The numbers behind Telefilm’s Talent to Watch 2025-26 projects

Telefilm Canada has selected 17 Talent to Watch projects to share $3.45 million from 155 submissions.

It’s quite revealing to look at the numbers in detail.

Let’s start with Type.

Narrative 9
Documentary 8

The Narrative features break down thusly:

Drama 6
Romantic Comedy 1
Sci-fi, Fantasy and Fairytale 1
Suspense 1

Province?

Quebec 7
Ontario 6
British Columbia 2
Saskatchewan 1
Yukon 1

Let’s look at Language next.

English 6
French and English 2
English and Cree 1
English and Filipino 1
English and Irish 1
English and Kannada 1
English, French and Korean 1
French 1
French and Spanish 1
French, English and Spanish 1
Japanese 1

And let’s finish up with Stream.

Filmmaker Apply-Direct 11
Industry Partner 4
Festival 1
Indigenous 1

In addition, if Gender is assumed from names:

Female approx. 20
Male approx. 18

Some observations:

  • The number of submissions is about the same as last year.
  • Non-fiction continues to be almost as successful as Fiction.
  • Drama is the most popular narrative genre.
  • Almost all of the successful projects are from Quebec and Ontario.
  • Almost half of the successful projects include other languages in addition to English and/or French — and one is in Japanese exclusively.
  • The vast majority of successful projects continue to be Filmmaker Apply-Direct.
  • Less than a quarter of the successful projects are from Industry Partners.
  • For the first time, two projects are helmed by one individual filling the director, screenwriter and producer roles, rather than a team of two or more.
  • For the second year in a row, no projects are selected from Atlantic Canada.

Hey, Atlantic Canada, what gives?

My take: this is the fourth year that filmmakers could apply directly and Telefilm has rewarded them well! Therefore, if you can apply direct, bypass your local industry partner, for odds of approximately one in nine.

Verticals, defined

Thomas Blakeley, writing on InkTip, explains Writing for Verticals: How to Break Into the New Format Producers Want.

He defines these micro-dramas thusly:

Format: 9:16 screen (like TikTok or Instagram Reels).
Episodes: 2–3 minutes each, built on intrigue and cliffhangers.
Season: Anywhere from 20 to 100+ episodes, depending on length.
Style: Hook-driven, character-focused, and designed to keep you watching one bite-size piece after another.”

He then goes into why producers want verticals, how to write a vertical and the genres producers want right now.

He concludes with this checklist:

  1. “Is your total story length 30, 45, 60, or 90 minutes broken into 2–3 minute episodes?
  2. Does each episode end on a cliffhanger or emotional punch?
  3. Can each mini-arc satisfy the viewer while feeding the bigger story?
  4. Are you keeping it tight (faces, hands, one or two characters at a time)?
  5. Is your premise simple enough to repeat across 20+ short episodes?”

My take: I believe that movies and TV should be horizontal, not vertical.

AI Avatar Rankings as of mid-2025

Dan Taylor-Watt asks Which avatar generator can create the most convincing Dan Taylor-Watt?

AI Avatar Head-to-Head by Dan Taylor-Watt

Which avatar generator can create the most convincing Dan Taylor-Watt?

Read on Substack

He tests seven AI platforms on four key criteria: visual likeness, audio likeness, movement and lip syncing.

The contenders are:

  1. HeyGen
  2. Synthesia
  3. AI Studios
  4. Mirage Studio
  5. Argil
  6. D-ID
  7. Colossyan

His top three conclusions are:

“1. Generating convincing avatar clones of real people is difficult and the human eye and ear are unforgiving of anything that’s slightly off.

2. HeyGen is still #1, although its voice likenesses remain imperfect and not a huge step on from 2 years ago.

3. Generating convincing voice likenesses appears to be more challenging than video likenesses, with ElevenLabs’ lead in this domain very apparent.”

He concludes with a great chart the summarizes cost, aspect ratio, consent and rating among other factors.

My take: great summary! I wonder how long the conclusion will remain true, with Sora 2’s Cameo feature coming soon.

Kira, perhaps the best AI-generated film to date

Hashem Al-Ghaili has made a short ostensibly about human cloning that in my opinion is one of the best AI-generated films to date.

It dives into existential questions about originality, self, isolation, and what makes a person unique.

Dan Taylor-Watt, in his post AI-generated videos that make you feel something, says:

“This 15-minute film – a cautionary tale about human cloning – was created by Hashem Al-Ghaili, a Berlin-based producer, filmmaker and science communicator. It reportedly took him 600 prompts, 12 days and $500 to produce. I find it remarkable that one person can produce such a visually rich and engaging film in less than a fortnight, although 600 prompts hints at the level of effort and creative direction required. Although some of the more obviously AI-generated shots distract and the protagonist’s likeness wobbles off at times, the storytelling and tight editing kept me engaged throughout. The Suno-generated soundtrack is also a real toe-tapper.”

More feedback here.

Kira Vale’s music from Suno is on Spotify.

My take: Kira is a high bar to match. Beyond the AI-generated video, the script, audio, music and editing are all top notch.

Hollywood vs. Tilly Norwood

Lily Ford of The Hollywood Reporter reports that the Creator of AI Actress Tilly Norwood Responds to Backlash: “She Is Not a Replacement for a Human Being”.

A new AI-generated actress named Tilly Norwood has caused a stir in Hollywood, with her creator, Eline Van der Velden of the company Particle6, claiming talent agencies are interested in signing her.

The news has sparked a fiery backlash from human actors, who see the creation as a threat to their livelihoods and the integrity of their craft.

In a response on Instagram, Van der Velden defended Tilly as a work of art and a new creative tool, not a replacement for human performers.

“To those who have expressed anger over the creation of my AI character, Tilly Norwood, she is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work—a piece of art.”

Van der Velden argued that AI characters should be judged as their own genre, much like animation, puppetry or CGI, and could coexist with traditional acting.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), however, disagrees, stating, “To be clear, ‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program.

My take: Still less robotic than some of the Transformers cast.

 

Cinema Under Fire: Ideology Threatens Expression

Ed Meza reports on Variety that Hostile Political Climate Threatening Cinema, Industry Representatives Warn at Zurich Summit.

Photo by Alisdare Hickson CC BY-SA 4.0 Activists gather at Piccadilly Circus in central London on Saturday 26 August 2023, despite the bad weather, to demonstrate against the continued imprisonment of Julian Assange and the US extradition proceedings. While the US government insists Assange is guilty of espionage, others maintain that he was acting merely as any honourable journalist should, by revealing the truth about US war crimes, the mass surveillance of entire populations and other crimes.

Zurich Film Festival‘s Zurich Summit 2025‘s Politics in Entertainment panel was held on September 27, 2025 and featured:

  • Moderator: Melanie Goodfellow – Senior International Film Correspondent Deadline
  • David Unger – CEO Artist International Group
  • Kathleen Fournier – Head of Production & Lead Producer Charlotte Street Films
  • Nathanaël Karmitz – Chairman of the Board mk2
  • Stephen Follows – Film Data Researcher and Consultant

To summarize —

Political Risks for Filmmakers: Filmmakers face mounting personal and professional danger when tackling politically sensitive material. Kathleen Fournier recounted moving her family and editing team to Berlin to finish her “Six Billion Dollar Man” documentary about Julian Assange, fearing U.S. and U.K. laws allowing footage seizure. As she put it, “There is substantial risk sometimes involved for me and my team personally.”

Erosion of Press Protections: Even nations with reputations for civic freedoms are showing cracks. Fournier’s relocation to Germany initially felt safer, but ongoing conflicts highlighted ideological pressures on journalists. “It was very interesting to see journalists challenged there in real time and to react to that,” she noted, underscoring the fragility of journalistic protections worldwide.

Far-Right Online Influence: The political climate extends into online discourse, where far-right voices dominate platforms like X. Nathanaël Karmitz warned this agenda seeks to undermine cultural institutions. “The far-right has become the major voice discussing cinema on X,” he said, pointing to organized criticism of mk2 events and ongoing attacks on French cultural bodies like the CNC. He asked, “How do we organize to fight back?”

Changing Media Landscape: The rise of streaming platforms has narrowed the opportunities for politically charged documentaries. Fournier observed that nuanced, complex stories struggle to get onto digital platforms, replaced by safer choices such as true crime or historical retrospectives. “The sort of documentaries you now find on streaming platforms tend to be historical… or very personal stories,” she explained.

Industry Courage and Activism: Panelists argued that today’s film industry often lacks the bravery of past decades. Stephen Follows criticized its timidity, calling it “fundamentally, as a business and as an ecosystem, risk averse and scared and cowardly.” He insisted courageous agitation is essential, reminding that movements like Me Too only emerged after activists forced accountability.

My take: do you feel a chill too?

Average Film Festival Fees

Stephen Follows has determined How much is the average film festival submission fee?

He checked out 4,631 film festivals and discovered that over half of them have more than 15 categories and hence fee levels. Reducing his scope to just Length (Shorts and Features) and Submission Deadline (Early, Regular, Late and Final,) he calculated that:

“The average submission fees for short films are between $30 and $55.

For features it’s between $47 and $87.

Why do festivals charge filmmakers submission fees? Stephen believes:

  1. Because running a festival is expensive. The majority are non-profits, both in the sense that they are registered charities and that they typically lose money each year.
  2. Because they know filmmakers will pay. A more cynical view of submission fees is that festivals are charging money based on the hopes and dreams of filmmakers.

Stephen concludes, “there’s no doubt that there are more than a handful of festivals outright exploiting filmmakers’ hopes and dreams via exorbitant submission fees.”

Figures are USD, btw.

My take: yes, these estimates feel correct. My conclusion is that, if only because shorts are on average one quarter (or less) the length of features, feature filmmakers are getting a break. Another way of looking at that is that short-filmmakers are subsidizing feature-filmmakers. (And no, I’m not taking about how tall filmmakers are — but it might be interesting to graph filmmaking success to height to confirm or deny a height premium. lol.)

Demographics drive the Affinity Economy

Evan Shapiro, the Media Cartographer, says that “Traditional, Streaming, and Creators” no longer nearly suffice as descriptors for what’s happening in Media today.

He says the “Affinity Economy” has supplanted that:

“It’s a complex, multi-layered, infinitely-fragmented biosphere that generates value from engagement and passion rather than reach and frequency.”

And it’s driven by demographics (and corresponding technological behaviour).

Evan points out that Boomers and Gen X account for 29% of the global population whereas Gen Z and Gen Alpha total 48%

…which matters because younger people consume online media, whereas older folks watch legacy media. (Digital Natives will become the majority before 2035.)

He propounds that Broadcast Media should not live in the past and to remain relevant needs to “entertain and inform audiences (and fans) of all ages and generations — Boomers on The Telly, Gen Z on The YouTube, and Gen A on The TikTok.

My take: this is kinda obvious — but nice to see someone on the inside shake the cage. I’m actually surprised that thirty years in, Big Business hasn’t locked down the Internet yet. Anyone can post to YouTube and TikTok — for now..

Netflix confirms 14 day theatrical run for Knives Out 3

Jack Dunn in Variety reveals that ‘Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery’ Sets Two-Week Theatrical Release Before Netflix Rollout.

The third instalment in the ensemble mystery franchise featuring Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc will screen in selected theatres globally for 14 days starting November 26 before streaming on Netflix on December 12, 2025.

In 2022, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” played in 600 cinemas for one week one month before streaming.

My take: kudos to Rian Johnson for putting this in his Netflix contract. Could this become their new norm, after Netflix’s success with its two-day KPop Demon Hunter theatrical release?

Make features, not shorts, says distribution consultant

Film Courage asks Zac Reeder, an Emmy-nominated producer’s rep and distribution/financing consultant, “What is it that 99% of filmmakers don’t understand about distribution?

He says people spend too much and don’t cast recognizable actors.

And, “A lot of people would be shocked if they saw the real numbers.

But he also says:

“I encourage people not to just make short films, but to make features because if you can make a short, I think you can make a feature, because you’re almost there. It’s a little bit more money, but a feature is much better; it has some marketability.”

Zac’s company, Lucky 27, provides Financing & Distribution Strategy, Producer’s Representation, Negotiation and Deal-Making and Marketing and Promotion services.

My take: having made over 60 short films, I totally agree. There is no money to be made making shorts. Features, technically, have a market. Of course, what’s distinctly missing here is what the market is looking for, how to attract those known actors and how to raise the money. Guess that’s where the consulting services come in.