MONTREAL – The National Film Board of Canada has announced the launch of a new multiplatform global destination for documentaries for rollout next year in North American and Europe.
The subscription-based service will feature curated documentary content that users will be able to organize to create their own customized playlists. The NFB points to the success of documentary festivals like Hot Docs as an indicator that there is a growing audience who want access to high-quality documentaries they can watch both online and on mobile devices. The NFB says its new service will feature documentary and subject experts who will guide viewers through the maze of documentary offerings.
“As one of the most important world centres for documentary, we have a responsibility to audiences here and around the world, and to the documentary community, to respond to those needs,” said Tom Perlmutter, government film commissioner and chair of the NFB, in a release. He added, “Based on our success with NFB.ca, we are taking advantage of our technological infrastructure, our unique expertise in documentary content and our network of international partners to offer this innovative experience for documentary creators and audiences.”
The film board is seeking commercial partners to help establish the service. “We are convinced that this new service will be an enormous boon to the global documentary community. It will build audiences, enable documentary creators and filmmakers to be connected more directly and almost instantaneously with their audiences, and serve as a commissioner of original documentary programming,” said Perlmutter.
