Montreal and Toronto, April 25, 2023:
The Bell Fund is pleased to announce the 36 companies from across Canada who will receive financial support for their slate development.
“As evidenced by the 96 English/French slate applications submitted to the Fund, there’s no shortage of great Canadian IP,” says Nancy Chapelle, Executive Director. From those 96 applications, the juries recommended 36 to the Board. That’s funding for 36 companies to develop slates containing a combined total of 90 projects.
Since 2018, Bell Fund has supported 148 Canadian independent production companies with over 10.8M in development for over 393 projects, illustrating the vital role this Program plays in the Industry. In order to be as flexible and inclusive as possible, eligibility for the Program does not require broadcaster development agreements. Instead, expressions of support from a broadcaster, digital platform or distributor are required. To date, Producers have received market interest support from 28 broadcasters, 16 digital platforms/channels and 52 distributors. Many have been greenlit for production including Reality Distortion Field’s Fakes (CBC Gem and Netflix), Rezolution Pictures’ Little Bird (Crave), Productions Picbois’ with Trafic, Le 11 septembre et moi and Soif de revolution (Télé-Québec and Corus/Historia), Pamplemousse’s École de l’info (Tou.tv), and Toast Studio-Avanti’s Inspirez Expirez (Noovo).
“The Slate Development program is a great tool for developing bold and ambitious projects. It allows us to trust our intuition as producers and to have the opportunity to get the project to the development stage before convincing the broadcaster. Thanks to the program, we have experimented with new formats (podcast, variety, true crime) and proposed projects that would have been more difficult to defend only on paper. In short, it’s a wonderful playground for producers like us who like to take risks and go where we’re not expected.”
– Karine Dubois, Producer, Picbois Productions.
“Bell Fund’s Slate Development fund was an integral piece of the financing that allowed us to develop the idea from a first-time creator to tangible material that was essential not only for a commission from a Canadian broadcaster at Gem but also with an international partner in Netflix. The Bell Fund’s continued support going forward reinforces RDF’s commitment to emerging and early career talent.”
-Stephen Hegyes, Reality Distortion Field
Bell fund is committed to supporting a more equitable, diverse and inclusive industry. In this round, 31% of funded companies are majority-owned by individuals from Black, Indigenous or Racialized communities and 33% are majority-owned by women. 50% of applicants were first-time applicants to the Fund.
Bell Fund is committing over 2.3M for this round of development to 36 companies from 8 provinces. The following independent production companies received funding under Bell Fund’s Slate Development program:
| English Language |
|---|
| 3 Bridges Media, ON, Katelyn Cursio, Naveen Prasad and Tyler Levine |
| 3 Story Pictures, SK, Saxon de Cocq, Ell McEachern and Hannah Hermanson |
| 86 Media House, ON, Sam Sutherland and Dave Harris |
| Big Gay Movies, BC, Bob Christie and Morris Chapdelaine |
| Black Elephant Productions, ON, M. H. Murray and Martine Brouillet |
| Cineflix Media/Cineflix Studios Canada/Connect3 Media, ON, Glen Salzman and Katherine Buck |
| Conquering Lion Pictures, ON, Damon D’Oliveira and Clement Virgo |
| Cultivation Pictures, NB, Sandy Hunter and Clem McIntosh |
| Katawak Productions, ON, Tasha Hubbard and Shane Belcourt |
| Lightning Mill, AB, Cody Lance Lightning, Joshua Jackson and Samuel Miller |
| Loaded Pictures, QC, Sergeo Kirby |
| Markham Street Films, ON, Judy Holm |
| Miss Magic Productions, ON, Vanessa Magic |
| Nava Projects, NS, Sahar Yousefi |
| Oddfellows Pictures, BC, Chris Ferguson |
| Owning the Means, ON, Leah Cameron |
| Oya Media Group, ON, Alison Duke and Ngardy Conteh George |
| Reality Distortion Field, BC, Stephen Hegyes and Simon Barry |
| Reallife Pictures Development, ON, Kulbinder Saran Caldwell |
| Red Fox Productions, BC, Sarah Kelley |
| Resonant Pictures, ON, Champagne Choquer |
| Saloon Media, ON, Michael McMillan |
| Slap Happy Cartoons, BC, Josh Mepham, Kathy Antonsen, and Greg Sullivan, and Vito Viscomi |
| Soapbox Productions, BC, Nick Orchard |
| Spike & Sadie Media, ON, Ira Levy |
| The Chosen are Few, ON, Jonathan Gajewski |
| Zoot Pictures, MB, Leslea Mair and Leif Kaldor |
French language
Fittonia Productions (ON); Les Productions Passez-Go (QC); Art et essai (QC); Martine aimait les films (QC); Moi & Dave (ON); Picbois Productions (QC); UGO Média (QC); URBANIA Média (QC); V10 Média (QC).
For further information:
Bell Fund
416-977-8154
info@bellfund.ca
www.bellfund.ca
Fonds Bell
514-845-4418
info@fondsbell.ca
www.fondsbell.ca