$100 million backstop needed
By Greg O’Brien
OTTAWA – No matter what Canadian provinces and territories do to re-open the economy and get back to work, Canada’s independent film and TV producers won’t be mobilizing for one expensive reason.
“I have one word for you,” said Canadian Media Producers Association president and CEO Reynolds Mastin (above) in an interview, “insurance, insurance, insurance.”
Simply put, production companies can’t return to action without new agreements with their insurance companies over potential coronavirus impacts and so far, those companies “are not planning on extending Covid-19 insurance coverage in their new policies,” he said. “So, while we’ve…
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“We don’t fit their business model”
By Lynn Greiner
INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES FACE UNIQUE challenges when it comes to establishing broadband connectivity. At Canada’s Rural and Remote Broadband virtual conference (CRRBC) on Monday, a panel of experts who are addressing those challenges talked about what they’re doing, the roadblocks they’re facing, and why they’re persevering.
Moderated by Kim Barrington, Rogers Communications’ director of operations, enterprise division and chairperson for the Rogers’ Indigenous Peoples’ Network, the panel included Sally Braun, general manager, Western James Bay Telecom Network, Lyle Fabian, president/owner, KatloTech Communications, Rob McMahon, associate professor of communication and technology, Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The Government of Canada announced Thursday it has appointed Sandra Mason and Bill Tam as part-time directors of CBC/Radio-Canada’s board of directors. Each will serve a five-year term.
Mason, from Toronto, is a CPA and former board director and audit committee chair at The Canadian Press, was also board chair and treasurer at Canadian Women in Communications and Technology and was also chief financial officer at The Globe and Mail from 2008 to 2015.
Tam is described in the government’s release as a lifelong entrepreneur and has been actively involved with technology and start-ups as a founder, executive, investor,…
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TORONTO – On Friday, the Canada Media Fund announced the criteria for the administration and distribution of $88.8 million in new federal government support to television and interactive digital media production companies.
This is part of the $500 million the government is making available through the Covid-19 Emergency Support Fund for cultural, heritage and sport organizations to help mitigate the impact of the crisis on Canada’s production sector.
“We recognize the trust the government has placed in CMF to administer and distribute these much-needed funds in the most effective and expedient way possible. We hope businesses will benefit from these…
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$500 million total to ease pressures on culture and amateur sport
OTTAWA – The Canadian government today released details of its previously announced $500 million fund to help the cultural and sports industries weather the Covid-19 crisis.
Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault, today said partner organizations will be contacted so that funds can begin to flow. “Canadian Heritage is working closely with its partners – in particular, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Canada Media Fund, FACTOR, Musicaction, and Telefilm Canada – to distribute the funds as quickly as possible using existing channels,” reads the release.
The distribution of funding…
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No details yet on the government’s $500 million Covid-19 aid program
By Denis Carmel
MONTREAL – Just as Industry Minister Navdeep Bains last week said the government would “soon” announce new timelines to help connect rural regions, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault said Monday the details of a temporary program to help the sectors of media, culture and sports would be revealed “soon.”
The $500 million program had been announced April 16 and during a virtual Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal conference, a visibly disappointed minister said more details will be available not a matter of weeks, but days.
Later in…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – There is something new about the indirect result of governments’ stay-at-home advice in the age of Covid-19. Many more people than usual are channel-surfing, binge-watching streaming services and other things, but all this watching will eventually get old once the staleness of replaying reruns sets in and viewers want something new.
While broadcasters and streamers alike are assuring viewers they have enough new content to satisfy us at least for a few more months or so (except for sports channels, perhaps) Canadian creators are not only itching to get back to work to create new content,…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – Part of the federal government’s multibillion-dollar Covid-19 Economic Response Plan will be a $500-million emergency response fund for cultural, heritage and amateur sports organizations to continue to support artists and athletes, Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault announced on Friday.
“This targeted measure will provide financial support consistent with the government’s existing Covid-19 support measures for wages and fixed costs of organizations,” he said at the daily ministerial briefing in Ottawa. Please click here for the Minister’s tweeted video of the announcement.
The fund will be administered by Canadian Heritage “with the support of our partners, such…
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OTTAWA — The federal government announced Tuesday funding for projects that will help to prevent misleading Covid-19 information and to support social cohesion across the country.
Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault announced $3 million will be invested in several organizations through the Digital Citizen Initiative’s Digital Citizen Contribution Program. This funding will help combat false and misleading Covid-19 information as well as the racism and stigmatization that are often the result, says the news release.
“We want to remind Canadians to be careful when searching for online information about Covid-19 and to ensure the reliability of the sources. We…
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OTTAWA – Production volume in Canada hit a record high of $9.3 billion in 2019, the Canadian Media Producers Association said today.
The sector created 180,900 full-time equivalent jobs, while contributing $12.8 billion to the national GDP, adds the CMPA’s annual report, Profile 2019, which is compiled by Nordicity and developed in collaboration with the Department of Canadian Heritage, Telefilm Canada and the Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM).
The full report can be downloaded here.
“As Canada’s production industry faces unprecedented upheaval caused by Covid-19, these numbers are a great reminder of the robust sector that we have built…
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