With a firm promise to delegates at the cftpa’s annual conference in Ottawa that complete guideline packages will be ready the first week of March, executives of the Canada Television and Cable Production Fund used the platform as an opportunity to release some of the changes producers can expect for the new guidelines, effective April 1.

The Licence Fee Program and the Equity Investment Program have harmonized their licence fee thresholds. As it stands, one or more Canadian broadcaster must have contributed cash fees to the tune of 20% of the budget for drama and 15% for children’s, docs, variety and arts if the project is from Toronto or Montreal; 15% for drama and 10% for others if the project is from the regions; and 10% for docs and kids’ shows with budgets under $250,000. For ‘big budget’ programs (exceeding $750,000 an hour), it’s no longer required that the broadcaster’s minimum cash contribution exceed $150,000 an hour.

Contribution caps for the equity investment program have been set at $2.4 million for half-hour drama series, $4 million for one-hour drama series of less than 22 episodes, and $5.5 million for renewed one-hour drama series of 22 episodes or more. The max for miniseries is $2 million and the cap for mows is $1 million.

On the licence fee side, the lfp will contribute up to 15% of the program’s budget, and that figure may be subsidized by a 10% regional bonus and a 5% bonus for productions produced in French which will not be versioned into English.

When a program is coproduced by an applicant from the regions and an applicant from Montreal or Toronto, the regional bonus is 5% provided the regional applicant has a ‘meaningful’ role as a producer. Contribution payments will be doled out 50% in each of phase one and phase two.

Caps for the lfp are set at $750,000 for features and mows from Toronto/Montreal and the regions; $2.5 million for regional series with less than 22 episodes and $2 million in Montreal/ Toronto; and $3.5 million for regional series of 22 episodes or more as compared to $3 million in Montreal/Toronto.

As for equity investment in regional and interprovincial copros, Telefilm’s criteria states that, in order to qualify for the reduced licence fee threshold, principal photography must be done in the region (more than 150 km from Toronto or Montreal), with the exception of some docs. The regional applicant must have at least 50% of the copyright, creative and financial control, and be actively involved in development.

For international treaty coproductions, both programs adhere to Telefilm’s certification guidelines. Under the lfp, eligible coproductions are not eligible for the lower licence fee threshold, regional bonus or French-language bonus.

Productions which were formerly produced in-house by broadcasters are now eligible under the eip if the independent producer has full control and the broadcaster is in no way involved. The eip will also accept versioning costs in production budgets if the version is intended for the domestic market.

Telefilm did not release criteria for aboriginal-language productions, but has confirmed that it will continue to manage the $15 million earmarked for feature films.