OTTAWA – The federal government announced Friday it will make up to $50 million available to help film and TV productions get re-started in a Covid-19 world.
As we first reported in June, insurers have not extended coverage for potential coronavirus outbreaks on sets and the Canadian Media Producers Association has been working for months to try and get coverage and so the film and TV industry can back to work. It was originally seeking $100 million from the federal government.
Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault made the funding announcement Friday morning.
Administered by Telefilm Canada along with the Canada Media Fund, this funding will fill the void left by the lack of insurance coverage for filming interruptions and production shutdowns and compensate independent production companies if they have to shutter an eligible audiovisual production due to confirmed cases of Covid-19, explains the press release.
This funding is in addition to the support measures and financial assistance previously announced for the culture, heritage, and sport sectors.
The maximum compensation will be $1.5 million in the case of a temporary interruption and $3 million in the case of a complete shutdown of production.
More information on the implementation of this new fund, including its terms and conditions, will be released by Telefilm Canada in the coming weeks, said the government’s release.
“We thank Minister Guilbeault and the federal government for today’s announcement of this much-needed fund, which will help hundreds of camera-ready Canadian film and TV projects move forward after months of uncertainty,” said CMPA president and CEO Reynolds Mastin.
“The swift implementation of a workable program is now mission critical, to safeguard thousands of jobs in jeopardy. We look forward to working with the Minister, Telefilm and other industry stakeholders, to ensure the launch of this new funding measure as soon as possible.”
“Several stages must be taken by the federal government before this new fund is officially launched,” said Telefilm in a Friday note to the industry. “Meanwhile, Telefilm teams are working to get the necessary steps in place.
“Key guidelines will be available on our website, and we will communicate more details as soon as possible.”
