Theatrical Documentary Program

The Theatrical Documentary Program (the “Program”) supports Canadian production companies at the production and/or postproduction stage of their feature-length documentary projects aimed primarily at theatrical audiences

Grant Deadline

2025-04-02

Funding Amount

Deadline not available

Type of Grant

Grant

Sectors

Film

Demographics

Indigenous

Incorporation

For Profit

Perks

Region Restriction

This grant is restricted to whole of Canada

Keywords

funding, indigenous, Film project, encourage film, streams, projects, documentary, budget, theatrical

Age Restriction

This grant is age restricted from 18 to 100

Eligibility and Requirements

1. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR APPLICANTS

1.1. Eligibility Criteria for Applicants

An applicant must meet all the following eligibility criteria:

a. Be a Canadian-controlled corporation, as determined under sections 26 to 28 of the Investment Canada Act;

b. Have its head office in Canada and carry out its activities in Canada;

c. Operate as an audiovisual production company.

Furthermore, individual producers and other key production personnel exercising creative and financial control over the project submitted to Telefilm must be Canadian citizens, within the definition of the Citizenship Act, or permanent residents within the definition of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

1.2. Broadcaster-Affiliated Companies

Broadcaster-affiliated production companies based outside Quebec that meet the basic eligibility criteria are eligible to apply. A company is considered to be broadcaster-affiliated if it, or a corporate group of which it is a member, receives more revenue from CRTC-regulated operations (including without limitation, broadcasting, cable, satellite) than from combined production and distribution operations. For the purposes of the above, corporate group means two or more affiliated corporations. Telefilm will use the definition of affiliate set out in the Canada Business Corporations Act.

2. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR PROJECTS

2.1. Basic Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible, a project^3 must:

a. be a feature length documentary film (at least 75 minutes long) to be produced or completed primarily in English, French, an Indigenous language or, for artistic imperatives, in another language; ^4

b. be aimed primarily at the Canadian theatrical market while maximizing distribution on alternative platforms^5 . Note: all broadcast or digital platform licenses must be for the feature length version of the project and must allow an exclusive theatrical distribution window for a duration of at least three months starting from commercial release of the project (unless otherwise agreed by Telefilm, the applicant, the broadcaster(s), the Canadian distributor and/or the eligible online video service);

c. be budgeted at no less than $400,000 (except postproduction applications which have no minimum budget requirement);

d. if a postproduction application, be submitted following rough assembly and prior to picture-lock^6 ;

e. be under the ownership of the Canadian applicant(s);

f. have its copyright owned by Canadians (unless the project is an audiovisual treaty coproduction);

g. be under the financial, creative and distribution control of the eligible applicant(s); as well, all rights and options necessary for the full and complete exploitation of the project must be held by the eligible applicant(s);

h. with respect to Canadian content certification, upon completion be either:

certified by the Canadian Audio-visual Certification Office (CAVCO) as a “Canadian film or video production” with a minimum of eight out of ten points or the prorated equivalent (i.e. a minimum of 80% of available CAVCO points) under the provisions of the Income Tax Act;

or recognized as an audiovisual treaty coproduction by the Minister of Canadian Heritage (refer to Telefilm’s guidelines on audiovisual treaty coproductions);

i. be solely directed by Canadian citizens, within the definition of the Citizenship Act, or permanent residents, within the definition of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) (unless the project is an audiovisual treaty coproduction);

j. conform to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (“CAB”) Code of Ethics and to all other programming standards endorsed by the CAB or the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), and not contain any element that is an offence under the Criminal Code, is libellous or in any other way unlawful.

2.2. Theatrical Distribution Requirement

Unless otherwise agreed to by Telefilm, all projects funded by Telefilm under this Program must be released in theatres in Canada within one year of completion and delivery supported by a marketing plan.

2.2.1. Additional Requirement for Projects with budgets of $500,000 and more:

Projects with a total budget of $500,000 and more must have a firm commitment from an eligible Canadian distribution company for theatrical release of the project in Canada within one year of completion and delivery supported by a marketing plan.

Note: The criteria for an eligible distributor are described in the Marketing Program Guidelines available on Telefilm’s website.

Further, please note that the National Film Board is considered as an eligible Canadian Distribution Company for the purposes of this eligibility requirement.

On a case-by-case basis, Telefilm reserves the right to accept a firm written commitment from a noneligible Canadian distribution company.

2.3. Ineligible Project Types

The following non-exhaustive list provides examples of the types of projects that are not eligible under the Program:

• projects done on contract for, or produced by, a government agency;

• projects produced primarily for industrial, corporate or institutional purposes;

• advertising;

• student projects;

• projects using film as a tool to record or document existing artworks;

• conventional forms of television entertainment, such as pilots, movies-of-the-week, news reports; and,

• projects not destined for a theatrical or festival audience.

2.4. Limitation on the Number of Applications for the Same Project

Starting this year, a project that has already received three (3) negative decision letters from Telefilm under this Program may not be submitted for funding again. Telefilm may, in its discretion, consider exceptions to this rule when there have been material changes to the project. For more information on what is considered a material change, please see the Essential Information Guide on the Program webpage.

2.5. Audiovisual Treaty Coproductions

Please note that projects that are recognized as audiovisual treaty coproductions are eligible to apply to this Program but are not guaranteed funding. The determination of eligibility of applicants and projects will be adapted to reflect the conditions set out in the applicable treaty(ies) while meeting the spirit and intent of these guidelines.