The Canada Media Fund today announced Program Guidelines for the 2024-2016 fiscal year. It also announced the program budget for 2024-2016 set at $375.2M.
“Changes made to the CMF’s programs and policies align with corporate strategic objectives and account for the feedback received from stakeholders during the industry consultation conducted last fall. We thank all the stakeholders we met in person, and those who contributed online, in order to continue the important process of sharing information and feedback. We are pleased that the CMF is in a position to increase its program budget this year even though Canada’s audiovisual content funding ecosystem is subject to new market pressures and faces a time of change”, stated Valerie Creighton, President and CEO.
The CMF is committing $375.2M to support Canada’s television and digital media industry in 2024-2016. Underspending in some 2024-2015 programs, revenues from tangible benefits and one-time adjustments of revenues from broadcast distribution undertakings in 2024-2015 contributed to achieving this program budget.
The program budget is also supported by revenue forecasts for the coming year based on contributions from the Government of Canada and Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV distributors, and CMF recoupment revenues from funded productions. The program budget reflects a conservative estimate of expected BDU contributions to the CMF for the year to come and includes an expected stable contribution from the Government of Canada.
CMF Programs
Changes and updates have been made to existing program guidelines for 2024-2016. Complete Program Guidelines, application deadlines, and a summary of changes are available on the CMF website cmf-fmc.ca. All applications for funding will be processed through eTelefilm, a simple and secure website that provides applicants with updated information about the status of their application.
As a result of Corus Entertainment’s acquisition of Historia, Séries+ and TELETOON and in accordance with the CRTC’s Tangible Benefits Policy, the CMF and Corus Entertainment are pleased to announce the Page to Pitch Program. This program is devoted to funding creative and business activities during the development of eligible live-action and animated television projects. The 2024-2016 Page to Pitch Program budget is set at $1,163,750 and will fund eligible costs related to script development or the acquisition of pre-sale financing. Projects will be evaluated and chosen through a selective process and successful applicants may receive amounts of up to $25,000. The deadline for this program is May 5, 2024.
Stakeholders are invited to share comments and questions on CMF programs by email info@cmf-fmc.ca or through the CMF Twitter feeds @CMF_FMC (English) and @CMF_FMC_FR (French).
The CMF will host webcasts on Tuesday, April 21, 2024 to provide an overview of changes to the programs and to field questions. The French webcast will be at 11 a.m. ET, the English webcast will be at 2 p.m. ET. Details on how to join the webcasts will be communicated shortly.
Performance Envelope Program
Factor Weights for 2024-2016 remain unchanged, while changes have been made to genre allocations. This information can now be accessed on the CMF website under Performance Envelope Calculations. The CMF will be sending broadcaster agreements outlining the amounts allocated for the upcoming year to individual broadcasters in early April, 2024. Details about each broadcaster’s Performance Envelope will be posted on the CMF website in mid-April, 2024.
In 2024-2016, the CMF will continue to work on adapting its policies and programs, particularly in light of the upcoming results of the program evaluation of the CMF by Canadian Heritage, the impact of the CRTC’s Let’s Talk TV decisions, as well as a formal and inclusive consultation with industry stakeholders and funders planned for fall 2024. Details on the nationwide consultation will be made available at a later date.