So far, so good. That’s the word from the Canadian Television Fund which, five months into its much-ballyhooed new deal for producers and broadcasters, reports that its funding machinery is running smoothly. Or, more smoothly than it used to, at least.

Since March 15, CTF has been taking applications for its Broadcaster Performance stream, now the main artery for cash from the organization since it did away with its troubled LFP and EIP streams. Of the $130 million available to English- and French-launguage projects, $50.2 million or 33% has been handed out so far, most of it on the French side, where 22 projects scored $35 million. Among the anglos, $15.2 million has been divided among 51 shows.

CTF’s stream for English-language drama – a genre that has traditionally been a hot-button topic in funding circles and the source of much frustration for producers and broadcasters alike – handed out $96.1 million to 42 shows earlier this year, a 75% acceptance rate and a mirror image of last spring’s disastrous LFP returns, when almost the same percentage of drama, kids and variety programs were turned away, touching off an industry-wide panic.

The drama coffers, administered by Telefilm Canada on CTF’s behalf, have backed six hour-long series, 14 half-hours, five minis, 13 MOWs, three one-offs and one pilot, including new runs of The Eleventh Hour and Da Vinci’s Inquest, CHUM’s The Collector, Slings and Arrows, This is Wonderland and CBC’s new What It’s Like Being Alone.

CTF says casters and producers have responded warmly to the new system of Broadcaster Envelopes, which replaced a short-lived and confusing point system known as Broadcaster Priorities, noting ‘The introduction of greater predictability of CTF financing, the elimination of the need to prepare applications for productions that ultimately don’t rank, and the flexibility to apply throughout the year appear to be appreciated’ in its August newsletter.

There are still a few bugs in the code, however. CTF gets a lot of paperwork that hasn’t been filled out properly, which is bogging down the process, and recently posted a ‘how to’ guide on its website. The turnaround time on applications in spring was about two weeks.

In other news, CTF has brought Douglas Barrett deeper into the fold, handing the chairmanship of its board, and a mandate to overhaul the organization’s corporate governance, to the lawyer and veteran policymaker. He replaces Janet Yale, who stepped down in March.

Barrett has been attached to CTF as an administrator since its inception in 1996. His first task as chair will be to oversee a series of bylaw amendments at the fund, which are intended to increase transparency and reduce the potential for conflicts of interest in its decisions. CTF is forming an independent committee to spearhead the new guidelines.

‘My intention is to ensure that public policymakers and industry experts on the board continue to work effectively together to bring exceptional programming to Canadian viewers,’ says Barrett. ‘The year ahead will be a decisive one for the future of the organization and I’m pleased to lead a board whose representation and expertise is ideal for meeting that challenge head-on.’

Barrett is a partner at the law firm of McMillan Binch LLP, an occasional contributor to Playback, and executive chairman of PS Production Services in Toronto.

-www.canadiantelevisionfund.ca