TORONTO – The Canadian Television Fund (CTF) announced today that it will provide $99.2 million in funding to 36 English-language drama productions. This contribution represents 66% of the total dollar amount requested. Telefilm Canada administers the English-Language Drama Stream for the CTF.
"By far, Canadians spend a large part of their television-viewing hours watching drama and comedy. We’re delighted to have received such a wide range of projects from all regions of the country," said Wayne Clarkson, executive director for Telefilm Canada. "There’s a good mix of established shows that have made a name for themselves by attracting loyal audiences, and new fresh programming that will add to the Canadian television experience. In fact, the number of quality dramatic projects requesting funding were far in excess of the financial resources available."
"The CTF board congratulated Telefilm Canada for selecting a strong and balanced 2005 English drama portfolio," said CTF chair Douglas Barrett. "All of the board’s stakeholder groups were very impressed with what Telefilm managed to accomplish with the resources available and were pleased to be able to add additional resources from available reserves."
The total dollars provided include $6 million from CTF reserves, allowing more high quality projects to be selected; and another $4 million from the English Drama Special Initiative which allowed the Corporation to invest in three pilots and also completed the financing for other projects.
This year’s exciting roster consists of returning series that continue to have mass appeal with the Canadian public, including Corner Gas, Trailer Park Boys, Degrassi: The Next Generation, and the fifteenth and final year of The Red Green Show.
Also included are a strong selection of new series like Hatching, Matching and Dispatching, Falcon Beach, Moose TV, Alice, I Think and a spin-off series from Da Vinci’s Inquest entitled Da Vinci’s City Hall. Additionally, several mini-series and movies of the week, such as Everest, Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis, October 1970, and Doomstown will receive funding.
The Canadian Television Fund was created in 1996 to support the production and broadcast of high quality, distinctively Canadian television programs. The result of a private-public partnership, the CTF is financed by contributions from the Government of Canada, the Canadian cable and direct-to-home satellite industries and Telefilm Canada.
