MONTREAL -- Canuck public film and TV funding agency Telefilm Canada announced Friday its long-awaited guidelines for the new C$100 million ($64 million) feature film fund. For the first time in Telefilm history, much of the cash will be doled out to companies based on previous box-office performance.
Also Friday, Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps, who oversees Telefilm, appointed three seasoned Canadian film producers to the newly created Feature Film Advisory Group, which will work with Telefilm in managing the new film fund.
The producers tapped by the federal government to form the panel are Niv Fichman of Toronto-based Rhombus Media, producer of "The Red Violin"; Denise Robert, the Montreal producer of "The Widow of Saint-Pierre"; and Tom Rowe, exec VP of creative affairs at Vancouver-based Sextant Entertainment.
Goal of the new fund is to increase the audience for Canadian films to 5% of overall B.O. in Canada. Currently, English-Canadian films account for around 2.5% of box office in Canada; French-lingo Canuck pics take 6% of Quebec B.O.
To achieve its goal, Telefilm will begin to allocate 50% of its production funds to companies based on previous box office performance. The remaining 50% will continue to be handed out on a selective basis via the same Telefilm-run evaluation process used in the past.
Companies with pics that perform robustly at the box office will be given access to general financing envelopes that they can use to fund whichever pics they want.
$3.5 mil for producers
Producers will have access to up to $3.5 million, while distributors will have access to a maximum of $2.5 million. The selective funding is designed for up-and-coming companies without a B.O. track record and producers who have already spent their Telefilm cash from the performance/box office-oriented process.
The other major change in the new Telefilm policy is that the agency will be gradually eliminating over the next three years the "minimum guarantee" for the acquisition of Canadian films.
Until now, Telefilm would automatically pay 75% of the cost if a Canuck distributor bought a Canadian film. Telefilm is axing that program in order to free up more cash for the marketing and promotion of homegrown pics.
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