CMF Announces 2014-2015 program budget, guidelines and deadlines
TORONTO, March 31, 2014 - The Canada Media Fund (CMF) today announced Program Guidelines for the 2014-2015 fiscal year. It also announced the program budget for 2014-2015 set at $368M.
“A nationwide consultation organized last fall has helped shape our policies and programs. We thank all the stakeholders we met in person, and those who contributed online, in order to continue the important process of sharing information and feedback. Changes to our funding programs align with the CMF’s strategic objectives”, stated Valerie Creighton, President and CEO. “The CMF is committing $368M to support Canada’s television and digital media industry in 2014-2015. This program budget level was achievable given, amongst other factors, higher than expected recoupment revenues and significant underspending in some 2013-2014 programs, particularly the English Production Incentive.”
The breakdown of the 2014-2015 Program Budget can be viewed on the CMF website. Please click here.
The program budget is supported by revenue forecasts for the coming year based on contributions from the Government of Canada and Canada’s cable and satellite distributors, also known as broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), and CMF recoupment revenues from funded productions. The program budget reflects a conservative estimate of expected BDU contributions to the CMF for the year to come and includes a stable contribution from the Government of Canada.
CMF Programs
Several changes and updates have been made to existing program guidelines for 2014-2015. Complete Program Guidelines, application deadlines, and a summary of changes are available on the CMF website cmf-fmc.ca. As announced last fall, all applications for funding will be processed through eTelefilm, a simple and secure website that provides applicants with updated information about the status of their application.
The CMF will introduce a new program to provide matching fund contributions for codevelopment and/or coproduction of television and digital media content with foreign partners. A budget of $2M has been earmarked for this new program. On March 12th, the CMF announced a first agreement with RioFilme in Brazil as part of this incentive.
Stakeholders are invited to share comments and questions by email [email protected] or through the CMF Twitter feeds @CMF_FMC (English) and @CMF_FMC_FR (French).
The CMF will host webcasts on April 14th, 2014 to provide an overview of changes to the programs and to field questions. The French webcast will be at 11 a.m. ET, the English webcast will be at 2 p.m. ET. Details on how to join the webcasts will be communicated shortly. The CMF will also organize outreach meetings across the country to meet with stakeholders in person. A schedule of meetings will be announced in the coming weeks.
Performance Envelope Program
On March 7, 2014, the CMF announced the parameters used for Factor Weights in 2014-2015 Performance Envelope Calculations. The CMF will be sending broadcaster agreements outlining the amounts allocated for the upcoming year to individual broadcasters in early April, 2014. Details about each broadcaster’s Performance Envelope will be posted on the CMF website in mid-April, 2014.
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. Please visit www.cmf-fmc.ca.
The CMF’s Canadaonscreen.ca is a website designed to showcase and celebrate Canadian creative talent and content destined for all types of screens, from television productions to games, Web content and software and applications.
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For more information, please contact:
Pierre Campeau
Communications Manager
Canada Media Fund
416-554-2768
[email protected]