Montreal: Due to the sheer volume of screenplay assistance applications it has received, SODEC, Quebec’s provincial film-funding body, says it was obliged, as of Sept. 1, to stop accepting new pitches until the 2006/07 cycle.

SODEC officials say they receive approximately 200 applications for this program every year, but have already received more than that for the 2005/06 season.

‘The applications for screenwriting are connected to production funding applications, which come a bit later. People feel a great need to get their scripts in as soon as possible,’ explains Joelle Levie, SODEC general director of cinema and TV production. ‘There is also greater interest in the film industry because of the recent success of the Quebec industry. The numbers of productions and applications has increased over the past five years.’

Enthusiastic applicants are a good thing, Levie says, but ‘we don’t have the human resources to look through every application and screen everything properly. We had no choice but to close the door.’ The calendar for applications for 2006/07 will be announced in November.