GATINEAU – The Feds are directing an additional $7.5 million in new funding to Telefilm Canada to help top up a financial shortfall in funding French-language productions in 2019–2020.
A statement late Thursday said that Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez was “informed by the industry” that the funds for the selective component of this year’s Telefilm production program “were already almost fully committed.”
Combined with the additional $2.5 million found by Telefilm’s executive director Christa Dickenson, the total amount of new funding available for French-language productions is $10 million this year.
Minister Rodriguez also named cultural consultant Robert Spickler to chair Telefilm Canada's Board of Directors, and accountant Karen Horcher as a board member. In addition, the organization will hire an independent external auditor to review its funding practices and recommend any necessary changes.
"Our film industry is a source of pride, and I will never let it down”, said Minister Rodriguez, in the statement. “I will always be there to defend our culture and our language. We can't simply stand by while good films are not produced. That's why this new funding will be made available this year to directly support French-language projects."
Telefilm Canada is a federal cultural agency that provides funding through the Canada Feature Film Fund for original, diverse and high-quality audiovisual productions that reflect Canada's linguistic duality and cultural diversity.
(Ed note: For a bit of perspective, $7.5 million is less than half of what it costs to make a single episode of Game of Thrones…)
