Promotion

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) implemented several strategies to communicate information to its stakeholders as well as promote the Canadian television and digital media industry by reaching out to new audiences.

The CMF partnered with 64 industry events and contributed to an additional 25 industry events in Canada and internationally. This resulted in 81 speaking opportunities before targeted audiences of industry professionals, government representatives and business leaders. 

The CMF hosted a Showcase in Ottawa to promote and familiarize parliamentarians and government officials to the organization’s funded content and efforts towards the advancement of the Canadian content industry. The event brought together the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Honourable Mélanie Joly; 37 of her parliamentary colleagues and several Parliamentary Secretaries; the on- and off-screen talent behind several Canadian productions; as well as audiovisual industry leaders and members of the public service. Rick Mercer (Rick Mercer Report) and Charles Lafortune (La Voix) entertained guests at this event celebrating the success of Canadian TV and digital media. 

Partnerships and speaking opportunities aligned with the CMF’s objectives of promoting Canadian content, featuring Canada as a partner of choice for coproductions, disseminating industry intelligence and leveraging CMF funding by securing matching fund programs with other countries. Producers the CMF featured at international industry events reported on how this added visibility has led to direct potential business opportunities through leads for sales and coproduction with other producers in an otherwise very competitive environment. 

The CMF’s engagement at international events such as MIPTV, MIPCOM, Rio Content Market, Bogota Audiovisual Market, FICCI Frames, Sunny Side of the Doc, Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the Venice Production Bridge, Mercato Internazionale dell’Audiovisivo, Los Cabos International Film Festival, the Animation Festival produced by the Jerusalem Film Fund, Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels, Kidscreen and the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival fostered opportunities to promote Canadian content, position Canada as a coproduction partner of choice, and develop coproduction agreements with select funding agencies in other markets. 

The CMF actively participated in the CRTC’s Discoverability Summit, having sponsored the event and taken an active role in the discussions. The CMF also commissioned two comprehensive research reports on discoverability, one of which was released at the Discoverability Summit. 

The corporation sought strategic advice on next steps for the CMF’s access and promotion strategy, taking into account both the CMF’s actions to-date and initiatives undertaken by other industry partners also actively involved in the access and promotion agenda. 

The CMF proceeded with its plans to develop a YouTube channel, serving as an online hub to showcase and celebrate iconic Canadian films, television and talent. Discussions were undertaken with Google Canada, industry partners, service providers, and Canada’s film and television producers, unions and guilds, leading to the launch of the project in 2017-2018.