Guidelines for next year’s Canadian Television Fund should be available to the industry by early December at the latest, says Garry Toth, executive director of the Licence Fee Program.

And while the guidelines are still being revised, they are expected to mirror a set of four key points made by Telefilm Canada chair Laurier LaPierre and ctf chairman Richard Stursberg at an industry forum panel discussion that took place during the Toronto International Film Festival.

The four points were essentially that productions funded by the ctf will:

* speak to Canadians and Canada with Canadian stories;

* be 10 out of 10 cavco qualified – with certain possible exceptions, e.g. animation;

* have underlying rights that are Canadian; and

* be shot and set primarily in Canada – with possible exceptions, e.g. documentary.

‘At this snapshot in time what we have is an overall direction for the fund,’ says Toth. ‘Where we’re looking now is whether there will be exceptions to those four points. In other words, will those four points be refined?’

The ctf board, made up of members from a diverse cross-section of the industry, is now reportedly tweaking the four key points in a way that will best serve those who access the fund.

‘In terms of branding and the identity of the fund, and indeed where our financiers are interested in focusing the money, is on distinctively Canadian programming,’ says Toth.

‘What people are obviously anxious about and concerned aboutÉis how we further define those four points.’

A certainty for the upcoming guidelines is that there will be no more lineups. In a letter addressed to the industry Stursberg writes, ‘For the next round of applications, there will no longer be a first-come, first-served process for the lfp and the eip will be more transparent. As well, there will be only one set of guidelines. You will be able to access the guidelines – which will be one ‘book’ for both eip and lfp this year – in print and on our revamped Web site.’

Indeed, the other big task facing the ctf right now is harmonizing the fund’s two programs, the Licence Fee Program and the Equity Investment Program, administrated by Telefilm.

At the Trade Forum panel, both Stursberg and LaPierre said the ctf is now one fund – one fund with two programs.

Toth says that while things are going smoothly, harmonizing the two programs is a sizeable task.

However the final guidelines shape up, ctf-funded shows will clearly have to be more indigenous.

‘Whatever is funded by the ctf next year,’ says Phil Serruya, manager of communications for the ctf’s lfp, ‘it will look and smell and taste Canadian.’