Moderation Town Wins Web Drama Series Program

NOTE: Clips from Moderation Town Season 1 are at www.moderationtown.com/ .

For the second year in a row, Stitch Media's online drama series Moderation Town has been awarded financing through the Web Drama Series Program.

The program, a partnership between Film Nova Scotia and the Independent Production Fund (IPF), provides equity financing to scripted drama series designed for broadcast on the Internet.

After reviewing information such as creative materials and distribution and web strategies for the 160 applications submitted from across Canada, an international jury and the IPF board of directors selected 15 series to invest $1.4-million into over the next year.

"Film Nova Scotia would like to offer our congratulations to Stitch Media for being selected," said Ann MacKenzie, president and CEO of Film Nova Scotia. "Through our partnership with the IPF, we try to find creative online series that will help to establish this new industry. From the success of season one, we know that Moderation Town is able to do just that."

Moderation Town follows the lives of a few not-so-Internet-savvy workers as they are forced to adjust when the local factory is replaced by an Internet moderation company. Partnering with Showcase.ca and securing sponsorship from ICUC Moderation Services for season one, the series is a shining example of the Web Drama Series Program.

"We are once again thrilled that Moderation Town has been selected for the Web Drama Series Program, allowing us to build on the success from last year," said Stitch Media partner Evan Jones. "We would like to thank Film Nova Scotia and the IPF for collaborating on a great industry initiative."

The Independent Production Fund provides equity investments to encourage drama series for television and digital platforms by Canadian independent producers. The projects funded through the 2010 pilot program can be viewed a www.ipf.ca/webseries/ .

A resource for producers, How to Build an Audience for Your Web Series: Market, Motivate, and Mobilize is available at www.ipf.ca/downloads/IPF-MARKETING-GUIDE.pdf .

Film Nova Scotia is a provincial Crown corporation reporting to the Minister of Economic and Rural Development and Tourism. The corporation provides a wide range of programs and services to support the province's audiovisual industry. With an industry that employs almost 3,000 and contributes upwards of $100 million to the economy annually, Nova Scotia is among the largest production centres in Canada.