In a shared commitment to supporting Canadian creators and delivering Canadian programming to worldwide audiences, the Canada Media Fund (CMF) and the Canadian Association of Content Exporters (CACE) announced a new program to fund the predevelopment of export-focused Canadian content. The CMF-Distributor Pilot Predevelopment Matching Program will help support Canadian television projects intended for international export by encouraging early collaboration between qualified distribution companies, writers and producers. Applications for financing will be accepted beginning January 30, 2020.
“Based on results observed in other CMF export programs and ongoing stakeholder feedback, we put together this pilot program in partnership with CACE to support collaboration in early-stage development of content for international markets,” said Valerie Creighton, President and CEO, CMF. “This will increase the volume of our content exports and help it reach new global audiences in the borderless marketplace in which we operate. This approach is consistent with and complements the CMF’s international initiatives and the Government of Canada’s outward-looking vision for Canada’s creative content. It’s a great opportunity to bring private sector money to the table to allow for increased opportunities for Canadian producers, writers and distributors to collaborate."
“Our members have long recognized a need to encourage collaboration between Canadian content exporters and Canadian independent producers,” said Vince Commisso, Chair, Canadian Association of Content Exporters. “We believe this initiative will empower producers to take more risk, creating bold and exciting content domestically for audiences around the world.”
With a budget set at $3M, the program will support both English and French-language projects, on a two-thirds, one-third split. Eligible project budgets may range from a minimum of $40K to a maximum of $150K. The CMF’s maximum contribution for each eligible project will be a dollar-for- dollar match of the distributor’s predevelopment fee of no less than $20K and no more than $75K from an eligible Canadian distributor. Each Canadian distributor may contribute a maximum of $250K (in each language market) in predevelopment fees through this program.
Eligible projects under this program must be in a CMF-supported genre and will be administered on a first-come, first-served basis. Projects which have previously received funding from the CMF’s Early-Stage Development Program are eligible for the CMF-Distributor Pilot Predevelopment Matching Program to further development work.
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