Toronto and Montreal, January 11, 2024:
The Board of Directors of the Bell Fund has announced its decisions for the September 26, 2023 Short-Form Digital Series Program deadline. The Bell Fund has committed nearly $2 million to the production of 10 short-form digital series (seven English and three French), including $1.5 million for production and $485,000 for audience development.
The Short-Form Digital Series Program is a selective program that supports Canadian independent producers/creators by funding premium, original series for online distribution, specifically the production of fiction (drama, comedy, and children’s and youth programming) and non-fiction (documentary and lifestyle/factual programming).
The Bell Fund is committed to supporting equity, diversity, inclusion and enabling producers/creators from across Canada, emerging and established, to tell their stories. In this round, 50% of the funded series will be produced by production companies located in regions outside of Ontario and Quebec, including four series from British Columbia and one from Nova Scotia; and 40% of funded projects will be produced by first-time applicants to the Bell Fund.
1.1. The following English-language series received funding under Bell Fund’s Short-Form Digital Series Program:
| SHORT-FORM DIGITAL SERIES (English-language) |
|---|
| Degrees of Separation Tooth & Nail Pictures, BC Fae Pictures, ON KindaTV (YouTube) 6 x 16 min - Fiction |
| In this smart and stylish ensemble comedy, Indigenous PhD student Delphine Purcell plots a daring heist to return Ancestral remains to her tribe. But first, she and her team must outwit the collectors who have descended upon the community like vultures ready to pick the bones clean. |
| Get Hooked Bone Vault Inc., ON OUTtv & AMI 7 x 20 min - Non-fiction |
| This isn't your dad's fishing show. A fresh take on how queer, black, Indigenous and disabled people turn the mental health benefits of fishing into pure joy. |
| Good Grief Pumpkin Patch Productions, NS OUTtv 6 x 15 min - Fiction |
| Abigail has come to terms with the decision to sell her late wife Dorothy’s Drag Bar, but an unexpected visit from Dorothy’s daughter, Cameron, throws everyone’s plans of moving on into chaos. |
| Killjoy Comedy, Season 2 Titular Productions Inc., BC OUTtv 6 x 20 min - Non-fiction |
| Killjoy Comedy puts the microphone in front of Canada’s best new stand-up comics, who are queering and diversifying stand-up, and staging nothing short of a laugh riot. |
| Novelette is Trying Orange Rose Productions, BC OUTtv 10 x 12 min - Fiction |
| A queer, anti-social Black woman takes in a quirky roommate after being dumped by her partner, which forces her to confront the lack of purpose, love and connection in her life. |
| Pioneer Girl Fenton & Smordin Pictures, ON KindaTV (YouTube) 6 x 10 min - Fiction |
| When feminist history PhD Eleanor gets kicked out of academia for setting her professor and former lover’s car on fire after he steals her ideas for his book, she’s forced to take a job at her worst nightmare: A cheesy pioneer village where it’s always 1867 and women don’t even have the vote. |
| Southern Interior Watershed Productions Inc., BC KindaTV (YouTube) 6 x 10 min - Fiction |
| A sketch comedy series set in the mountainous bohemian enclave of Nelson British Columbia, the last earnest place on earth. Satirizing and celebrating the eclectic citizenship, the show is concerned with how tight proximities can promote community where residents chase cynicism away one kombucha at a time. |
1.2. The following French-language series received funding under Bell Fund’s Short-Form Digital Series Program:
| SHORT-FORM DIGITAL SERIES (French-language) |
|---|
| DETOX Saison 2 UGO Média, QC TV5Unis.ca 8 x 12 min - Fiction |
| Après leur tentative de fuite, Zach et Léa réintègrent le centre, mais la pression est trop forte et Zach est expulsé. La vie en dehors du centre est pleine de tentations, mais sa motivation revient. Sur le chemin de la rédemption, il devra choisir entre l’amour et la guérison. |
| Ils sont parmi nous Productions Pixcom Inc., QC Noovo.ca 8 x 12 min - Fiction |
| L’Agence canadienne du contrôle aérospatial (A.C.C.A.), dédiée aux enquêtes sur les phénomènes extraterrestres, est aujourd’hui menacée de fermeture. Mensonges, enlèvements, fausses nouvelles : une équipe de cinq fonctionnaires se lance dans une série de manigances dans l’espoir de sauver leurs emplois. |
| T-REX inséparables films inc., QC Telequebec.tv 7 x 15 min - Fiction |
| Édouard ne répond pas aux normes viriles populaires et cela génère en lui un sentiment d’imposteur. Lors d'un week-end au chalet avec ses amis d'enfance, Renaud et Xavier, il découvre que malgré leur amour mutuel, ils n'ont plus d'impact positif entre eux, étant piégés dans un jeu dangereux de virilité. |
2024 deadlines, guidelines and application clinics will be announced in the coming weeks. Subscribe to the Bell Fund’s mailing list to receive the latest updates.
About the Bell Fund
The Bell Fund is a not-for-profit organization certified by the CRTC as an independent production fund eligible to receive and administer contributions from broadcast distribution undertakings. The Fund is governed by a nine-member board operating at arm’s length from its contributors and has offices in Toronto and Montreal. Since 1997 the Bell Fund has received over $275 million in financial contributions from Bell TV to support Canadian independent producers in the development and production of great Canadian content.
For any questions, please contact:
Bell Fund
416-977-8154
info@bellfund.ca
www.bellfund.ca
Fonds Bell
514-845-4418
info@fondsbell.ca
www.fondsbell.ca