CHATHAM, Ont. – Independent ISP TekSavvy’s home is one of those working class towns that “used to” have a lot of things.
It used to have a Rockwell International factory. It used to have a Campbell’s Soup plant. There used to be a window manufacturing company. TekSavvy, however, used to be small and has become a huge success story in the city of about 40,000. Now with over 600 employees (most of whom work in that former soup factory that TekSavvy renovated, with others also in Toronto and Montreal), the company is now the second-largest private employer in Chatham, behind…
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MONTREAL – Telefilm Canada is increasing its support for Indigenous filmmakers, a move that follows on the heels of its gender parity initiatives unveiled last November.
Starting in April, the feature film production and marketing financing made available for creators from Canada’s Indigenous communities will increase to $4 million annually over the next five years. Telefilm also said that it will create a jury process, with Indigenous representation, for project recommendations (while respecting conflict of interest policies), plus committed to hiring staff from Indigenous communities.
Executive director Carolle Brabant said the initiative was developed in collaboration with the industry and the…
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GATINEAU – Leave the Wireless Code of Conduct alone, for the most part, three of Canada’s largest wireless operators told the CRTC on the second day of a hearing which is the code’s scheduled three-year review.
Rogers, Bell and Quebecor said consumers now have a much better understanding of their rights, and the code has led to a more competitive environment – so therefore there is little need to make major changes.
“The current Code strikes the right balance of providing standardized protection for consumers, while allowing competitive market forces to introduce differentiated products and customer support,” said David Watt, senior…
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WITH ITS SUPER BOWL SIMSUB decision, which finally came to pass Sunday of course, the CRTC decided that a relative few people complaining they couldn’t watch American ads (ads!) was more important than the promotion and funding of Canadian content.
The decision to set aside simultaneous substitution and, essentially, cause direct harm to Bell Media – the company which purchased the rights to the game in Canada – is a fundamental departure from what the Commission is supposed to do, which is promote, foster and enable the distribution of Canadian content and culture through the Canadian broadcasting system. It’s impossible…
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Coalition of Canadian multicultural media producers readying competing proposal to OMNI in anticipation of CRTC call
FEW CANADIANS OUTSIDE of the TV industry are aware of a major decision under consideration by the CRTC right now that involves the Rogers Communications-owned multicultural TV channels known as OMNI TV.
Rogers is asking the Commission to turn OMNI Free TV into OMNI Pay TV and for all Canadians to chip in about $80 million to help Rogers run the channel (Cartt.ca has reported on that here, here, here and Continue Reading
OTTAWA – It’s been argued that Canadian cultural content won’t earn greater success unless it’s gets seen by a wider, and global, audience. The federal government believes that and is working on such strategy. Melanie Joly, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, highlighted some efforts that could bear fruit in the near future at an Ottawa conference on Thursday.
In a Q&A style appearance at the Canadian Media Producers Association’s (CMPA) annual Prime Time in Ottawa event, she noted that money from Budget 2016 is already being used to open up doors for Canada’s cultural and creative industries. Last February, the…
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OTTAWA – As the CMPA’s Prime Time conference debated the economics behind who’s making and buying content in a rapidly-changing global media business, attention turned Thursday to 6 out of 10, 8 out of 10 and 10 out of ten.
No, delegates weren't talking judging for Olympic figure skating.
The conference held a debate over Canada in the emerging digital age, and specifically whether or not the current Canadian-content points system should be retained or revamped to ensure innovation and growth. (Readers will remember this has been a serious bone of contention between the CRTC and producers…
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TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) is partnering with Google Canada on a new YouTube channel that will showcase Canadian film and television content.
Collaborating with Canada's film and television producers, unions, guilds and rights holders, the YouTube channel is being developed by the CMF and Google Canada, but will be managed by BroadbandTV (BBTV). Deluxe Toronto will oversee the digitization of the catalogue, preparing all content for high-quality YouTube video playback. The initiative also has the support of the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), L'Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM) and Telefilm Canada.
The online hub aims to offer classic…
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MONTREAL – Stingray Digital Group has named former Videotron exec Marie Ginette Lepage as senior vice-president, global sales and mobile solutions.
Lepage (pictured) held various senior positions at Videotron since 2006, most recently as VP marketing – content and broadcasting. Prior to that, she had roles at Alcan, TMG Solutions (for Clearnet and Procter & Gamble) and Bell, including five years with Bell Mobility's consumer and enterprise units.
In her new role, Lepage will lead Stingray's Canadian and international sales operations, drive revenue growth and business development partnerships, as well as oversee mobile sales and relationships with mobile operators. She will…
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MONTREAL – Telefilm and its partners are launching multiplatform "discoverability" initiatives designed to promote English- and French-language Canadian movies in honour of the 150th anniversary of Canada's Confederation.
Five initiatives aim to bring the best Canadian cinema has to offer to audiences at home and abroad:
– a specially curated Canada First collection of feature films exclusively for iTunes;
– a complimentary selection of Canadian films offered to travellers along VIA Rail Canada's Quebec City–Windsor corridor;
– a selection of films by up-and-coming Canadian directors on NFB.ca's Emerging Talents channel;
– the Spanish subtitling of restored heritage Quebec…
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