Canada Media Fund invests over $40M in the development, production and marketing of 94 projects

Toronto, October 7, 2020 – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) today announced it is investing $40.6M in the development, production and marketing of 94 Canadian audiovisual projects. These projects will receive funding through seven CMF programs.

“In addition to administering over $120M in Government of Canada COVID-19 Emergency Support Funding, the CMF has over the past several months continued to deliver funding though its various programs,” said Valerie Creighton, President and CEO, CMF. “We have made--and will continue to make—every effort necessary to ensure Canada’s creators take their stories to screens here at home and around the world. With the government announcing the Short-Term Compensation Fund for Canadian audiovisual productions, the CMF is now pleased to announce it is investing $40.6M in close to 100 projects through several of its programs, including the Indigenous Program and the Innovation Program.”

Indigenous Program: Production

Respecting the distinctive and traditional approaches to Indigenous storytelling, the CMF’s Indigenous program is dedicated to supporting from First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities. The CMF will provide $7.6M in funding to 13 Indigenous-led projects. Click here to access a list of projects that received funding through the Indigenous Program.

Applications for funding through this program were evaluated by a jury composed of individuals from Indigenous communities. Jury members were Rachel Alouki Labbe, Adriana Chartrand, Charles Bender, Tina Keeper and Jason Ryle. 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 Program: Production

A CMF investment of $6.3M through the first round of production funding of the Innovation Program will support 10 Canadian innovative digital media projects.

A jury of Canadian and international specialists evaluated the projects submitted for production support. This round’s jury consisted of Annelise Larson (Saskatoon), Frederik Lesage (Vancouver), Jonathan Lessard (Montréal), Isabelle Marazzani (Montréal), Nadia Serraiocco (Montréal) and Adam Sigel (Los Angeles). Click here to read more about each juror involved in the application evaluation.

The Experimental Stream’s Innovation Program allocates funding to interactive digital media content and software applications that are innovative and leading-edge.

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

Innovation Program: Limited Marketing and Promotion

The CMF will invest a further $1.1M in marketing and promotion support to four interactive digital media projects.

Marketing support provides funding for the marketing and promotion of an eligible project such as the creation of national and international marketing campaigns, design costs, creation and market-testing of advertising, use of the Internet for promotion or transactions, and more.

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

Francophone Minority Program

A total of 20 convergent projects will receive $7.8M 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 Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

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 18 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.

Commercial Projects Program

CMF will invest, in the first round of funding, over $7.0M in the production of seven digital media projects, including six games and one software applications.

A jury of Canadian and international specialists evaluated the projects submitted for funding. This round’s jury consisted of Nicholas Fortugno (New York), Laurent Guérin (Toronto), Valérie Hénaire (Québec), Tina Merry (Vancouver), Denis Talbot (Montréal) and Magalie Zafimehy (Toronto). Click here to read more about each juror involved in the application evaluation.

The Commercial Projects Program funds 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.

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

Prototyping Program

An investment of $4.7M will enable the development of 22 digital media prototypes, including games, rich interactive media, and software applications through the first round of funding of the Prototyping Program.

The Experimental Stream’s 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.

For information on the latest projects that received prototyping support, 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