Message from the Chair

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has completed its third year since it was created in 2010.  Feedback from stakeholders, funders and the industry in general has helped shape the innovative organization we are today. 

From the outset of 2012-2013, the Board determined six strategic objectives to guide CMF policy and actions.

• Support the creation of Canadian content for all digital audiovisual platforms
• Leverage funding by rewarding those who make and those who distribute successful content
• Foster industry innovation
• Ensure diversity of voices from a regional, language and point of view perspective
• Guide Canadian content toward a competitive global digital environment
• Ensure CMF’s processes and operations meet the highest standards and are kept current and optimal.

To leverage available resources for Canadian content production, discussions continued with several Canadian and international funding organizations for the signature of co-production and co-funding agreements for digital content.

To leverage our support of Canadian digital content, the CMF has started building links with the investment community, incubators and accelerators, through partnership events and meetings in order to explore how to provide funded projects with access to additional capital and expertise. 

To devise an incentive related to sales of funded projects and to reward commercial success, the obligation to report on sales of Convergent Stream projects was made a condition of CMF funding starting in 2012-2013. A new template for reporting was launched, following discussions with stakeholders. Data collected will contribute to promoting Canadian successes. An incentive to reward international sales will be assessed when a critical mass of data becomes available.

In order to ensure consistent access to funding for regional projects in the context of increasingly centralized decision making, the budget allocation to the English Production Incentive was increased by 50% in 2012-2013, and entirely spent, bringing regional television production levels to targeted levels. As well, an English Regional Pre-Development program was launched and a total of 96 projects were funded.

The CMF and its Board of Directors remained committed to adhering to best practices in corporate governance to ensure that the Corporation is managed responsibly for the benefit of its members, funders, industry stakeholders, and the public.

This year, the Board’s Governance and Human Resources Committee oversaw the comprehensive review of the CMF’s by-laws. The Committee also supervised the administration of the directors’ peer review program. The Board’s Audit Committee for its part oversaw a value-for-money audit of Telefilm file administration services conducted by a third-party specialist.

Board members remained actively involved in the consultation process with a presence at industry Working Groups and Advisory Committees. Given that this year was the first of a two year Program Guidelines cycle, approved for 2012-2013 and 2013-2014, the industry consultation was focused on specific issues, including convergence requirements, audience measurement and support for regional projects.

The Board has also revised the language of the CMF’s purpose statement to better reflect what the CMF does and why we do it.  We want all our audiences, both in Canada and internationally, to understand what we are all about.

Looking forward, we plan to work closely with Canadian Heritage throughout the program evaluation process scheduled for next fiscal and to engage stakeholders through a cross-Canada consultation tour to be scheduled in fall, 2013.  We plan to use the feedback gathered during the consultation tour to shape our funding policies and to explore new avenues that can best contribute to Canada’s success in regards to television and digital media content production.

None of these advances could have been achieved without the extraordinary efforts of the CMF’s management and staff that exceeded highest expectations in the successful operations of the CMF. I also wish to thank the staff of our Program Administrator, Telefilm Canada, for delivering our funding with a consistent commitment to client service and operational efficiency.

On behalf of all the Board members, I would like to thank outgoing Board member Max Valiquette for his contribution to the CMF and welcome Rob Scarth who joined the Board this year.

We also wish to express our gratitude to the Government of Canada and Canada’s cable and satellite distributors for their significant investment in Canadian production and innovation, ensuring an exceptional place in the digital future.

Louis Roquet
Chair