Getting Real 5 - Media Development Corporation

The CMF’s POV Fund
In response to industry concerns about stand-alone auteur projects and the attendant need
to develop a new initiative, the CMF carved out a space for English-language point-ofview
(POV) documentaries. The original intent of the POV Fund was to allow documentary
producers to produce one-off projects and trigger CMF funding without requiring a broadcaster’s
financial participation. However, given the policy directive of the CMF’s convergent
stream to invest in production designed for television, producers are required to have a
broadcaster licence before finalizing the budget. Given the broadcasters’ retreat from the
documentary genre, this has proven difficult. The POV Fund is still in its infancy, and documentary
producers continue to work with the CMF to address issues in this important but
small fund.
Loss of Other Sources of Documentary Funding
Documentary producers have been further affected by the loss of the Canadian Independent
Film and Video Fund (CIFVF), as well as the cancellation of federal government funding
through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and other programs such as
Trade Routes and PromArt, all of which had been intended to access international markets.
The demise of the CIFVF has been particularly detrimental. It played a critical role in the
production of non-broadcast and educational films and videos, products often supplied by
Canadian producers to schools and universities. Many documentary filmmakers accessed
CIFVF to kickstart their projects or to acquire critical completion financing. In some cases,
successful projects then were able to secure broadcaster licences, such as The Corporation.
The feature-length version of The Corporation went on to gross over $1.9 million in Canadian
box office receipts and had a worldwide gross of over $5.5 million. The flexible eligibility
requirements of the CIFVF allowed it to play a key role, both by investing in innovative film,
video and new media projects and by supporting emerging talent.
In 2008, however, the CIFVF was shut down. This created a funding gap for documentary
producers for projects that were not broadcaster-driven. The CIFVF addressed the educational
and non-theatrical markets, secondary but critical markets for documentaries.
In 2009, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage released a report entitled Report
on the Analysis of the Arts Programs that were Cancelled in Summer 2008. The Committee
concluded that “cuts to arts programming, particularly the loss of the Department of
Heritage’s Trade Routes and Department of Foreign Affairs PromArt, had major negative
impacts on Canadian arts organizations.” 9 These programs helped support documentary
producers not only in establishing key international connections for production, but also by
developing export markets for sales and distribution.
9 See: www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=3821320&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=2&Language=E.
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GETTING REAL • VOLUME 5