TORONTO – Astral’s private film fund has launched a new marketing program designed to help promote Canada’s most internationally successful projects.
For its inaugural year, the program will focus on Canadian feature film projects that have made it into major international film festivals. While these projects may or may not have the support of a Canadian distributor for their domestic release, they must lack the support of a foreign sales agent, the announcement detailed. Through the Harold Greenberg Fund, Astral will provide up to $10,000 per selected project, (though the applicant may also include other financing sources in their budget), in order to assist filmmakers in “maximizing the unique sales opportunity that a major festival presents”.
“Often, we hear great stories about filmmakers who make it into major film festivals and, with little time and money, find incredibly creative ways to generate a lot of hype for their projects with filmgoers and distributors alike,” said English-language program president of the Fund, John Galway, in the announcement. “That is the kind of innovative spirit we want to support, and we want to share these stories which prove that, with creativity and resourcefulness, it is possible to make a big impact on a limited budget.”
The Fund, which is accepting applications for the new program immediately, will support three projects this year with the aim to include an earlier phase for projects in production and a later phase to promote projects leading up to and during their release.
Click here for full guidelines and application information.
