Local resident Colin Mochrie was at the helm of a spirited ACTRA rally last month that insisted Canadian broadcaster Global Television pay more attention to homegrown talent and shows.
“Our Canadian broadcasters are sort of dropping the ball,” said Mochrie. “They spend 10 times as much money on foreign programming as they do on Canadian programming.”
The protest took place outside of Yorkville’s Hazelton Hotel while inside Global was announcing its fall show lineup. For the season, Global has dedicated a record $846 million toward foreign programming while dropping funding for Canadian shows by 3.3 per cent. According to Mochrie, the opposite situation should be happening.
“It would be great if they put some money into producing Canadian shows, telling Canadian stories that are written by Canadian writers and performed by Canadian actors,” said Mochrie.
For Mochrie, there is no shortage of talent in Toronto to produce quality Canadian programming.
“You can go to Fringe, go to the theatre and be amazed by the talent we have just in the city alone,” he said.