CRTC-mandated local programming fund strikes another blow to CIFVF financing

The only fund in Canada to support non-theatrical educational and informational programming is at risk as a result of the recent CRTC decision to require satellite TV distributors to pay into a new local programming fund. The money for the new fund can be diverted from the 1% of revenues that Star Choice Communications Inc. and Bell ExpressVu LP currently contribute to independent production funds, such as the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund (CIFVF) (CCR, July 31/03). In a July 31 letter of protest to CRTC chair Charles Dalfen, CIFVF co-chairs Jean-Louis Robichaud and Sylvia Jonescu Lisitza state the decision will throw the fund "into financial chaos." They urge the CRTC to push back the implementation date until the next fiscal year "to allow the private funds to adapt to this new reality." They also want the amount of money that can be diverted to be based on a dollar amount rather than a percent of revenues so that more and more money doesn’t get diverted as satellite TV revenues rise. If Star Choice evenly spreads out the reduction in funding to the three independent funds it supports, the CIFVF tells the CRTC it will receive $293,600 less than the $734,000 it currently receives from the satellite TV distributor. Star Choice also supports the Shaw Broadcast Television Fund and the Astral Media Harold Greenberg Fund. CIFVF executive director Robin Jackson tells Canadian Communications Reports that since Star Choice started supporting the fund in 1998, it has contributed $2.5 million in support of 100 projects. The reduction in Star Choice money "will dramatically restrict the number of projects that can be financed and will affect the amount of programming available to broadcasters across the country," Jackson says. "The money provided by Star Choice, which has been greatly appreciated by the CIFVF, has been an essential part of the financial structures for many projects, particularly for those that have small broadcast licences that are not high enough to meet the requirements of the Canadian Television Fund." The blow from the CRTC comes at a particularly hard time for the CIFVF, which learned this summer that Canadian Heritage, the only other source of its funding, was cutting its contributions by $250,000 a year, or 14% of its current budget, every year for the next three years (CCR Update, July 23/03). Jackson says the cuts in government funding are a result of a $1-billion cut ordered by the Finance department across all sectors. The CIFVF thought it had been granted stable government funding of $1.8 million per year over five years in 2000 when Canadian Heritage unveiled its Feature Film policy (CCR, Nov. 9/00). The reduced funding resulting from the expected diversion of money to the mandated CRTC local TV programming fund means that the CIFVF will have only one application deadline next year. "We’ll have only one deadline (March 4, 2004), instead of the usual two. Now, this is not the best service to our clients because of the production cycle, but for the next year, we’re going to have to," Jackson notes. It will also mean that the new media segment can expect another year of non-funding. The CIFVF had pulled back on new media funding this year as its board revised the application criteria in anticipation of having it ready for 2004. "And next year, we’re not going to do new media (as planned). We feel it’s something that we should be doing. We want to keep it in our focus, but it won’t be possible for next year," Jackson says. "Until we sort ourselves out, we’ll have to restrict ourselves to film and video for the March deadline." Jackson notes that the CIFVF plays an important role in developing new Canadian filmmakers. "We nurture new filmmakers because we fund documentaries, which are lower budget than drama," she says. "People are able to cut their teeth and get their first, second and third projects under their belts (with the help of the CIFVF). If they want to move on to other things, that gives them the leeway to do it. The other thing is that we don’t require a broadcast licence, which is in keeping with our focus on the non-theatrical area."

CRTC-mandated local programming fund strikes another blow to CIFVF financing

News | 08/22/2003 4:00 am EDT

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