Quebecor Fund Announces Funding for Producers Under its Television Production and Export Support Programs Français
MONTRÉAL, Dec. 10, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - The Quebecor Fund Board of Directors today announced the list of Canadian production companies that will receive financial backing in the 41st round of the Fund's Television Production Assistance Program, for which submissions closed on October 1, 2020. In this round, the Fund will disburse a total of nearly $2.3 million.
Of that amount, $75,000 is being granted under the Support for Convergent Production component to the producer SA Télévision inc. (a subsidiary of Productions Déferlantes inc.) for a project that will air on the Canadian broadcaster TVA Group. Under the Support for the Creation of Intellectual Property component, $686,250 is being granted to three projects from Oasis Animation inc., Attraction Images Productions XI inc. and Happy Camper Média inc. The broadcasters that are backing the development of these projects are Corus (Télétoon), TVA Group Inc. and Société Radio-Canada. Under the Support for the Production of Intellectual Property for International Markets component, launched in partnership with the Canada Media Fund (CMF), Quebecor Fund is contributing $1,493,175 in this round and the CMF $276,957 for a total of $1,770,132, to be divided among six fiction projects and one documentary project produced by Trio Orange International inc., Productions Nanoby inc., Productions Casablanca inc., Les Productions ALSO inc., Duo Productions inc. and Productions Lustitia inc. The selected productions will air on the Canadian broadcasters TVA Group, Club Illico and Société Radio-Canada.
Since its inception in 1999, Quebecor Fund's Television Production Assistance Program has supported a total of 308 projects involving 91 production companies, 48 Canadian broadcasters and 34 foreign broadcasters with grants totalling nearly $89.6 million under all of its components combined. Of the funding granted since spring 2017 under Quebecor Fund's three components, 22% has gone to documentaries, 23% to programs for children/youth, 25% to variety/performing arts, and 30% to drama.
Under the television and multiplatform sections of the Support for Convergent Production component, Quebecor Fund has granted a total of more than $77 million to date, including this 41st round.
Counting this 8th round of the Support for the Creation of Intellectual Property component, launched in March 2017, Quebecor Fund has provided repayable grants totalling more than $8.8 million to support creation projects in all genres that have received a financial commitment from a recognized French-language broadcasting programming undertaking (BPU).
Counting this 4th round of the Support for the Creation of Intellectual Property for International Markets component, launched in April 2019 in partnership with the CMF, Quebecor Fund has provided repayable grants of more than $3.6 million and the CMF $1.9 million for a total of more than $5.5 million. The money enables Québec producers to increase the value of French-language fiction and documentaries in order to break into international markets.
Quebecor Fund also has an Export Assistance Program (EXAP), which supports export initiatives by funding the development of audiovisual content adapted for non-Québec and international markets as well as marketing efforts. Since its inception in March 2014, EXAP has invested more than $9.7 million in 40 export business models with 26 partner companies. And the Fund's partner, the CMF, has invested an additional $2.3 million since 2017, for a combined total of more than $12 million. In this 17th round, Quebecor Fund is investing $300,000 in the business model of Sphère Média inc.
Quebecor Fund has also introduced specific funding, now in its 2nd round, to promote female shareholding in the partner companies that receive EXAP support. Since June 2020, companies that have had their fair market value assessed by an independent expert have been able to obtain an additional contribution of up to $80,000 from Quebecor Fund to cover interest payments for five years on a loan to finance the transfer of shares to female personnel. In this round, Digital Dimension inc. will receive the contribution of up to $80,000 to support female shareholding. To date, support with a maximum value of $160,000 has been extended under this component.
PRODUCTION PROJECTS FUNDED UNDER THE TELEVISION PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
SUPPORT FOR CONVERGENT PRODUCTION COMPONENT:
Star Académie 2021 - La Quotidienne
- SA Télévision inc. (subsidiary of Productions Déferlantes inc.)
- Canadian broadcaster: TVA Group
La Quotidienne de Star Académie is back with a bang this year after a nearly 10-year absence. The students at the Academy will be tutored by Lara Fabian, Grégory Charles, Ariane Moffatt, Mika, Pepe Munoz, Anne Dorval, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Xavier Dolan and Marc Séguin. The television component of La Quotidienne, shot in the style of an unnarrated documentary, will take viewers behind the scenes at the Academy to show the students' daily progress as they learn from true artists.
The interactive component of La Quotidienne de Star Académie will consist of two main parts. One will increase opportunities for interaction with viewers at every stage of the series. The other will provide the contestants with a state-of-the-art creative lab with which to develop their musical skills and make their tracks available on the web and on social media.
SUPPORT FOR THE CREATION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY FOR INTERNATIONAL MARKETS COMPONENT:
FICTION
Autant en emportent les framboises
- Trio Orange International inc.
- Canadian broadcaster: TVA Group
Élisabeth, a young woman turning 40, inherits the family farm when her husband dies. He had concealed his illness from her. Knowing nothing about running a farm, she embarks undaunted on her new life.
La nuit où Laurier Gaudreault s'est réveillé
Productions Nanoby inc.
- Canadian broadcaster: Club Illico
A thanatologist returns to the village where she was born to embalm her own mother and reunites with the brothers she has not seen in 25 years. Soon, secrets and resentments come bubbling to the surface, intertwined with grief and a yearning for reconciliation. Xavier Dolan writes and directs his first television drama, a 5-episode TV adaptation of the play of the same name by Michel-Marc Bouchard.
C'est comme ça que je t'aime – saison 2
- Casablanca Productions Inc.
- Canadian broadcaster: Société Radio-Canada
Season 2 of C'est comme ça que je t'aime is set in 1975, one year after season 1. Our protagonists have dropped their kids off at summer camp again for 3 weeks and the fun begins. Their marital problems had subsided but unfortunately that wasn't meant to last. Once again, they fall prey to events. Season 2 has it all: relationships, family, crime, betrayal, power, fear and International Women's Year!
Mégantic
- Les Productions ALSO inc.
- Canadian broadcaster: TVA Group
On July 6, 2013, a freight train with 72 tanker cars filled with crude oil crashes in Lac-Mégantic and the town centre is engulfed in flames. A close-knit community is devastated and its residents' lives will never be the same.
Après
- Duo Productions inc.
- Canadian broadcaster: Société Radio-Canada
- Partnership with the CMF
Après starts right after a shooting at a grocery store in a small town in the Laurentians. The survivors will bear the scars forever. The show depicts the physical, psychological and social after-effects of the tragedy.
Audrey s'est réveillée
- Pixcom Productions Inc.
- Canadian broadcaster: TVA Group
- Partnership with the CMF
A young woman is found lying on the road in a coma in the middle of the night in a small village. The tragedy plunges an entire family into a state of suspended animation. Eighteen years later, the impossible happens: Audrey wakes up! A dramedy written by Guillaume Lambert and Florence Longpré.
DOCUMENTARY
Nos ambassadrices
- Productions Lustitia inc.
- Canadian broadcaster: Société Radio-Canada
- Partnership with the CMF
A fascinating look at the lives of 12 courageous and talented Québec women who left home to pursue their careers abroad. Positive role models who have made a name for themselves in various fields in their adopted lands.
Quebecor Fund
Quebecor Fund was established through Videotron Ltd., which provides nearly $6.5 million annually in broadcasting distribution undertaking (BDU) contributions to the Canadian industry.
Its mission is to support the development, production, marketing and export of high-quality content and its exploitation on various platforms. To date, Quebecor Fund's programs have paid out a total of nearly $116 million.
The Board of Directors is responsible for all decisions pertaining to the Fund, including its priorities, and is entirely and exclusively responsible for its funding decisions. The deadline for submissions for the next round of the Television Production Assistance Program is Thursday, April 1, 2021. The deadline for the next round of the Film Production Assistance Program is January 26, 2021, unless a special notice stating otherwise is posted on the website. For reasons of environmental responsibility and efficiency, all applications for all program must now be submitted electronically. For more information, please visit www.quebecorfund.ca.
SOURCE QUEBECOR FUND
Serge Thibaudeau, CEO, Quebecor Fund, (514) 842-2497 / [email protected]
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