Montreal: The Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund awarded just under $3.1 million in grants and licence fee top-ups in 2000, a 50% increase over the previous year, according to the fund’s recently released annual report.

The Bell Fund invested $2.4 million in 14 new media projects, making up more than 77% of all funding, and $702,500 or 23% of funding in 10 TV projects. Fourteen different broadcasters are associated with the new TV projects.

Bell Fund chair Paul Hoffert, a faculty member at York University and Sheridan College, says one in five submitted programs in 2000 received financial support.

Vice-chair Sheridan Scott, Bell Canada’s chief regulatory officer, says additional financing has become available for 2001, including funds from the primary Bell ExpressVu endowment, a multiyear, $10-million endowment resulting from the BCE/CTV acquisition benefits packages and new funding from Innovatia, a subsidiary of Aliant, NBTel’s interactive TV service.

In professional development activities, the Bell Fund supported programs at the Baddeck International New Media Festival and at Playback’s ConvergenceTV.com conference. It also provided cash awards to Cyberpitch winners at the Banff Television Festival and the Canadian Association of Broadcaster’s annual conference.

New media projects are eligible for grants of up to 50% of production costs, up to $250,000. The TV project component is eligible for a licence fee top-up of 50% of the broadcast fee paid directly by the broadcaster, up to $75,000.

The Bell Fund is administered in French and English by the Independent Production Fund. *

-www.bell.ca/fund