Message from the President and CEO

 

The CMF’s vision for Canada’s talent and stories to transcend platforms and borders, triggering innovation, ideas, and building on Canada’s reputation as a leader in the support of multiplatform content is the foundation upon which we deliver the CMF’s programs. 

Inspired by ongoing efforts to improve representation in the screen-based sector, we took a number of important measures in 2017-2018 to advance gender balance and Indigenous representation in Canada’s audiovisual industry. New gender requirements introduced in 2017-2018 mandated broadcasters to allocate a minimum of 15 per cent and a target of 25 per cent of their Performance Envelopes on projects where 40 per cent of key roles were filled by women. Over 80 per cent of broadcasters reached or exceeded the 25 per cent target.

After initiating a multi-stakeholder engagement process and following a series of recommendations emerging from this process, the CMF led the creation of Canada’s Indigenous Screen Office, tasked with implementing a long-term strategy to nurture and support Indigenous screen content. This achievement was made possible thanks to the invaluable contribution of key industry partners: the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada (CBC/SRC), Telefilm Canada, the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), as well as associated partners Bell Media, the Harold Greenberg Fund and VICE Studio Canada. 

With the support of Google Canada, Bell Media, Deluxe Toronto, Telefilm Canada, and in partnership with film and television producers, distributors, broadcasters, unions, guilds and other industry associations, on November 7, 2017, the CMF launched a YouTube channel, Encore+, dedicated to showcasing iconic Canadian content to Canadians and global audiences. As of March 31, 2018, Encore+ has garnered over 17.5K subscribers and 2.3M views, with 44 per cent of views originating from outside Canada. Encore+ has demonstrated the potential to trigger renewed interest in this content through viewership and sales, and to contribute to driving global and domestic demand for our content.

In addition to these important milestones, we maintained our focus on the effective delivery of our funding programs. Despite a reduced program budget, attributable to declining contributions from Broadcast Distribution Undertakings, the CMF continued to successfully deliver its mandate to support Canada’s audiovisual industry by investing $342M to finance the development, production, marketing and export of 1,292 television and digital media projects. Programs were almost fully subscribed at 98 per cent – a clear indication that they are aligned with the industry’s evolving needs.

In 2017-2018, CMF funding triggered $1.4B in production activity across the country. Every $1 of CMF funding generated $4.14 in production activity, a record high. This continues to serve as a clear indication of the key role the CMF plays in the sustainable creation of over 171,000 jobs in Canada’s screen-based sector. This level of funding and support was made possible thanks to the continued support of our funding contributors, the Government of Canada and Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV distributors.

Faced with industry disruption and a fiercely competitive global marketplace, the CMF continued to demonstrate agility by introducing new programs and measures, including two export assistance pilot programs, and six new international matching funds. 

Thanks to growing sales beyond our borders, Canada’s stories reached global audiences, with producers reporting $138.5M in sales of 612 CMF-funded productions in 2017-2018. The quality of Canadian audiovisual content continues to be celebrated by Canadian and global audiences, with CMF-funded projects receiving 879 award nominations, including 201 wins in 21 award ceremonies across the country. Internationally, CMF-funded projects received 35 nominations, of which 9 won awards in 7 different awards ceremonies, including the Peabody Awards, the Emmy Awards, the Daytime Emmy Awards, International Emmy Awards and the Kidscreen Awards, to name a few. 

Canadian content maintains its popularity with audiences at home, where 24 productions delivered television audiences of over one million viewers in the 2016-2017 broadcast season. Three of these were in the English market, and 21 in the French market. The weekly per capita viewing to CMF-funded productions was 1.3 hours in the English market and 3.3 hours in the French market. Total measured visits to CMF-funded digital media projects were 22.2M in the Convergent Stream and 1.8M in the Experimental Stream.

Finance 

Through the Convergent Stream, we financed the production of 495 and the development of 394 television programs. These were accompanied by 166 associated digital media projects, providing new platforms for audiences to engage with CMF-supported content. Convergent Stream production commitments amounted to $285M in 2017-2018 and triggered over $1.3B in production volume. 

Through the Experimental Stream, we invested $40.0M in 103 projects at the development, production and marketing stages, triggering $72.1M in industry activity. 

As a result of our continued agreement with Corus Entertainment, the CMF administered the Corus-CMF Page-to-Pitch Program for a fifth consecutive year. Through this program, 18 development projects were funded last year, totaling $924K.

Promote 

Supporting the CMF’s objectives of promoting Canadian talent and content, featuring Canada as a coproduction partner of choice and distributing industry intelligence, the CMF partnered with 63 industry events and contributed expertise to an additional 36 industry events in Canada and internationally. 

Foster and develop

Identifying and analyzing industry and market trends in the screen-based sector continues to be a priority at the CMF. This has allowed us to remain nimble and informed of the latest advancements in the industry we serve. More importantly, the studies we commission, and the information we curate and share is increasingly invaluable to industry professionals in Canada and around the world. Our Keytrends Reports are the most read content on the CMF Trends website, attesting to their effectiveness at synthesizing information and analyzing key transformative phenomena in relation to technology and innovation, consumer habits, business models, and markets. 

I thank the CMF Board of Directors for their invaluable leadership and guidance, as well as all CMF staff and team members at the CMF Program Administrator, Telefilm Canada, for their tireless efforts and commitment to deliver our programs with a steady focus on client service. 

Last fiscal year set the course for positive change by which we will build a more representative industry that truly reflects Canada. I look to the future with optimism, and hope that our institutions, agencies, associations and the industry as a whole continue to work in partnership to fully embrace the opportunities the creative economy presents.  

Valerie Creighton
President and CEO

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