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  • Canada Media Fund invests $11.5 million in 36 new interactive projects

1st March 2011

Canada Media Fund invests $11.5 million in 36 new interactive projects

Canada Media FundThe Canada Media Fund (CMF) has just announced its investment of $11.5 million in 36 new innovative interactive projects submitted in the second round of its Experimental Stream. The CMF offers financial assistance to support projects at various stages of their completion: production, development or marketing.

In production, the CMF is investing $8.6 million in 17 new projects: 8 games, 4 websites, 4 mobile applications and 1 software application. Six of these projects are in English, 3 are French and 8 are bilingual. The average commitment to each project is $509,000. Two projects are being carried out in British Columbia, 1 in Manitoba, 6 in Ontario and 8 in Quebec.

In development, the CMF is investing $1.9 million in 13 projects: 4 in English, 4 in French and 5 are bilingual. The average amount offered for each project is $150,000. Two will be developed in British Columbia, 3 in Ontario, 7 in Quebec and 1 in Nova Scotia.

Finally, in terms of marketing assistance, the CMF is investing $960,000 in 6 projects, with an average contribution of $160,000. Three of the projects are in English, and 3 are bilingual. Three projects are from British Columbia, 1 from Manitoba and 2 from Quebec.

“We’re proud to announce our participation in funding these projects. The wealth of content and technological innovation demonstrated in the selected projects is truly remarkable”, said Valerie Creighton, President and CEO of the CMF. “The new approaches found to engage with users truly enrich the quality of our project portfolio. It’s a statement to the creativity and vitality of the Canadian interactive digital media industry.”

Projects were evaluated using the following criteria : innovation (40%), production team (15%), business plan (30%) and distribution strategy (15%). For projects at the production stage, the innovation and production team criteria (55% of the evaluation) were assessed by a jury of Canadian and international industry specialists (see their bios on our website): Wendy L. Bernfeld (Amsterdam), Lynda Brown-Ganzert (Vancouver), Sylvain Carle (Montreal), Jean-Pierre Faucher (Montreal), Dré Labre (Toronto), Lucie Lalumière (Toronto), Gavin McGarry (New York) and Catherine Warren (Vancouver). The remaining factors for the production projects, as well as the applications for development and marketing funding, were evaluated by analysts from the CMF Program Administrator|Telefilm Canada. All decisions made by the CMF are final.

Since the creation of its Experimental Stream in 2010, the Canada Media Fund has invested $27 million in 81 innovative interactive projects.

List of approved production projects:

Applicant Project name Project type Platform
type
Language Region Amount
Tribal Nova Inc. APPyWorld Application Mobile Bilingual QC $390,000
Available on tablets, AppyWorld is an assortment of edutainment applications for children ages 3 to 6, which serve to develop their creativity and to support discovery and enlightenment. The 5 individual applications are linked together, and can be customized to enrich each child’s experience and to provide an approach adapted to their needs and progress.
Lusio Film Inc. Enfants de la Bolduc (Les) Website Internet French QC $525,000
Les Enfants de la Bolduc is a transmedia project commemorating the 70th anniversary of the death of singer Mary Rose-Anna Travers. The project is a rethinking of online archiving and mobile broadcasting which invites the public to participate in a dialogue. Using the web, geo-locating mobile platforms and a traveling interactive installation that will be touring the music festivals, the audience will discover the legacy of the artist known as La Bolduc.
Herd Inc. Herd Application Internet,
Mobile
English ON $599,250
Herd is a brand new mobile application and community platform created for location-based music discovery and social connectivity. Herd streams geo-tagged, GPS-enabled music files to a community which can then share songs based on location. It provides a revolutionary user experience that lets artists and labels reconnect with an audience that has the power to virally spread their music.
VeriCorder Technology
Inc.
Hyper Local Network Application Mobile English BC $471,138
Hyper Local Network allows users to create videos, including video ads, and to post them automatically to IPTV sites administered by APTN. The Hyper Local Network system will also automate the creation and posting of video ads into the content stream, monetizing the site.
Phéromone Jeu de management d’équipe sportive pour réseaux sociaux Game Internet French QC $521,250
This game, available on the Web, gives the player the opportunity to act as the manager of a sports team. The players will be able to build their own team, hire a coach, plan practice sessions, develop game strategies, trade players and manage the salary cap. This project will offer socialization through blogs, reviews, forums, chats, player profiles, statistics and even a market to trade players. The first game for RDS, it will be integrated into their social network Le Grand Club (250,000 active members).
Radiant Media Inc. Juicr Website Internet,
Mobile
Bilingual ON $366,751
Juicr’s groundbreaking utility will bring real business value to existing networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter through the application of technologies associated with the next generation, “intelligent internet”. Juicr will create a navigable, composite picture of Canada’s creative industries, and will help Canadian professionals expand existing opportunities and discover new ones.
Hungry Eyes Film & Television Inc. Music Biz Game Mobile English ON $585,000
In the Music Biz application, players build their own music label into three main areas: developing artists and managing their careers, producing music, and selling records. The game gives users the opportunity to stage world tours, create merchandise and movies, and even design their own clothing label.  A community will also be built, giving users the ability to share their music with each other and “Like” it.  Music Biz utilizes very simple touch screen controls so that experienced users feel in control, but its intuitive design will enable anyone to play.
Frima Studio Inc. Nun Attack Game Multiple Bilingual QC $565,268
Nun Attack is a Tower Defence-type multiplatform game for youth. It uses specific game interfaces designed for each platform on which the game will be available: mobile, tablet computer, video game consoles and computer. The game features a ragtag group of 5 over-the-top nuns traveling through space and time to accomplish different funny and absurd missions. With Nun Attack, the player takes on the role of the assailant rather than that of the traditional defender.
Minority Media Inc. Papo & Yo Game Game
console
Bilingual QC $1,000,000
Papo & Yo is an emotional simulation, an innovative new genre of video game. In Papo & Yo, Vander Caballero and colleagues have created an interactive fable in which the primal relationship between parent and child is brilliantly allegorized in the tale of a monster and his small friend.
7168799 Canada Inc. Project Contrast Game Game
console
Bilingual QC $415,042
Project Contrast plunges the player into the world of a dying mind where they must journey through vivid memories, long-harboured fears and emotions. In the world of Contrast, shadows act as the mind’s reflections—a canvas upon which memories and thoughts exist within the absence of light. Players discover these secret stories by illuminating the world around them.
2237933 Ontario Inc. Sceneverse Application Internet,
Mobile
English ON $1,000,000
Lead by Canadian punkers, Sceneverse is a new social, mobile, online and augmented reality experience that will redefine how people “make” culture on the Web. It is the first media platform dedicated to supporting and enabling cultural “scenes”. An easy and fun way for people to celebrate, commemorate and coordinate all of their digital and non digital “sceneing” activities.
Pug Pharm Productions Inc Snoget.com Website Internet Bilingual BC $369,620
Snoget.com is the first “truly social” web and mobile gameplay experience. Simple minigames reward successful players with branded/interest-based virtual items that let players connect with entirely new networks for likeminded friends, share gifts among existing friends—or even win real prizes!
Xenophile Media Inc Time Tremors Game Mobile English ON $295,000
Time Tremors is a mobile and online game for kids aged 7-12—a multi-dimensional, multi-platform Treasure Hunt in which players explore space, time and alternate dimension to hunt, collect and trade a range of mysterious and bewildering Relics known as The Time Elements. The game leads the player through a labyrinthine quest of discovery and wonder in an absorbing multi-platform experience.
Toxa Inc. Unique Website Internet French QC $576,123
Unique is a series of interactive, multiplatform micro-travel guides exhibiting a selection of essential addresses for major cities around the world. Each micro-guide provides an experience that is both fun and sensory putting the user at the heart of the action by offering a customized virtual visit. Unique micro-travel guides offer two complementary features to users: interactive video clips and an interactive application to create itineraries and personalized recommendations called “My UNIQUE guide.”
Smokebomb Entertainment Inc. URL Game Mobile English ON $787,500
URL is a sci-fi mystery series blending first rate storytelling and animation with interactive gaming, all released in eye-popping glasses-free 3D for 3D friendly mobile platforms. Capitalizing on Spatial View’s 3Dee Slide technology, mobile devices can quickly be transformed into a 3D platform. Shaftesbury Films and Smokebomb Entertainment, working with Starz Animation, will fill these screens with an action-packed thriller that puts the viewer directly into the story via integrated gaming, giving them control over how the story unfolds, all targeted at the early adopter market of males/females aged 18 to 34.
Superstring Media Inc Virtuoso Music
Creation Software
Application
software
Mobile Bilingual MAN $20,000
Virtuoso Music Creation Software is real-time music creation software for musicians, educators, producers and hobbyists using a patented technology that allows the user to experience a creative sensation and capture the results in an intuitive, interactive, and unrestricted movement using devices available now and to be developed in the future.
Trapdoor Inc. WARP Game Internet Bilingual QC $173,058
WARP is an action/adventure game with an emergent mix of stealth, action, puzzle and exploration gameplay. In WARP, you play as a Zero, an alien scout imprisoned deep beneath the ocean in a top-secret base. The unique visual and gameplay styles give WARP a distinct newness attracting 18-35 year old male gamers.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 at 9:26 am and is filed under Business News, Government, National News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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