About the Fund

Introduction

The Canada-Northern Ireland Co-Development Incentive (“the Incentive”) is a collaboration between the Canada Media Fund (CMF or “Party”) and Northern Ireland Screen (“NIS” or “Party”) (the CMF and NIS, collectively the “Parties”) to fund the co-development of eligible audio-visual projects between producers from Canada and Northern Ireland.

This 2022-2023 iteration of the Incentive is the second year of a 3-year partnership signed between the Parties in 2021-2022.

The total amount of funding available through the Incentive for the 3-year period is CAN$600,000 (approximately £351,000) with CDN$300,000 (approximately £175,500) contributed by each of the CMF and NIS. The amount available for each year of the Incentive will be CAN$200,000 (approximately £117,000) with CAN$100,000 (approximately £58,500) contributed by each of the CMF and NIS. Such funding will take the form of a repayable advance.

To be considered for funding through the Incentive, projects must comply with both Parties’ general funding criteria, with the CMF determining eligibility for the Canadian portion of a project and NIS determining eligibility for the Northern Irish portion of the project. Projects will be evaluated and chosen by a committee comprised of representatives from each of the CMF and NIS through a selective process (using the Evaluation Criteria listed below). It is important for Applicants to note that eligibility to or financing through the Incentive does not guarantee the Applicant eligibility or financing for further CMF or NIS funding in development or in production.

The total maximum contribution for each project funded through the Incentive shall be CAN$50,000 (approximately £29,250), consisting of (a) a CMF contribution which shall not exceed 75% of the Canadian development budget and (b) a NIS contribution which shall not exceed 75% of the Northern Irish development budget.

The total contribution from each of the CMF and NIS for each project will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

While the ownership, financial control and creative contributions shall be determined in the co-development agreement between the applicable international co-producers, the minimum minority co-producer share shall not be less than 20%. As a general guideline, the CMF and NIS encourage that such elements be proportional to each Party’s respective funding contributions.

Project Eligibility

Eligible projects must meet the following criteria:

Is either,

o a television project in the following genres: drama, documentary, animation, entertainment or education;¹

or
o digital media content made for other platforms, including web series, video games, transmedia projects, virtual or augmented reality.

Involve at least one Canadian producer (eligible under CMF criteria) and one Northern Irish producer (eligible under NIS’s criteria);
If the proposed project has already been in receipt of development funding from either CMF or NIS, the applicant must demonstrate clearly what the new development will entail and how it will develop the project further.
The Canadian portion of the project/content complies with the applicable subsections of section 3.2 in the CMF’s Development Program or Prototyping Program Guidelines and the Northern Irish portion of the project/content complies with Northern Ireland Screen Fund development guidelines.
The television project (if applicable) must be supported by a Letter of Commitment by an eligible Canadian broadcaster² and an eligible UK or Irish broadcaster³. However, such Letter of Commitment is not mandatory at application stage but will be required for selected projects before any contracts are signed or funding released.

Important Information and Required Documentation

Applications must be submitted according to the deadlines published above and on the Parties’ websites and in accordance with the stipulations noted in the application form.
Each coproducer will be responsible to submit the complete application to the authority (CMF or NIS) of its own country. The same set of documents must be submitted by each coproducer, and the application form must be signed by all coproducers.
- Canadian Producers should submit the complete application through https://telefilm.ca/en/log-in. The application should be submitted in English or in French.
- Northern Ireland Producers can find further details on how to apply via www.northernirelandscreen.co.uk/funding.
The period of eligibility of costs will start the date the application has been submitted and no funding will be applied to costs which occurred more than 6 months prior to the application submission date. Only the costs related to the acquisition of author right is eligible retroactively for a period of 12 months preceding the date of the submission.
Applications must include the following Administrative information:
- A list of the projects produced by the Northern Ireland production company
- A list of the projects produced by the Canadian production company
- The deal memo or the co-development agreement
- Contracts proving the acquisition of necessary rights (e.g. option contract, script writer’s contract etc.)
- Development goals and timeline for the development phase
- Development budget
- Development financing plan
- For the Canadian production company:
  - Complete incorporation documents
  - Signed and dated CMF Directors and Shareholders form
Applications must include the following Creative information:
- CV of key creative personnel
- Brief project summary
- Description of the project and, in the case of certain digital media projects, its main features (e.g., technology, architecture, navigation, interface, graphic design, creative elements, user experience, functionalities, etc.).
- Preliminary plan for project progress to further stages – further development (if needed), production and distribution (maximum 1 page)

Evaluation criteria

Projects will be evaluated by representatives of the CMF and NIS based on the following criteria:

Cultural value of the project;
Originality and creativity of the proposal;
Blending of Northern Irish and Canadian cultural concepts in a way that engages audiences from both territories and beyond;
Representation of (i) the themes of Northern Irish culture, voices, heritage and experience and (ii) the CMF’s mandate (to foster, promote, develop and finance the production of Canadian content and relevant applications for all audio-visual platforms) and vision (to give Canadian and world audiences access to innovative, successful Canadian television and digital content on all platforms);
Target audience;
Potential for the project to reach Canadian, Northern Ireland and international audiences;
Track record, experience and achievements of the creative team;
The extent to which the creative team includes women in a leadership role;
Track record, experience and achievements of the production company;
Feasibility of the project;
Feasibility of the development financial plan, including confirmation of 3rd-parties’ support, if any;
Realism of the agenda/timeline of the project.

Payment procedures
The repayable advance will be paid in two instalments: 70% after signature of the funding agreement; 30% after the submission and approval of the final version of the treatment, and final expenses report. If the eligible costs actually incurred by the applicant during the development phase are lower than anticipated, CMF and NIS will calculate the amount of funding on the actual costs, and the beneficiary will, where applicable, be required to repay any excess amounts already paid.

¹Educational programming that is solely curriculum-based or developed directly for schools is ineligible.
²Any of the following will be considered a “Canadian Broadcaster”:
a. A Canadian programming undertaking, public or private, licensed to operate by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) (including exempt broadcasters regulated by the CRTC via Broadcasting Order CRTC 2015-88);
b. An online service owned, controlled and operated by a Canadian CRTC-licensed programming undertaking;
c. An online service owned, controlled and operated by a Canadian broadcasting distribution undertaking (“BDU”), licensed to operate by the CRTC; and
d. CRTC-licensed VOD-services.
³Eligible UK or Irish broadcaster is a broadcaster, public or private, licensed to operate by Ofcom or the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.

About the Fund

CANADA-NORTHERN IRELAND CO-DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVE FOR AUDIO-VISUAL PROJECTS GUIDELINES 2021-2022