Eighteen companies are receiving grants from the IP BC Pilot Program, announced last December as a partnership between Creative BC and the Canadian Media Producers Association, BC Producers Branch (CMPA-BC).

The pilot initiative is disbursing a total of $200,000 in funding to B.C.-based prodcos to adapt pre-existing intellectual property (IP) for film and television content. Qualifying formats include fiction, documentary and animated series, as well as programs for television and streamer platform networks. Feature films for theatrical distribution also qualify for the program, in which the cost of IP acquisition is the only eligible program expense.

Two of the recipients, announced in a news release Thursday (April 13), landed the highest grant of $25,000: Relish Productions for IP StarRunner, and Tilt 9 Entertainment for Cranked. Both are planned as feature films.

Arcana Studio is receiving $20,000 for a feature film adaptation of Wolfcop3, while Portraits from a Fire Productions is getting $16,000 for a short film adaptation of A Story for Global Hope.

Three prodcos are on tap to receive $13,500: Goodbye Productions for IP Running Through Sprinkler, to be adapted as a TV series; Ceroma Films for a miniseries adaptation of Project Souvenir; and Goonworks Films for a feature film version of The Rescue of Annette Poitras.

Other grant recipients for TV series adaptations include: Thunderbird Entertainment’s Atomic Cartoons for a pilot of Rocket Saves the Day ($12,000); Independent Edge Films with Second Sight ($8,000); Rogue River Films for Where is Lisa? ($6,750); Reality Distortion Field with Mindful of Murder ($4,500); Trembling Void Studios for Wire Wings ($4,500); Studio BRB with Tuesdays and Sundays ($3,150); Akilla Express with Junie ($2,700); and Falcon Features for Rescue Me ($900).

Screen Siren Pictures is getting $3,398 for a miniseries adaptation of Little Wing, while Shotglass Productions is receiving $8,550 for a feature film adaptation Middle of Nowhere, and Patrick Street Pictures has been tapped for $5,333 for an MOW adaptation of A New Leash on Death.

The recipients “will leverage the pilot’s support to improve their competitive position in securing high potential properties, whether B.C.-owned or out-of-province,” said the release, adding that it will help them “move forward without market trigger to develop, produce, and then sell as Canadian-owned screen-based content at domestic and international markets.”

Prem Gill, CEO, Creative BC, said in a statement: “Securing rights to exciting new stories is an essential step for B.C. producers — recognizing how competitive it can be to bid for those titles, we want to give our local creators a strong advantage.”

Tracey Friesen, managing VP, CMPA, BC Producer Branch, said “buyers perk up” when a pitch is “built around a pre-existing creative work with an established audience.”

“CMPA-BC knows our province’s producers are strategic and entrepreneurial, and will leverage this support into strong business opportunities,” said Friesen.

Image from Pixabay