Film Fund Luxembourg (FFL) and Canada Media Fund (CMF) have finally published the list of beneficiaries of their joint co-development and co-production incentive, launched in April and made available for a period of two years. The total investment, equally shared between the two partners, amounts to €1.2 million.

The funding committee has evaluated eight audiovisual projects and granted support to five of them, with four projects due to receive co-development support and one to benefit from a co-production grant.

The first project to receive a co-development grant is Cracké Wacky Island (€19,841 from FFL and approx. €46,050 from CMF), a 3D animated comedy TV series, produced by the Canadian firm Productions Squeeze and the Luxembourgian outfit Zeilt Productions. The 52-episode series will involve a number of short stories starring Ed,an ostrich who is eager to brood and protect his eight eggs, with fun, animated slapstick action.

Two undisclosed TV series projects, produced by the Luxembourgian outfit Samsa Film in co-operation with a Canadian partner, have been also granted co-development support – namely, Cult (€32,500 from FFL and approx. €33,150 from CMF), co-produced by the Vancouver-based outfit Omni Film Drama Development (Omnifilm Entertainment’s sister company), and Eureka (€32,500 from FFL and approx. €33,150 from CMF), co-produced by the Toronto-based company Six Island Productions.

The last beneficiary of the co-development grant is Ghostdance, a transmedia project produced by the Luxembourgian independent film production company a_BAHN and the Montreal-based creative agency Urbania Media (€40,398 from FFL and approx. €22,550 from CMF). The project comprises the making of a feature film, a documentary series and a dedicated web platform.

Finally, the only project to be awarded with a co-production grant is the ground-breaking virtual reality interactive game The VR Adventures of the Playmobil Film (€156,000 from FFL and approx. €159,100 from CMF), based on the world of the upcoming hybrid feature film Playmobil: The Movie starring Daniel Radcliffe, Anya Taylor-Joy and Gabriel Bateman. The VR interactive game is scheduled to be released in the second half of 2019 and is currently being produced by 2.9 Film Holding Limited (UK), Bidibul Productions (Luxembourg) and Kaïbou Production (Canada).