Twenty-two B.C. film projects receive $1.49M in production financing from Creative BC

Vancouver, B.C. (August 19, 2024) – Today, Creative BC announces the second intake of successful producers that will receive production financing in 2023/24. Twenty-two projects will receive grants for production and post production phases for their long form scripted feature length films, documentaries, and series projects. With grants ranging from $20K to $200K each, this is the fourth round of filmmakers funded through the Production Program (the Program). The Program was launched in 2020 with support from the B.C.’s Domestic Motion Picture Fund (the Fund). Before this provincial investment, there was no production funding available in B.C. since 2003. This made it challenging for B.C. creators to secure private sector financing and federal funding.  

This round of funding represents a $1,489,500 investment for production phase financing, and these 22 projects bring the total number supported by the Program to 58. The Program enables B.C. filmmakers to complete their projects for broadcast, sale, and distribution. All recipients of the program are B.C. resident individuals, or B.C.-owned and controlled production companies and they own the intellectual property behind their projects.  

The Program aims to enhance funding access by eliminating the requirement for a ‘market trigger,’ proof of existing financing to the project through a distributor or broadcaster’s commitment. The result is support for creators at a variety of career stages, and for a mixed slate of projects that do and do not have existing market trigger financing. Unique to this round of funding and for the first time, filmmakers were able to apply for post production funding specifically. 

The Program’s financial support boosts each production’s budget, enhancing its appeal to attract additional investments from private and public funders. This enables projects to move into the production phase and transform fully developed scripts into screen-ready products. 

Acknowledging that there have been systemic barriers to access, and that supporting new and diverse talent is crucial to a vibrant and thriving motion picture industry, 84% of this funding round is distributed to projects from emerging filmmakers and/or from one or more of the following systemically excluded groups: Indigenous, Black, People of Colour, 2SLGBTQIA+, Women, Non-binary, or people with disabilities. This program embodies Creative BC’s actions for equity and inclusion in program delivery. 

The following projects are this year’s successful recipients: 

1. Project: #skoden
Every meme has its story. #skoden tracks the story behind an iconic meme that some see as a rallying cry for Indigenous peoples’ empowerment but for others is a grim reminder of the realities Indigenous people face living in so-called Canada.
Company: Dirty Jacket Productions
Producers: Damien Eagle Bear
Amount/Type: $20,000, Post Production Funding for Documentary or Factual Content

2. Project: @HOME
This Indigenous restyle series reclaims pride and cultural literacy for those yearning to reclaim their heritage @HOME.
Company: Pow Wow Productions Inc.
Producers: Tamara Bell
Amount/Type: $40,000, Post Production Funding for Documentary or Factual Content

3. Project: A BALLAD FOR JUDI
The story of an unwitting trailblazer, Judi Singh, who, as a Punjabi-Black singer and partner of guitarist Lenny Breau, steps onto jazz stages during tumultuous times and leaves a musical imprint to be discovered.
Company: Viva Mantra Films
Producers: Baljit Sangra, Brishkay Ahmed
Amount/Type: $76,500, Documentary or Factual Content

4. Project: A SAFE DISTANCE
A feminist thriller set deep in the British Columbian wilderness. After a woman is abandoned by her boyfriend in the forest, she befriends a couple who turn out to be notorious bank robbers on the run.
Company: See Horse Films, Naltobel Productions 
Producers: Gloria Mercer, Aidan West, Nic Altobelli
Amount/Type: $50,000, Scripted Feature

5. Project: ANGELA’S SHADOW
When Angela discovers her Cree ancestry, she delves into spiritual traditions to save her newborn from her husband’s purity-obsessed racism.
Company: ChakasTeTin Productions Inc.
Producers: Jules Koostachin
Amount/Type: $48,000, Post Production Funding for Scripted Feature

6. Project: ANY OTHER WORLD
On the night that Our World and the Mirror World slip out of sync, a troubled teenager loses his father in a car accident…only to discover that his dad’s reflection managed to survive the crash.
Company: Tilt 9 Entertainment Inc.
Producers: Dylan Collingwood, Matthew Clarke, Thomas Emann
Amount/Type: $80,000, Scripted Feature

7. Project: Bets’ųne Yįneshą (HIS GRANDMOTHER RAISED HIM)
An Indigenous filmmaker preserves a key Dënesųłiné story by searching for migrating Etthén (caribou) with her father.
Company: Phoenix Skye Productions Inc.
Producers: Linda St. Pierre, Greg Crompton, and Alanis Obomsawin
Amount/Type: $40,000, Documentary or Factual Content

8. Project: BIRTH OF A FAMILY
Four adult siblings meet for the first time since being removed as babies from their Cree mother’s care during the infamous Sixties Scoop.
Company: Experimental Forest Films, January Films
Producers: Tyler Hagan, Julia Rosenberg
Amount/Type: $100,000, Scripted Feature

9. Project: CLAN OF THE PAINTED LADY
A Hakka-Chinese filmmaker contends with the loss of her ancestral community in Kolkata, India. She sets off on a journey to discover the story of her family’s past and traces the footsteps of her people to find out where she’s from—and what it means to belong.
Company: 1436994 BC Ltd.
Producers: Mel D’Souza
Amount/Type: $40,000, Documentary or Factual Content

10. Project: FOREIGNER
A wannabe-Canadian teen unleashes a demon in Langley, B.C. when she dyes her hair blonde.
Company: Ava Maria Safai
Producers: Ava Maria Safai, Nicco Graham
Amount/Type: $50,000, Scripted Feature

11. Project: HOLY DAYS
Brian, determined to find the spirit of his Mum to stop her being replaced by his dad’s new girlfriend, forms an unlikely alliance with three audacious elderly nuns (Judy Davis, Miriam Margolyes, Joanna Scanlan) on a mission of their own to avoid being ousted from their convent by a scheming developer.
Company: Lily Pictures (in co-production with Firefly Films, New Zealand)
Producers: Sushant Desai, Michelle Morris, Emma Slade, Victoria Dabbs, Roxi Bull, Tainui Stephens
Amount/Type: $200,000, Scripted Feature

12. Project: INDÍGENA
To fulfill her mother’s dying wish, a filmmaker retraces her mother’s work as an activist and journalist during the Red Power Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. This brings to light 500 years of Taino resistance and ignites her own journey of reclamation.
Company: Arc-En-Ciel
Producers: Siku Allooloo, Jessica Hallenbeck
Amount/Type: $100,000, Documentary or Factual Content

13. Project: PARKER SCOOTER 
A nonbinary youth has no luck online dating in their rural Canadian hometown, so they buy an old 50cc scooter, expand the search radius, and hit the highway—well below the speed limit.
Company: My Dear Cinema
Producers: Jaice Mannings
Amount/Type: $50,000, Scripted Feature

14. Project: SALVAGED
SALVAGED looks at the cooperation between a Nuu-chah-nulth master carver and forestry industry professionals to create an ethical supply of cedar for First Nations artists.
Company: Taxam Films Inc.
Producers: Carey Newman, Mike Wavrecan, Cody Graham
Amount/Type: $50,000, Documentary or Factual Content

15. Project: SANDPIPERS’ LAST SUPPER
A shorebird’s epic journey reveals the ecological value of intertidal mudflats and the urgency of saving such landscapes to maintain biodiversity.
Company: Tidelife Productions Inc.
Producers: Isabelle Groc
Amount/Type: $40,000, Documentary or Factual Content

16. Project: SELLING IT
In the throes of early motherhood, a best-selling author faces a major writers block. Seeking to overcome it, she infiltrates the group of toxic girlfriends that inspired her first book.
Company: Independent Edge Films Inc.
Producers: Kyle Mann, Noah Segal, Christine Piovesan
Amount/Type: $100,000, Scripted Feature

17. Project: SLANT
A relentlessly bullied Asian kid from a small redneck town turns to crime to get the respect he craves. But when he joins a big-city Triad, he is soon forced to choose between gaining untold power and saving what’s left of his soul.
Company: The Slant Film Company Inc.
Producers: Chester Sit, Richard Greenhalgh
Amount/Type: $45,000, Post Production Funding for Scripted Feature

18. Project: THE KEEPER
Set in 1922 on a remote lighthouse off the stormy coast of British Columbia, THE KEEPER is a taut psychological thriller that explores the volatile relationship between two men pitted against one another when a shipwreck delivers a sole survivor.
Company: Screen Siren Pictures Inc.
Producers: Trish Dolman, Christine Haebler, Steven Thibault
Amount/Type: $100,000, Scripted Feature

19. Project: THE PAINTING
Laura’s family lived thru the Holocaust, Communism, and Colombian drug wars. The only thing that might save them is a mysterious painting potentially worth millions.
Company: Big Time Decent Productions Inc.
Producers: Kyle Schmalenberg, Matthew Shewchuk, René Brar, Jeff Kinnon
Amount/Type: $40,000, Documentary or Factual Content

20. Project: THE UNVEILING OF BENJAMIN FELDMAN
A coming-of-age road-trip comedy about the teenaged son of a recently deceased rabbi, who discovers his late Dad had a secret mistress.
Company: Omni Film Drama Development Ltd.
Producers: Nicole Shizuka Oguchi, Brian Hamilton, Marie-Claude Poulin
Amount/Type: $100,000, Scripted Feature

21. Project: TUG OF WAR
Featuring intimate stories of survival, TUG OF WAR sheds light on the interconnected crises of gang recruitment, opioid addiction, and human trafficking facing the youth of B.C. and the toll it takes on their lives.
Company: Empress Avenue Media Inc.
Producers: Mia Golden, Joseph Boutilier, Ana-Maria Butcura, Emrey Wright
Amount/Type: $20,000, Post Production Funding for Documentary or Factual Content

22. Project: UP IN THE CLOUDS, DOWN IN THE VALLEY
UP IN THE CLOUDS, DOWN IN THE VALLEY invites viewers into the world of non-visual artist Carmen Papalia whose groundbreaking work explores dynamic and imaginative re-envisionings of accessibility as a creative long-term process that involves us all.
Company: Diving Bell Films, Silva Park Films
Producers: Jenny Rustemeyer, Carmen Pollard
Amount/Type: $100,000, Documentary or Factual Content
 

View a list of the recipients by program online here.    

To learn more about the Production Program, visit Creative BC’s website: www.creativebc.com/services/funding-programs/domestic-motion-picture-programs/production-program/   

This program partnership is supported by the Province of British Columbia’s historic announcement made on April 19, 2023 of $15.9 million investment, over three-years, into B.C.’s domestic motion productions, workforce and creators through 2027. The Program and the Fund are part of Creative BC’s Reel Focus BC suite of support for B.C.’s domestic motion picture industry. 

Quotes:  

Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport
“Supporting the creation of B.C.-owned productions is essential to fostering a strong domestic motion picture industry, where BC creators can succeed and share their stories with the world. Through these grants we are ensuring more B.C. filmmakers can complete and market their projects internationally, while also providing opportunities to showcase the diversity within our province.” 

Prem Gill, CEO, Creative BC
“Creative BC is proud to support this second round of production financing for 2023/24. This additional funding will enable more domestic producers to advance their projects through crucial production and post production phases, fostering the development of intellectual property in B.C. This program is part of the Domestic Motion Picture Fund, which launched in 2020. Since then, we’ve seen B.C. talent produce competitive content and achieve greater visibility in the global marketplace.” 

Michelle Morris, Lily Pictures, Program Recipient
“Creative BC’s Production Program is a crucial component to our project’s finance plan and has been the greenlight trigger for our B.C.-New Zealand feature film, HOLY DAYS. With this funding we can now employ 80 local film professionals, expand our business to include an in-house VFX department, and utilize local services like Elemental Post and Versatile Media. This funding enables us to showcase our work internationally, with theatrical releases in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and drive global sales. We applaud the B.C. government for recognizing the value in this vital funding!”. 

Media Contact:
Creative BC
Lisa Escudero
media@creativebc.com
+1 604-730-2235 

– 30 –  

About Creative BC
Creative BC is an independent non-profit society created and supported by the Province to sustain and help grow British Columbia’s creative industries: 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 with a mandate to expand B.C.’s creative economy. These activities include: administration of the provincial government’s motion picture tax credit programs; delivery of program funding and export marketing support for the sector; and provincial film commission services. Combined, these activities serve to attract inward investment and market B.C. as a partner and destination of choice for domestic and international content creation. The society acts as an industry catalyst and ambassador to help B.C.’s creative sector reach its economic, social, environmental, and creative potential both at home, and globally. Website: www.creativebc.com 

View PDF