MEDIA RANCH RECEIVED CANADIAN HERITAGE GRANT FOR CREATIVE EXPORT CANADA

Sophie Ferron, President and Executive Producer of Media Ranch, has announced that the company received major funding from the Creative Export Canada Program under the ministry of Canadian Heritage. Media Ranch is one of eight recipients from Quebec, confirming the company’s success within the Canadian television business, and its important value as the only Canadian company specializing in format creation, production, and worldwide distribution.

Ferron states: “Media Ranch is extremely grateful, and proud, to have received Canadian Heritage grant for Creative Export Canada which will allow us to continue our development of premium Canadian and global projects. With our two Horsepower incubator initiatives and original and representative Formats, we have established ourselves as the creative Format hub for Canada. I am a firm believer that it is better to be an IP owner than a tenant. With this investment we will ramp up the process through which we export original productions, and promote Canadian, talent-driven Formats to the world, continuing our global expansion such as our recently announced partnerships in South Korea.”

The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage said “Cultural industries are showing their value now more than ever as they help brighten our lives during these challenging times. That is why the Government of Canada is proud to support our creative industries. I am proud that the Creative Export Canada program will help these projects find success on the international stage.”

Creative Export Canada provides visibility and funding to help Canadian creative works achieve financial success abroad. The $3,371,000 total funding, distributed amongst the recipients, will help support the audiovisual, interactive digital media, music, and publishing industries.

The program aims to heighten the exposure of Canadian creative works in international markets and to increase export profitability for Canada’s creative industries. To be considered, submitted projects must have a minimum total cost of $300,000, must support the discovery of Canadian works abroad, be focused on maximizing results, and support creative industries in several fields, including audiovisual for which Media Ranch was considered.

In addition, applicants are called on to contribute private funds, demonstrate projected export revenues, provide a plan of how to export revenues will be generated, and show projects are at maturity and ready for exportation. The competitive funding process is based on pre-defined merit criteria, including: the project’s viability and potential for export revenue generation; a direct benefit to one or many Canadian creative industries; partnerships or collaborations with creative industries or different industry sectors; a capacity to expand or replicate projects/ideas in other international markets; and overall innovation.

Media Ranch’s success was considered for this grant. Its portfolio of highly regarded Canadian Formats, such as "Surprise Sur Prise", "Racing to Survive", and "Pay it Forward", and the company’s Format incubator, "Horsepower", with two completed editions thus far, have proven widely successful.