ABSTRACT
While state-sponsored grants for media arts projects-including transmedia and other new media forms-exist in most developed countries, they have
been substantially reduced on the federal level in the United States over the past decades. Such grants still exist on local city and state levels-for example, in New York through the New York State Council for the Arts (NYSCA), or in California through Cal Humanities-as well as through various non-profi t organizations, such as the Sundance Institute, the Tribeca Film Institute, Creative Capital, or the Independent Television Service (ITVS). All of these grants are competitive and relatively small in terms of amounts of money, compared to state funds in other affl uent countries, like Germany, the Netherlands, or Canada. Canada’s National Film Board’s (NFB) budget for interactive media projects in the past few years amounted to percent of its total operating budget, with each of the projects they fi nanced averaging ca. $, per production. Th e results of this investment were that the NFB has, arguably, produced more groundbreaking transmedia and interactive projects overall than any other country or production entity in recent years, and it is currently in the forefront of new, emerging, and experimental media forms.
