Telefilm Canada provided $138.8 million in funding across its programs and activities in the 2023-24 fiscal year, according to its annual report.

The figure represents a 13% drop from the 2022-23 fiscal year, when the funder administered a total of $158.7 million. Most of the decrease is attributed to the closure of additional government funding due to COVID-19, including the Canada Arts and Culture Recovery Program and the Short-Term Recovery Fund, read the report.

Telefilm’s production and development support accounted for $106.5 million of its funding total, representing a 5% increase from the $101.3 million provided in the previous fiscal year. Telefilm’s promotional support received the remaining $32.3 million, accounting for a 34% drop from the $48.9 million spent on promotional programs in the 2022-23 fiscal year.

The Production Program supported 123 feature films with $80 million, an increase of 21 films from the previous fiscal year when the funder spent $80.1 million.

The Development Program saw a 34% increase in funding with $11.9 million allocated to 302 projects compared to the previous fiscal year which saw $8.9 million used to support 278 projects. Telefilm attributed the rise to a budget increase combined with an increase in applications and funding amounts for the Prequalified Stream.

Through the Talent to Watch Program Telefilm supported 18 feature films with $4.2 million. The funding represents a 4% increase from the previous fiscal year, which saw 19 feature films supported.

The Theatrical Documentary Program funded 38 feature films totalling $7.3 million. Funding for the program is up 32% from the previous year, which saw $5.5 million allocated to 30 feature films. Telefilm attributed the increase to funding being reallocated from the Production Program as strikes from the WGA and SAG-AFTRA were disrupting productions. The transfer allowed for the funding of more documentaries and new guidelines allowed for increased financial participation per film.

The funder predicted stability in its funding programs for the next two fiscal years due to the federal government’s $100 million renewal split over that time. The Crown corporation also noted that its program budget will be affected by the government spending refocusing exercise announced in the 2023 Federal Budget. The budget refocusing applied to this year and will continue in the years to come as well.

When looking at race and ethnic identity in the production portfolio Telefilm reported that 43 supported projects (35% of the total) had at least one Black person or person of colour in the role of either director, writer or producer, with those projects receiving $27.8 million (32% of the total) in funding. This represents an increase from the previous year which saw 35 projects (33%) receive $18.8 million (23%) in funding.

In the development portfolio, 94 projects (34%) had a Black person or person of colour in a key position with $3.6 million (32%) granted in funding. This also marks an increase from the previous year which saw 80 projects (31%) supported with 2.4 million (29%) allocated in funding.

Telefilm supported 22 projects (18%) with a person with a disability in a key role, totalling $11.5 million (13%) in production funding. While the amount of projects supported in the previous fiscal increased from 15 (14%) the funding decreased from $20 million (24%).

In the Development Program, 38 projects (14%) had a person with a disability in a key role which in total received $1.6 million (14%) in funding. The amount of projects supported and funding remains stable when looking at the previous year which saw 37 projects (14%) supported with a total of $1.1 million (14%).

Telefilm also reported that it contributed $4 million to 18 projects through the Indigenous Stream. This support is broken down into 10 projects from the Production Program and eight from the Development Program. In addition, Telefilm supported five projects by prodcos with mainly Indigenous ownership, representing $3.6 million in financial assistance.

Eleven projects where the main language was not English, French or an Indigenous language were supported. Languages included Arabic, Croatian and Spanish. Another nine projects in either English or French also contained one or more languages, including Japanese, Finnish and Vietnamese.

“We are living in a turbulent and destabilizing time with so much change taking place,” said Telefilm executive director and CEO Julie Roy in the report. “We will continue to modernize and adapt so that creators can continue to shine and so that their works can reach the widest possible audience. Cinema has never been more essential, and Telefilm has never been more essential to cinema.”

Roy along with Sylvain Lafrance, Telefilm’s new chairman of the board, will be at the Annual Public Assembly, held virtually on Nov. 28, where they will speak about the accomplishments of the past year and priorities for the future.

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