OTTAWA — The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) today announced more details for its virtual Prime Time event, which gets underway Wednesday, Feb. 2.
The conference’s opening reception will be held online at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT on Feb. 2 and will feature comedy from Debra DiGiovanni, appearances by Mark Critch (This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Son of a Critch) and Andrew Phung (Kim’s Convenience, Run the Burbs), and trivia from the cast of Amazon Prime Video’s LOL Canada.
On Thursday, Feb. 3 at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT, CMPA president and CEO Reynolds Mastin will moderate a virtual session called The Future Is Now, which will feature leaders from key organizations across Canada’s media production industry discussing the potential opportunities a modernized broadcasting system could create for Canada. Panellists include Valerie Creighton, president and CEO of the Canada Media Fund (CMF), Kevin Desjardins, president of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, Christa Dickenson, executive director and CEO of Telefilm Canada, Jesse Wente, co-executive director of the Indigenous Screen Office, and Barbara Williams, executive vice-president of CBC.
A session that will explore common misconceptions related to the topic of sustainable production, Myth-Busting: The Cost of Green Production, will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT. Taking part will be Randi Kruse, senior director of sustainability and communications at MBSE Canada, executive producer Diana Pokorny, and film and TV producer Mari Jo Winkler. The session will be moderated by Playback Daily editor Victoria Ahearn.
Also on Feb. 9, at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, the CMF’s director of industry and market trends, Catherine Mathys, will reveal the highlights of the emerging signals, trends, obstacles and opportunities likely to impact the media production sector in the future in a session called Industry Outlook: Today to 2032. Mathys will be joined by Harold Dumur, founder and CEO of OVA, as they explore the opportunities presented by the metaverse.
In a session called Digital Innovation in Canada’s Entertainment Industry: The YouTube Case Study, on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT, ET Canada’s Sangita Patel will moderate a conversation with Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s chief business officer, Julie Nolke, award-winning actor, writer, filmmaker and creator of the Julie Nolke YouTube channel, and Robert Randall, Leo Award-winning filmmaker and founder and director of YAP TV.
Later, on Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, Prime Time will host the exclusive virtual world premiere of CBC original drama series The Porter, which is inspired by real events and follows the journeys of Black train porters and their community in the 1920s. This special event will feature a live Q&A with the cast and creative team of the series.
On the final day of Prime Time, Friday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, Erin Haskett, president and executive producer for Lark Productions, will have a fireside chat with Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez on the Broadcasting Act and the state of the Canadian film and TV production sector.
To close the conference, the 16th annual Indiescreen Awards ceremony and the closing reception will take place on Feb. 11 at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT. The hour-long event will celebrate the best and brightest among Canadian independent feature film producers.
For more information about the event, and to register, please click here.
