Changes need to happen across financing for all media, said Norm Bolen – and they need to happen now if they’re going to be successful.

That was the main message that the CMPA president and CEO was driving home at the Financing Across Screens session at the Interactive Exchange 2010 in Toronto.

“The government is seized with the idea of a digital strategy for Canada and attaching itself to this train,” said Bolen, stressing that it’s also interested in innovation and content creation. “But let me be clear about this – there’s no appetite for the government to invest any more money in this sector. Any further investment is a wall, and the attitude is to let the market sort itself out.”

He notes that the CMPA has been pursuing incremental financial opportunities. In the meantime, “the entire media industry is in a total state of crisis: no one knows where we’re going,” adding that the industry is currently being driven by consumer behavior and demand.

“If we can have scale, we can be stronger, and we need to be bigger.”

Bolen also addressed the importance of producers retaining their rights in a marketplace where broadcasters are often taking control. “Most [producers] are facing a crisis because people are losing rights to broadcasters, and content creators are moving to becoming service providers. We need to find ways to control rights. It’s a big struggle and the most important macro situation we face.”

Marblemedia partner and producer Mark Bishop, says he’s combating this with the prodco’s convergent content and selling localized formats for TV series, as well as homemade games and domain names for such series as This Is Daniel Cook and The Adrenaline Project – for the latter, viewers typing in theadrenalineproject.com will be redirected to YTV in Canada, but stateside viewers will be redirected to Fox.

Ownership is key, said Bishop. He also used the example of the prodco picking up the format license for Skatoony from Cartoon Network U.K. for which it created interactive content that it can license back to CN U.K. It can then be sold with international versions to other territories and this has now created another partnership between to the two that will see them co-pitching the content.

RBC’s Joanne Gordon stressed that banks are a viable option and are far more approachable and open to the emerging digital sector.

“We want to do business, we want to grow business and find as many ways to work as possible,” said the VP media for professional and business services. “We want to connect you to partners and VCs who can fill that capital structure for you.”

That said, she also noted that RBC in particular would like to see a track record from the company with a CFO and solid infrastructure. “We don’t put value on the IP, but we under it and are looking to take you to an IPO.”