Telefilm head lauds new media

Wayne Clarkson, executive director of Telefilm Canada, provided an opening address at the 2005 Montreal International Game Summit. During his talk, Clarkson linked Canada’s storytelling traditions with the country’s growing importance as a provider of content in both old and new media. You may ask what this guy from Telefilm Canada is doing here. Has he turned up at the wrong event? Is there a bunch of film and TV professionals in a hall somewhere wondering where the hell he’s got to? I can assure you that not only am I exactly where I’m meant to be – I am also very definitely where I want to be. If I tell you that, in the next five years or so, the person holding down my job at Telefilm Canada will probably be one of your own, then you will understand that I believe this community is to be taken very seriously indeed. New media may be the junior sibling in Telefilm to the film and TV industries, but it is new media that is destined to become head of the family. The signs are there. PricewaterhouseCoopers projected the worldwide game industry revenue to increase from $25.4 billion in 2004 to $54.6 billion in 2009. The figures demonstrate that you are an entertainment force that has claimed its place by virtue of extraordinary creativity, innovation and cultural relevance. Game developers do something that is near and dear to the very heart of Telefilm’s mandate: you tell stories, you provide content. In fact, you do more than that. As Doug Hauser, the 31-year-old creative vice-president of Rockstar stated: "Games are going to take over from movies as the mainstream form of entertainment." But why is that happening? Well, books tell you something. Movies show you something. But games let you do something. Some of the responsibility that the director used to take, we’re actually giving to the person playing the games. So for the person consuming the media or interacting with the art, whatever the right phrase for that is, a game is a fundamentally more engaging experience... Your work reminds me of jazz. When the music first appeared in the early 20th century, it was dismissed as frivolous and childish. Many attacked it as a destructive menace to both young people and the future of civilization. They pointed to the people who produced it, describing them as devoid of any culture, as people who should never, never be taken seriously. Does it sound familiar? Rockstar Games has been lionized for its expansive designs and rich style while, at the same time, the company has become the main target for those who believe that video games are a prime cause of society’s moral and cultural decay. As we know, jazz went on to become one of the signatures of twentieth century culture. It invigorated everything: literature, visual arts, film and, of course, all forms of music. In short, jazz changed the course of cultural history forever. So, believe me when I tell you that we want to support the new media industry as broadly as possible, and that Telefilm is going to be a key player. Rest assured that in Telefilm you have a champion.

Telefilm head lauds new media

News | 11/11/2005 5:00 am EST

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