Program Administration

In fiscal 2013–2014, for the eighth year in a row, the Canada Media Fund (CMF) renewed its Services Agreement with Telefilm Canada for the administration of CMF programs.

The CMF Program Administrator|Telefilm Canada (CMFPA) received 2,054 applications in 2013–2014, i.e., basically as many as the previous year (2,053) despite a $15 million decrease in the CMF’s program budget. Of the total number of applications received, 1,371 were granted funding, down 2.5% from 2012–2013 due mainly to the decreased budgetary envelope.

Number of applications approved in 2013-2014

		TV	DM	Total
Experimental Stream	Production	-	35	35
	Development	-	34	34
	Marketing	-	14	14
Accelerator Partnership Pilot Program			12	12
Experimental total		-	95	95
Convergent Stream	Production	467	214	697
	Development	439	135	593
	Versioning	21		31
Convergent total		927	349	1,276
Grand total		927	444	1,371

The CMFPA team provided pre-application consulting services for 200 projects so that producers could verify the eligibility of their applications prior to submission. Close to 90 follow-up meetings and calls with clients in the Experimental Stream were also arranged after decisions were issued in order to help those whose projects had not been selected for funding better prepare for the next round of applications.

In an ongoing effort to improve client services, the CMFPA continues to promote its eTelefilm system, which allows clients to manage their funding applications electronically, access information relating to their applications and monitor their status throughout the administrative process. To accelerate the technological change needed to efficiently manage the programs, the CMF and CMFPA made efforts to provide this service to all of its clients. Since September 30, 2013, all applications for funding must be filed through the eTelefim system.

The CMFPA also continued to offer and promote its direct deposit service to clients. This service ensures producers receive CMF funds in a timelier manner. In 2013–2014, one out of every four payments was made by direct deposit. The CMF and CMFPA are hoping to increase the use of this service and efforts will be made over the course of the next year to encourage more producers to use the direct deposit service.

In 2013, the CMF also conducted a client satisfaction survey on the services offered by the CMFPA. The results obtained indicate a very high level of satisfaction among the CMF’s clients, with an average of 8.1 out of 10.

The turnaround time for processing applications was reduced this year compared with last year for a number of programs. For example, the time required to process television project applications and their digital media components in the Performance Envelope Program fell by more than 3 days for the television component and by nearly 6 days for the digital media component compared with 2012–2013. However, although most service targets were met in 2013–2014, there were still some gaps, mainly due to the increase in the overall number of applications, i.e., the number of new applications received and processing applications from previous years. Nevertheless, ongoing simplification measures over the past few years have led to a drop in the majority of turnaround times. The CMF and the CMFPA will continue to work closely together to streamline the analysis process in an effort to constantly enhance services offered to clients. 

Turnaround time (days) - 2013-2014

		Target based on Services Agreement		Actual		Variation
		TV	DM	TV	DM	TV	DM
Experimental Stream     Production	Selective decision	-	55	-	48.3	-	6.7
	Contract and first payment	-	30	-	17.5	-	12.5
	Beta version	-	10	-	10.2	-	(0.2)
	Final cost	-	31	-	28.6	-	2.4
Experimental Stream Development and Marketing	Selective decision	-	55	-	52.3	-	2.7
	Contract and first payment	-	20	-	14.3	-	5.7
	Other disbursements	-	20	-	5.6	-	14.4
Performance Envelope Production	Contract and first payment	30.5	30.5	28.6	32.3	1.9	(1.8)
	Rough cut/beta version	7	7	4.2	3.9	2.8	3.1
	Final cost	31	31	26.3	25.8	4.7	5.2
	Non-funded DM component	-	31	-	23.9	-	7.1
Selective Programs  Production	Contract and first payment	50.5	50.5	38.4	37.8	12.1	12.7
	Roughcut/beta version	7	7	4.5	10.4	2.5	(3.4)
	Final cost	31	31	26.9	27.2	4.1	3.8
	Non-funded DM component	-	31	-	40	-	(9)
Development (Envelopes, Francophone Minority Program and Aboriginal Program)	Contract and first payment	24	24	24.2	28.9	(0.2)	(4.9)
	Other disbursements	6	6	5.3	8.7	0.7	(2.7)
	Non-funded DM component	-	24	-	19.4	-	4.6
Versioning	Contract and first payment	15.5	15.5	19.4		(3.9)
	Other disbursements	6	6	6.4	-	(0.4)	-

¹The number of approved projects excludes the 118 approved non-funded digital media components that allow certain projects to meet Convergent Stream eligibility criteria.

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