The Bell Fund (formerly the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund) is an independent private

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

fund that finances interactive digital content associated with Canadian television programs owned by

Bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

. These digital extensions can include things such as: web games, mobile apps, mobile games, websites, iTV apps, eBooks and webisodes. Established in 1997, the fund has supported over 1,400 projects with the total amount granted exceeding $150,000,000 as of December 2014.

History

The fund was established in 1997 by

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun, Quebec, in Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in the province ...

and receives annual contributions from

Bell Satellite TV Bell Satellite TV (; formerly known as Bell ExpressVu, Dish Network Canada and ExpressVu Dish Network and not to be confused with Bell's IPTV Bell Fibe TV, Fibe TV service) is the division of BCE Inc. that provides satellite television service a ...

and

Bell Aliant Bell Aliant is a brand name used by Bell Canada for Telecommunications in Canada, telecommunications services in Atlantic Canada. Prior to 2015, Bell Aliant Inc. (formerly Aliant Inc.) was a separate company providing telecom services in the Atl ...

. It was certified by the

CRTC The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...

as an independent private fund. The fund was mandated by Bell Canada "To encourage the production of world-class Canadian content for the new media and broadcasting marketplace and to stimulate partnerships between new media and broadcast producers." More specifically, the Fund's mandate has been to help support Canadian companies that create web content that complements Canadian television programs The original funding program provided a grant of up to $250,000 for the digital media project and up to $75,000 for the television component of each project. In 1998 17 projects received funding and a total of $3,288,181 was given out. By 2013 that number had grown significantly with the fund supporting 188 individual projects with grants over $16,500,000. Originally the fund just had one funding program, it now has nine.

Mandate

The purpose of the Bell Fund is to "advance the Canadian broadcasting system." It does this by encouraging relationships between broadcasters, producers and digital media companies. The fund also supports mentorship programs industry research studies and conferences as well as creation of policies and a framework for funding and international co-productions. Additionally, the Bell Fund organizes missions for digital media producers to meet potential co-production companies and international broadcasters including to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

(2005), Power to the Pixel in London (2013) and Forum Blanc (2014).

Awards

Over the years, projects supported by the Bell Fund have been recognized by many different award organizations including the International Digital Emmy Awards and the

Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is a Canadian non-profit organization created in 1979 to recognize the achievements of the over 4,000 Canadian cinema of Canada, film industry and television in Canada, television industry professionals ...

. Shane Kinnear,

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, Salisbury and north-northeast of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hi ...

VP sales and marketing ( ReGenesis Extended Reality Game), on being awarded their

International Emmy The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based International Academy of Television Arts and Sc ...

, was quoted saying that support from the Bell Fund allowed Regenesistv.com to be more innovative than other sites being developed at the time. "Site developers and series writers worked together to make the site more than just a promotional tool. For example, elements of the script are created specifically to provide clues for playing the online game."

Projects

Since its creation in 1997, the fund has supported more than 1,400 Canadian television shows and their digital extensions. This includes factual television shows such as The Amazing Race Canada, Eat St. and

Big Brother Canada ''Big Brother Canada'' is a Canadian television reality game show based on the Dutch reality show of the same name, which was part of the wider '' Big Brother'' franchise. The first season of the series premiered on February 27, 2013, on Sli ...

. Additionally, a number of Canadian dramas have received funding including

Being Erica ''Being Erica'' is a Canadian comedy-drama television series that aired on CBC Television, CBC from January 5, 2009, to December 12, 2011. Created by Jana Sinyor, the series was originally announced by the CBC as ''The Session'', but was later r ...

, Degrassi: The Next Generation,

Murdoch Mysteries ''Murdoch Mysteries'' is a Canadian television drama series that premiered on Citytv on January 20, 2008, and currently airs on CBC. The series is based on characters from the ''Detective Murdoch'' novels by Maureen Jennings and stars Yannick ...

, Heartland and Primeval: New World

References

{{Reflist, colwidth=30em Television organizations in Canada Funds Bell Canada 1997 establishments in Canada Wills and trusts in Canada

History

Mandate

Awards

Projects

See also

References