the services and supplies they need to do their work. The directors see this as the true measure of the NFB’s support for production.

NFB/ONF Creation’s case is made in a video by filmmaker Chris Landreth (see below). Drawing on data obtained through access to information requests, he meticulously illustrates the group’s calculations in a series of graphs. He explains that they use 2002 as their starting point because that’s when the NFB changed its model and broadly started contracting filmmakers, rather than keeping them on staff. In other words, the years between 2002 and 2017 can be directly compared.

The directors want to see the NFB’s investment in new content return to 2002 levels, when external costs stood at 44% of the organization’s budget (as opposed to 20% in 2017). They presented this demand to the Canadian government, specifically Pablo Rodriguez, minister of Canadian heritage and multiculturalism, in early June, along with three others: greater transparency with regard to expenditures, a separation of the roles of film commissioner and chair of the board of trustees (both of which Joli-Coeur currently holds), and “meaningful, regular consultations” with the creative side of the studio. The petition was submitted in partnership with L’Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec, the Directors Guild of Canada, and the Documentary Organization of Canada.

It followed two years of discussions between the filmmakers and the NFB’s managers, which have hit a dead end. “The number of meetings I’ve had with them is enormous, and my door has always been open,” the commissioner told The Globe and Mail. “Unfortunately… we haven’t been able to convince them that we’re telling the truth. That’s sad, but what can I do?” Joli-Coeur defends his record at the NFB, noting that the number of productions is rising, and adding that the organization is a safer environment for artists than the private sector.

NFB/ONF Creation refutes this, too. “Filmmakers are paid less now at the NFB than they were 20 years ago — far less than most NFB staff employees and with no pension or benefits. This practice is nothing short of exploitative and is particularly shameful in a non-profit federally funded institution,” the group said in a statement. While the number of productions may be on the up, “budgets today are much lower and films often shorter.”

With Joli-Coeur’s mandate renewed for three years, the feud is set to run on. Despite the commissioner’s insistence that he wants to continue the dialogue, the filmmakers feel as though their demands have been stonewalled. “NFB/ONF Creation cares deeply about the NFB, in part because the collective remains fiercely attached to its ideals, but also because this unique institution has nurtured them as artists,” said the group. “If the NFB is to continue to lead the way — to break new ground in animation, documentary, and new media — change must happen. Its very survival is at stake.”

Here is the complete list of filmmakers who are demanding the NFB restructure its budgeting and halt the decline in production funding:

Aerlyn Weissman

Aeyliya Husain

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril

Alex Boya

Alexandra Lemay

Alexandre Chartrand

Alison Burns

Alison Loader

Alison Rose

Alison Snowden

Amanda Forbis

Amit Breuer

André Roy

Andres Livov-Macklin

Anne Henderson

Aube Giroux

Avi Lewis

Bachir Bensaddek

Barri Cohen

Barry Greenwald

Barry Lank

Belinda Olford

Barry Lank

Benjamin Hogue

Benjamin Taylor

Bertrand Carrière

Brandon Blommaert

Brenda Longfellow

Brett Gaylor

Brett Story

Bruce Alcock

Bruno Baillargeon

Bruno Boulianne

Cam Christiansen

Cari Green

Carla Coma

Carlos Ferrand

Carmen Garcia

Carol Beecher

Carole Poliquin

Caroline Leaf

Caroline Martel

Caroline Monnet

Catherine Hebert

Catherine Lepage

Catherine Martin

Catherine Van Der

Donckt

Cathy Gulkin

Celine Baril

Charles Konowal

Charles Officer

Chris Landreth

Chris Lavis

Chris Hinton

Chris Romeike

Christy Garland

Claire Blanchet

Claire Maxwell

Claude Cloutier

Claude Demers

Maciek Szczerbowski

Co Hoedeman

Colleen Wagner

Cordell Barker

Cynthia Banks

Dale Hayward

Danic Champoux

Daniel Conrad

Daniel Schorr

Danielle Sturk

Danny Nowak

Darryl Nepinak

David Fine

David Seitz

David Springbett

DenYs DesJardins

Diane Obomsawin

Don McWilliams

Dorothy Henaut

Duncan Major

Ed Ackerman

Eisha Marjara

Eleonore Goldberg

Elise Simard

Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers

Erica Pomerance

Eshan Gharib

Eva Cvijanovic

Eve Lamont

Felix Rose

Frances McKenzie

Francois Laliberte

Françoise Dugré

Fred Casia

Garry Beitel

Gary Burns

German Gutierrez

Ginette Pellerin

Glenn Gear

Greg Labute

Halya Kuchmij

Harold Crooks

Helene Klodawsky

Howard Wiseman

Howie Shia

Hugo Latulippe

Iolande Cadrin-Rossignol

Isabelle Lavigne

Isabelle Raynauld

Ishu Patel

Jacques Drouin

James Braithwaite

Janet Perlman

Janice Nadeau

Jason Lee

Jean-Claude Coulbois

Jean-François Caissy

Jean-Francois Levesque

Jennifer Dysart

Jill Haras

Jo Meuris

Joanie Lafrenière

Jody Kramer

Joe Balass

John Greyson

John Paskievich

Joseph Hillel

Joyce Borenstein

Julie Perron

Julien Elie

Julien Frechette

Kalli Paakspuu

Karine Lanoie

Karl Lemieux

Kat Cizek

Kathleen Weldon

Kevin Kurytnik

Keyu Chen

Leopoldo Gutierrez

Lindsay McIntyre

Lisa Jackson

Lois Siegel

Lori Malépart-Traversy

Louise Johnson

Luc Bourdon

Luc Côté

Luc Otter

Luka Sanader

Lynn Smith

Malcolm Sutherland

Manfred Becker

Marie Helene Turcotte

Marie Ka

Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre

Mark Achbar

Mark Morgenstern

Marlene Millar

Marquise Lepage

Martin Duckworth

Martin Rose

Martine Chartrand

Marv Newland

Mary Lewis

Matthew Rankin

Mathieu Roy

Matthew Talbot-Kelly

Maureen Judge

Mélanie Carrier

Merit Jensen Carr

Michel Giroux

Michèle Cournoyer

Michèle Lemieux

Mike Maryniuk

Moïa Jobin-Paré

Moira Simpson

Moïse Marcoux-Chabot

Munro Ferguson

Myron Campbell

Nadine Beaudet

Nadine Gomez

Neil McInnes

Nicolas Paquet

Nicolas Zavaglia

Nicole Giguère

Oana Suteu Khintirian

Oliver Hockenhull

Olivier D. Asselin

Oliver Higgins

Paloma Dawkins

Pamela Gallant

Parissa Mohit

Pascal Gélinas

Pascal Sanchez

Pascale Ferland

Patricio Henriquez

Patrick Bouchard

Patrick Doyon

Patrick Lapierre

Patrick Péris

Paul Davis

Paul Driessen

Paul Morstad

Peter Mettler

Phil Hoffman

Philip Szporer

Philippe Baylaucq

Philippe Lambert

Philippe Vaucher

Pierre M. Trudeau

Randall Okita

Raquel Sancinetti

Rebecca St. John

Reiner Bello-Sanchez

Rhayne Vermette

Richard Brouillette

Richard Condie

Richard D. Lavoie

Robin McKenna

Samara Chadwick

Sandra Rodriguez

Sandy Greer

Sarah Taylor

Scott Allan

Serge Giguère

Shabnam Sukhdev

Shannon Walsh

Sheldon Cohen

Shira Avni

Simon Beaulieu

Simon Cottee

Simon Plouffe

Sophie Bissonnette

Sophie Deraspe

Stacey Tenenbaum

Stephanie David

Stephen McCallum

Stephen Smith

Steve Patry

Sturla Gunnarsson

Susan Rynard

Susan Wolf

Sylvain L’Espérance

Sylvie Trouvé

Sylvie Van Brabant

Tali Prevost

Theodore Ushev

Thibaut Duverneix

Thomy Laporte

Torill Kove

Vali Fugulin

Vanessa Dylyn

Vincent Morisset

Vital Kasongo

Wendy Tilby

Will Prosper

Yanick Létourneau

Yung Chang

Zaynê Akyol

(Image at top: “The Cat Came Back” by Cordell Barker)