Telefilm Canada has announced that Telefilm Canada invests nearly $3.6M in 16 Talent to Watch projects from 136 submissions.
It’s quite revealing to look at the numbers in detail.
Let’s start with Type.
| Narrative | 12 |
| Documentary | 4 |
The Narrative features break down thusly:
| Drama | 7 |
| Horror | 2 |
| Comedy | 1 |
| Romantic Comedy | 1 |
| Mystery/Crime | 1 |
Province?
| Ontario | 6 |
| Quebec | 4 |
| British Columbia | 2 |
| Alberta | 1 |
| New Brunswick | 1 |
| Nova Scotia | 1 |
| Prince Edward Island | 1 |
Screenwriter?
| The Director | 14 |
| Not the Director | 2 |
Let’s look at Language next.
| English | 6 |
| English and Farsi | 1 |
| English and French | 1 |
| English and Japanese | 1 |
| English and Nisga’a | 1 |
| English, Spanish and French | 1 |
| French | 4 |
| French, English and Japanese | 1 |
And let’s finish up with Stream.
| Filmmaker Apply-Direct | 6 |
| Filmmaker Apply-Direct (OLMC project) | 2 |
| Filmmaker Apply-Direct (Indigenous component) | 1 |
| Industry Partner | 4 |
| Festival | 3 |
In addition, if Gender is assumed from names:
| Female | approx. 17 |
| Male | approx. 17 |
Some observations:
- The number of submissions is down from last year.
- Documentary projects are way down this year.
- Drama remains the most popular narrative genre.
- Almost all of the successful projects are from Ontario and Quebec.
- Only two projects have Screenwriters that are not the Directors.
- Four projects are helmed by one individual filling the director, screenwriter and producer roles, rather than a team of two or more.
- The vast majority of successful projects continue to be Filmmaker Apply-Direct, given that the Festival stream is de facto Filmmaker Apply-Direct.
- One quarter of the successful projects are from Industry Partners.
- After being shut out for two years in a row, Atlantic Canada roars back with three projects.
My take: really nice that Telefilm got this announcement out in September, as last year folks were on tenterhooks for almost another month. This is the fifth year that filmmakers could apply directly and Telefilm has rewarded them well! Therefore, if you can apply direct, bypass your local industry partner, for odds of approximately one in 8 1/2.