The federal government has announced temporary support to get Canadian film and television productions, unable to get COVID-19 insurance, back on set.
Canadian Heritage Min. Steven Guilbeault announced the Short-Term Compensation Fund for Canadian audiovisual productions on Friday. It will make a total of up to $50 million available to independent production companies should their productions be interrupted or shutdown due to confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The fund will be administered by Telefilm Canada and the Canada Media Fund (CMF) and offer maximum compensation of $1.5 million in the case of a temporary interruption and $3 million in the case of a complete shutdown of production.
“This temporary measure provides a concrete solution to one of our industry’s most pressing concerns. We look forward to the resumption of filming, and we will continue to serve the industry by helping to administer this fund,” said Christa Dickenson, Executive Director, Telefilm Canada, in a release.
A member survey conducted earlier this month by the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) and the Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM) suggested that over $1 billion in production volume was at risk of being shelved without government intervention to address the lack of COVID-19 insurance available to producers.
The survey, conducted between Aug. 31 and Sept. 9 identified 214 camera-ready film and TV projects unable to move forward, an equivalent loss of 19,560 jobs.
Canadian Heritage says more information on the implementation of the fund, including its terms and conditions, will be released by Telefilm Canada in the coming weeks.
The latest funding is in addition to $147.3 million previously announced under the COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations. It encompasses $2.5 million in funding supports for third-language producers, $10 million for the digital media industry, and $19 million for film and television producers.
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