TORONTO — The Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) is pleased to announce that the application process is open for the disbursement of $2 million in COVID-19 Emergency Relief Funding to support Indigenous-led production companies impacted by the pandemic.
The Emergency Relief Fund for Productions will grant eligible Indigenous productions up to $50,000 and will be awarded on a first-come-first-serve basis until the fund allocation has been depleted. The relief funding will support COVID-19-related business continuity and expenses such as health and safety consultants, extended production dates and associated costs, Personal Protective Equipment, and insurance. This fund developed to support projects in production or post-production during the period of March 15, 2020 to December 31, 2020.
ISO is working on a Development Grants Program which will launch in late August for development for companies and individual creators while the partnership grants will support training and skills development. ISO will also be launching a Solidarity Fund for racialized screen creators in partnership with the Racial Equity Media Collective (REMC) with a focus on reaching Black creators.
Funding for the program comes from the Canada Media Fund’s 15 per cent allocation of the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations that will be invested through targeted initiatives to ensure equity, including by region, language and for underrepresented groups. The total of this allocation will be $13.3M in emergency funding.
