Canada Media Fund doles out $12.9 Million for 27 projects
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) announced yesterday the first round results of its Experimental Stream. Twenty-seven projects were approved for production funding in the form of CMF equity investment commitments for a total of $12.9 million.
While the average commitment is $478,000, three requests received the maximum $1 million. Twelve projects are in English, nine are French, and six are bilingual. A total of $8.6 million and $4.3 million was committed to English and French production projects, respectively. Approved production applicants are based across Canada, with six from BC, one from Alberta, four from Toronto, one from Ontario excluding Toronto, twelve from Montréal, two from Quebec excluding Montréal, and one from PEI.
Approved production projects include twelve games, five websites, three mobile applications, three interactive web series, and four software applications. Here is the complete list of recipients along with the project names and amounts.
2904802 Canada Inc., Montreal
- Project: Bot Colony
- Amount: $1,000,000
9178-6574 Quebec Inc., Montreal
- Project: X-Agora
- Amount: $1,000,000
Absolunet Inc., Montreal
- Project: J.E. Participe!
- Amount: $432,001
Balestra interactif inc., Montreal
- Project: La Carte du Mental
- Amount: $68,926
Bight Interactive Inc., PEI
- Project: Scallywags
- Amount: $269,352
Brain Center International inc., Quebec
- Project: NeuroActive Mental Coach - Golf
- Amount: $664,126
Btwxt Games Inc., BC
- Project: Swarm! The World!
- Amount: $800,000
CBC, Toronto
- Project: Kids' CBC Augmented Reality
- Amount: $434,400
Cirrus Communications Inc., Montreal
- Project: Burquette sur le Web
- Amount: $403,233
Creo Inc., Montreal
- Project: Game for Science / Science en Jeu
- Amount: $875,107
Disternet Technology Inc., BC
- Project: Disternet Software
- Amount: $1,000,000
Frima Studio Inc., QC
- Project: The Tripoli Family
- Amount: $686,034
Inspirado Games, BC
- Project: Garden Mind
- Amount: $100,000
Interdimensional Games Inc., BC
- Project: PROJECTB6
- Amount: $500,000
Jet Black Games Inc., BC
- Project: Sketchpad Plus
- Amount: $240,169
La Presse Télé Ltée., Montreal
- Project: Zieuter.TV
- Amount: $264,722
MoboVivo Inc., Calgary
- Project: Previiw
- Amount: $430,725
Mountain Road Pictures Inc., Ontario
- Project: Totally Random
- Amount: $750,000
My City Lives Inc., Toronto
- Project: My City Lives Mobile
- Amount: $586,686
ODD1 Inc., Montreal
- Project: Odd Society Online
- Amount: $311,250
Peace Point Entertainment Group Inc., Toronto
- Project: Olson Anytime Anywhere Recipe Maker
- Amount: $260,138
Phéromone, Montreal
- Project: Générateur d'applications mobiles multiplateformes reliées aux événements culturels
- Amount: $120,000
Silicon Sisters Interactive Inc.
- Project: Caseworker Kate
- Amount: $222,821
Smokebomb Entertainment Inc., Toronto
- Project: Big Break
- Amount: $639,044
Télé-Québec, Montreal
- Project: Outil de suivi parental et générateur de jeux
- Amount: $108,240
Tungsten Visuel Inc., Montreal
- Project: Fréquences
- Amount: $221,055
Zone3 Inc., Montreal
- Project: Le Guide de votre Vie
- Amount: $511,973
In addition, eleven projects were approved for development funding for a total of $1.6 million. The average commitment is $149,000. Four projects are in English, four in French, and three bilingual. Total English commitments are $1.1 million and total French are $540,000. Two of the successful development applicants are based in BC, six in Montréal, two in Quebec excluding Montreal, and one in Toronto. The types of projects include websites, games, and applications.
As well, seven projects were approved for marketing funding for a total of $1.6 million. The average commitment is $234,000. Five projects are in English, one in French, and one bilingual. Total English commitments are $1.1 million and total French are $540,000. Three projects are based in BC, one in Montréal, one in Quebec excluding Montreal, and two in Toronto. Projects to be marketed include games, websites, and an application.
Projects were assessed on the following factors: innovation (40%), production team (15%), business plan (30%), and distribution strategy (15%). For production projects, the innovation and production team factors, comprising a total of 55% of the assessment, were evaluated by a jury of Canadian and international industry experts (bios provided below). All remaining factors for production applications, plus all development and marketing applications, were assessed by CMF Program Administration analysts. Projects were assessed within categories based on the stage of the project, i.e. development, production, or marketing, to ensure similar projects competed against each other.
Of the $27 million in funding available through this stream, 60% is being disbursed in the first round and 40% in the second. Applications submitted for the first round vastly exceeded the $16.2 million available at this round. Over 250 applicants requested almost $90 million to support 120 production ($57 million requested), 112 development ($25 million requested), and 21 marketing ($8 million requested) projects. As a result of the high demand experienced in the first round, the second and final deadline for applications has been extended from October 4 to November 12, 2010. All decisions made by the CMF are considered final.
