Montreal: Telefilm Canada has reported total commitments for the year ending March 31 of $172.4 million, including $134 million for production and development, and $22.6 million for activities related to product launch and promotion (distribution, dubbing, subtitling, national and international marketing, participation in Canadian and international festivals and markets) and industrial and professional development.

The information is from a preview release of the agency’s ’98/99 annual report, currently in distribution.

The preview says Telefilm supported the creation of 588 projects, 276 in production and 312 in development, representing cumulative production activity of $550 million, and 17,000 jobs.

‘The results again demonstrate that in this country, with its limited population, two official languages and the proximity of the United States, public funding is indispensable to creating cultural products with Canadian content,’ says Francois Macerola, the agency’s executive director. ‘In many respects, the Canadian system is a model for cultural assistance and one of the most remarkable catalysts for talent development ever created.’

On average, Telefilm investment made up 24% of all project budgets. Just over a third, 34.2%, of resources went to French projects, 65.1% to projects in English.

Through the Equity Investment Program of the Canadian Television Fund, $1 million was allocated to aboriginal-language productions, including the first aboriginal coproduction with France, Les Filles de Shimun.

Telefilm allocated 72% of its funds to projects from Montreal and Toronto, and 28% to projects from other regions (19% to the West and 8.3% to the Atlantic provinces).

Among the highlights:

* Of the $134 million devoted to production and development, $8.4 million went to the development of feature films, tv programs and multimedia products.

* The agency made $107.5 million in eip investments in 850 hours of tv production, a 14% increase over last year. In the past three years, 50% of eip resources have been allotted to cbc/Radio-Canada projects and 50% to projects for other broadcasters.

In ’98/99, 68% of eip resources were allocated to drama, 17% to documentaries, 14% to children’s programs and 1% to variety shows.

*$34.3 million was invested from the Feature Film Fund and eip in 45 new theatrical feature films with combined budgets of nearly $180 million.

* 71 projects were funded through the Multimedia Fund.

In ’98/99, Telefilm Canada’s international festivals bureau entered 1,171 Canadian productions in 104 international festivals and events.

The crown corporation’s administrative costs in the period were $15.8 million, or 9.1% of total spending.