Prince Edward Island may be the smallest province in Canada, but
its new media industry is growing by leaps and bounds, thanks in
part to the Wireless Technology Development Fund.
Introduced last year by the provincial government in partnership
with Rogers Wireless and Ericsson Canada, the fund is administered
by P.E.I. Business Development and Technology P.E.I.
The first company to be awarded the fund, Doodlez Wireless Inc., is
a joint venture of Charlottetown-based Cellar Door Productions and
Toronto-based Trapeze Media.
Gretha Rose, president and executive producer of Cellar Door
Productions, was thrilled that the funding bodies recognized
Doodlez, an animated series, as leading edge and interactive.
"I knew who some of the competition was," said Rose. "I actually
didn't think we would get it just because of the type of
competition, and I wasn't sure how entertainment would be
viewed.
Doodlez is having great success with the whole concept of wireless
and mobile around the world, she said.
Minister of Development and Technology, Mike Currie, said the fund
is available to encourage the development of new products and
services, wireless technology and mobile business.
"We encourage businesses to take advantage of the opportunity to
develop innovative ideas into viable business plans through the
support of this new fund," he said.
And taking advantage is exactly what Cellar Door Productions has
done.
"It allowed us to proceed to be able to take the prototype out to
other stakeholders, so this is a very key piece of funding," said
Rose.
John Eden, account executive for IT & New Media, government of
P.E.I., said they wanted to develop a fund that would be attractive
to all the players involved, developers and financial investors
alike.
"We wanted to talk to financial developers who were already in the
province to give them a way to minimize their risks with respect to
investing in video games, animation, etc. and to put money into
development," said Eden. "The fund is a way to help project
developments and lower their risk of getting involved."
Eden, who is also the fund administrator, said new media is
something that is growing in P.E.I.
"One of the things we're doing here in P.E.I. is that we realize
that we're small and we can't just go out and try and be everything
to everybody, so we have a very strategic approach to development,"
he said.
Rogers and Ericsson will be contributing $500,000 to the fund which
the government is matching, according to Eden. The exact amount
that Doodlez is to be awarded is $50,000, the maximum.
"Doodlez negotiated a royalty return based on revenue
expectations," Eden said. "They will, if they make money, pay back
a portion of money awarded from the fund, based on a percentage of
sales."
The fund allowance will be used to create a series of new java
based wireless applications including a weather application and
animated greeting cards which will feature the characters from
Doodlez, according to Rose.
"We're also doing a Maze Game which is kind of a Doodlez meets Pac
Man, which is very cool," she said.
Deadlines for the fund have been removed, so a company can apply at
any time to better fit their project schedules, said Eden.
"We could hand it out to three companies in the next three months,
and then not award it again for a year," he said. "It depends on
when the applications come in, and if we feel they're worthy, well
thought out and have a chance at success.
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