CBC/Radio-Canada & Council for the Arts Team for Digital Originals

CBC/Radio-Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts have aligned to create Digital Originals, a new time-limited funding initiative to help artists, groups and arts organizations adapt their work for online audiences during the coronavirus pandemic.

Through the initiative, funding will directly benefit creators of original digital content. The Canada Council will provide a total of C$1 million ($706,529) in funding to successful applicants to develop, create and share original or adapted works with Canadian audiences online. CBC/Radio-Canada will showcase and amplify select projects on one or more of its platforms.

Digital Originals applicants can receive up to C$5,000 in funding per project, with the Canada Council funding approximately 200 projects. CBC/Radio-Canada will curate a digital showcase and feature select projects that will receive a C$1,000 grant supplement. Artists can apply with a brand-new work or adapt their work for online sharing.

Catherine Tait, president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, said: “Digital Originals will help to keep Canadian artists working while connecting them to audiences from coast to coast to coast. In this time of social isolation, CBC/Radio-Canada is delighted to collaborate once again with the Canada Council and to kickstart creativity, bring creators’ work to new audiences, and ensure that our cultural sector thrives, now and in the future.”

Simon Brault, director and CEO of Canada Council for the Arts, added: “In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, even as social linkages are unraveling because of forced confinement, local artists have understood and responded by sharing their works online in unprecedented numbers. The Canada Council for the Arts aims to further support digital creation, production and dissemination, now during this pandemic, when it is most needed, and into the aftermath, which we can expect to be long and difficult. We are grateful to CBC/Radio-Canada for continuing to partner with us in bringing the arts to life, online.”

Also launching today is CBC’s Art Uncontained, a collection from CBC Arts that includes original content such as CBC Podcasts’ PlayME: The Show Must Go On, COVID Residencies video diaries from artists sharing how isolation has affected their art, original theatre from the National Theatre School of Canada’s Art Apart program, Scenes From An Exhibition virtual gallery and museum tours, CBC Books’ Transmission, CBC Music’s Quarantunes and a COVID-19 resource list for artists and freelancers as well as weekly virtual arts listings to help people explore culture from home.