The Canada Media Fund has revealed the 44 projects, ranging from docuseries and kids programming to VR games, to receive a total of $22.6 million in funds.
Of the $22.6 million, $9.4 million will go toward 10 projects in the Experimental Stream Innovation Program, $7.7 million will go to 17 projects under the Aboriginal Program, with another 17 projects sharing $5.5 million through the English POV Program.
Among the 10 media projects to receive CMF funds is Cream Productions’ Oak AR ($1,005,000), produced by its digital team, and Red Meat Games’ Sentience ($1,188,308). The games that will receive funding include Interim Studio’s Été ($666,582); Ululab’s Math Time ($911,180); Cococucumber’s Ravenlok ($802,500); ManaVoid Entertainment’s Steamboat Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan ($1,134,600); Studio Affordance’s Windigo ($1,131,155); Studio Trébuchet’s Winds & Leaves ($1,060,000); and Sunday Gold ($1,086,057). Rounding out the projects is VR production Enter the Dust ($403,715). Projects selected for the Experimental Stream Innovation Program are projects deemed interactive and leading-edge.
Of the projects selected for the Aboriginal Program, which awards funds to Indigenous-led productions, 10 are documentaries, four are children’s and youth projects and three are drama series. The three dramas include Night Raiders East production Night Raiders ($750,000), with Bell Media and CBC attached. CBC is also attached as a broadcaster to Young Daughter Films’ Wildhood ($372,526), while TVO is attached to Unsettled First production Unsettled ($398,685).
Among the 10 documentaries funded under the English POV program is Rezolution Pictures’ Lands Enchanted ($550,000), with APTN attached as the broadcaster. APTN is also the broadcaster for season three of Sagacious Media’s Red Earth Uncovered ($550,000); season three of Nish Media’s Skindigenous ($550,000); Wakan Productions’ Star People ($79,796); season two of 13 Indigenous Artists ($550,000); season three of Manito Média’s Au pays des Mitchifs (“Mitchif Country”; $465,300); season two of Merchants of the Wild ($550,000); and season two of Kassiwi Média’s Policier autochtone ($178,869), with Radio-Canada also attached. Rounding out the docs are Spirit to Soar ($250,294), which CBC attached as broadcaster, and Kingulliit Productions’ Qanuqtaima (What Now?) ($550,000), attached to Nunavut Independent Television Network.
The four children’s and youth programs to receive funding include two projects from Taqqut Productions: Aakuluk ($128,489) and season three of Anaana’s Tent ($550,000), broadcast by Nunavut Independent Television Network and APTN, respectively. APTN is also attached to the remaining two projects, Dreamcatchers ($750,000) and season three of Mama-OO Pictures’ Coyote’s Crazy Smart Science Show ($479,438).
All of the projects selected under the English POV Program are documentaries. Among the recipients in this funding around are White Pine Pictures’ Unloved ($367,990) and Sienna Films’ One of Ours ($368,212).
Other projects include Fathom Film Group’s A.I. Gods ($289,637); Innov8r Entertainment’s Artifact ($370,457); Peep Media’s Bernie Langille Wants to Know Who Killed Bernie Langille ($367,990); Third Culture Media’s Black Zombie ($389,384); Tortuga Films Productions’ Colour of the Wind ($399,912); Frequent Flyer Films’ Cynara ($400,000); Keller Media’s Love, The Last Chapter ($100,000); Storyline Entertaiment’s Queen of the Deuce ($138,747) and The Face of Anonymous ($299,214); H2LScrap’s Scrap ($400,000); Galafilm Productions’ The Ghosts of Afghanistan: Canada and the War on Terror ($400,000); Les Productions Catbird’s The Invisible Everywhere ($385,157) and The Jackie Robinson Myth ($368,294); Team Indigenous ($114,695); and Primitive Entertainment’s The Yes Men Build A Wall ($367,500).
Since 2010, 157 Indigenous-led projects have received more than $67.9 million in funding under the Aboriginal Program, 352 digital media projects have received $211 million under the Experimental Stream Innovation Program and 147 projects have received $38 million under the English POV Program, according to the CMF.
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