Message from the President and CEO

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) welcomed 2010 with an outstanding inaugural slate of programs and record funding levels that firmly positioned the organization at the forefront of Canada’s digital economy strategy. With an overall program budget of more than $350 million for the creation of Canadian screen-based media, the quality and scope of projects supported signaled a new era for the CMF and the industry it serves.

Funding through the CMF’s Convergent Stream triggered combined production budgets of more than $1 billion. Designed to support the creation of television programs with on-line, mobile and other digital extensions, the Convergent Stream ensured that Canadians could engage with content anywhere, any time, on the device of their choice, sharing it with audiences around the globe.

Through this stream, the CMF supported the production of 444 television programs and 117 associated digital media projects, including games, interactive web content, on-demand programming, podcasts, webisodes and a range of mobile applications. Projects supported emanated from all regions of the country, in a cross-section of languages spoken by Canadians.  The CMF also supported the development of over 300 convergent projects, for a total of 760 projects funded in the Stream. Recipients included long-standing production partners who have achieved global sales and critical acclaim for their previous CMF-funded projects, and emerging talent who will bring new screen-based media concepts to life.

The CMF’s Experimental Stream encourages the creation of leading-edge, interactive content and software applications. Designed with extensive input from the digital media community, there was overwhelming demand for this funding stream, with 428 applications in development, production and marketing. The CMF assembled a jury of leading digital media experts from Canada and abroad, who assessed an overall funding request of more than $140 million.

A total of 77 projects were supported, at the development, production and marketing stages, triggering over $49 million in spending.  Applications originated from every region in Canada and included game-changing content for the web and interactive consoles, and software and mobile applications that set new standards for the industry.

To ensure that the CMF’s funding policies are aligned with emerging trends and developments, both in Canada and internationally, the CMF created a new Industry and Market Trends team. The team monitors innovation and success in emerging technologies, business models and production financing in order to gain key insights and intelligence in evolving effective policies.

To further the exchange of ideas, the CMF significantly increased its strategic partnerships, supporting 23 television and digital media conferences and markets in nine cities across Canada. To promote funding results we launched the Program Audience Report, which identifies audiences for each project supported. The current web interface presents data on average minute audiences of programs aired during broadcast years 2007-2008 and 2008-2009.

These combined achievements positioned the CMF for renewed, multi-year funding commitments and sparked international interest in the CMF model, with Brazil, Denmark and South Korea just some of the countries looking into the possibility of emulating our programs.  We congratulate all of our partners for establishing these new markers of success on the digital frontier.

Valerie Creighton
President and CEO