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
• Existing clients can now access the funding amounts available to them, should they be eligible, directly online
• Automatic financing:
  • for the most part, financing will be attributed automatically based on the total score of the applicant
  • open to clients who have an established record and wish to submit one or more eligible projects
  • in addition, eligible clients may also submit projects from four targeted groups, namely women, members of official language minority communities and emerging talent. However, decisions to support targeted group projects are on a selective basis
• Selective financing:
  • will take place in parallel to 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
• Indigenous Stream:
  In the aim of increasing the diversity of the projects it supports, Telefilm will set aside funding for projects by Canadian filmmakers from Indigenous communities.
  • will take place in parallel to the other streams
  • open to Indigenous companies and projects only
  • projects will be assessed by Telefilm’s Indigenous Liaison and subsequently by an external jury having Indigenous representation who will then submit its recommendations to Telefilm

Overview of eligibility requirements

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

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 held in majority by an Indigenous shareholder
• not be eligible to the automatic or selective streams
• the project(s) must be written in English, French or an Indigenous language by an Indigenous writer and developed with an Indigenous producer and have a story consultant or a script editor who is independent from the producer

Please consult the Guidelines below for specific eligibility requirements.