The Canadian Television Fund’s switch to Broadcaster Performance Envelopes as a way to dole out production funding has been very good for Montreal producer Joceyln Deschenes.

The president of Sphere Media Plus has four productions listed in the Nov. 4 updated roster of productions greenlit through the new CTF funding system now eight months old, and that’s only 66% of the titles on his estimated $30-million slate of production for 2004, his biggest year so far.

Five-year-old Sphere has, to date in 2004, claimed more than $8.6 million in CTF money – and the trick, says Deschenes, is to give the broadcasters what they need.

The drama producer specializes in lower-budget productions that look higher budget, which allows broadcasters to get the volume of work they need to fill schedules and generate loyal audiences without breaking the bank.

With the exception of the $800,000-per-hour budget of debut series Vice cache, Sphere normally works within a budget of $220,000 to $500,000 per hour, says Deschenes. The first nine one-hours of Vice cache got $2.6 million from the CTF through Groupe TVA.

Investing in development and screenwriters is also key, he explains, along with a commitment to fresh ideas and concepts that are easily renewable.

For instance, Sphere’s Cover Girls, a French-language Radio-Canada dramedy about drag queens, is a unique concept on the air, suggests Deschenes, while his longer-running SRC series Rumeurs is being redone as an English-language pilot in December or January. The debut 13 half-hours of Cover Girl was funded to the tune of $2.06 million, while Rumeurs got $1.98 million for 26 half-hours

A third season of Sphere drama Annie et ses hommes got $1.99 million for 20 one-hours through TVA.

So far, the CTF’s Broadcaster Performance Envelope has paid out $28.54 million to English-language production (with $31.24 million remaining) and $50.15 million to French-language production (with $17.31 million remaining). In total, $82.96 million has been allocated, with another $48.54 million to be committed by the broadcasters before the Jan. 14, 2005 deadline.

At this point in 2003, the CTF had committed $139 million in funding – however, old and new systems are not comparable and the flow of the funding is substantially different, says CTF spokesman Ryan Reyes. It is also harder to track what is not being funded since the CTF only receives applications after a broadcaster has committed a portion of its envelope to the show.

‘The only time an application we receive won’t get funded now is if we deem it to be ineligible,’ says Reyes. ‘In this new system, producers aren’t going through the whole application process only to be turned down because we have no funding left. Broadcasters will commit their envelopes and then stop when they run out of funds.’

The big funding winners

Among the shows supported at Groupe TVA is debut drama La promesse (26 x 60), meaning Les Productions Point de Mire in Montreal gets $1.2 million. Debut eight-hour drama series Le negociateur earned Les Productions Sovimage of Montreal $1.84 million. Debut eight-hour drama series Nos etes will go ahead for Cirrus Productions and Duo Productions of Montreal ($3.38 million).

At SRC, long-running children’s series Watatatow will do a 14th season of 44 half-hours, earning Vivavision of Montreal $1.35 million in funding. Debut 13 x 30 drama La vie revee de Mario Jean, produced by Yatsav and Cirrus Communications of Montreal, got $1.81 million. The second season of 24 half-hours of drama Les Bougon – C’est aussi ca la vie, produced by Aetios Productions of Montreal, earned $4.26 million in funding.

Also at SRC, the six one-hour miniseries Rene Levesque (and its producer Cine Tele Action of Montreal) was given funding of $1.9 million.

At Tele-Quebec, the big funding winners include the fourth season of children’s series Ramdam, which means producer Vivavision of Montreal gets $1.92 million to make 100 new half-hour episodes. Meanwhile, debut drama series Pure laine, produced by Vendome Television of Montreal, has been funded to the tune of $1.53 million for 13 half-hours

At TQS, the third season of 20 x 30 drama series Trois fois rien earned $1.53 million in funding for producer Gestion Avanti Cine Video of Montreal.

On the English-language front, Family Channel’s second season of 13 x 30 children’s series The Secret World of Benjamin Bear means Ontario producer Amberwood Productions gets $1.25 million.

Over at Teletoon, green lights have gone to Carl Squared, a debut 16 half-hours, netting $1.08 million for Portfolio Entertainment in Toronto. Class of the Titans, a debut 26 x 30 animated series for Studio B in Vancouver, gets $1.16 million. The Nova Scotia-made kids series Delilah & Julius, a 26 x 30 debut for Collideascope Digital and Decode Entertainment, gets $1.2 million.

Broadcasters have until Jan. 14 to commit the remaining funds in their envelopes. They must commit 85% of their funds according to the established genre allocations and 15% on anything else except English-language drama.

English drama is funded through a separate stream at the CTF.

In related news, the Quebec office of Telefilm Canada has approved 30 of the 43 French-language applications for development financing filed for the Sept. 8 deadline. Of the $700,000 allocated (59% of the envelope), documentaries got $340,000, dramas got $310,000, youth and children’s programming got $25,000, and variety/performing arts got $25,000. Another 15% of the development financing envelope for French-language productions will be committed following the Nov. 24 deadline.

-www.canadiantelevisionfund.ca