This 3-day workshop provides you with in-depth and practical information on production financing and accounting.
Our Intermediate Production Accounting and Tax Credits Workshop delves deeper into the role of the Production Accountant and the staff of a typical production accounting department.
In this workshop series, you will participate in interactive discussions and exercises covering the methods and procedures used by a media production accounting department.
You will also learn about business structures, budgets, cash flows, controlling costs through cost reports, the workflow of the accounting department, applying for and estimating the refundable tax credits, and the eligibility requirements and application processing for funding agencies such as the Canada Media Fund.
All sessions will be held on Saturdays from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM at Centennial College, 951 Carlaw Ave, Toronto. Attendance is required at all three sessions.
*these dates are subject to change depending on instructor availability (dates will be confirmed prior to opening for registration).
Sign up online by 11:59 PM, Friday, February 7, 2020. (Registration opens on January 16, 2020). Questions? Email Laurie Januska, Director of Programming.
The WIFT-T Intermediate Production Accounting and Tax Credits workshop series is recommended for those who have moderate/working knowledge of production accounting and/or financing. People who have taken the Production Accounting and Tax Credits and/or the Business Affairs and Finance module in our Media Business Essentials intensive will find this workshop builds on those modules.
This workshop is open to ALL; WIFT-T members and non-members.
Please note that this workshop is not affiliated with any training required to upgrade your accounting department category in the Directors Guild of Canada.
WIFT-T Members: $400 (+ HST)
Non-Members: $525 (+ HST)
Fees cover tuition and lunch on each day of the workshop.
Two (2) bursaries are available to cover the registration fees for two individuals. These bursaries are made possible through the Foundation for Women In Film & Television – Toronto.
Bursaries—open to WIFT-T members and non-members—are made available through the Foundation for WIFT-T for the purposes of providing financial assistance as well as to provide opportunities for advancement to underrepresented groups.
To be eligible for a bursary, you must identify as a woman, female, trans, genderqueer or nonbinary media professional. Please self-identify in your Letter of Intent. Applicants should clearly demonstrate why they wish to be considered for a bursary in their Letter of Intent.
Bursaries cannot be used for any other purpose. Members of equity-seeking groups such as POC, Indigenous, and those living with a disability are encouraged to apply.
The bursary application deadline is Friday, February 7, 2020 at 11:59 PM, ET. Call for applications opens on January 16.
All sessions in this workshop will be led by Linda Stregger, CPA, CMA. (Senior Director, Finance, Entertainment at Spin Master)
Linda Stregger is a Toronto-based Media Production Consultant. She specializes within the media and communication industries assisting domestic and international clients with their pursuit of funding and producing in the Canadian market.
Linda has more than 25 years’ experience in the television industry including working with PricewaterhouseCoopers in their media tax division; Domestic Broadcasters in live sports, animation productions and live action series; Cable channels during their start up years; and managing a successful production company. Linda was the co-owner of Up Front Entertainment Inc. where she combined her accounting training with a keen eye for story and imaginative production style to lead teams that delivered the highest quality programs. Up Front produced more than 27 documentaries and 20 series for domestic and international broadcasters.
Linda is also a Canadian Screen Award nominee, recipient of several international festival awards and the proud winner of a Gemini. She is a guest instructor at Humber College’s TV Arts & Media program in Toronto and serves as Treasurer for not-for-profit organizations: Horizons for Youth Shelter, the Visual Arts Mississauga at Riverwood. Linda sits on the boards of WIFT-T and the Foundation for WIFT-T, and mentors emerging professionals through WIFT Connect.
This day will begin with a review of the business structures typically found in the screen-based industry, with a concentration on the structure and workflow of the Accounting Department. Using a real life document as the basis for the workshop’s Case Study, elements of the budget, stages of production and cost reporting will be the focus of the day through discussion and exercises.
Using the case study built in Day 1, this day will dig deeper into the various types of funding involved in production. Topics for a fuller discussion include: which genres are eligible for various forms of funding, key elements of the Ontario and Federal Tax Credits, completing Ontario and Federal tax credit calculations, and navigating a completing the Ontario and Federal Labour Schedules.
This day brings all the elements learned in the previous two days together into a final production package. By the end of the program participants will be able to: complete a cash flow for a production. Develop a final production package for audit. Understand the financial statement treatment of a final production and be able to complete a CAVCO application.
This program is presented in partnership with the City of Toronto.
