Canadian Fund Highlights New Media

It's worth noting an article on Canada's Globe and Mail about the change in direction of its federal government's funding for film.

Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore unveiled a new super-fund, called the Canada Media Fund (CMF), which is amalgamating three previous schemes into one, for a combined $134.7 million in government financing.

It doesn't mean more cash, at least for now – but Moore was adamant that money can be spent more efficiently and will be focused on Canadian drama and comedy across the country. The government will give preference to projects developed in high definition and on more than one platform, such as television shows that incorporate interactive games, webisodes, podcasting or online streaming. That adds up to an added burden when designing projects for CMF support, but Moore said new media needs to be drawn out of its silo and into the production mainstream.

"New media isn't frankly new media any more. I watch more television on my iPod than I do on my actual conventional television set," said Moore.