Separate deadlines for each genre of production, mechanisms to balance support of new series versus renewals, and a removal of coproduction caps are among the proposals being reviewed by a series of subcommittees established by the Canadian Television Fund.

The committees will report back to the ctf board in September when staff will begin drafting a new set of guidelines in time for an early November release.

Other concerns under review include strengthening the four ers, issues surrounding the dollars-at-risk formula, point linkage between the Licence Fee Program and Equity Investment Program, regional priorities and balances, the recoupment process, and the treaty coproduction envelope.

In the last round of applications, many producers were unable to pitch their big dramas in June because ctf financing had not been secured, which brought up the subject of multiple deadlines for different genres of production.

‘The question asked is can we give producers more flexibility so they don’t have to dump all their dramas and all their docs and kids’ applications on the same day,’ says ctf chair Richard Stursberg. ‘It would give producers more time to prepare their files and our staff more time to process applications, but we have to look at the implications of such a change.’

In its ’99/2000 guidelines relating to coproductions, the ctf scrapped a 65% Canadian content quota requirement for lfp funding and, at the same time, capped funding at $5 million for both the eip and lfp envelopes.

The review committee will look at the strategic implications of capping ctf coproduction funds and, indirectly, at the related issue of ‘balance’ between majority and minority initiatives.

The review will consider the coproduction treaty principle that states national production funds remain open to official treaty coproductions.

’99/2000 commitments

Issues relating to the support of various genres of production and regional equity are becoming clearer with the release of preliminary ctf stats on its 1999/2000 commitments.

The genre breakdowns for the English-language envelope are as follows: 56 drama projects representing 313 hours of production and combined budgets of $252.2 million were supported by the ctf with $87.8 million; 36 kids’ shows representing 279 hours of production and total budgets of $92 million received $19.2 million; 128 docs worth 390 hours and $67.7 million in budgets received $18.2 million; and 11 variety shows representing 17 hours and $7.1 million in production budgets received $1.9 million.

In the French-language envelope, 37 dramas worth 345 hours of production and budgets of $40.5 million received $28 million; 19 children’s programs representing 336 hours and $118 million in budgets received $8.7 million; 62 docs worth 230 hours and $34.6 million were supported with $12.1 million; and 19 variety shows worth 187 hours and $21.5 million in budgets received $4.3 million.

As for oversubscription, in the English-language envelope, $18.3 million more was requested than was available in the children’s category, $17.8 million more in docs, $16.6 million more in drama, and $1.8 million more in variety and performing arts.

In the French-language kitty, children’s oversubscription tallied $2.7 million, drama $10 million, and docs $5.5 million.

Broken down provincially, in the English-language envelope Ontario received 48.7% ($32.5 million) of the lfp allotment and 45.5% ($27.5 million) of the eip for a total ctf commitment of $60 million. b.c. came away with 21.9% ($14.6 million) of the lfp money and 26.3% ($15.9 million) of the eip (ctf total, $30.5 million); followed by Nova Scotia with 11.7% ($7.8 million) of the lfp money and 8.1% ($4.9 million) of the eip (for a total of $12.7 million in support). Quebec received 9.3% ($6.2 million) of the lfp and 9.6% ($5.8 million) of the eip ($12 million in total ctf support).

In the Prairies, Alberta took 3.6% ($2.4 million) of the lfp and 3.7% ($2.2 million) of the eip ($4.6 million in total); Saskatchewan came away with 1.9% ($1.3 million) of the lfp and 1.9% ($1.2 million) of the eip (for a total of $2.5 million); and Manitoba, 1.2% ($800,000) of the lfp and 1.5% ($900,000) of the eip ($1.7 million in total).

To the east, New Brunswick received 0.4% ($300,000) of the lfp and no eip funding; Newfoundland garnered 0.7% ($500,000) of the lfp and 0.9% ($600,000) of eip money ($1.1 million in total); and Prince Edward Island came away with no lfp money and 1.5% ($900,000) of the eip. The Northwest Territories received 0.6% ($400,000) of the available lfp money and 0.9% ($500,000) of the eip (for a total of $900,000).

Through the French-language envelope, Quebec received 94% or $34.8 million of the lfp and 90% ($25.4 million) of the eip (for a ctf total of $60.2 million). Ontario picked up 1.6% ($600,000) of the lfp and 3.8% ($1.1 million) of the eip for ($1.7 million in total); Manitoba follows with 1.6 % ($600,000) of the lfp and 3.4% ($96,000) of the eip ($1.6 million in total). New Brunswick received 2.2% ($800,000) of the lfp and 2.7% ($75,000) of the eip ($1.6 million in ctf support).

A combined total of $127.2 million was spent through the English-language envelope (both eip and lfp) and $65.3 million was spent on the French-language side.

Commitments made by the English-language lfp envelope came in at $66.8 million, with the eip kitty totaling $60.4 million. The French-language lfp envelope total was $37 million and the eip $28.3 million.

The eip supported 194 projects with $88.7 million in commitments, representing 837 hours of programming and $395.9 million in production budgets. With $103.8 million in commitments, the lfp supported 339 programs representing 1,988 hours of programming valued at $594.4 million in production budgets.