Village Gamer

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has announced the launch of the English Regional Pre-Development Program (PDF 252KB), a new $1 million supplement to the existing development program.  Eligible producers will be able to apply to this first-come, first-served program as of Thursday, December 13. 

“The CMF recognizes that opportunities to build relationships between producers and broadcasters exist at the very early stages of development and we need to capitalize on them,” says Valerie Creighton, President and CEO of the CMF. “The objective of this initiative is to stimulate regional activity encouraging diversity of voices coming from all areas of this country.”

The English Regional Pre-Development Program, designed in consultation industry stakeholders, is intended to support producers in their preparation of documents to present to broadcasters at the early stages of development.  In addition to this new program, the CMF has also changed its regional definition in development to include Vancouver as a region.

The CMF Program Administrator|Telefilm Canada will start accepting applications from producers in any province/territory as of 9 a.m. (in their relevant time zone) on Thursday, December 13. Funds will be awarded to eligible projects on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are depleted or until February 28, 2013. The CMF invites all producers to consult the Development guidelines (PDF 252KB) for any details on the English Regional Pre-Development Program.

The CMF also recently announced the factors weights for the 2013-2014 Performance Envelope calculations. This announcement reflects decisions made by the CMF’s Board of Directors following a series of consultation sessions and working groups with members of the industry, and aligns with the CMF’s objectives of simplification, rewarding success and driving convergence across the industry.

The CMF is introducing modifications to two factors in the French-language Envelopes. The Above-Threshold  licences factor will be eliminated in its entirety, its 5% factor weight from the 2012-2013 Performance Envelope will be shifted to Audience Success-Total Hours Tuned, increasing this factor weight to 40%, to harmonize with the English-language Envelopes.

The Factor Weights for 2013-2014 are:

Performance Envelope Factors	English Envelopes % Weight	French Envelopes % Weight
Audience Success – Total Hours Tuned	40	40
Audience Success – Original First Run	15	15
Historic Performance	15	25
Regional Production Licences	20	10
Digital Media Investment	10	10
Above-Threshold Licences	0	0

The Performance Envelope Manual will be updated shortly to reflect these changes. Broadcasters’ Performance Envelope allocations, as well as changes to the CMF’s Program Guidelines for 2013-2014, will be announced in late March 2013.