New Media Producers Need Funding Stability and Growth

In January Telefilm Canada released the results for its latest round of financing from the Canada New Media Fund to the chagrin of many producers. Out of 168 project applications from across the country, a total of only 26 – or 15% – were accepted for funding. This is similar to the Fall of 2002 when only 17% of proposals were selected, yet entirely different from the spring of 2002 announcement when a whopping 47% made the cut. A lot of folks are left scratching their heads. To make matters worse, a rumour was making the rounds at the beginning of the year to the effect that Telefilm was about to place the entire fund on hold while it once again re-evaluated its program. The worst thing that could happen right now for our emerging interactive content sector is another bout of instability from a key funding agency. When Telefilm shut down for most of 2001, a lot of producers were left in the lurch. Even though the result was an improved production fund, the confusion and lack of development support over that period put a damper on many project plans at a time that the entire sector was reeling. Business hates instability over almost everything else and this is especially true given the fledgling nature of the new media industry in Canada. Telefilm Canada’s western regional director Earl Hong Tai – in the January 23rd edition of Canadian NEW MEDIA – blames part of the problem on industry fragmentation and lack of input from the new media industry. Confronted with the fact that the overall value of the cost of preparing unsuccessful proposals may have actually surpassed the $2 million in funding handed out overall in the last round, he surmised that the wasted effort must be due to a communication failure between Telefilm and producers. If that many unqualified proposals are regularly submitted, then there is a communications problem. However, there are a number of associations across the country that could help Telefilm get the right message out and they are not that hard to find. It is obvious that our industry is fragmented. We are still at a nascent stage of development creating content for emerging media that – for all intents and purposes – didn’t exist 10 years ago. Producers everywhere are feeling their way around in the dark trying to find elusive content and business models. We work on multiple platforms and often have to deal with a large and unwieldy number of partners and funders. There are extremely few viable or cooperative distribution channels that could ensure wide exposure for our productions. We all realize that Telefilm is simply working with the hand that it has been dealt. And that hand is hardly a winning one in regards to new media. With only $27 million – out of the approximately $200 million Canadian Heritage set aside in its Canadian Culture Online Program for new media – over three years, the agency must juggle various regional, language, business and cultural requirements. Though it is important to give Canadians access to historical digitized cultural content online, it is even more crucial that we fund the projects that contextualize and give voice to our current culture. We do not spend millions of dollars funding the broadcast of the CBC archives, even if it does contain highly valuable insight into our past. Instead, we rely on content producers to delve into those archives and create original perspectives using the historical footage as support. More funds must be diverted into original content production if we hope to build a sustainable industry in Canada. Perhaps it is easy to forget why these funds exist in the first place. Canada has a unique opportunity to excel at the creation of interactive content for both national and global audiences. As one of the most wired countries in the world and with an audience that represents the global diversity, Canadians enjoy some unique advantages online. This is both a business and a cultural opportunity, one that requires committed investment over the long term. What Canadian Heritage and Telefilm can do: Create a larger envelope – It is apparent that demand far outstrips supply. $9 million per year for original independent content production pales in comparison to film and television. A rate of oversubscription of 600% is unhealthy and unsustainable. Without new money for qualified projects, the new media cultural industry sector will shrink. Divert existing funds away from distribution and toward development, production & marketing – Find better levers to encourage distribution of Canadian content through portal and access sites Canadians visit most regularly. Wider and increased consultation – Market conditions and industry definitions are in constant flux. There needs to be a constant dialogue between agency and industry. Advance pre-qualification – Encourage producers to submit one-page project synopses to pre-qualify for competition. The current situation where the industry is spending more money applying for Telefilm funding than it receives in return is unsustainable. More transparency – Clearer rationale for why and how monies are allocated. Stablility & Growth – Recognize that funding requirements will continue to grow. Keep multiple application windows open – new media production cycles vary widely from project to project. This flexibility is needed. Encourage industry peering – Create incentives for established companies to partner with emerging companies to "executive produce." What New Media Industry can do: Get Together and Speak Out – Join an industry association and make your production and business needs known. Partner up – Smaller companies can benefit greatly by partnering with more established companies or ones with different skill sets. Educate ourselves – building a new business/industry is a complex process and requires a constant updating of skills and knowledge. Ian Kelso owns and operates Modern World Communications and is currently president of the New Media Business Alliance, a not-for-profit association of interactive content production companies based in Toronto. He can be reached at ian@nmba.ca.

New Media Producers Need Funding Stability and Growth

Broadcast | February 20, 2003

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