Cogeco contributes an annual amount of approximately $2 million to the IPF, under the Cogeco Television Production Program, to support the production of French and English language television drama series.
Next deadline: April, 2025
OBJECTIVE
To provide Canadian independent producers with financing for the production of dramatic television series and mini-series.
APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for support, an applicant must:
- be a Canadian independent producer defined as a producer who operates a production company in Canada that is majority owned and controlled by Canadians;
- have at least two years production experience and have already produced at least one broadcast dramatic Canadian television project as an independent producer.
ELIGIBLE PROJECTS
Eligible productions include:
- Drama series, or
- mini-series;
with a running time of 60 minutes (or less for children’s series); all productions must be intended for prime-time broadcast (with the exception of children’s programming).
To be eligible for support, projects must:
- have obtained from a Canadian broadcaster(s) with a CRTC broadcasting licence, dealing in good faith and at arm’s length, a licence agreement, or firm letter of commitment to licence the production at an appropriate licence fee consistent with industry standards, and a commitment to broadcast in prime time, within two years following completion of the production. In the case of children’s programming, the prime time requirement does not apply;
- qualify under the CRTC regulations as Canadian programming with a minimum of six out of ten points for Canadian content certification;
- must be written by a Canadian writer;
- in the case of official co-productions, have a Canadian participation of not less than 50%; demonstrate favourable sales and recoupment potential for the Fund
- have copyright in the completed production beneficially owned by a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant or by a corporation incorporated under the laws of Canada or a province of Canada;
- productions must not have started principal photography at the time of application;
- productions must submit all final documentation and audits within 3 years from the date of the Financing Agreement with IPF, or the financing commitment may be cancelled.
- productions must be closed captioned and contain described video
- productions must conform to the industry guidelines on sex-role portrayal and violence endorsed by the CRTC.
REQUIRED APPLICATION DOCUMENTS
All documents must be submitted via the online application portal.
1. Completed electronic application form
2. Supplemental documents. Please refer to the TV Production Program Document Checklist for a complete list of the required documents.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
Funding for series will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Note that the financial participation of IPF will not exceed that of the broadcaster.
Terms and conditions for investments include the following:
- funding is in the form of equity investments to be recouped according to the terms of the Production Financing Agreement;
- recoupment may be negotiated on a case-by-case basis to ensure favourable recoupment potential for the fund; IPF prefers a percentage share of first tier recoupment;
- a written Financing Agreement duly executed by the successful applicant and IPF establishing the terms and conditions of the investment;
- payments are made according to a payment schedule established for each project;
- acceptance of funding from IPF establishes the Fund’s right to audit all accounts and records of the applicant;
- acknowledgement of the IPF’s Cogeco TV Production Program in credits and promotional material;
EVALUATION PROCESS
Eligible applications are assessed on how well they meet the objectives and general policies of the the IPF’s Cogeco TV Production Program.
The Board of Directors evaluates the applications and approves financing.
Notification of decisions will be communicated to the applicants generally six to eight weeks after the application deadline. Successful applicants must finalize financing of their projects within 90 days and meet any other conditions of funding, or the commitment may be cancelled.
All interpretations of these Guidelines and all decisions made by the Board of Directors are at the Board’s absolute discretion. All decisions are final and are not subject to appeal.