Wendy Bernfeld participated with 5 other digital media experts as an international Jury member for the Canada Media Fund's Digital/Webseries Pilot Program, awarding second /subsequent season funding assistance. Results were publicly announced April 6, 2017 . Read more for the full press and jury members and click here to see the winning projects.
Toronto, April 6, 2017 – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) announced today an investment of $2M to support the production of 10 projects as part of its Web Series Pilot Program. This is the result of the pilot program the CMF had put in place to exclusively finance Canadian web series in their second or subsequent season. This program was developed to meet the needs in the marketplace for linear content created for online consumption.
Canadian audiences will have a chance to enjoy six web series in English and Four in French. One is from British Columbia, five are from Ontario and four are from Québec. The ten projects are in the Drama genre. Click here to view a list of CMF-funded projects and additional information, including production synopses, producer credits, and funding commitments.
A six-member jury evaluated all the projects that were submitted for funding as part of this program. The jury is composed of Canadian and international industry specialists including: Jean Michel Albert (Marseilles), Lorenzo Benedetti (Paris), Wendy Bernfeld (Amsterdam), Audrey Pacart (Montréal), Enrique Soissa (Toronto) and Emilia Zboralska (Toronto). Jury members have complementary skill sets including business development and acquisitions; independent production in digital media, film, and television; and web distribution. Click here to read more about each juror involved in the Web Series Pilot Program application evaluation process.
The jury provides an external perspective on projects and makes recommendations based on a set of criteria, which include market interest; track record and experience of the production and creative teams; and originality, creativity and production value of all assessed projects.
Based on the success of the first year of funding through this program, the CMF recently announced that in 2017-2018, it would both increase its budget allocation to $4M and expand eligibility under this program to include Documentary projects, in addition to the already eligible Drama or Children’s and Youth projects.
In view of supporting the discoverability of web series produced in Canada, the CMF has worked with the Independent Production Fund to develop a comprehensive directory of Canadian and international festivals and awards dedicated to web series. The objective of this initiative is to allow Canadian producers to promote their projects by including them in national and international competitions. Click here to find out more about the Directory of Festivals and Award Ceremonies for Canadian Web Series.