The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has allocated $2 million to 40 English and 14 French-language TV projects through its Early-Stage Development Program (ESDP).

The ESDP provides funding to series in the early development phase and supports costs such as writing, story editing and preliminary research. At least 25% of the program’s budget is reserved for diverse community applicants. The selected projects are receiving up to $40,000 in the form of a non-interest-bearing advance, according to a news release.

Twenty-seven English-language dramas have been selected in this round, including Delivery (Typewriter Films), Dante & Luisa (Stormsy Productions), Black Jacks (Boregard Studios), Queens of Art (Archer and Aries Entertainment), and Nikki Got Mom’ed (Jessica Meya), with all projects receiving $40,000.

Six documentaries, and seven children and youth programs round out the English-language projects. The doc projects include The Poverty Solution (MacInnes; $40,000), The Memory Wars (Nootka Street Film Company; $37,000) and Love in the Time of Now (Ravenhead Productions; $39,500).

HoHoHo (Michael Leo Donovan Writer Inc.; $40,000), Meme Machine (Beachwood Canyon Development; $39,298), and Chad (Shawn Kalb; $20,919) make up some of the children’s and youth series.

The funding decisions for the English-language projects were made by a jury comprising industry experts Daniel Northway-Frank, Jess Murwin, John Gill, Kat Montagu, Kelly Lynne Ashton, and Pat Kelly.

The French-language projects, meanwhile, include the dramas Sacré Charlemagne! (La Storytelling cie; $40,000), La tournée (Sophie Bernier; $30,000) and Veut veut pas (Jumelles; $28,600); documentaries Mentors (Productions CEB; $40,000), Tu catches (Couzin Films; $40,000), and Cheval de retour (Productions Testa; $22,300); and children’s series Les voleurs de bas (Kannon Films; $40,000), and Ça va-tu, Libby? (Kristine Metz; $39,875).

The jury for the French projects included Feven Ghebremariam, David Leblanc, Gentille Assih, and Eva Kabuya.

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