Renaissance.Genre in Scope!

You may have thought that you have to go to the United States to break into the music industry but there is, at-lease, minimal help available to those whom are self-motivated and ambitious individuals that believes in their craft.  

     The days of running to New York in order to be considered hot should have been long gone. I think the best thing Maestro Fresh Wes did was to stay local. “Let your back bone slide”, was popping. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzull7scV2Y   Michie Mee tried to do the NY thing and got hustled. Michie was one of the first female artists to mix reggae with hip-hop. “Jamaican Funk” was a prime example of the artist potential. Seen here at a Public Enemy Concert, Michee, rocked the crowd with her trend setting styles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO9MSbB2VHE&feature=related

I’m glad Maestro stay in Toronto and gave back to his community; Michee is continually doing positive things. Id love to see some talented young adults take advantage of  the opportunities that is out there, so they in-turn can one day give back something positive  to the environment.

Here’s some information on Videofact. Please read it and see if it applies to you. If it does apply to you, make use of it. Nothing try, nothing done. Good Luck!

A Foundation To Assist Canadian Talent, was created in 1984 concurrent with the launch of MuchMusic, which committed a percentage of its gross annual revenues to stimulate the production of new Canadian music videos.  Two years later, when MusiquePlus went on the air, it also became a sponsor, as did MuchMoreMusic when it launched in 1998.  The launch of MuchMoreMusic also marked the creation of PromoFACT, an Electronic Press Kit and website production fund for Canadian artists, independent record labels and artist management companies.

VideoFACT is funded entirely by MuchMusic, MuchMoreMusic and MusiquePlus.  For VideoFACT’s 2006-2007 fiscal year, the three stations will contribute more than $5.3 million to the foundation.  To date, VideoFACT has allocated $43.9 million to more than 4,000 music video, website and EPK projects.

VideoFACT considers applications requesting co-financing for music videos, websites and EPKs (the latter through MuchMoreMusic’s PromoFACT award program) six times a year.  A nine-person board of director’s judge’s applications, and successful applicants receive non-recoupable awards of up to 50 percent of production costs to a maximum of $25,000 for music videos and a maximum of $3,500 for websites and EPKs.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

In order to be eligible for funding a project must meet the following criteria:

1.     Canadian Content (as defined by the CRTC)
At least two of the audio components:

  a) “M” – music is composed by a Canadian
  b) “A” – artist (principal performer) is a Canadian
  c) “P” – performance/production is in Canada
  d) “L” – lyrics are written by a Canadian

At least one of the video components:

  e) video director or production company is Canadian
  f) video production facilities are located in Canada

2.     Canadian Ownership
Canadian-controlled record labels, record or video production companies and Canadian citizens (or landed immigrants) including producers, managers and artists are eligible to apply to VideoFACT. The rights to both the master sound recording and the master video must be owned by a Canadian company or citizen (or landed immigrant).

3.     Principal Performer
The principal performer featured in the video must be a Canadian citizen or a Canadian landed immigrant.

4.     New Production
The objective of VideoFACT is to stimulate the production of music videos, not to replace funds already allocated towards production. Completed music videos will not be considered for financing.

5.     Closed-Captioning
All VideoFACT supported music videos must be closed-captioned for deaf, deafened or hard of hearing individuals.

6.     Completion of Outstanding Projects
Artists with outstanding music video grants for incomplete projects may not apply for new video financing until the outstanding project has been delivered to VideoFACT and/or MuchMusic/MuchMoreMusic/MusiquePlus.

HOW MUCH MONEY IS AVAILABLE

VideoFACT’s mandate is to contribute to the growth of the Canadian music video industry and to encourage new and established Canadian artists to cultivate their musical talents through music video. The VideoFACT award covers up to 50% of the production budget to a maximum of $25,000 and payment is made upon receipt of the completed video.

WHO CAN APPLY?

There are few restrictions in the VideoFACT criteria and requests for financing may come from record companies, record producers, video directors, producers or artists — basically anyone involved in the production of the music video. While most videos are produced to promote a sound recording, this is not a requirement for VideoFACT. VideoFACT supports all forms of music videos in both English and French.

Board Of Directors

The VideoFACT board of director’s makes its awards based on the creative presentation and financial requirements.  To apply for funding from VideoFACT or PromoFACT, please proceed to the Apply Online section or download the application forms available on this site as PDF files. 

The Directors and Officers of VideoFACT are:

Bernie Finkelstein (Chairman) – True North Records
Jim Corcoran – Singer/Songwriter
David Kines – MuchMusic
Farley Flex – Full Flex Management
Patrick Binette – MusiquePlus
Stephane Moraille – Entertainment & Multimedia Lawyer/Singer-Songwriter
Allen Moy - Divine Industries
Sheila Sullivan – MuchMusic
Victor Syperek
André Serero - Secretary/Treasurer
J. Michael Mulholland – Auditor
Beverley McKee – Executive Director

Please let me know if any of this information was helpful to you.