Quebecor Fund Announces List of Funded Producers and Distributors Under its Event and Film Production Assistance Program (EFPAP)

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Jan. 25, 2012) - The Quebecor Fund Board of Directors is pleased to announce the names of the production companies and distributors whose projects will receive third-round funding under the Event and Film Production Assistance Program (EFPAP), following January 9, 2012 submissions. A total of $785,000 in funding will be shared between the selected producers and distributors. The successful projects will be produced and distributed by television event producers Communications IBTV Inc. and Productions Select TV Inc.; feature film producers Melenny Productions Inc., Cirrus Communications Inc. and Cine Tele Action Inc.; and distributors Les Films Seville Inc., Alliance Vivafilm Inc. and Atopia Distribution Inc.

Quebecor Fund's EFPAP program seeks to capture synergies with all industry stakeholders in order to:

--  support the production of Canadian French-language feature films; 
    
--  support multiplatform exploitation of feature films and, in particular,
    foster integrated marketing strategies with an interactive component,
    starting from the development stage; 
    
--  enable the creative / production team to produce a work as close as
    possible to its original creative vision; 
    
--  support television coverage of French-language events with Canadian
    content; 
    
--  support television coverage of events with integrated promotion and
    distribution on multiple platforms, including TV on demand; 
    
--  help recipients realize a return on investment in order to increase the
    Fund's impact. 

Quebecor Fund is an independent fund with a mission to support the production of Canadian content intended for television broadcast. Quebecor Fund backs television, film and event production, as well as the production of related interactive multimedia components that use new information and communication technologies, particularly platforms such as high-speed Internet, interactive television (ITV), video on demand (VoD), and/or various fixed and mobile devices.

Quebecor Fund was established through Videotron Ltd., which provides over $7.2 million annually in broadcasting distribution undertaking (BDU) contributions to the Canadian industry. Under its new Event and Film Production Assistance Program (EFPAP), launched in September 2010, Quebecor Fund has granted financial assistance totalling nearly $2.4 million to date.

RECIPIENTS:

EVENT PRODUCTIONS:

Le Ranch a Willie (working title)

--  Television producer: Communications IBTV Inc. - Event producer:
    Communications IBTV Inc.
    The 45th edition of the Festival Western de St-Tite will open with a
    country music spectacular starring some of the biggest names in Quebec
    music: Isabelle Boulay, Roch Voisine, Patrick Norman, La Famille
    Daraiche and more. It will be taped to produce a two-hour, high-
    definition concert special in the spirit of Willie Lamothe's classic
    early 1970s variety show on channel 10, Le Ranch a Willie. 

Le Retour de nos Idoles 2012

--  Television producer: Productions Select TV Inc. - Event producer:
    Musicor Spectacles 
    Following the phenomenal success of the 2011 edition of Le Retour de nos
    Idoles, the incomparable Ginette Reno will spearhead another
    extravaganza featuring a new batch of French-language hits from the
    1960s to the 1980s, performed by 16 of Quebec's biggest pop stars. The
    show will run from May 4 to 6, 2012 at the Colisee Pepsi in Quebec City.

FILM PRODUCTIONS:

Les Boys le premier chapitre

--  Producer: Melenny Productions Inc. - Distributor: Les Films Seville Inc.
    The prequel to the first Les Boys films tells the story of Stan, Jean-
    Charles, Meo, Bob, Fern and Marcel when they were aged 12 to 15. The
    action happens in 1965. The boys are playing on the parish's second
    hockey team and getting ready for the Christmas tournament. Meanwhile,
    off the rink, they experience the trials and tribulations of
    adolescence, some humorous, some not so humorous. Together, they will
    confront teen angst and cope with it. The bosom buddies play together
    and grow together. 

Amsterdam

--  Producer: Cirrus Communications Inc. - Distributor: Alliance Vivafilm
    Inc.
    In a small, typical lumber town, three childhood friends decide to go on
    a dream vacation. Pretending to leave for their annual fishing trip,
    they sneak off to Amsterdam for a weekend of total freedom. But when
    it's time to head back, one of them is nowhere to be found. The
    resulting web of lies tests their friendship and ruptures their
    apparently peaceful lives. 

Rouge sang

--  Producer: Cine Tele Action Inc. - Distributor: Atopia Distribution Inc.
    In a remote St. Lawrence Valley hamlet in 1799, a young mother
    experiences a New Year's Eve from hell when she is forced to lodge four
    British soldiers. After a long and stormy night, the tension mounts and
    culminates in dramatic events. But who is the victim and who the
    assailant? In the light of dawn, the events of the night take on a
    different hue. 

Quebecor Fund

Quebecor Fund, a non-profit organization, is a private fund incorporated as a company without capital stock under Part 2 of the Canada Corporations Act. The Board of Directors is responsible for all decisions pertaining to the Fund, including its direction, and is entirely and exclusively responsible for its funding decisions. The next deadline for submissions for the Event and Film Production Assistance Program (EFPAP) is June 4, 2012. The next deadline for submissions for the Main Television Production Assistance Program (MPAP) is April 1, 2012. For more information, see the guidelines on the Quebecor Fund website at www.fondsquebecor.ca.