Women filled over 40% of key leadership roles in TV productions
TORONTO – Every one dollar invested by the Canada Media Fund (CMF) to support Canada’s audiovisual industry generated $4.14 in production activity, the highest leverage ratio since the CMF was created in 2010, according to the CMF’s bilingual annual report for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
In the context of a declining program budget, the CMF’s funding programs contributed $342.3M to financing the development, production and promotion of 1,176 television and digital media projects in 2017-2018. This high level of production activity is a testament to the CMF’s contribution to the creation of over 171,000 jobs in Canada’s audiovisual sector, continues the report.
The CMF also partnered with 63 industry events and contributed to an additional 36 industry events in Canada and internationally that aligned with the CMF’s objectives of promoting Canadian content, featuring Canada as a coproduction partner of choice and sharing industry intelligence.
Other highlights from the past year include the launch of Encore+, the CMF’s YouTube channel for iconic Canadian films and television programs; the government’s announcement in Budget 2018 that it would increase its commitments to the CMF, offsetting declining contributions from the private sector; and initiatives designed to advance gender balance and Indigenous representation in the sector.
“New gender requirements introduced last fiscal mandated broadcasters to allocate a minimum of 15 per cent and a target of 25 per cent of their Performance Envelopes on projects where 40 per cent of key roles were filled by women”, said CMF president and CEO Valerie Creighton, in the report. “Over 80 per cent of broadcasters reached or exceeded the 25 per cent target. As a result, over 40 per cent of key roles in 2017-2018 CMF-funded television projects are now filled by women.”
