Planning to apply to the Bell Fund’s Short-Form Digital Series (non-fiction) program?

  • Give yourself time to prepare.
  • Review the documents on BellFund.ca. 
  • Start your draft application.

Submitting your application in advance of the deadline isn’t beneficial, however, we are anticipating a large volume of applicants, so don’t wait until November 13, as servers might be busy and the application cannot be submitted after the deadline.

Due to expected volume, incomplete applications may not be considered.

Please note:

  • Project must be a professional, premium quality short form, non-fiction series
  • Project must have a licence agreement (or commitment) with an eligible platform* or Canadian Distributor
  • 10% of budget must be financed by a 3rd party
  • Closed captioning and described video is required for all video

Some of the Items Needed at Time of Application:

  • Series Teaser for assessment (link in application)
  • A script of one of the episodes (a blueprint for the episode)
  • Project Details Form
  • Series budget & finance plan
  • Discoverability plan
  • Discoverability budget (& finance plan if applicable)

*Eligible Platform – See the guidelines for specifics. Additionally:

  • The digital platform must be appropriate for your content.
  • The digital platform must be a place where Canadians would look for short form digital series.
  • If the digital platform is a channel on YouTube, eligible channels include those that enter into agreements to distribute third party content or those who have YouTube channels with a substantial existing subscriber base. (The Fund reserves the right to determine acceptability).
  • Canadian broadcaster hybrid VOD (e.g. Crave and Club Illico) are available to all Canadians directly through a subscription service. Other licenced VOD services provided as part of a BDU subscription (Broadcaster Distribution Undertakings) (e.g. Rogers On Demand, Bell Fibe on Demand, Telus Optik, Videotron) are not available to all Canadians, are not exclusively online platforms and are therefore ineligible.

A Word About Waivers:

In exceptional circumstances we are allowing the request of a waiver (in the absence of a licence agreement/commitment letter at the time of application). If seeking a waiver, in addition to a script and teaser, a full episode of your series must be delivered and you must demonstrate the completion and commercialization of at least one other audio-visual programming project for an online platform. You must demonstrate an ability to execute and commercialize the concept. (In addition to all other required documentation).

Convergent Projects:

Film and TV convergent projects are ineligible. The short-form digital series program is for original digital series. The series may not be associated with a TV program currently under licence by a broadcaster.

Discoverability Plan:

The Discoverability Budget and Plan are critical components to your application. Read the Discoverability Plan Document and work with an established company if you do not have the expertise to build and execute a Discoverability Plan.