Manitoba association continues fight for provincial funding as it eyes national voice

Manitoba’s not-so-fledgling interactive media association is working with a nascent coalition of its western counterparts to create a new Western Canada coalition of new media lobby groups. The Manitoba Interactive Digital Media Association (MIDMA) is working quietly with New Media BC, Alberta New Media, and groups in Saskatchewan and the Yukon to create a new western voice to deal with national issues. The move parallels other initiatives nationally as the sector deals with the crushing blow of a major cut to the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund and other frightening trends toward less funding support for new online and digital content. MIDMA president John Jameson tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that early efforts toward creating a new coalition began at a recent meeting of the new media steering committee of the Cultural Human Resources Council (CNM, Oct. 10/03). A luncheon between the different organizations’ representatives on the committee led to the identification of common challenges, Jameson says, though he cautions that time and geographic distance restraints will likely result in slow-going at the outset. The move comes as MIDMA asserts its own role as the lead association for new media content production in its home province. The organization, which started informally in 2000 but was formalized as an association in September 2002, now counts 380 members, mostly small web design shops. MIDMA was formed as the interactive media industry in Manitoba strives to create new and stable funding sources for the industry - a familiar story across the country. Jameson says government officials in Manitoba tend to lump content production in with other technology sectors such as telecommunications. While the province is working to quickly increase the number of trained new media workers - Red River College is set to begin graduating 1,100 students a year in the sector - opportunities for work in the content production sector are slim. Jameson hopes stable funding will create jobs in Manitoba for those grads. "It’s awfully benevolent for Manitoba to train these talents for other provinces where there’s greater demand. But, like any association, our concern is keeping those skills here," he says. Funding for MIDMA itself, however, is still a concern. Jameson says the government hasn’t stepped up to the plate with funding for the association, something a recent report on Manitoba’s interactive media industry co-commissioned by MIDMA has urged. One of the other key challenges faced by the association is that it is competing with a growing government-assisted film and television industry in the province. While some new media clusters, notably in Toronto, have grown in tandem with strong television sectors, Jameson bristles at the idea that new media and television are inextricably wed. "We’ve often said around here that there will be a day to walk down the aisle with film and television people. But I have some concerns about film and television going to government for funding that should be going directly to new media. Obviously, film and television companies hire new media firms to do their web site, do their DVDs, and the opposite is true for us. We go to film and television to do video for us. But it seems that video, film and television are dictating our future, so I take some issue with that. If we’re going to be sitting at the table, let’s get some proper representation from the people who are involved with the interactive media industry and not the other way, and have us listen to what film and television tell us is good for us." Manitoba does have a recently created interactive media tax credit, the first deadline for which was May 21. The province has allocated $300,000 annually for at least three years to the Manitoba Interactive Media Fund, which is modeled on other recoupable loans programs such as Telefilm Canada’s. The Manitoba-only approach is important, says Jameson, since Manitoba has a strong new media industry that is perceived to be missing out on opportunities from larger funds. "Obviously, we have to prove that there is a strong industry here and MIDMA’s role. But in terms of funding for projects here, that’s just starting now," Jameson notes. "One of my concerns over the last while has been the lack of funds available to Manitoba projects. If it’s a case of nothing being submitted, I don’t have a concern there. But there’s always that Western mentality that the East gets everything, so why bother applying."

Manitoba association continues fight for provincial funding as it eyes national voice

News | 11/21/2003 5:00 am EST

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