Ottawa slashes grants for new media by James Bradshaw
Source : Globe & Mail
Telefilm loses $14.5-million fund
August 30, 2008
The Conservative government has axed a $14.5-million-a-year program designed to create and distribute Canadian interactive new media both domestically and internationally, The Globe and Mail has learned.
The elimination of the Canada New Media Fund, the central support mechanism for an industry many call the future of communication, comes shortly after Canadian Heritage Minister Josée Verner told The Globe that some previously cut programs needed updating to keep pace with emerging technologies.
The CNMF, a decade-old grant and advance program administered by Telefilm but funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage, has historically lacked stability, operating under one- and two-year sunset clauses. Until now, it has been renewed each time.
But stakeholders recently received phone calls from Telefilm urging them to submit final reports because the program will not be extended when its current two-year mandate expires on March 31. Rumours have circulated that a replacement project could be in the works, but new media industry leaders are facing financial uncertainty and find themselves in the dark about future plans.
"You couldn't have hit a harder blow to this sector. This is the definitive fund," said Raja Khanna, co-CEO of GlassBOX Television, which doubles as a broadband video company. "We have no idea what's going on. They might be working on a replacement project, but we're in the dark. So the message we're trying to get out is to talk to us."
When asked about the program's status and the possibility of a replacement initiative, spokeswomen for the Department of Canadian Heritage and Ms. Verner's office offered little to enlighten the baffled industry.
"In June, 2007, the Government of Canada announced a $29-million renewal of the Canada New Media Fund until the end of fiscal year 2008-09. The Government of Canada will be announcing its intentions for this program in the future," said Ms. Verner's press secretary, Kassandra Albert.
For weeks, the Tories have been under fire from opposition politicians and the arts community over $44.8-million in prior cuts to arts and culture, which the government has repeatedly defended as part of an essential review to purge inefficient programs. But the public outcry has steadily intensified, and with an election looming, Opposition Leader Stéphane Dion has said he plans to make culture a key campaign issue.
Ms. Verner recently told The Globe that PromArt and Trade Routes, two of the programs eliminated, needed to be replaced because they were in danger of becoming outdated in the face of the very same innovation New Media is driving.
"We have to look [and see] if there's some other ways, just to make sure that we take into account those new changes in the way to do things. I'm thinking about all the new technologies," she said.
Calls to Telefilm executive director Wayne Clarkson were not returned.
Mr. Khanna said new media are changing the face of cultural consumption with the creation of innovative games, television websites, social networking tools, mobile applications and films.
GlassBOX won a Gemini Award and several international honours for Degrassi.tv, an online community-style website that drew "hundreds and hundreds of thousands" of members and has been called a precursor of social networking giant MySpace. Last week, GlassBOX received another Gemini nomination for collaborating with Discovery Channel to create the Race to Mars interactive website.
Mark Bishop, co-founder of Marble Media, cited similar successes such as Deafplanet.com, the first TV show and website in American Sign Language for deaf children, which has won numerous international awards.
"The younger generation are now consuming so much of their media online, and so much of that is being consumed at U.S. websites," Mr. Khanna said. "If Canadians want their kids to be consuming Canadian content online, this is the fund to spark innovation, to create jobs and to create a viable industry. Without this fund, it's not going to exist, so this is huge."
Marc Séguin, vice-president of feature film and new technology at the Canadian Film & Television Production Association, said he's hopeful a replacement program is in the works and that the shuffle is simply an attempt by the Conservative government to "brand programs as their own." The New Media Fund figured prominently in the Liberal government's Tomorrow Starts Today program.
"The government has not reached out to stakeholders in what the specific needs are, and what the priorities should be. Personally, I think they should do that, sooner rather than later, considering that March 31 is coming like a freight train," Mr. Séguin said.
© Globe and Mail
The elimination of the Canada New Media Fund, the central support mechanism for an industry many call the future of communication, comes shortly after Canadian Heritage Minister Josée Verner told The Globe that some previously cut programs needed updating to keep pace with emerging technologies.
The CNMF, a decade-old grant and advance program administered by Telefilm but funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage, has historically lacked stability, operating under one- and two-year sunset clauses. Until now, it has been renewed each time.
But stakeholders recently received phone calls from Telefilm urging them to submit final reports because the program will not be extended when its current two-year mandate expires on March 31. Rumours have circulated that a replacement project could be in the works, but new media industry leaders are facing financial uncertainty and find themselves in the dark about future plans.
"You couldn't have hit a harder blow to this sector. This is the definitive fund," said Raja Khanna, co-CEO of GlassBOX Television, which doubles as a broadband video company. "We have no idea what's going on. They might be working on a replacement project, but we're in the dark. So the message we're trying to get out is to talk to us."
When asked about the program's status and the possibility of a replacement initiative, spokeswomen for the Department of Canadian Heritage and Ms. Verner's office offered little to enlighten the baffled industry.
"In June, 2007, the Government of Canada announced a $29-million renewal of the Canada New Media Fund until the end of fiscal year 2008-09. The Government of Canada will be announcing its intentions for this program in the future," said Ms. Verner's press secretary, Kassandra Albert.
For weeks, the Tories have been under fire from opposition politicians and the arts community over $44.8-million in prior cuts to arts and culture, which the government has repeatedly defended as part of an essential review to purge inefficient programs. But the public outcry has steadily intensified, and with an election looming, Opposition Leader Stéphane Dion has said he plans to make culture a key campaign issue.
Ms. Verner recently told The Globe that PromArt and Trade Routes, two of the programs eliminated, needed to be replaced because they were in danger of becoming outdated in the face of the very same innovation New Media is driving.
"We have to look [and see] if there's some other ways, just to make sure that we take into account those new changes in the way to do things. I'm thinking about all the new technologies," she said.
Calls to Telefilm executive director Wayne Clarkson were not returned.
Mr. Khanna said new media are changing the face of cultural consumption with the creation of innovative games, television websites, social networking tools, mobile applications and films.
GlassBOX won a Gemini Award and several international honours for Degrassi.tv, an online community-style website that drew "hundreds and hundreds of thousands" of members and has been called a precursor of social networking giant MySpace. Last week, GlassBOX received another Gemini nomination for collaborating with Discovery Channel to create the Race to Mars interactive website.
Mark Bishop, co-founder of Marble Media, cited similar successes such as Deafplanet.com, the first TV show and website in American Sign Language for deaf children, which has won numerous international awards.
"The younger generation are now consuming so much of their media online, and so much of that is being consumed at U.S. websites," Mr. Khanna said. "If Canadians want their kids to be consuming Canadian content online, this is the fund to spark innovation, to create jobs and to create a viable industry. Without this fund, it's not going to exist, so this is huge."
Marc Séguin, vice-president of feature film and new technology at the Canadian Film & Television Production Association, said he's hopeful a replacement program is in the works and that the shuffle is simply an attempt by the Conservative government to "brand programs as their own." The New Media Fund figured prominently in the Liberal government's Tomorrow Starts Today program.
"The government has not reached out to stakeholders in what the specific needs are, and what the priorities should be. Personally, I think they should do that, sooner rather than later, considering that March 31 is coming like a freight train," Mr. Séguin said.
© Globe and Mail
