The Bell Fund is doling out $2.4 million in funding to 12 short-form digital series.

The board of directors of the Bell Fund has approved support for eight English and four French-language projects, with $1.8 million going toward production and $600,000 toward audience development, according to a news release.

Three projects approved from the Sept. 26, 2022 Short-Form Digital Series Program deadline are for CBC Gem: season two of the 6 x 11-minute Zarqa (pictured; FUNdamentalist Films), about a divorced Muslim woman striving to reinvent herself; season three of the 6 x 17-minute factual series Farm Crime (Big Cedar Films); and the 8 x 12-minute new series Near or Far (Harlow Entertainment), about twin sisters from an immigrant family.

Also getting season-two funding: the 26 x 8-minute factual series Second Nature (Blue Ant Digital) for Animalogic (YouTube), and OUTtv’s 8 x 20-minute, elimination-style relationship game Dating Unlocked (Border2Border).

Other English-language series receiving production include: the 8 x 11-minute factual series The Nature of Design (Bee Video Production) for Blue Ant’s FAST channel Homeful; Crave’s 8 x 8-minute Nesting (Project Undertow), about best friends who hunt for a “baby daddy”; and the 10 x 8-minute Stories From My Gay Grandparents (Play Management Media) for KindaTV (YouTube), about an elderly couple who come out of the closet.

French-language series on the list include two for ICI Tou.tv: the 10 x 10-minute Coeur Vintage (Zone3) and season two of the 8 x 20-minute Pa t’mentir (Trio orange). The other two are for Telequebec: 8 x 17-minute La dernière communion (Roméo & Fils) and 10 x 20-minute Les racines du hip-hop au Québec (Major Productions).

Image courtesy of CBC Gem