Montreal: Telefilm Canada’s operations office in Montreal expects an unprecedented 90 feature film production applications this year. With the funding agency obliged to pick up an ever larger share of the financing, typically 50% and more, it seems unlikely more than a fraction of the projects will advance to principal photography.

‘It’s the first year we’ve seen such a big demand in production in French and in English. We’ve never seen this many requests in English,’ says Louis Laverdiere, Telefilm, director, Quebec operations.

Telefilm has approximately $11 million available for French-track feature production this year. The $11 million includes $5.2 million from the Canada Television and Cable Production Fund, represented in two parts, investment and contribution.

The 1997/98 English-language feature film allocation for Montreal had not been determined at press time.

The number of films which will be produced this year may ultimately depend on policy orientation, in other words, the ratio between lower-budget films d’auteurs and more expensive commercial projects.

To administer the high volume, Nicole Giroux, recently named director, business unit ­ feature film and multimedia, says a series of deadlines for feature film production applications have been established, starting with May 20.

Applications filed May 20 will be evaluated at a June 20 comparative committee meeting, with a decision within four to six weeks of the original filing date. Subsequent filing deadlines are June 19, Aug. 8 and Oct. 10. Giroux says Telefilm’s filing deadlines were prepared in consultation with producers’ anticipated summer and fall shooting schedules.

(Last year, 15 feature films were funded by the Montreal office ­ 10 French-language features representing investments of $12 million and five English-language features representing investments of $4 million. The total includes three French-language minority coproductions.)

Ginette Pouliot, senior financial analyst with Telefilm, says the agency covered 53% of French-language feature budgets in ’96/97, up from about 40% the previous year. The average French-track budget was $3.2 million, a major increase over both ’95 and ’96, due in large measure to the cost of expensive f/x, she says.

‘We can’t finance a film at 35% anymore,’ says Laverdiere. ‘Telefilm is now very often obliged to go over 50%.’

This year feature film projects budgeted under $1 million, up from $500,000 last year, can access funding without the benefit of a distribution agreement. Projects over $1 million require a distribution agreement while features applying for ctcpf funds require both a distribution agreement and a broadcast licence.

In some cases, producers include a portion of the Distribution Fund investment, in the form of a minimum guarantee ($70,000 for French-language features), as part of the financial structure for features.