Celebrating 20 years as Canada’s leading supporter of script development hasn’t changed the hard-working ethos of industry veteran John Galway and his staff of three at The Harold Greenberg Fund at the Toronto offices of Astral Media.

Galway, who has previously worked at Telefilm Canada, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Canadian Television Fund and the Ontario Media Development Corporation, took over as president of the HGF last September, replacing longtime chair Wendy MacKeigan. Astral did some restructuring at that time, appointing seasoned board member Bryn Matthews as co-chair. Their equivalents at Le Fonds Harold Greenberg, the French-language program in Montreal, are president Odile Méthot and co-chair Rock Demers.

‘The two boards get together once a year,’ explains Galway, who is preparing for a meeting of the English-language board this month. ‘Each board meets separately four times a year to discuss projects and disburse funds.’

The current HGF board also consists of indie film producer Camelia Frieberg, former Vancouver International Film Festival Trade Forum producer Melanie Friesen, screenwriter Suzette Couture, Astral SVP, marketing and sales Domenic Vivolo, and Shaftesbury Films VP marketing and sales Shane Kinnear.

Galway’s coworkers are Lila Karim, who manages script development and administration, Karla Bobadilla, director, business and legal affairs, and administrative assistant Andrea Langford.

The fiscal year for the fund ends in August, so the June meeting will be the last for 2005/06. At each quarterly session, approximately $200,000 is expended on scripts, with additional amounts disbursed for family projects, training programs and story options.

The HGF supports four separate stages of script development, and each is considered in the meetings. For the first phase, established writers with one 90-minute drama already produced are allowed to apply by themselves, although a letter of interest from a producer is required.

‘In the earliest stage, it’s all based on skill and passion,’ Galway says. ‘If someone were to walk in off the street and we liked the treatment, we’d strongly suggest that, for the next round, they partner with an experienced producer.’

For this initial phase, where treatments are turned into first drafts, the fund can advance up to $18,000 per project.

The next stage, from first to second draft, offers funding up to $12,000. Galway acknowledges that a second draft ‘is a bit of a fiction,’ in that scripts are constantly being rewritten. That phase, and the third one, in which up to $10,000 can be disbursed for final drafts, are important because projects then receive greater scrutiny from the fund, with an eye towards their feasibility as feature films.

‘Philosophically, we’re more prepared to take risks at the treatment phase based on good writing, interesting subjects and talent,’ states Galway. ‘We like to see how it plays out. Later on, we have to look more closely and judge whether the project can actually go into production.’

Although the funds he administers are officially designated as loans, Galway and his board recognize that many projects will never be realized into features.

‘And the loans aren’t repaid, which is only right and healthy. You should be developing a number of projects, and only a few should get made,’ he adds. ‘Development is the riskiest part of the business. Equity is an easier decision.’

In the final period of development, the senior project script phase, a maximum of $25,000 may be given, with the understanding that the money will go into preproduction of the film and toward the final polish on the screenplay. Equity investment can follow the completion of the script development rounds, with the HGF potentially investing up to 10% of a film’s budget, with a cap at $200,000.

Although the core business of the fund has been in script development, the board disburses other funds. A stream for family-oriented films and TV shows, similarly structured to the feature film program, was established in 2001 with a $5-million commitment over a seven-year period. The HGF also provides financial assistance to training sessions, which generally take place at festivals, such as the Atlantic Film Festival. And, in a newer initiative, Canadian literary works can be optioned through an annual fund of $300,000.

Galway makes the initial presentation and recommendation of each project to the board. ‘I believe in explaining who the creative people are,’ he says.

Typically, the board will have received a package of scripts, proposals, treatments and evaluations four weeks before the meeting. A few days before the group gets together, every board member submits a sheet with their votes on the applications.

‘The sheets are tallied, so if the vote is weighted heavily in favor or against a project, there isn’t much discussion,’ says co-chair Matthews. ‘We’re able to spend our time looking at the ‘maybes.”

Sometimes board members have a project of their own under consideration. In that case, they are asked to leave the room during the discussion and lose their vote on that application. One of these was the drama Whole New Thing, produced by Frieberg.

‘There was a real debate about whether to support that film,’ Matthews recalls. ‘It’s low-budget, set in snowy Nova Scotia. On the surface, it didn’t seem commercial. We’re very careful to avoid collusion and, in fact, in the case of Whole New Thing, we didn’t give the project as much money as was requested.’

He adds, ‘I saw it recently and think it is delightful.’

Astral does reap its own benefit from its support of the HGF. Through The Movie Network, Family Channel and its other stations, the media company is offered first broadcast window on the funded films or shows after – in many cases ­- they’ve had a life on the festival and theatrical circuits. To the further benefit of producers, this gives their films greater exposure than their usually modest theatrical runs.

‘We shouldn’t obsess over box office,’ comments Galway. ‘Our goal is for Canadians to see the films.’