Vancouver: Facing a dwindling budget, British Columbia Film has gone back to the innovation well and come up with its Slate Development Fund, a new program, the first of its kind in Canada, that will provide support for the development and marketing of film and TV projects, handing over a three-year envelope of up to $225,000 to between six and 10 B.C.-based producers this year.

Rob Egan, B.C. Film’s president and CEO, says the group will spend all of its $2.28-million allocation from the provincial government. The budget does not allow for production financing. Operations will be covered by interest, yields and other income.

‘The tax credits are there to support production financing,’ says Egan. ‘We targeted our budget to areas not served by the tax credits and to complement the tax credits.’

The Slate Development Fund gives producers who make the cut flexibility and decision-making autonomy, he says, and contributes to their long-term planning, business support and production readiness. Eligible costs in development and marketing plans include acquisitions, options, research, writing and script editing fees, location scouting, casting, legal fees and other expenses.

‘It’s a great thing and something we’ve been asking for for a long time,’ says Infinity Media Canada producer Rob Merilees, who recently made the features Saved! and The Snow Walker. ‘Producers can take this money and hopefully leverage it to option and develop bigger and better projects. It means we won’t have to rush projects into production to cover spent costs. It’s exactly what B.C. Film should be doing with limited funds.’

Expressions of interest are due by Aug. 27 from B.C.-based producers with a minimum of four Canadian-content features, television production (including unscripted drama and variety) and/or documentaries in development, either wholly owned or in partnership with a coproducer. There is a $107 application fee.

B.C. Film will whittle the applicants down to a shortlist of candidates who will then submit proposals. Producers making it to stage two will hand in a three-year development and marketing plan – coinciding with the term of the Slate Development Fund grant. The proposal must include synopses, cash flow forecasts and project budgeting and financing and other information.

Winners of the proposal stage will get a 50% advance of their designated envelopes after they meet contracted performance measures such as delivery of project-by-project budgets and corresponding financing structures, delivery of contracts with broadcasters, distributors and funders confirming financial commitments, and satisfactory project development reports.

Evidence required

The remaining 50% is payable when the applicant has written evidence of project financing equal to the initial advance, additional funding support and attached key above-the-line personnel and talent, along with international sales projections and other performance markers.

The Slate Development Fund will share $1.8 million of B.C. Film’s annual budget with the ongoing Project Development Fund, a long-standing program that supports producers with a single production. Its criteria are similar to those of the Slate Fund, but its financial component is more modest. (Producers can apply for only one of the development funds.)

The Project Development Fund is triggered when a B.C.-based producer has a commitment from a broadcaster or distributor. Applications are evaluated on a first-come-first-served basis, and successful projects can get a grant of up to 50% advanced from the broadcaster or distributor. Funding for dramas and animated television series is capped at $20,000, while all other genres are capped at $10,000 in 2004/05. The maximum development funding a drama or animated production can get throughout its development history is $50,000. Other genres max out at $30,000.

‘Through both programs, we hope to develop more B.C. projects and better B.C. projects,’ says Egan. ‘Our goal is to sustain B.C.-owned film and television production in this province and to ensure that our filmmakers are equipped to succeed in the increasingly competitive national and global marketplace.’

Other B.C. Film programs in the new budget include the Passport to Markets Program that assists B.C. producers to get to the business-building markets and the annual short film competition Kick Start (in partnership with the B.C. branch of the Directors Guild of Canada). Professional skills development also continues with support for B.C. residents attending the Canadian Film Centre and a professional internship program that expands from 20 weeks to a full year.

Check out the B.C. Film website for complete guidelines.

-www.bcfilm.bc.ca