Shaw Rocket Fund celebrates 20 years of fuelling high-quality, Canadian-made media for children and youth

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CALGARY, Feb. 25, 2019 /CNW/ - Shaw Rocket Fund is proud to celebrate 20 years of breaking national and international ground by investing in Canadian-made, world-class media content for children and youth viewers.

Since 1999, Shaw Rocket Fund has invested more than $220 million to fuel 865 audio-visual programs and associated digital media content for children, youth and families. It supports creative programming in both of Canada's official languages, as well as Indigenous and various languages, on all platforms that air Canadian children's and youth programming.

As a vital partner of the children's media sector, Shaw Rocket Fund supports Canadian-made media that reflects Canadian values and diversity, and most of all respects and speaks to children. Many Shaw Rocket Fund investments have been critically acclaimed, such as The Breadwinner (Aircraft Pictures), which received both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, and Snowtime/La guerre des tuques 3D (CarpeDiem Film & TV), which received the 2015 Cineplex Golden Screen Award for the highest-grossing Canadian film at the domestic box office that year.

"We couldn't be prouder of the tremendous body of work which the Shaw Rocket Fund has supported for children and youth of Canada and the world," said Agnes Augustin, President and CEO of Shaw Rocket Fund. "It has been our vision to invest in and support Canadian-made media that reflects Canadian values and diversity, while positively showcasing Canadian leadership on the world stage, and I'm grateful to all of our partners to be able to say we have delivered on that promise."

"We have always believed that kids and youth in Canada, and around the world, deserve access to high-quality, diverse programming to help them learn and develop while being entertained at the same time," said Brad Shaw, CEO of Shaw Communications. "Over the past 20 years, the Shaw Rocket Fund has built a legacy of delivering this kind of exceptional, engaging content that has shaped the minds of thousands of young people across our country."

Along with financial support for Canadian productions, the Shaw Rocket Fund strives to give the Canadian children's and youth media sector a greater voice in decisions affecting media content. The Fund continues to encourage broadcasters, regulators, legislators and creators to recognize the need for the creation, production and discoverability of Canadian content for children and youth — on all platforms.

Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez congratulated Shaw Rocket Fund for this important milestone. "For 20 years, the Shaw Rocket Fund has helped develop quality media content for children and youth and represents Canadian enterprise at its most engaged, innovative best," Minister Rodriguez said. "On behalf of the federal government, I congratulate Shaw Rocket Fund for its leadership and commitment to bringing youth voices to the public policy landscape."

From three-time Canadian Screen Award winner Wapos Bay (Karma Films) to Prix Jeunesse nominee Jenny (Productions Avenida) and film festival favourite Indian Horse (Screen Siren Pictures), Shaw Rocket-Funded programs tell important stories while entertaining and educating families worldwide. Of the programs Shaw Rocket Fund has invested in, many are award winning productions which have achieved global success, including:

• Annedroids (Sinking Ship)
• Dino Dan (Sinking Ship)
• Justin Time (Guru Animation Studio)
• Le Chalet (Les Productions Passez Go Inc)
• Slugterra / Slug it Out! (Nerd Corps, now DHX)
• Prank Patrol (Apartment 11)
• This is Daniel Cook (Sinking Ship and Marblemedia)
• Toc Toc Toc (Telefiction Productions)
• Toopy and Binoo (Echo Media / Spectra Animation)
• UnderEXPOSED (Airbear Media)
• Wild Kratts (9 Story Media)

International presence

Shaw Rocket Fund's work has established Canada as a global leader in children's and youth programming. Shaw Rocket Fund has led international roundtable discussions on the future of children's media, resulting in forward-thinking initiatives such as the Rocket Online Safety Program in partnership with kidSAFE Seal to certify the technology of digital content as safe for kids. Shaw Rocket Fund has also been asked on numerous occasions to help raise awareness on the importance of kids' media globally from a Canadian point of view.

Another proud legacy of the Shaw Rocket Fund is the coveted Shaw Rocket Prize, which promoted and enhanced the national and international profile of Canadian kids' programming from 2005 to 2016. With an international jury selecting finalists for the Prize, Canadian programming received global exposure. Voted on by kids across Canada, Shaw Rocket Prize winners, announced annually in Ottawa, included Degrassi: The Next Generation (DHX Media), The Next Step (Boat Rocker Media), and L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (Breakthrough Entertainment).

When it was first established, Shaw Rocket Fund provided top-up equity funding for Canadian children's television programs based on investment applications from the independent production sector. In 2004, the Fund shifted its approach and became a champion of Canadian children's programming by supporting and promoting high-quality content for children and youth – the Shaw Rocket Fund's primary stakeholder and ultimate beneficiary of its investments.

Today, the Shaw Rocket Fund has evolved into a unique enterprise: a true equity fund within a not-for-profit framework, driving the production of world-class diverse media for kids and youth through strategic equity investments, with the goal of reinvesting returns to benefit the wider children's production industry. Shaw Rocket Fund represents an innovation-based model of social enterprise.

About Shaw Rocket Fund

The Shaw Rocket Fund is a vital partner of the Canadian children's media sector in offering children robust world-leading content on all platforms. The Rocket Fund invests in and supports Canadian-made media that reflects Canadian values and diversity, and most of all respects and speaks to children, while positively showcasing Canadian leadership on the world stage. By working with producers, regulators, and government, the Shaw Rocket Fund aims to make quality content for kids a global priority. Since its inception, the Shaw Rocket Fund has invested over $220 million in 865 Canadian media content pieces for children, family, and youth audiences worldwide. Contributors to the Fund are Shaw Communications and Shaw Direct.

SOURCE Shaw Rocket Fund

Lisa Amato at [email protected].