CMF — Prototyping Program

The CMF Prototyping Program provides financial support tailored to early-stage projects, offering significant funding coverage to facilitate the development of functional prototypes. This support is designed to cover a broad range of expenses directly related to the project.

• The maximum contribution from CMF is 75% of the eligible expenses or up to $250,000, whichever is less.
• Eligible expenses include but are not limited to research, content preparation, salaries and benefits, technology infrastructure, content deployment costs, travel and accommodation, project auditing fees, marketing and promotion, as well as sustainable practices related expenses.

Eligibility for this grant is determined by specific requirements related to the applicant's profile and proposed projects.

• The applicant must adhere to the criteria outlined in section 3.1 of the "MNI - Module principal."

Who is eligible?

The Prototyping Program evaluates projects based on various criteria related to the project's team, parity, diversity, community engagement, originality, financial viability, and strategic positioning.

• Team: Assessed based on studio track record, experience of team members, and capacity to deliver the project. (17 points)
• Parity: Projects should have at least 40% of key roles occupied by individuals identifying as women. (2 points)
• Diversity: Projects should have at least 40% of key roles occupied by members from diverse communities. (2 points)
• Community and Sustainability Engagement: Commitment to responsible content creation and sustainability practices. (4 points)
• Originality, Creativity, and Advancement: Evaluates the project's originality, design quality, user experience, innovative technology use, and commercial potential. (60 points)
• Financial Viability: Assesses financial stability, risk, and revenue model. (14 points)
• Strategic Positioning and Marketability: Includes market and audience analysis, competitive advantage. (5 points)

Eligible expenses

The grant supports expenses directly tied to the early-stage development and prototyping of a project.

• Research and preparation of content.
• Salaries and benefits for project teams, including management, business development, coding, design, and system infrastructure.
• Technological infrastructure, including hardware and software.
• Expenses related to content deployment, such as rights clearance, documentation, design, development, and translation fees.
• Travel and accommodation costs related to the project.
• Project audit fees.
• Other technical and administrative expenses.
• Marketing and promotion expenses.
• Reasonable costs related to environmental sustainability activities or hiring personnel for such activities.

Eligible geographic areas

This grant does not specify any eligible geographical areas for companies applying based on the available information. Applicants are advised to check further details with the grant provider to ensure eligibility.

The evaluation and selection of projects for this grant are based on specific criteria with allocated point scores to ensure alignment with the grant’s objectives.

• Team (17 points): Includes the background and accomplishments of the studio and team members in the interactive digital media sector, collaboration history, capacity to deliver the project, and positioning related to the project.
• Parity (2 points): Qualification as a Project achieving parity with 40% of eligible interactive digital media remunerated positions held by individuals publicly identifying as women.
• Diversity (2 points): Qualification as a Project from a Community reflecting diversity, with 40% of eligible interactive digital media positions held by members of diverse communities.
• Community and Sustainability (4 points): Commitment to community engagement and environmentally sustainable practices, with written confirmation at cost finalization.
• Originality, Creativity and Advancement (60 points): Originality, quality, relevance of content and design; user experience; either innovation through technology or commercial potential, including cultural value.
• Financial Viability (14 points): Appropriateness of the budget, financial stability of the applicant, risk level for the CMF and applicant, and revenue model.
• Strategic Positioning and Marketing (5 points): Audience and market analysis, and competitive positioning.

Here are additional relevant details for this grant:

• Applicants must conform to the main rules and requirements outlined in the "Programmes de contenu en médias numériques interactifs – Module principal des Principes directeurs".
• The project will require a complete production phase after the prototyping phase for it to be distributed or sold.
• This program may allocate up to 50% of its budget for applications submitted by the first application deadline.
• The assessment criteria and weighting include team experience, diversity, community engagement, originality, and financial viability.
• If a project is rejected more than twice since 2010-2011 for a specific program activity like prototyping, it can no longer apply for funding for that same activity.