Alberta has revised its Multimedia Development Fund to boost the cash available for local film and TV projects to attract foreign producers.

The western Canadian province is still offering cash grants to film and TV producers, and not tax credits as is done in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.

And the available coin is still handed out based on the level of local ownership in a production and the number of Albertans in key creative positions, including writer, director and lead or supporting acting roles.

The big change outlined Friday in a statement from Alberta film commissioner Jeff Brinton is that funding is now available through two streams, rather than the previous three, to offer higher incentives.

Under the old regime, producers could receive direct grants from three streams: projects with 51% or more Alberta control, equal or minority Alberta control from 11% to 50%, and a grant for zero to 10% local control.

Now the province has shifted to two streams, one for indigenous and coproductions, and a second for foreign-controlled or service productions.

The first indigenous/coproduction stream requires between 30% and 100% Albertan ownership of production and “proportionate” local investment and creative control.

The second stream applies to productions with no local control or where an Albertan has up to 30% ownership.

Shrinking the streams aims to increase funding for qualifying projects, which in turn promises to boost Alberta’s competitiveness in bringing foreign and Canadian producers to the province.

Photo: Natalie Lucier / flickr Creative Commons