The Bell Fund is trying to help make new media pay

Over the course of the next year the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund hopes to identify the best revenue-generating business opportunities for Canadian interactive content on a global scale. Launched in April, the Marketing and Business Development Initiative will look at 12 Bell Fund recipients from the past with plans to share the findings of the program industry wide. "Like film and television in this country these projects will always likely be subsidized and they will never pay back all their investors, we're not expecting that. But there should be some kind of a recoupment somewhere along the line," says Andra Sheffer, executive director of the Bell Fund. "It's not that we fund projects strictly based on revenue potential, but we do think there shouldn't be a 100% dependency on the Bell Fund and that this really has to be taken as a business." Sheffer adds that there is no lack of opportunities and new revenue streams for cross-platform content, rather there are hundreds. The problem, she says, is for producers to know which avenues to pursue for their particular projects. To help identify the best options, the Bell Fund has hired interactive marketing and business development specialist Rita Carbone Fleury to work directly with the producers, telling them who to approach and how to sell the various rights associated with their digital content. "There's certainly a lot of potential," says Sheffer. "Whether the best model ends up being revenue shared across the board, actual generation of revenue, or promotional, and or whether it will take a year or two to develop the audiences required , that is what we're going to learn."So Fleury could work one-on-one with producers, the initiative is limited to identifying revenue opportunities for 12 Bell Fund recipients from the past few years (listed below). To ensure the project helps monetize all Canadian digital content, the 12 projects were selected to represent as many genres, demographics, regions and broadcasters as possible. "They are documentary, drama, from various parts of the country, French, English, for kids and adults," adds Sheffer. "That allows us to explore the opportunities for all these different kinds of projects, so we'll have information on everything."The findings of the project will be released next Spring to the entire industry. Early on, Sheffer already notes that one way for Canadian cross-platform content to be more saleable internationally is to increase traffic at home. Although many Bell Fund projects have been extremely successful both critically and with users - some websites have continued to attract visitors and generate modest revenue well after the TV show they were intended to promote was cancelled - the Canadian usage stats are paltry compared to other jurisdictions. While 150,000 unique visitors a month is impressive in Canada, it is less impressive to potential international partners and buyers. "We have to also try to increase traffic here which will make projects more saleable elsewhere. Those are the challenges of the Canadian market," says Sheffer. And the Bell Fund is realistic about the extent of the revenue opportunities that exist for Canadian new media. They know that wearing rose-coloured glasses while undertaking an imitative such as this will ultimately not benefit anyone."We may discover after a year that there isn't, that there truly isn't and this is not a business and then we make that decision that we accept that or we don't," says Sheffer. "And then we'll stop demanding business plans from people when we know they're not realistic. Hopefully we will not discover that."Marketing and Business Development Initiative Projects: ProjectCompanyThe BorderWhite Pine PicturesDiamond RoadKensington CommunicationsAre We There Yet?Sinking Ship EntertainmentTotal Drama IslandXenophile Media4Real InteractiveDirect Current Media Inc.ZOSWhizbang Films Inc. & Lifecapture InteractiveFric ShowTurbulent Média inc.Mystery HuntersCollideascope Digital Productions Inc.Adrenaline ProjectMarblemediaMontréal en 12 lieuxToxa Inc.Se donner le motECP Nouveaux médias

The Bell Fund is trying to help make new media pay

News | 06/03/2008 1:58 pm EDT

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