Shaftesbury launches funding package to support Canadian kids' TV sector

Canadian production company Shaftesbury has announced a funding package intended to revitalize the struggling children’s television sector. At the Ottawa International Animation Festival, Shaftesbury Chair and President Christina Jennings issued an “urgent call to action,” citing the collapse of private broadcasters and a significant decline in content produced by Canadian creators.

The initiative includes a C$200,000 gift to Rocket Fund Canada and C$1 million in distribution funding to greenlight up to five production projects. This funding is sourced from a combination of Shaftesbury capital and the Canada Media Fund’s Distributor Envelope programme.

Two projects have already been greenlit: the CG animated preschool series “Whatever You Do, Don’t Laugh,” a co-production between Canada’s Sinking Ship Entertainment and the UK’s King Banana, and the second season of the live-action family series “Hôtel Beyrouth,” produced by Kavalo Productions and Productions Ocho.