These are heady times for women working in film and television – female helmers swept the top prizes at the Directors Guild of Canada awards in October, Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow was the darling of the Oscars, and for the first time a woman will head Telefilm Canada.

The latest offerings from Vincenzo Natali, David Cronenberg and Sarah Polley have received financial backing from the Ontario Media Development Corporation, which recently handed out $1.6 million as part of its Film Fund. Twelve new features will split the money, which enables producers to complete their financing on a ‘last-in basis.’

First female boss comes up through the ranks to replace Clarkson. ‘A sign of confidence from the minister and the board,’ she says

The exploding complexity of transmedia has made alternate financing models and revenue streams the hottest money topics for producers and distributors of all stripes.

Tax credit competition among Canada’s biggest production centers is hotter than ever.

ISPs, broadcasters and ‘mobile companies’ will be able to apply alongside TV producers to the ‘experimental stream’ of the Canada Media Fund if its proposed guidelines are approved by the new board of directors, according to executives apparent Valerie Creighton and Stéphane Cardin.

Twelve feature films will divide $1.6 million in development and production funding from Ontario

B.C. is sweetening its foreign production tax credit and effects bonus, while also offering a new video game development incentive. The B.C. government proposes to increase the Production Services labor-based credit from 25% to 33%; with the qualified labor expenditure cap rising from 48% to 60%.

In order to sweeten its brand as a one-stop shop for foreign producers, the Quebec government has made post-production work in the province 20% cheaper. In what will likely be a boost to the province’s burgeoning effects industry, the minister of finance, Raymond Bachand, has increased the tax breaks on computer-aided special effects and animation for foreign productions.

Are you an aboriginal producer of French-language content with a good documentary idea? If so, the National Film Board and APTN want you. The Winnipeg-based channel and the NFB’s French arm are soliciting ideas from aboriginal producers for six half-hour docs aimed at youth between the ages of 18 and 35.

The Ontario Media Development Corporation has dished out nearly $3 million to the province’s creative community, including the film, television and interactive sectors, as part of its Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnership Fund.