Canada Media Fund invests close to $50M in 112 audiovisual projects

Toronto, September 29, 2021 – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) today announced it is investing $49.3M in the development and production of 112 Canadian audiovisual projects. These projects will receive funding through seven different CMF programs.

“Despite ongoing market and pandemic-related disruptions, the CMF has made--and will continue to make—every effort necessary to ensure Canada’s storytellers take their stories and experiences to screens here at home and beyond our borders. We’re pleased to announce Q1 and Q2 investments of close to $50M in 112 projects through several of our programs, in both the Convergent and Experimental streams. This includes the support we’re providing through the inaugural round of the Pilot Program for Racialized Communities, which is an important step towards an equitable funding ecosystem in Canada.”

Pilot Program for Racialized Communities - Production

The Pilot Program for Racialized Communities, which forms part of the CMF’s Convergent Stream, recognizes the historic barriers members of racialized communities face and is designed to support the growth of English- and French- language audiovisual production from companies owned and controlled by racialized people.

The CMF will provide $10.4M in funding to support the production of 20 projects by racialized creators hailing from British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. A total of 13 projects are in English and seven in French. Click here to access a list of projects that received funding through the Pilot Program for Racialized Communities.

English-language projects selected for funding were evaluated by a jury of representatives from racialized communities. Jury members include Carla Beauvais, Ravida Din, Rinaldo Walcott, Lisa Valencia-Svensson, Zaira Zarza and Mila Zuo.

French-language projects were evaluated by jury members Feven Ghebremariam, Mara Gourd-Mercado, Gentille Menguizani Assih and and Stanley Péan.

Together, jury members bring decades of experience in the screen-based sector, as well as a set of diverse backgrounds, including in audiovisual production, academia and activism. To learn more about the jurors involved, please click here.

Indigenous Program - Production

The CMF recognizes the unique circumstances of the Indigenous community and delivers specific funding to support the growth of Indigenous production in Canada.

Through this round of funding, the CMF will deliver $7.7M in funding for 18 projects from Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, and Quebec.

Click here to view a list of projects funded through the Indigenous Program.

Applications for funding through this program were evaluated by a jury composed of individuals from Indigenous communities. Jury members were Ryan Cooper, Rachel-Alouki Labbe, Doreen Manuel, Jordan Molaro, Danielle Rochette and Philippe Sioui Durand. Together they bring a complementary skill set, including Indigenous-led audiovisual production, contemporary visual arts and traditional storytelling through Indigenous perspectives, as well as knowledge of several Indigenous languages. To learn more about the jurors involved in the Indigenous Program application evaluation process, please click here.

Innovation & Experimentation Program

Projects funded through the Experimental Stream’s Innovation & Experimentation Program are Canadian interactive or immersive digital media content and software applications that are innovative and leading-edge.

A CMF investment of $7.4M through the first round of funding of this program will support 10 Canadian innovative digital media projects.

A jury of specialists evaluated the projects submitted for production support. This round’s jury consisted of Mia Consalvo, Mark Greenspan, Richard Lachman, Suzanne Lortie, Nadia Seraiocco and Jean-Christophe Yacono. Click here to read more about each juror involved in the application evaluation.

For information on the latest projects that received production support, please click here.

Commercial Projects Program

CMF will invest, in the first round of funding, over $6.5M in the production of seven digital media projects.

The Commercial Projects Program funds interactive and immersive digital media projects that have a high probability of commercial success. Projects are evaluated based on their potential to attain stated commercial objectives, demonstrate business opportunity and achieve profitability.

A jury of specialists evaluated the projects submitted for funding. This round’s jury consisted of Rochelle Grayson, Veronika Kvon, Isabelle Marazzani, Carl Edwin Michel and Denis Talbot. Click here to read more about each juror involved in the application evaluation.

Click here to view a list of projects funded through the Commercial Projects Program.

Prototyping Program

An investment of $4.1M will enable the development of 20 digital media prototypes, including games, rich interactive media, and software applications through the first round of funding of the Prototyping Program.

The Prototyping Program allocates funding to projects at the early stages of building a product to demonstrate its intended functionalities and design. Specifically, this phase is for experimenting, testing and validating different concepts and hypotheses to arrive at a first functional prototype.

Click here to access a list of projects that received prototyping support.

Francophone Minority Program - Production

A total of 20 convergent projects will receive $7.5M in funding as part of the first round of production financing through the Francophone Minority Program. This program supports projects which reflect the realities of living in French-language communities outside Québec.

Audiences will have a chance to enjoy new French-language content produced in British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Yukon.

Click here to view a list of CMF-funded projects and additional information, including production synopses, producer credits, and funding commitments.

English POV Program

A total of 17 projects will receive $5.7M in funding through the English Point-of-View (POV) Program. The English POV Program is designed to encourage one-off, point-of-view documentary production in the English-language market.

To view a list and description of new projects that received POV funding, please click here.

About the Canada Media Fund
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) fosters, develops, finances and promotes the production of Canadian content and applications for all audiovisual media platforms. The CMF guides Canadian content towards a competitive global environment by fostering industry innovation, rewarding success, enabling a diversity of voice and promoting access to content through public and private sector partnerships. The CMF receives financial contributions from the Government of Canada and Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV distributors. Please visit cmf-fmc.ca.

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For press inquiries, please contact:

André Ferreira
Senior Communications Manager
Canada Media Fund
[email protected]
(416) 554-2768