Development program

Who can apply

Canadian production companies in search of financing for the development stage of their feature film project(s).

Overview of the program

• Eligible applicants may submit their project or portfolio of projects at any time during the program’s opening period.
• Eligible applicants under the Automatic and Selective Streams will be notified of their status and eligible amount through the Newsfeed of their Dialogue account. New clients should contact their regional representative.
• Automatic Stream:
  • financing will be attributed automatically based on the total score of the applicant’s track record
  • open to clients who have an established record and wish to submit one or more eligible projects
• Selective Stream:
  • will take place in parallel with the automatic round to reach a balanced portfolio of projects
  • open to clients who are eligible to apply, but have yet to achieve a score sufficient to be eligible for automatic financing and to clients who have produced a feature film that premiered at a qualifying festival in the last five years
• Indigenous Stream:
  • will take place in parallel with the Automatic and Selective streams
  • open exclusively to Indigenous companies and projects
  • projects will be assessed by Telefilm’s Lead, Indigenous Initiatives and subsequently by an external jury having Indigenous representation
• Stream for Racialized Persons
  • will take place in the fall
  • open exclusively to companies majority-owned and controlled by individuals who self-identify as Racialized Persons
  • projects submitted under this stream must be written and produced by a Screenwriter and a Producer who both self-identify as Racialized Persons
  • projects will be assessed by an external jury having representation from Racialized Persons

Overview of eligibility requirements

Program eligibility

To review your eligibility, consult the NEWS section in your main company Dialogue profile.

For new eligibility requests, let us know about your productions and accomplishments, using this Eligibility request form.  Contact us if you have any questions (contact information at the bottom of the page).

Please note that the deadline to submit an eligibility request to the racialized stream is Friday October 16^th.

All applicants must meet the following criteria:

• be a Canadian controlled corporation with its head office in Canada and carry out its activities in Canada
• operate as a feature film production company
• key members of the development team must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents

Additional criteria for automatic and selective financing:

• have produced at least one Canadian fiction feature film or documentary with a theatrical release in the last five years
• have a track record score which makes them eligible for a total allocation amount equal to or greater than $30,000

Additional criteria for selective financing:

• have produced at least one Canadian fiction or documentary feature film  that was theatrically released or premiered at a qualifying festival in the last five years

In alignment with its objective to support the diversity of voices in the audiovisual industry, Telefilm will, for projects of equal quality, prioritize those whose key creatives (director and/or screenwriter and/or producer) reflect the diversity of Canada from across the provinces and territories of the country and in terms of gender and cultural diversity.

Additional criteria for the Indigenous stream:

• have produced an eligible short or feature film, one hour of TV or a film funded by Telefilm as part of the Talent to Watch Program distributed in theaters or on one or more digital platforms in Canada over the past five years
• be majority-owned and controlled by Indigenous persons
• the project(s) must be written by a writer and developed with a producer who are both Indigenous and have a story consultant or a script editor who is independent from the producer

Additional criteria for the Stream for Racialized Persons

• have produced an eligible short or feature film, one hour of TV or a film funded by Telefilm as part of the Talent to Watch Program distributed in theaters or on one or more digital platforms in Canada over the past five years
• be majority-owned and controlled by individuals who self-identify as Racialized Persons
• the project(s) must be written by a screenwriter and developed by a producer who both self-identify as Racialized Persons and have a story consultant or a script editor who is independent from the producer

Please consult the Guidelines below for specific eligibility requirements.