Women fill over 40% of key leadership roles in CMF-funded television productions, says 2017-2018 Annual Report
Toronto, August 27, 2018 — The Canada Media Fund (CMF) released today its bilingual annual report for the 2017-2018 fiscal year. The report provides a detailed view on the various programs and initiatives the CMF undertook in the past year to support Canada’s audiovisual industry. This includes results of the CMF funding programs, as well as its extensive research, promotional and discoverability initiatives, all of which serve as clear examples of the key role the organization plays as a driver of Canada’s growing digital economy and supporter of the country’s cultural diversity. Click here to access the 2017-2018 CMF Annual Report.
“Inspired by ongoing efforts to improve representation in the screen-based sector, we took a number of important measures in 2017-2018 to advance gender balance and Indigenous representation in Canada’s audiovisual industry,” said Valerie Creighton, President and CEO. “New gender requirements introduced last fiscal mandated broadcasters to allocate a minimum of 15 per cent and a target of 25 per cent of their Performance Envelopes on projects where 40 per cent of key roles were filled by women. Over 80 per cent of broadcasters reached or exceeded the 25 per cent target. As a result, over 40 per cent of key roles in 2017-2018 CMF-funded television projects are now filled by women.”
In 2017-2018, CMF funding triggered $1.4B in production activity across the country. Every $1 of CMF funding generated $4.14 in production activity, the highest leverage ratio since the CMF was created in 2010. This high level of production activity is a testament to the CMF’s contribution to the creation of over 171,000 jobs in Canada’s audiovisual sector.
In the context of a declining program budget, the CMF’s funding programs contributed $342.3M to financing the development, production and promotion of 1,176 television and digital media projects in 2017-2018. This level of investment and support was made possible thanks to the continued commitments of the CMF’s funding contributors: the Government of Canada, and Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV distributors.
In September of 2017, the government announced it would increase its commitments to the CMF, offsetting declining contributions from the private sector. “The CMF enthusiastically welcomed the government's efforts to strengthen its support for the creation of high-quality Canadian content at a time of increasing industry disruption,” said Alain Cousineau, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “The government’s new commitments will enable the CMF to stabilize investments in the development, production, promotion and export of Canadian content and sustain jobs in the screen-based sector.”
Faithful to its mandate to foster and promote the Canadian screen-based industry and the content it generates, the CMF partnered with 63 industry events and contributed to an additional 36 industry events in Canada and internationally that aligned with the CMF’s objectives of promoting Canadian content, featuring Canada as a coproduction partner of choice and sharing industry intelligence.
Encore+, the CMF’s YouTube channel for iconic Canadian films and television programs, was launched to critical acclaim on November 7, 2017. It immediately became a success with audiences in terms of views as well as subscribers to the channel. Discussions were undertaken with existing partners Google Canada, Bell Media, Deluxe Toronto, Telefilm Canada, service providers, rights’ holders, as well as Canada’s film and television producers, unions and guilds, to ensure the project’s longevity.
In addition, as a result of its work in identifying industry and market trends in the screen-based sector, the CMF continued to build on its position as a go-to source for critical and reliable industry information, available on its CMF Trends website. Commissioned reports and in-depth articles on issues impacting the audiovisual industry were published throughout the year to shape the CMF’s policies as well as assist stakeholders in their business development plans.
The online annual report has a feedback section, inviting visitors to the site to share their views and comments on the report. This valuable input will help shape the way the CMF reports on its activities.
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 media requests, please contact:
André Ferreira
Communications Manager
Canada Media Fund
[email protected]
416.554.2768
