For immediate release

November 5, 2012 – The Independent Production Fund (IPF) has announced its Guidelines for applications to the 2013 Web Series Program. Launching the fourth year of funding for web series, the IPF has refined the selection process to include a new requirement for two-minute proof-of-concept video content for evaluation. The video content must be posted online and be available to the public. It is expected that this will allow evaluators to not only view creative material but to also evaluate marketing skills and measure traffic and audience response to the concepts.

“We need to focus on our online audiences and the potential to meet their expectations” noted IPF Chair, Charles Ohayon. “This is not a competition; viewers will be invited online to provide their feedback which will assist in the select of those projects that are most likely to succeed”.

In the first phase of the application process, any interested applicants must post their material online from March 1-31. A short-list of finalists will be selected to continue to the second phase which will require detailed business, financial and marketing plans.

Detailed Guidelines and Application forms are available at www.ipf.ca. The 2013 deadline for applications to the Web Series Program is March 1, 2013.

In 2010 the IPF launched a pilot program to support linear drama series created for new platforms. As a result, web series production took off in Canada. In the past three years, nearly 500 proposals were submitted to the IPF for web series funding. Forty-one of these were approved for funding and can be seen on web portals around the world. Pioneering in this new entertainment format has been a learning experience for all involved as successful marketing, distribution and business models remain a challenge. The IPF provides training and educational support and mentorship and is undertaking a series of Digital Marketing Workshops across Canada to focus on this essential new skill.

The IPF, along with several provincial funding partners, invest over $1.5 M a year in web series.

They have been created for every demographic from pre-schoolers to adults, live action and animation, thrillers, sci-fi and comedy, and include associated interactive activities and social media. They can be accessed via the IPF’s web series dashboard.

In the past 21 years, the IPF has invested $56 M in the production of television and web drama as well as professional development activities. It is a private, charitable Foundation with an endowment valued at $33 M. It uses the interest generated by this endowment as well as recoupment from successful projects, for its industry investments. An independent Board of Directors representing various aspects of the industry is responsible for all funding decisions.

Film Nova Scotia, SaskFilm, and Innovation PEI.