Stimulating growth in the emerging interactive production sector was the goal of the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund (or Bell Fund) when it was established more than two years ago. Since then, the fund has continued to encourage an alliance between broadcasters and new media companies and has backed the interactive components of Canadian programs such as Monster by Mistake, Drop the Beat, Hugo et le dragon and Popular Mechanics for Kids.

‘We are trying to encourage the development of high quality content and really push the industry to experiment with new technology,’ says Bell Fund executive director Andra Sheffer.

The Bell Fund has three deadlines each year, with the next one on Oct. 1. The applications, once received, are sent by Bell to individuals outside of the production industry who evaluate them separately and then come together to debate and make a priority list of the best proposals. The list is returned to the Bell board for final deliberation.

‘We are looking for innovative, high-quality content never before seen on the Web,’ Sheffer explains. ‘We are also looking at the use of technology in new ways, and at marketing plans that will reach audiences in television and new media and drive audiences back and forth between the two.’

The Bell Fund recommends that in their applications broadcasters demonstrate that they are capable of supporting the new venture by showing the added value of an interactive component to their program.

Sheffer estimates that the Bell Fund receives between 20 and 25 applications per period, and that approximately one in five projects gets the green light. The fund donates $2 million annually to applicants, with funds coming from Bell ExpressVu.

‘The Bell Fund is certainly getting more applications all the time, and I think interest is developing exponentially,’ says Sheffer. ‘When we started, there was very little development of intellectual properties by new media groups – they were all basically service companies. Over the last couple of years, new media companies have recognized that ownership of their own intellectual properties – designing and owning their own content – is important.’

Sheffer notes the growing familiarity between broadcasters and new media companies of each other’s work, as they partner up to produce interactive content.

‘It is great to see how the television and new media producers are now working together on a lot of projects,’ she says.

Sheffer is also surprised by how quickly the quality of the product has risen since the Bell Fund’s inception, with the bar being raised with each new period.

‘The projects we funded two years ago wouldn’t be funded today, because we are pushing the standards every deadline,’ says Sheffer. ‘The expectations rise. We are only funding the real high-quality ones.’

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enviro.asp)