TELUS Fund advances more than $2 million to Canadian production companies

Fourteen production companies from B.C., Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia have been awarded more than $2 million in total funding to create health and wellness content. Seven Canadian production companies have received the green light to produce a variety of content, including television series, shorts, websites, games and mobile applications. Seven more finalists were awarded development financing to advance their content ideas focused on reshaping how Canadians view their health and healthcare in Canada.

“At the TELUS Fund, our definition of health encompasses physical, mental and emotional well-being,” says TELUS Fund’s Chair, Nini Baird. “We’re confident the selected projects will bring important and relevant stories to life that engage and entertain viewers while helping to educate them on how to prevent illness and improve health outcomes.”

With support from the TELUS Fund, funding recipients will develop content tailored to a variety of audiences and mediums.

Below is the full list of projects/production companies that have been selected:

Project Title: #STI
Production Company: Convergent Productions Ltd. (Vancouver, BC)
#STI features distraught patients recently diagnosed with various sexually transmitted infections as they look back on how they contracted the disease and what they could have done to prevent the transmission.

Project Title: A Change of Mind
Production Company: May Street Productions Ltd. (Victoria, BC)
After a diving accident, Nash’s mood swings and his loss of concentration led to inability to hold a job, alienation from family and friends, homelessness, drug addiction, crime and eventually murder. In prison he learned his brain was deprived of oxygen in the accident. Brain injury impacts more than the individual, it impacts society as a whole.

Project Title: Don’t Die Here!
Production Company: Stornoway Productions (Toronto, ON)
Renowned author of “The Germ Code” Jason Tetro travels to uncover the physical perils, dangerous germy under bellies and lurking animal and natural risks that lie in wait at the world’s most desired destinations.

Project Title: Double Blind
Production Company: Antica Productions Ltd. (Toronto, ON)
Having a sudden stroke is like a bomb going off in the brain, leaving its victim facing paralysis or death. Stroke continues to strike suddenly and is among the top killers in adults today. But what if there was away to prevent serious damage after a stroke occurs?

Project Title: Fearless
Production Company: Ruby Tree Films Inc. (Halifax, NS)
“Fearless” is a half-hour television series that shakes the foundation of our traditional beliefs around aging.

Project Title: Food Detectives
Production Company: Westmount Road Inc. (Kelowna, BC)
Armed with a magnifying glass and an arsenal of powerful kitchen gadgets, a young food detective takes young viewers on a culinary adventure to answer that age-old question: “where does our food come from?”

Project Title: Hospital Rescue
Production Company: Anaid Productions (Edmonton, AB)
Hospital Rescue follows a team of maverick leaders and front-line caregivers as they battle for positive change in emergency care.

Project Title: I Can Dance!
Production Company: Atomic Cartoons Inc. (Vancouver, BC)
In a fantastical world of nature and colour, dance teacher Miss Frost and her friend Coco have fun, shake things up and explore different kinds of dance, encouraging viewers to jump up and participate in creative movement.

Project Title: Kids on the Skids
Production Company: DKW Media Inc. (Toronto, ON)
Kids on the Skids is a new television series featuring psychologist Michael Weiss and his team of Teen Agents coming to the rescue of good kids gone bad. They perform dramatic interventions at school and at home to save troubled teens before it’s too late.

Project Title: Health Challenge 5/30
Production Company: Capsana (Montreal, QC)
The Health Challenge helps to inspire individuals to eat better, be more active, and lead a more balanced life. More than 450 municipalities and local communities from the four corners of Quebec are participating.

Project Title: Mind, Body and Soul Show
Production Company: Film One Media Inc. (Toronto, ON)
An interactive health and fitness series using innovative wearable technology to connect the host with the audience in an exciting, participatory way.

Project Title: National Stress Tests
Production Company: SOMA Television Limited (New Westminster, BC)
Test and compare your stress levels and sources of stress with all Canadians while learning how to thrive in today’s high stress world.

Project Title: One Sweet Film
Production Company: One Sweet Film Inc. (Toronto, ON)
A riveting exploration of the claim that too much sugar is making us sick. Through a cast of courageous characters risking it all for the sake of public health, this project reveals a 60-year-old story that could be the smoking gun to our unprecedented obesity and diabetes pandemic.

Project Title: Teens 101
Production Company: Canamedia (Toronto, ON)
Every teenager has a story. Teens 101 is a new way of reaching, informing and helping youth through the stresses and obstacles they may be facing in the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

“Many content creators often require additional capital, resources and access to experts to take their projects from concept to completion,” says TELUS Fund’s Executive Director, Elizabeth Friesen. “TELUS Fund is providing these production companies with the resources they need to explore cutting edge advances and collaborate with experts in areas such as injury prevention and stress-related disorders, enabling them to turn their ideas into thought-provoking health programming for Canadians.”

The next application opening is September 22, 2014. TELUS Fund program guidelines and application forms are available at www.telusfund.ca.

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