The CBC + Creative BC Digital Production Fund provides $300K funding to six B.C.-based digital productions

VANCOUVER, B.C. (December 20, 2019) – CBC and Creative BC are proud to announce that six emerging B.C.-based creators will receive support to undertake the production of their original digital content through the CBC + Creative BC Digital Production Fund. These funding recipients will also have the opportunity to share their projects with a national audience on the public broadcaster’s extensive digital platforms, including the free CBC Gem streaming service.

“We are working to raise up the next generation of film makers in B.C.,” said Lisa Beare, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture. “For the second year in a row, our government, through Creative BC, is providing platforms and creating new opportunities for emerging creators in B.C.’s thriving film sector. This program will help ensure a diversity of perspectives and stories are told that represent our province.”

Representation of diverse talent continues to be a central goal of this program, which named its first slate of successful candidates in February of 2019. Through the selection and jurying process, preference is given to female, Indigenous and visible minority creators, as well as creators with a disability. This second round of the CBC + Creative BC Digital Production Fund’s support exceeds the fund’s goal that at least 50% of successful projects are driven by female creators with women accounting for five of the six recipients.

“The intent of the CBC + Creative BC fund is to find and elevate unique perspectives, and we’ve done just that with this round’s slate of six promising projects that will soon be available to audiences across the country on CBC Gem,” said Sally Catto, General Manager, Programming, CBC. “This fund continues to help discover inspiring storytellers and diverse creators across B.C., reflecting contemporary Canada and connecting audiences with creators from underrepresented communities.”

“Creative BC is proud of this collaboration that supports emerging B.C. creators and aims to diversify the perspectives and stories reflected on screen,” said Creative BC CEO, Prem Gill. “The work selected through this competitive process will be produced and then presented online, which makes it discoverable by global audiences–this is a very unique opportunity for new talent to be showcased to the world.”

See the following backgrounder detailing the recipients. Release dates for the projects have not yet been finalized and are anticipated for release on CBC Gem in 2020.

Learn More:
• For more information on Creative BC, visit: https://creativebc.com
• For more information on the CBC Gem streaming service, visit: cbcgem.ca

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About Creative BC

Creative BC is an independent society created and supported by the Province of BC to sustain and help grow BC’s creative sector (motion picture, interactive and digital media, music and sound recording, and magazine and book publishing). The society delivers a wide range of programs and services to expand B.C.’s creative economy. These include the administration of the provincial government’s tax credit programs for film and television; development funding and export marketing support; and motion picture production services to attract inward investment and market BC as a destination for domestic and international production. The society acts as an industry catalyst and ambassador to help BC’s creative sector reach its economic and creative potential both at home and globally.

Twitter, Facebook, Instagram: @creativebcs
Website: www.creativebc.com

About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.

Media Contacts: 
Creative BC
Karin Watson
media@creativebc.com
604-730-2250 

CBC
Simon Bassett
simon.bassett@cbc.ca
416-205-8533

CBC + Creative BC Digital Production Fund 2019/20 recipients

Project: A-Yi (CBC Short Docs)

Filmmaker: Martyna Czaplak

When a group of friends moved into their traditional East Vancouver home eight years ago, they couldn’t have known about a new mysterious roommate, a staple of the neighbourhood, who slowly occupied the empty spaces around their home and then their hearts. A-Yi (Auntie, in Cantonese) collects cans at all hours and tends to the garden that she has built on their rented property, where she also operates her personal ’bottle depot‘. With the help of a translator, the housemates finally get a chance to communicate with A-Yi, straightening out hilarious assumptions and, most importantly, letting her know that they’re moving out. What will A-Yi do once they’ve gone?

Project: KeYaMeTa: Sharing Truths About Menopause (CBC Short Docs; working title)

Filmmaker: Jules Koostachin

A raw, funny, and intimate documentary that weaves together personal stories of Indigenous aunties delving into the mysteries of menopause. Featuring director Jules Koostachin, filmmaker Doreen Manual, actor Michelle Thrush, actor Rena Owen, director/actor Renae Morrisseau, and comedian Sharon Shorty.

Project: Take Me to the River (CBC Short Docs)

Filmmaker: Julie Kim

Take Me to the River is a portraiture of two young Asian-Canadian scientists and their journey of taking on the world’s plastic pollution epidemic. The film introduces audiences to two Vancouver-based millennial women who, in B.C.’s Fraser River, accidentally untap a solution to the plastic pollution problem. Take Me to the River is financed in part by TELUS STORYHIVE.

Project: The Pilgrimage (CBC Short Docs)

Filmmaker: Lori Lozinski Producer

Lori Lozinski takes the wheel as director in this short doc set against the spectacular beauty of Vancouver Island. Lozinski follows a group of odds-defying women as they set out on a weekend adventure, brought together through the love of riding motorcycles. They connect with nature, build kinships and connect about their love of riding awesome machines.

Project: Colour Study (CBC Arts; working title)

Filmmakers: Graham Kew and Daniel Code

Meditative and evocative, this experimental short film organizes objects and locations by their exact colour. Writers Charles Demers, Chelene Knight and Shazia Hafiz Ramji take us on a dreamy journey through ROYGBIV, stopping along the way at the work of three Canadian artists.

Project: No Fun City (CBC Arts; working title)

Filmmaker: Kimiya Shokoohi

In a nod to Vancouver’s reputation as a “no fun city,” this five-part series is on a mission to uncover the booming indie arts and culture scenes of the Canadian West Coast. In each episode, host Kimiya Sho takes viewers on a tour of a different scene to challenge preconceived notions of culture

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