Canada Media Fund Pacts with Oz for Interactive Digital Incentive

LONDON: The Canada Media Fund and the Australian government through Screen Australia have partnered for a C$800,000 ($615,900) incentive geared toward digital interactive projects.

The incentive is meant to increase co-productions between both countries, specifically those that are pushing the way stories are told.

“With 50 film and television co-productions between Canada and Australia, it’s a natural fit to build on this relationship and create an incentive for interactive digital media co-production,” said Valerie Creighton, the president and CEO of Canada Media Fund. “We’ve had the pleasure of meeting with Australian officials at the Screen Producers Association of Australia Conference, Prime Time in Ottawa, MIPTV and TIFF in order to better understand our respective markets and devise a plan to offer producers on both sides of the ocean an opportunity to create stellar content for all audiences to enjoy. On behalf of the Canada Media Fund, I want to thank Graeme Mason, the CEO at Screen Australia and his team for this opportunity to work together and foster a relationship that supports creative talents in both countries.”

“The Canada-Australia Interactive Digital Media Incentive is designed to not only encourage creatives from each country to work together, but to facilitate the production of truly innovative and original narrative pieces,” added Screen Australia’s investment manager Mike Cowap. “We want creatives to be experimental. This incentive is their chance to push the boundaries of how a story can be told in an interactive way, whether it is in an app, online, virtual reality or any other mind-blowing idea they can come up with. The hardest thing may be working with the time zone difference!”