In order to encourage co-productions, the French government, which made an audiovisual co-production agreement with Canada in 1983, added an animation clause to it in 1985. This supplemental mini-treaty establishes $600,000 each year of supplementary grants in the form of advances that must be paid back. In 1998, the sum was divided between 23 projects. The Funding Service for Program Industries also keeps close tabs on changing needs in education. They collaborate with social and institutional organizations, colleges and specialized educational centers, as well as with corporations who must offer funding for continuing education and training to their employees. Animation, compositing, layout and storyboarding are the four areas with the highest priority needs. The amount they invest annually is often in the neighborhood of $350,000.

Digital Investments
Multimedia and video works also have their own specific program, which supports producers, editors, technicians and employees so that they can focus on adapting to the evolving technology of images and sound, and their support system. Experimental productions, and research and development projects under this heading receive very special attention. For experimental productions, a juried subsidy is awarded to innovative techniques developed by companies with the intention of producing film or audio-visual works. These subsidies are based solely on the expenses relating to the use and development of new techniques, and are limited to 20% of the overall production costs. Monkey Castle, a feature by Jean-Francois Laguionie, the Heavy Metal Productions and Duboi company's series F.A.E.L. and Rolie Polie Olie, as well as the pilot for Little Big Chief, produced by Magic World Mystery, have been the most recent recipients of this funding. In the area of research, a call for projects was recently launched, under the name PRIAMM (Project for Research and Innovation in the Audiovisual and Multimedia). Based on joint initiatives from the CNC and the Secretary of State for Industry, it brings together the business world with that of laboratories and research centers. This new procedure is principally centered on tools and production processes. An advisory committee composed of professionals, researchers and administrators is responsible for determining which areas of research are most pressing, while a committee composed exclusively of government representatives (for reasons of confidentiality) must judge the projects.

F.A.E.L.L., a Duboi series created by Lyonel Kouro and subsidized by the CNC. © Kouro-Duboi-Canal+. Courtesy of Canal+.	Rolie Polie Olie, another Duboi series subsidized by the CNC. © Nelvana Communications, In Trust. Courtesy of Disney.

Animation and computer generated imagery occupy a major place in these deliberations, with certain specific directions underlined, such as the integration of 2D and 3D, tools for management of production, tools for assisting with pre-production, motion capture, modeling, simulation of bodies, rendering, and the synchronization of voices.