Export Programs

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) supports the export of Canadian content through three programs.

Versioning Program

The Versioning Program is designed to expand the accessibility of CMF-funded projects to other audiences by adding voice-overs and/or subtitles to projects, in languages other than the original language. Versioning increases revenue potential in other markets when Canadian projects gain further national and international sales. Projects receive funding on a first-come, first-served basis.

In 2018-2019, the CMF’s Versioning Program had a $1.0M budget allocated to it, which was fully spent, supporting 26 projects. 11 projects were originally produced in English, 6 projects were in French, 4 projects were in Spanish, and 5 projects were versioned from Mandarin. A total of 9 projects other than English or French received 45.1% of funding. 14 projects (53.8%) were in the Documentary genre.  

Export Pilot Programs

The Export Pilot programs were developed last year to promote content creation for international markets, increase the volume of content exports, create a leverage effect to help finance additional content, and increase both the reach and the revenue earned by Canadian productions. These programs complement the CMF’s comprehensive international strategy, which includes the launch and renewal of numerous international incentives with funding counterparts in various other jurisdictions around the world, active participation at key international industry events, as well as the research and publication of industry and intelligence on key international markets through CMF Trends.  

Due to the level of demand on the Programs,  the budget was increased from $3.1M in 2017-2018 to $3.4M in 2018-2019.

One Export Pilot program was administered fully by CMF and the other was a partnership with the Quebecor Fund. 66.9% of the total funding from the Programs went to English-language projects and 33.1% of funding went to French-language projects.

The Export Pilot Program funded pitches, sales, and promotional activities for television projects intended for international markets during the development stage. Demand was high for the program and the $2.8M budget was fully utilized, with 55 projects funded. The average funding per project was $51K. Children’s & Youth, Documentary, and Drama projects shared the funding almost equally, with Drama receiving 37%. Projects came from across the country.

The CMF-Quebecor Fund Export Assistance Program Pilot Partnership was an innovative initiative to jointly support export initiatives of audiovisual content intended for foreign markets by Quebec-based producers. Projects were initially evaluated and recommended by the Quebecor Fund. CMF made final evaluations before committing an additional amount of support from the CMF. Six companies each received $100K in assistance with the development of initial phases of projects leading to international export pre-sales.