Canuck TV's pluck

Applicants besiege reformed fund program

By BRENDAN KELLY

MONTREAL -- For the second year in a row, Canada's main television funding source doesn't have enough cash to deal with all of the applications it has received.

Some 559 applications have been filed this year with the Canadian Television Fund, a mix of private and public coin, requesting a total of C$325 million ($215 million) in funding.

The Television Fund has a budget of $126 million. Last year, the Canuck fund received 500 applications vying for $191 million in funding.

Nevertheless, the funding process is going much more smoothly this year. Last spring, a series of bureaucratic snafus nearly derailed a number of prominent Canadian TV productions.

Reforms initiated

In response to the crisis, executives at the fund made a number of changes, notably harmonizing the equity investment and license fee programs.

Virtually all of the problems have been cleared up, said Canadian Television Fund chairman Richard Stursberg.

"I think it's a good thing for the fund to be oversubscribed because it allows us to pick the best projects."

The selection process also has been cleaned up this year, with each project to be evaluated based on its Canadian credentials and marketability. Successful applicants should begin to receive word on funding in April, giving the Canuck broadcasters time to include the homegrown shows when they announce their fall lineups in June.

Last year, the Canadian Television Fund backed 330 TV shows and 17 feature films, which accounted for 1,911 hours of new TV programming and approximately $400 million in Canadian production. The cash in the television fund comes from the country's cable operators, public film and TV funder Telefilm Canada and the federal Heritage Ministry.