TORONTO – Canadian producers seeking to develop new markets have access to 25 national and regional programs, according to an overview of Canada’s audiovisual export support programs published Thursday by the Canada Media Fund (CMF).
The report details six national and 19 regional initiatives by the federal government, as well as national, provincial and territorial agencies and funds identified as part of an analysis of existing export support programs.
The CMF said that export support programs can help Canadian producers to capitalize on new business opportunities, and are therefore essential in an increasingly borderless audiovisual market. It added that the funds spent on the production of international content have almost doubled from $150B in 2011 to $240B in 2016, while major OTT players like Netflix and Amazon doubled their annual programming expenses since 2011 to $7.5B in 2015.
“The success of Canadian content at international markets – such as the recently-held MIPCOM, where Canadian producers sold hundreds of hours of content to European and Asian broadcasters – confirms that Canada’s content is well positioned to succeed internationally, reaching dozens of markets well beyond our borders,” said CMF CEO Valerie Creighton, in the report’s news release. “The programs that are presently in place and those that will be developed in the future, solidify and strengthen Canada’s position in an increasingly competitive international market.”
