Over the 1998/99 fiscal, the Shaw Children’s Programming Initiative committed more than $8.6 million to 63 children’s projects through the Shaw Fund, the Dr. Geoffrey R. Conway Fund, and the new Shaw Television Broadcast Fund.

This is a substantial jump from the support available the previous year when $3.1 million was spent on 43 projects.

The increase in ’98/99 funding is a result of the addition of the stbf, which began operating Sept. 1, 1998. The stbf was established under the crtc ruling requiring all Canadian licensed broadcast distribution undertakings to contribute 5% of gross annual revenues to the production of Canadian programming.

The ’98/99 fiscal also reflects the final spending out of the $10-million Shaw, or ‘Skippy’, fund, which divvied up its final commitments in August.

The fiscal 2000 pot will not be as hefty, with only the two funds operating. scpi executive director Sharon Blank anticipates a maximum contribution of $7 million, with roughly $3.5 million to $4 million expected to be available in the stbf and up to $3.5 million estimated for the Conway fund.

New this year, and helping to compensate for the loss of the Shaw Fund, the Conway fund – previously only accessible for preschool shows – has been expanded to support all programming for kids under 12.

The first round of application deadlines for the current fiscal was Oct. 13, and Blank says the fund has received $1.7 million in requests.

In ’98/99, the stbf supported nine continuing series with an equity investment of $2.1 million, 13 new series with $2.3 million, and seven projects in the mow/doc/specials category with $556,000.

Combined, the Conway Fund and the final commitment out of the Shaw Fund spent $1.63 million on nine continuing series in ’98/99, $1.4 million on eight new series, $30,000 on one mow, and $552,000 on special project grants (including festivals, awards, conferences).

In total, the stbf invested $4.9 million and the combined Conway/Shaw fund invested $3.75 million.

The Conway fund is a $17.5-million pool of money made available by Shaw Cablesystems for children’s programming (targeted at 12-year-olds and under) licensed to a private Canadian broadcaster. The fund offers development assistance in the form of interest-free advances repayable on the first day of principal photography; production equity financing of up to 10% of the budget, capped at $200,000; and versioning loans.

The stbf provides equity financing of up to 15% of the production budget, to a maximum of $250,000, for children’s, youth and family tv programming. Projects can be licensed to a private or public broadcaster. Financial contributors to the fund include Shaw Cablesystems, Star Choice Digital Satellite Television, EastLink Cable Systems, and Access Communications (now owned by Shaw).

Projects can apply to both the Conway and Shaw Television Broadcast funds through a new streamlined application process. Next year’s deadlines are Feb. 16, May 10 and July 12.

Down the road, Blank would like to see the scpi look at support for Internet-based programming. The Alliance for Children and Television and the youth committee of the cftpa have contacted the fund regarding the Internet as related to kids programming, she says. ‘Many of our clients have websites and we receive numerous requests to participate in Internet initiatives.’