Bell Fund workshop gives new producers tips on financing, technology, other topics

Toronto’s elite new media producers and broadcasters were called upon recently to help their colleagues in the rest of Canada learn the sector’s best practices. Seventeen producers from B.C., Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and Newfoundland were invited, many of them with provincial film and television agency financial support, to take part in an intensive week-long session in Hogtown, August 23-27. The seminar series was organized by the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund as part of its ongoing efforts to provide professional support to the industry. The idea behind the event, says the fund’s executive director, Andra Sheffer, was to bolster the working knowledge had by regional producers to help them better compete for funding. While provinces such as B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba have had funding envelopes for varying lengths of time to support new media, there are challenges finding projects to help. "There is money and it’s not being accessed properly. But, (the provincial agencies are) doing all sorts of things to improve on that. They long ago recognized this and have been training programs and they’ve tried to set up mentorships, and have asked us to come and do some workshops there. Rather than doing that, we turned it around and said, ‘ok, there’s a lot of people they should meet and hear from. Let’s bring your people to us, and we can grab these people here in Toronto for two hours, and they will happily present,’ which, in fact, happened. Everyone was incredibly generous with their time, and knowledge." The event was organized and planned with the help of Collideascope Digital Entertainment Inc. head Steven Comeau, and saw an industry who’s who list of individuals lend their expertise in a series of panels and workshops. Among the presenters were SNAP Media head Raja Khanna, the CBC.ca’s Claude Galipeau, DECODE Entertainment’s Dan Fill and Jacqueline Nuwame, Teletoon’s Steve Szigeti, Xenophile Media’s Patrick Crowe, Glenn Purkis from Bell ExpressVu, Jonas Diamond of Smiley Guy Studios, Telefilm Canada’s Keith Clarkson, Sherpa Games president Warren Currell as well as representatives from Astral Media, AOL Canada, Corus and others. The heavy-hitting roster of experts walked the producers - described by Sheffer as intermediate level new media producers - through a broad range of topics including gaming, new technologies, pitching, applying for funding, marketing, budgeting and niche markets such as web content for kids. Sheffer says the event was a success that saw the participants immersed in the topic through the daytime workshops and evening social events. She notes that each of the individual components could have been longer to satisfy the demand for information by the participants. She adds that the fund put significant work into organizing the event, but with the curriculum materials now complete, it will consider putting the workshop on again in the future. One participant who agreed the initiative was a success was Winnipeg’s Nick Mitchell, owner of Looking Glass Interactive. He tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that he went to Toronto hoping to learn about financing new media and finance-related topics, and that he wasn’t disappointed. Further, he says he met other Winnipegers at the event with whom he may partner on convergence projects. Looking Glass is currently in the midst of developing an online property to complement a children’s television series, and Mitchell says the advice he received in Toronto was immediately helpful. "It’s very practical for us at this point. Literally, we had people coming in and explaining how to fill out forms and (funding) adjudicators coming in and explaining what they’re looking for and the process and what they want to see and what they don’t want to see. Instinctively we were on with a lot of that stuff, but it’s nice to be sort of reassured that we were doing the right things. And then, I sort of picked up new things. Overall it was a great experience for us, for me personally."

Bell Fund workshop gives new producers tips on financing, technology, other topics

News | 09/08/2004 4:00 am EDT

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