Program Administration
For 2011-2012, the Canada Media Fund (CMF) renewed its collaboration with Telefilm Canada for the administration of the CMF’s programs.
The CMF Program Administrator/Telefilm Canada (CMFPA) received a total of 1,834 applications for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, a similar volume as in 2010-2011. Of the applications received, 1,298 applications were approved for funding, an increase of just over 10% from 2010-2011.1
# of applications approved in 2011-2012
TV |
DM |
Total |
||
Experimental |
Production |
n.a |
45 |
45 |
Development |
n.a |
39 |
39 |
|
Marketing |
n.a |
6 |
6 |
|
Experimental total |
|
n.a |
90 |
90 |
Convergent |
Production |
513 |
181 |
694 |
Development |
317 |
172 |
489 |
|
Versioning |
24 |
1 |
25 |
|
Convergent total |
|
854 |
354 |
1,208 |
Grand total |
|
854 |
444 |
1,298 |
To help clients better understand the CMF’s program guidelines, the CMFPA visited more than 150 producers from Halifax to Vancouver. The CMFPA also held over 100 follow up meetings and calls after the release of decisions in the Experimental Stream to help applicants whose projects had not been selected for funding to better prepare their submissions for future rounds of applications. The CMFPA also continued to provide producers a pre-application consulting service to ensure that all eligibility criteria have been met and to optimize access to one or more CMF funding programs, prior to submitting the actual application for funding.
In its ongoing effort to improve client services, the CMFPA continued to promote its eTelefilm services, through which clients are able to file and sign their funding applications electronically. Through eTelefilm, clients can access and monitor information relating to their applications, as well as the status of their applications’ progress through the file administration process. Of note, the service allows for files to be processed through coordination in half the normal time, accelerating the start of the file analysis.
The CMFPA also continued to offer and promote its direct deposit service to clients. In 2011-2012, more than 260 CMF clients registered with this service, a 63% increase from the 160 CMF clients in the previous year, which expedited the disbursement of funds.
Turnaround times for processing applications in a number of programs have improved during this fiscal year compared to the year before, notably in the Performance Envelope Program, which accounted for the majority of 2011-2012 applications. However, the services level targets have not been entirely met due to the volume of backlog from 2010-2011. This was due to the introduction of new programs, a larger number of applications by producers and the need to work with an entirely new group of clients who were interested in the CMF selective programs. Although several initiatives were undertaken with a view to simplification during 2011-2012, there is still room for further improvement in terms of shorter times for analysis and to ensure that targets set at the start of the year are being met. The CMF and CMFPA will continue to work closely together to simplify procedures and help meet these objectives.
Turnaround time (days) - 2011-2012
Target based on the Services Agreement | Actual | Better/(worse) than target | |||||
TV | DM | TV | DM | TV | DM | ||
Experimental Production | Selective Decision | 55 | 53.7 | 1.3 | |||
Contract & 1st payment | 30 | 18 | 12 | ||||
Beta Version | 10 | 4.5 | 5.5 | ||||
Final Cost | 31 | n.a. | |||||
Experimental Development& Marketing | Selective Decision | 55 | 49.6 | 5.4 | |||
Contract & 1st payment | 20 | 18.2 | 1.8 | ||||
Other disbursements | 20 | 28.8 | (8.8) | ||||
Performance Envelope Production | Contract & 1st payment | 30.5 | 30.5 | 37.1 | 44.8 | (6.6) | (14.3) |
Rough cut/Beta Version | 7 | 7 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 2.8 | 2.4 | |
Final Cost | 31 | 31 | 37.1 | 40.9 | (6.1) | (9.9) | |
DM-Unfunded | 31 | 28.6 | 2.4 | ||||
Selective Programs Production | Contract & 1st payment | 50.5 | 50.5 | 40.4 | 42.5 | 10.1 | 8.7 |
Roughcut/Beta Version | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3.6 | |
Final Cost | 31 | 31 | 36.7 | (5.7) | |||
DM-Unfunded | 31 | 42.6 | (11.6) | ||||
English Development Envelope | Contract & 1st payment | 24 | 24 | 47 | 53.3 | (23) | (29.3) |
Other disbursements | 6 | 6 | 8.4 | 7.2 | (2.4) | (3.9) | |
DM-Unfunded | 24 | 42.1 | (1.2) | (18.1) | |||
French Selective Development | Contract & 1st payment | 41.5 | 41.5 | 40.4 | 43.1 | 1.1 | (1.6) |
Other disbursements | 6 | 6 | 8.8 | 9.2 | (2.8) | (7.4) | |
DM-Unfunded | 41.5 | 35.3 | 6.2 | ||||
Versioning | Contract & 1st payment | 15.5 | 15.5 | 18.5 | 12 | -3 | 3.5 |
Other disbursements | 6 | 6 | 14.1 | (8.1) |
1The number of approved applications exclude the unfunded DM components that were approved to meet eligibility criteria in the Convergent Stream. There were 194 unfunded DM components approved in 2011-2012 and 182 in 2010-2011.