If you want to get film or television made in Canada, you're probably going to need a grant.

For my readers in countries with a population density over 3.3 people per square kilometre, a grant is a sum of money given by a government or charitable organization to assist artists and organizations in overcoming the fact that our free market is as tiny as our tundra is vast. And if you want to secure one of these grants, it helps if your goals are in line with those of the granting agencies.

On first glance, the new series 'National Parks Project,' debuting on Discovery World HD on March 19, seems designed to make the juries of our various arts councils cry with happiness.

I took a little break from this column last week because in my other life – the one not spent glued to the tube – I help run a 5-day film festival in the smallish Canadian city where I live. Running a film festival is not unlike running film – there are actors, directors and producers on hand, a general sense of panic, long hours, and really good after-parties, and with luck a critically-praised result.

This was my first year working on the film fest and I expected to be way out of my depth when it came to conversation. After all, I'm a small screen kind of girl. I even slipped up while introducing a panel of filmmakers, talking about how their films had "aired" the night before. Apparently, films screen, only TV shows air.