November 22, 2023 – The IPF announces funding for nine scripted short form series.

The IPF Board of Directors has approved 2023 production financing for 9 scripted short form series. These are series which have been created for exploitation primarily on digital platforms and channels. 6 of the approved series are in English and 3 are in French. The IPF makes equity investments in these series totaling over $1.8M as well as providing consultation, training and advisory services.

The IPF/CMF Development Packaging Program and the IPF Short Form Series Production Program exist to stimulate Canadian creative and business expertise in the digital story-telling world and encourage and support new voices in our industry. Successfully marketing and distributing the original linear digital content and the talents behind it, to Canadian and international audiences, is an important measure of success for the program.

187 projects were submitted to the IPF from across Canada in March. A 28 member evaluation committee selected 30 projects to receive development financing. 25 out of those 30 completed their development phase and were eligible to apply to the Short Form Series Production Program on October 5th.

Production funding applications were analyzed and rated by a select jury of evaluators, as well as the IPF Board of Directors, providing a wide range of perspectives. Evaluators reviewed the creative materials, producer and writer team leads, production schedule, budget and financing, business and distribution strategies, audience engagement planning, recoupment potential as well as financing and distribution partners.

A wide range of genres are represented, including comedy, drama, mystery, thriller and sci-fi. The creators are both new talents and experienced digital production companies. IPF Chair Emilia King commented: “Every year we are genuinely amazed by the caliber of ideas and proofs of concept, and this year was no exception. Bravo to all of the creators who worked so hard to share their stories and to bring them to life. Stories of love, friendship, pain and laughs. Stories that break boundaries and challenge perspectives. And thank you to our jury, the IPF staff and the board for their passion and hard work in selecting these wonderful stories! We can’t wait to see your projects move to the finish line.“

The following productions are the recipients of the IPF 2023 Short Form Scripted Series Production financing:

Dying Seconds Comedy, Drama, Mystery/Thriller Space Mop Davin Lengyel, Brendan Halloran Ontario
Ils sont parmi nous Comedy Productions Pixcom Véronique Paquette-Corriveau, Charles Lafortune, Nicola Merola, Justine Philie, Jérôme Léger, Raphaël Côté Québec
Les faillites d’Astrid Comedy, Drama Ray Films Danielle Sturk, Elena Sturk-Lussier Manitoba
Novelette is Trying Comedy Orange Rose Productions Giselle Miller, Nancy Kamar Colombie-Britannique
Petra P.I. Comedy, Mystery/Thriller White Wolves Studio Faith Leleu, Chloe Campion Ontario
Rent-A-Girlfriend (working title) Comedy, Drama It’s A Secret Productions Ariel Yang, John Tan, Alice Wang Ontario
Sweet as Sugar Comedy, Drama Monkeys & Parrots Jane Loughman Ontario
T-Rex Drama Inséparables Films Jérémie Boucher, Gabriel Savignac, Louis-Philippe Vachon Québec
Thread Drama, Sci-Fi, Mystery/Thriller Archipelago Productions Maeve Kern, Nicholas Ewart, Jana Stackhouse, Christopher Yip, Alex Josselyn-Hamilton Ontario