Toronto’s Hop To It Productions is hoping an influx of cash from the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund will help it do more to get kids off the couch.

Its upcoming Pop It! series of TVO shorts was one of 10 cash recipients from the spring round of Bell Fund applications.

The show, scheduled to air in September for the back-to-school rush, consists of 26 x 7 segments in which kids are taught hip-hop culture through break-dancing and original songs.

The Pop It! site, expected to launch in late August just prior to the show’s debut, will feature a host of interactive tools enabling kids to use the dances and songs from the show to get them more engaged.

The site will feature virtual dance lessons based on the episodes, karaoke versions of the show’s original songs, as well as a music-video editing tool called s-mash, which will allow kids to put clips together for themselves or to send to their friends. Many of the online applications that will be offered on the site are currently in use on other Hop To It projects.

Pop It! producer Susie Nation likes the possibilities of bringing hip-hop culture to a TVO audience.

‘It’s really active,’ she says. ‘With all the dancing, it’s an excuse to get kids off their couches and moving around. As well, by using hip-hop culture, we’re able to play with a culture that sometimes gets a bad reputation. We’re breaking stereotypes and taking some of Toronto’s most talented hip-hop artists to make songs that are more kid-friendly.’

Other recipients in the most recent round of Bell funding for TV programs’ interactive component include: 100 Mile Challenge, Busytown Mysteries, Croquer la Gaspésie, Dating Guy, Little Mosque on the Prairie, L.O.S.E – The League of Super Evil, Müvmédia and Le Québec vu par Urbania.

The Bell Fund is also in the midst of launching a new initiative to help digital content producers pair up with potential buyers.

The new business development service is currently being hashed out by consultant Rita Carbone Fleury, who has been approaching potential marketing partners since the initiative’s announcement back in April.

Fund executive director Andra Sheffer is hoping the initiative will help producers maximize the commercial possibilities for their digital endeavors.

‘Right now there are two or three obvious ways people are trying to sell their content, but there are literally hundreds of other ways they’re not exploring,’ Sheffer says. ‘Ideally, we’d like to provide a cross-section of all the potential markets and revenue sources available.’