If you’ve ever seen something on a screen made by Canadians, especially if it tells a Canadian story, there’s a good chance the Canada Media Fund (CMF) had a hand in its creation. Over the last 10 years, CMF has been a key funder of many popular Canadian shows, web series, videogames and more.
Led by their charismatic and energetic CEO – Valerie Creighton – CMF has supported the growth of Canadian content creators and been a staunch advocate for diversity and inclusion in Canadian media for many years.
“Canada’s TV shows are some of the most successful in the world because of the enormous talent and diversity of our on and off-screen creators,” said Valerie Creighton. “Our continued success depends on fully reflecting and embracing Canada’s wealth of diversity. Before coming to Canada, many new Canadians had lives that were much different to the ones they live now. We want to harness the power that such diversity of backgrounds, perspectives and experiences contribute to our storytelling. Supporting creators that work in a multitude of languages is a key part of that effort. We’re a better country when all of us–regardless of background or personal circumstances–see ourselves reflected in the stories on our screens.”
This industry is vital to the economy, creating 181,000 well-paid full-time jobs and contributing $12.8 billion to the country’s GDP in 2019.
This year, CMF is celebrating 10 years, by doubling down on efforts to grow new opportunities for people hit hardest by the pandemic, by helping to build a diverse workforce, including Black, racialized, e Indigenous, , and women.
Programs like The Diverse Languages Program which supports productions reflecting Canadian diversity by funding projects in languages other than English, French, or Indigenous languages and COVID-19 emergency relief funding for underrepresented groups have been announced are a few of the ways CMF funds Canadian TV shows in different languages.
Since 2010, CMF has invested $23.5M to fund 216 hours of television content in languages other than English, French or Indigenous languages. That includes shows in Spanish, Italian, Punjabi, Portuguese, Urdu, Hindi, Cantonese, Mandarin, Farsi, Russian, Ukrainian and Tagalog.
“These programs are part of a long-term effort to ensure that racialized people have equal access to the opportunities they need to thrive and shape the Canadian cultural landscape,” said Valerie Creighton, CEO Canadian Media Fund.
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) fosters, develops, finances and promotes the production of Canadian content and applications for all audiovisual media platforms. The CMF guides Canadian content towards a competitive global environment by fostering industry innovation, rewarding success, enabling a diversity of voice and promoting access to content through public and private sector partnerships. The CMF receives financial contributions from the Government of Canada and Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV distributors. Please visit cmf-fmc.ca for more info.
