Canada’s Shaftesbury commits funding package to support struggling kids sector

Shaftesbury’s Christina Jennings on stage in Ottawa

Petr Maur

Canadian prodco Shaftesbury is launching a funding package to support the struggling kids industry in “an urgent call to action.”

The commitment includes a C$200,000 (US$141,846) gift to Rocket Fund Canada and C$1m in distribution funding to greenlight up to five projects for production.

The news was announced by Shaftesbury chair and president Christina Jennings at the Ottawa International Animation Festival on Wednesday, alongside Rocket Fund Canada president and CEO Agnes Augustin.

Jennings cited the collapse of private broadcasters from the children’s sector and a significant reduction in the amount of kids’ content being made by Canadian creators as reasons for the move, noting that the government must “make kids’ content a priority.”

“There was a time when children’s television was one of the Canadian industry’s most successful exports, but the industry has collapsed. Our announcement today to support both Rocket Fund Canada and help greenlight several kids’ projects is an urgent call to action,” Jennings said.

The C$1m distribution funding comes from a combination of Shaftesbury cash and money it has received from Canada Media Fund’s new Distributor Envelope programme. Two series have been greenlit so far as part of this initiative.

The first is Whatever You Do, Don’t Laugh, a 60×7′ CG animated preschool series coproduced by Sinking Ship Entertainment in Canada and King Banana in the UK.

The comedy series centres on a “very serious presenter” who sets out to teach simple lessons about basic concepts like shapes, numbers and colours. But his rather dry lessons get a much-needed injection of humour when his well-meaning assistants try to help and usually end up doing quite the opposite.

The second series is season two of live-action family series Hôtel Beyrouth (8×22′), from Ontario-based Kavalo Productions and Quebec-based Productions Ocho for TFO, Radio-Canada and NatyftV.

Set in Ottawa in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the series follows a Lebanese immigrant family as they start their new life in Canada.

“Canada’s history of consolidation of children’s broadcast channels and subsequent collapse of traditional subscription revenue have resulted in weakened domestic infrastructure. In other jurisdictions, public broadcasters have had larger remits and budgets for children’s programming,” Jennings said.

“If we want a vibrant domestic industry, it starts with our kids and making sure that their stories and their shows can be commissioned. Shaftesbury views today’s announcement as an urgent call to action for both public and private sectors to rebuild a sustainable kids content business in Canada.”