Thank you very much.
Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Robin Jackson. I am the executive director of the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund. With me is Jean-Luis Robichaud, the co-chair of the fund and, in his regular day job, director of the Centre provincial de ressources pédagogiques in Saulnierville, Nova Scotia.
We thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.
The Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund is a dynamic private sector funding body that supports non-theatrical film and video projects created by Canadian independent producers to enable lifelong learning.
The fund provides financial assistance to documentaries and to educational and informational films and videos, and it has also supported new media projects. These programs are destined for use in the educational sector—kindergarten to university—museums, film festivals, libraries, health services, community groups, cultural and social services, educational and specialty television, airlines and cruise ships, and in the business, home video, and new media markets.
The CIFVF has supported many award-winning projects and talent; for example, The Corporation was partially funded by us. It has won 25 awards and grossed more than $5.6 million worldwide. In 2004 it was the second most commercially successful film in English Canada, either fiction or documentary.
The CIFVF funds projects that are culturally, regionally, and linguistically diverse. Through our programs and policies, the CIFVF has been able to allow entry of first-time and emerging creators into the industry and to assist them in gaining real experience in filmmaking, including business skills, such as securing financing, hiring crew, and negotiating distribution agreements. Since 2000, 32.3% of the successful producers receiving money from the CIFVF have been new and emerging producers.
One of our success factors is continuity. In many cases, the CIFVF has helped launch and grow the careers of producers, directors, writers, and other creative craftspeople, and those individuals have continued to work in the audiovisual industry. In many cases, these emerging filmmakers have gone on to work in drama and/or feature film. Zacharias Kunuk is one such example. He has received assistance from the CIFVF for three documentaries and has gone on to direct two feature films, one of which was awarded the Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001.
We would like to read you a note from a talented new director.
To whom it may concern:
I'm the director of the documentary called La Vie après la shop, which was recently nominated for a prix Gémeaux for the best social documentary. This is my first film. So I am very proud. Had it not been for your organization, this documentary would never have been made. So I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Vincent Audet-Nadeau
The CIFVF is one of the few funding agencies in the country that does not require a broadcast licence to be in place in the financing structure of projects. While this may not seem significant, it can be very difficult for a newcomer to gain the attention of a broadcaster, let alone get a broadcast licence, as new producers do not have the track record that broadcasters demand. While the CIFVF does not restrict a producer from obtaining a licence, it does not mean that a licence is mandatory in order to access CIFVF funding.
Because the CIFVF assists new and emerging filmmakers, it often finds itself in the role of being the first financier to commit to a project. This is very important to a producer, as it provides incentives to other funders to step forward and invest. In 2003 the CIFVF was the first committed funder in 22 of the 63 projects that we financed, or 35% of them. In 2004 we were the first funder in 19 of 56 projects, or 34% of them.
New and emerging producers are often not successful in securing funding from the Canadian Television Fund or Telefilm Canada. Since 2002, 61.8% of projects funded by the CIFVF have had no Canadian Television Fund or Telefilm assistance. In these cases, CIFVF funding has been critical to the realization of these projects.