CBC/Radio-Canada Boss Catherine Tait: “We Developed ‘Schitt’s Creek’, Simu Liu And The Kids In The Hall And We’re Open For Business”
deadline.comCatherine Tait is unusually open and candid for the head of a major public broadcaster. She’s also not afraid of whimsy — at one point in an exclusive chat with Deadline stopping mid-sentence to exclaim the beauty of a hummingbird that’s flown onto windowsill of her LA hotel room.The exec is President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada — meaning she oversees by the far the biggest and most influential broadcaster in Canada, a territory tied to the U.S.
entertainment business like no other.To differentiate from the giant to the south, Canada has successfully created its own broadcasting and production market using various tax incentives and production treaties that have attracted overseas investment.
However, the arrival of Netflix, Amazon and the studio-owned global streamers has created a major challenge — producers now have more options for their wares and many are securing premium deals, meaning fewer projects are available.
At the same time, legislation means CBC does not own the rights to any of the shows it commissions and cannot profit from content selling internationally, so Tait, like many of her predecessors, has turned to international partnerships to make the money go further.In February, CBC launched The Porter, a 1920s set drama from actor-writers Arnold Pinnock and Bruce Ramsay about the first Black unions in Canada and the U.S. — the Pullman porters who worked the railroads in the period after World War I.
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