The Independent Production Fund (IPF) and the Canada Media Fund (CMF) have selected 30 scripted short-form series for support under the 2023 IPF-CMF Development Packaging Program.

The program supports the development of high-quality, Canadian, original, scripted short-form series for exploitation primarily on digital platforms and channels. IPF and CMF increased the program budget from $600,000 to $900,000 in February, with each approved project receiving $30,000 and advisory support.

Twenty of this year’s projects are in English and 10 are in French. They were selected from a “record” 187 submissions and come from a broad diversity of creators and producers across Canada, according to a news release.

The English-language projects include the multi-genre animated film Solstice Stories by Toronto-based BP Solarpunk Media. Kai Little-White and Jared Lorenz are producers on the film. Writers include Little-White, Alice Wang and Jose Holder. Aisha Porter-Christie is the story editor.

The other animations on the English-language list are the Subnormality-produced dramedy Secret Satan, from writer and producer Chris Ruddick (a.k.a Winston Rowntree), producer Geoff Lapaire, and story editor Ethan Cole; and Monster Problems (LASS Productions), from writer and producer Shannon Fewster, and story editor Jocelyne Meinert.

Backwoods Lodge is a fantasy-horror by Bad Bar Pictures. The series is produced by Jean Ngo and written by Rose Schimm, while Adam Reid and Gavin Heffernan serve as the development executive and story editor.

There are also five English-language comedies in the mix, including Trauma Bonding (True West Films), produced by Elizabeth Yake and written by Daniela Pagliarello, with Allie Pearse as the story editor; and The Third Party (Club Red Productions), from writer and producer Jenna MacMillan, and story editors Heidi Brander and Jonathan Torrens.

The other three comedies are Don Valley Girls (DVG Productions), from writers and producers Rabiya Mansoor, Mona Hersi, Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller and Andie Hong, producer Jonas Diamond and story editor Isabel Kanaan; Comedium (Beanduck Productions), written by Holly Brace-Lavoie and Tranna Wintour, produced by Julian Stamboulieh, with Jessica Salomon as the story editor; and Novelette is Trying (Orange Rose Productions), from producer by Jessica Wadsworth, writer Giselle Miller and story editor Ruth Atkinson.

There’s also the comedy-musical Raksha (Diaspora Creative), from producer Abubakar Khan, writer Tesh Guttikonda and story editor Nadine Bhabha.

Dish by Tokimeki Studio is one of five dramedies from selected projects. It is produced by Jiro Okada and Tess Degenstein, and written by Degenstein with Davin Lengyel is the development executive.

The other dramedies are: Liv Laugh Love (Monkeys & Parrots), produced by Jane Loughman, written by Becca Willow Moss and Cassidy Civiero with Gwenlyn Cumyn as the story editor; Packing (Snail Mail Media), produced by Fonna Seidu, written by Jay (Carolyn) Wu with Nattasha Shrestha as the story editor; Rent-a-girlfriend (working title/It’s A Secret Productions), from producer Ariel Yang, writer Alice Wang and story editor Christopher Yip; and Returning (ElliFilms), produced and written by Lee Marshall, with Elza Kephart as the story editor.

Combining comedy with mystery and thriller are Dying Seconds, produced by the aforementioned Lengyel and Brendan Halloran, written by Halloran with Sam Nasrawi and Mark De Angelis as development executive and story editor; Petra PI (White Wolves), produced by Faith (Eglantine) Leleu and Samantha Wyss, who is also the writer, with Léa Geronimo Rondot as the story editor; and Uptown Saturday (MPEG6 Productions), from producer Nason Markwell, writers Sara Peters and Bernard Gray, development executives and story editors Anthony Farrell and Allison Wilson-Forbes.

Jook-Sing is a drama by Invalid Symbol. It is produced by Karen Shaw and J. Lee Williams, who is also the writer alongside Ana Serrano and Romeo Candido as the development executives and story editors.

Thread (Archipelago Productions) is the only sci-fi thriller from the selected projects. It is produced by Vinuja Shanthasoruban, Maeve Kern, Jana Stackhouse, Nicholas Ewart and written by Alex Josselyn-Hamilton with the aforementioned Yip as the story editor.

The French-language selections include the dramas T-Rex (Inséparables Films), from producers Jérémie Boucher and Gabriel Savignac, writer Louis-Philippe Vachon and story editors Liz Plank, Christine Dolan and Gabriel Savignac; Les faillites d’Astrid (Ray Films), produced by Danielle Sturk, written by Elena Sturk-Lussier with Stéphane Oystryk as the story editor; and Exil (Duo Productions), from producer Anne Boyer, writer Daniel Abraham and story editor Marie-Josée Ouellet.

In the drama-mystery and drama-fantasy genre are Les bons artistes copient, les grands artistes volent (Groupe Fair-Play), from producer Laurence Atkins, writers Didier Charette and David Fuenz and story editor Pierre-Michel Tremblay; and Les baleines ne savent pas voler (Chaos harmonique), produced and written by Justice Rutikara, with Judith Brès as the story editor.

Then there’s a trio of comedies: Cellule grise (Pimiento Médias), produced by Paola Arriagada-Nunez, Orlando Arriagada and Chantal Bessette, and written by Louis-François Grenier with Yves Lapierre as story editor; Ils sont parmi nous (Productions Pixcom), produced by Véronique Paquette-Corriveau and written by Justine Philie with Martine Pagé as the story editor; and La réforme (Casadel Films), with producers Patrick Francke-Sirois and Juliette Provost-Dubois, writer Emma-Jeanne Robitaille and story editor Sylvie Bouchard.

Cauchemar chamanique (Oraquan Medias) is a horror-comedy. It is produced and written by Neegan Trudel alongside writer Eve Ringuette. Julie Roy is the story editor.

Bar et Gouin (Sport Conception Audiovisuelle) makes up the only animation in the French-language list. It is produced by Audrée-Anne Prieur and written by Maxime Scraire with Charles-Alex Durand as the story editor.

The projects were approved by 28 evaluators who looked for “originality, authenticity, quality of written creative materials, the experience of the team, the strength of the story editor [or] development executive, the proposed budget, and the overall potential for success,” said the release.

A charitable foundation with an endowment valued at over $40 million, the IPF says it has invested $86,371,855 in 1,067 projects since its inception: 60 short-form series development projects, 170 short-form series productions, 314 TV productions, and more than 500 professional development projects.

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