However, Nelvana, which specializes in adapting children's literary classics for the screen and which has produced animated series for CBS, Fox Kids Network and Nickelodeon, is not the first Canadian production house to enter the U.S. public television market in a big way. PBS's Theodore Tugboat comes from still another Canadian company, Cochran Entertainment, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Canadian kids' shows that have entered the system via American Public Television distribution include The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon, The Big Comfy Couch and Groundling Marsh . Kratts' Creatures and the late Shari Lewis's Lamb Chop's Play-Along were also produced in Canada. At least one U.S. producer of children's shows feels slighted by the Canadian deals. To read that Nelvana is making a major deal with PBS is a slap in the face to American suppliers.
Government subsidy is what Canada offers in spades.
According to information from Telefilm Canada, the federal cultural agency dedicated to developing and promoting the country's film, TV and multimedia industry, a whole constellation of investment equity funding, license fee grants, and tax credits are available on the national level. Additional funding help is available from provincial agencies or through private grants and incentives. Canada has aggressively encouraged homegrown TV productions since it created the Canadian Broadcast Program Development Fund in 1983. According to Mary Maddever, editor and v.p. of Kidscreen magazine, which is published in Toronto but has an international focus, Canadian government equity investment can cover up to 49 percent of a program's eligible costs. Tax credits designed to encourage domestic production are available to cover a certain percentage of eligible salaries on a show.