® A PUBLICATION OF BRUNICO COMMUNICATIONS LTD. SPRING 2013
TRANSMEDIA: Navigating the storyworld
CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS | BUILDING AUDIENCES | CFC @ 25 | SCRIPTED TRENDS
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SPRING 2013 table of contents
What, were you expecting something more Ivy League? (Clockwise from top left): Mr. D is up for a pair of Canadian Screen Awards, including best comedy and best performance by Gerry Dee (the one not holding the bottle – that’s actor Jonathan Torrens). Also doing well with audiences and CSA juries alike are Lost Girl and Resident Evil: Retribution.
8 Up front 24 The Big Picture 38 Canadian Film Centre CineCoup accelerates fi lmmaking, On the eve of the inaugural Canadian Setting the standard through a the niche promise in small data, IBM’s Screen Awards, Playback checks into TV quarter century of evolution. tech innovations and next generation trends and the Canadian fi lm scene. interactive e-books. 46 The Back Page 25 Trending in TV Scribes Bob Martin and Craig David 14 Turning a page Etan Vlessing delves into successful Wallace on creating a cult TV hit. Business models and elevator pitches genres and strategies in the from newly-launched prodcos. scripted space.
17 Transmedia grows up 34 On the Silver Screen The changing role of audience, How to market Canadian fi lms to revenue opps and a spotlight on domestic audiences; plus, a look at the original Canadian IPs. top homegrown fi lms of 2012.
® A PUBLICATION OF BRUNICO COMMUNICATIONS LTD. SPRING 2013 This issue’s cover was conceived by award-winning Toronto interactive outfi t Secret Location. Playback sought them out to
TRANSMEDIA: execute the cover since the award-winning team is so well-versed in Navigating the storyworld
CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS | BUILDING AUDIENCES | CFC @ 25 | SCRIPTED TRENDS all things multi-platform, evidenced by their recent CSA digital nom. PB.Cover.spring.indd 1 15/02/13 4:16 PM spring 2013 | 3
PPB.TOC.2013.inddB.TOC.2013.indd 3 115/02/135/02/13 4:334:33 PMPM PUBLISHER Mary Maddever • [email protected] EDITOR Matt Sylvain • [email protected] NEWS EDITOR Danielle Ng-See-Quan • [email protected] THINKING CONTRIBUTORS Mark Dillon, Kevin Ritchie, Etan Vlessing INTERN OUTSIDE THE Rodrigo Cokting MEDIUM BRUNICO CREATIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR During our fi rst editorial brainstorm in preparation for this issue’s transmedia report, Stephen Stanley • [email protected] Playback contributor Etan Vlessing quickly cut to the point. When it comes to monetizing ART DIRECTOR entertainment content across the breadth of platform options, all indications are that no Mark Lacoursiere • [email protected] one has yet come up with “the secret sauce,” the single, fool-proof recipe for making PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION SUPERVISOR Robert Lines • [email protected] money doing it. He brought up a good point. While no one may have yet come up with the secret ADVERTISING SALES sauce, many are spending a lot of time in the kitchen trying to fi gure out the recipe. It (416) 408-2300 is that kitchen-style experimenting to which we dedicate the transmedia report, which FAX (416) 408-0870 1-888-278-6426 begins on page 17. ADVERTISING EXEC To keep with the food metaphor, transmedia and multi-platform entertainment executions Jessamyn Nunez • [email protected] are becoming increasingly crucial because just as fast food restaurants completely MARKETING CO-ORDINATOR changed they way we think about (and consume) food, screen entertainment is going Vakis Boutsalis • [email protected] through an equally great transformation. Innumerable studies reveal that consumers BRUNICO AUDIENCE SERVICES are reaching for mobile devices for their entertainment fi xes in growing numbers. And ASSISTANT MANAGER advertisers are spending ever greater sums on connecting with consumers online; indeed, Christine McNalley • [email protected] by 2016 the Canadian advertising industry will spend more money online than it does on MANAGER TV according to the Canadian Marketing Association. Deborah Brewster • [email protected] That industry and cultural turning point will be made sharper by the fact that within a few years internet-connected TVs will be common and long-form screen content will be ADMINISTRATION effortlessly accessible on mobile tablet computers. If those in the kitchen are already PRESIDENT AND CEO feeling the heat, I have bad news: It’s only going to get hotter. Russell Goldstein • [email protected] At the end of the day, however, audiences will still want what they want now, visually- and VP AND CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Omri Tintpulver • [email protected] emotionally-engaging stories that make them think – or not – depending on their mood VP AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR and aptitudes. Entertainment, in other words, like the nominees for the inaugural Canadian Mary Maddever • [email protected] Screen Awards. Since the awards are about recognizing the best in the business, Playback VP ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE focused this issue on what’s working now and why. Linda Lovegrove • [email protected] VP & PUBLISHER, REALSCREEN I OWE YOU ALL BEERS Claire Macdonald • [email protected] To help us plan and execute the content in our special focus on transmedia, Playback VP & PUBLISHER, KIDSCREEN sought insight from a cross-industry group of experts who are very up on all the Jocelyn Christie • [email protected]
opportunities and challenges of taking content across multiple platforms. Here I thank each Playback is published by Brunico Communications Ltd., one by name: Catalina Briceno, director industry and market trends, Canada Media Fund; 366 Adelaide Street West, Suite 100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 1R9 Charles Falzon, Chair of RTA School of Media, Ryerson University and co-chairman, CCI (416) 408-2300; FAX: (416) 408-0870 Internet address: www.playbackonline.ca Entertainment; Evan Jones, partner and creative director, Stitch Media; Jarrett Sherman, Editorial e-mail: [email protected] Sales e-mail: [email protected] transmedia veteran; Liz Shorten, managing VP, operations and member services, Canadian Sales FAX: (416) 408-0870
Media Production Association-B.C. producers’ branch; and Zach Feldberg, senior manager, © 2011 Brunico Communications Ltd. All rights reserved. Global entertainment, dramatics and factual, digital, Shaw Media. Printed in Canada. Postmaster Notifi cation Canadian Postmaster, send undeliverables and address changes to: Matt Sylvain Playback PO BOX 369 Beeton ON, L0G 1A0 U.S. Postmaster, send undeliverables and address changes to: Editor, Playback Playback PO BOX 1103, Niagara Falls NY, 14304 [email protected] Canada Post Agreement No. 40050265. ISSN: 0836-2114 Printed in Canada.
4 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
PPB.Editorial.2013.inddB.Editorial.2013.indd 4 115/02/135/02/13 3:573:57 PMPM PPB.22794.NBC.inddB.22794.NBC.indd 1 114/02/134/02/13 2:492:49 PMPM GET THE LONG AND Playback’s THE SHORT evolving role OF IT Since Playback launched back in the 1980s, some things have stayed the same – like how a smaller consumer base means ROI for marketing costs in Canada will never be on scale with our neighbours. But more has changed. The headlines are still rife with regulatory and funding news, but the complexity caused by wholesale business model reinvention, make the old challenges seem simple by comparison. Playback magazine and Thanks to the commitment of funders, regulators, trainers and associations, Cancon quality today is on par with that of the U.S. market. We playbackonline.ca cover are on NA primetime. We sell formats abroad. We win prizes at top fi lm festivals. Our talent is poached. While producers looking to fi nance projects would argue funding remains the biggest battle, a focus on monetizing and by default the whole industry, marketing, is the more strategic brief. Building big audiences at home for our fi lms and our uniquely Canadian TV content (as per InnoSpa’s from breaking news to Alexander Manu’s description), still needs solving. And newer to the mix, transmedia content also presents ROI challenges. Recently, a panel at an Ontario Media Development Corporation event looked at how digital platforms and the impact of social media in-depth features. affects content development, and during the Q&A, some interesting questions came up. Like ‘is there too much focus on transmedia given the slim monetizing prospects – does the emphasis make sense enough for it to be a funding trigger?’ The responses got to the core of some common learning curve issues, such as transmedia goals that do not align with market reality – will anyone actually use/pay for what Stay in the loop. you’re creating? The business model in this space is often circuitous, so a more realistic goal – rather than transactional – might be PR, buzz, or some other engagement outcome. Every day. All year. And it doesn’t always have to be a big undertaking. Sometimes a small tightly-focused project can have a bigger impact. It’s also an area where partnering and collaborating on shared objectives can really make a difference. For only $12 Which brings me to Playback’s evolving role. In tandem with our sister publications strategy and Media In Canada, we’re developing a series of networking and professional development events and products to help hook producers up with consumer brands and advertising a month. agencies, with an eye to content partnering. Coming up this May is our second AToMiC Awards and conference, which looks at the intersection of content, tech, media innovation and brands. And new this year, we’re launching the BCON Expo at the end of March. In addition to keynotes and case studies about brand A subscription to and producer collaboration on everything from branded content to integration, we’re debuting the New Content Upfronts, wherein media companies share what’s working and what’s next with an eye to brand partnering. playbackonline.ca also Given the ad world’s newfound desire for being associated with content and its ability to fund projects (plus marketers’ inherent expertise in insight discovery, audience targeting and building), it’s a good time to explore common ground, which is why we’re also creating a digital ensures you will continue platform to connect the two industries centred around projects in development. to receive Playback’s The Playback team will be out and about during the inaugural CSA week, and news editor Danielle Ng-See-Quan (below, left), account exec Jess Nunez (right), and myself will be at Prime Time in Ottawa. Please fl ag us down with feedback and suggestions for content, projects or quarterly print magazines, other ways Playback can help the industry navigate through rapid and unprecedented change. including the upcoming Cheers,mm summer issue featuring the
Mary Maddever hotly anticipated Indie List. Publisher, Playback REGISTER TODAY FOR YOUR p.s. Congrats to all the CSA winners! FREE 14 DAY TRIAL
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Content creation is a global industry. That’s why Playback is offering two unique print opportunities for Canadian companies to boost profi le with an international industry audience, as well as Canada’s top decision makers.
PLAYBACK
One of the most anticipated issues of the ® A PUBLICATION OF BRUNICO COMMUNICATIONS LTD. year – featuring our long-running keeper Indie List – Playback’s summer edition will also be GAME-CHANGE distributed at the Banff World Media Festival, INTEL FOR PLANNING reaching top global industry executives. TIME YOUR NEXT MOVE
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CANADA With distribution at top international events and expanded editorial content focusing on ® Canada’s world class talent and A PUBLICATIONPUBBLICATION OOFF BBRUNICORUNICO COCCOMMUNICATIONSMMUMUNICATIONSNS LTLTD.D. infrastructure, this annual guide THE ULTIMATE GUIDE to shooting in Canada reaches a TOO PRODUCTIONP RODUCTION INI N CANADCANADAA global audience. 2012 SHOW THE WORLD WHAT YOU
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While The Men Watch Hockey Night mostly received feedback that suggested no one actually really wanted GENERATION to watch the girl talk web series. How rights holders can tap into fans’ fondness for WHATEVER integrating brands into their personal relationships Kids’ entertainment properties are leading the charge in branded-content personalization for the Instagram HAPPENED TO...? generation. Their rights holders are using partnerships to capitalize on the fact that the kids and youth demo Last May, in time for the Stanley Cup playoffs the CBC rolled out – those ever fl exible, receptive digital natives – is While The Men Watch Hockey Night, an online-only sport talk show compelled to document their brand fandom through for women featuring “girl talk-style” banter from co-hosts Lena social-media and real-world interactions. It’s a Sutherland and Jules Mancuso. The talk included dishing about behaviour that opens up yet another new revenue players’ shoe sizes, hair, and the coaches’ suits peppered with opportunity as it also helps to spread knowledge of a some actual game commentary. screen entrainment offering. Think Garfi eld or Domo The project sparked a Twitter maelstrom, with comments that the photobombs (made easier thanks to an app created by concept was sexist, patronizing and unacceptable. The comments Boston’s Bare Tree Media). echoed the sarcastic reviews of the ill-conceived Bic for Her Close to home, Toronto-based video personalization line of pens and the opinions that followed Mark’s Work company Percy3D is collaborating with content owners Warehouse’s “Now Welcoming Women” marketing on character-licensed video concepts that can be campaign last fall. personalized with the company’s 3D VFX platform. The CBC defended its “experimental” counter- Among the latest to partner with programming attempt, saying the web series Percy3D, which produces a line of and sports blog was a novel way to capture a digitally customizable party videos, conversation that goes on in living rooms and bars among other items, is DHX Media’s country-wide while NHL games are on anyway. Caillou property. Targeted to the When the locked-out NHL didn’t return in the fall, neither preschoolers market, it allows parents did While The Men Watch. Nor will it. The CBC says that to integrate the names and pictures of the even though the sport is back for a shortened season, it child celebrating a birthday and friends into won’t be following the same chicks-n-sticks route. customized clips featuring characters from Caillou. “We learned a lot from that experiment and while we BY DANIELLE NG-SEE-QUAN won’t be bringing back that specifi c concept, there are
other ideas that the HNIC team is considering for later Thanks to a partnership with Toronto-based Percy3D, parents can create customized in the season,” a CBC spokesperson tells Playback. Caillou birthday invitations for their kids.
BY DANIELLE NG-SEE-QUAN
8 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
PPB.FOB.2013.inddB.FOB.2013.indd 8 119/02/139/02/13 3:253:25 PMPM EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT: CINECOUP
Want to know if there’s a concentration of people in Saskatchewan who would gladly buy a theatre ticket to see a werewolf rom-com? Or whether Canadian fi lmgoers want to see another hockey story with heart? Thanks to CineCoup, we may soon be able to fi nd out. Company founder J. Joly’s disruptive fi lm accelerator model, CineCoup, applies an analytics platform, created by his Vancouver-based digital agency dimeRocker/Overinteractive, to the studio fi lmmaking model. The program, offi cially launched at last December’s Whistler Film Festival, has put up to $1 million in production fi nancing on the table, and a guaranteed theatrical release in Cineplex theatres for the fi lm that comes out on top after a 15-week social media-driven engagement funnel (illustrated). Guillermo del Toro’s Toronto-lensed supernatural thriller grossed $1.4 million in Canada and CineCoup is decidedly opposite to the traditional $32 million in the U.S. on its opening weekend in January. fi lmmaking model. By tapping into social media analytics and targeting the millennial generation in particular, it pinpoints and builds a critical, early fanbase for projects and discovers new talent. MAMA’S Joly says it is also a means to get private investors to back Canadian fi lmmaking, a niche they have previously shied away because of its hit-or-miss nature. LATINO RECIPE “I thought, I’m going to bring a little bit of Palo Alto to Hollywood. We’re going to move it from this high-risk Spanish-Canadian copro Mama has been credited with ‘waterfall’ model to this agile model of speed-to-market with minimum viable product – and then learn how to notching laudable U.S. box offi ce success due to Latino fail fast and fail hard and don’t be precious about things,” movie-goers, who made up a reported 47% of the January- says Joly. What’s a “minimum viable product”? A two- released horror fi lms’ audience. minute trailer. CineCoup’s 15-week funnel process builds buzz Starting Mar. 1, CineCoup opens the process up by having fi lmmakers complete challenges which depend on social votes to get them to the next level. The demo’s attendance is attributed in various measures to the public, launching the trailers – which will also to executive producer Guillermo del Toro’s popularity with run on Cineplex screens nationally – online. The Spanish-speaking audiences and the plot that speaks to its funnel will include weekly fi lmmaking and marketing challenges for the fi lmmaker teams to both package cultural values, as noted by del Toro himself in interviews. their projects and build audience interest to make it A recent Nielsen report about U.S. theatrical trends to the subsequent rounds. CineCoup is targeting the found that the number of Latino and Hispanic movie-goers June Banff World Media Festival for its fi nal round, where Joly says the top fi ve teams will pitch their increased last year, citing the cultural signifi cance of family projects to (and be grilled by) a jury and room full of time, which can include group movie-going. industry professionals. The Toronto-shot supernatural thriller on its opening BY DANIELLE NG-SEE-QUAN weekend grossed $1.4 million in Canada, and grossed $32 million in the U.S.
BY DANIELLE NG-SEE-QUAN
spring 2013 | 9
PPB.FOB.2013.inddB.FOB.2013.indd 9 119/02/139/02/13 3:033:03 PMPM Demystifying how niche programming LESS IS MORE fi ts into “big data” While “big data” is a buzz phrase, joining variables, marketers, advertisers and terms like “the cloud” and “the hive producers can only likely act on two or collective” in the latest blooming of the digital three of them. economy, James Neufeld, the VP marketing Plus, in the emerging age of social TV in at Kolbermoor, Germany-based broadcast what has traditionally been a linearly measured consultancy Molden Media GmbH, says that user experience, audience reaction to content content creators should be paying close when they’re not interacting with its online attention to small data. manifestations is not transparent or easily Big data is that culmination of the available – but the beloved couch potato is information that is collectable and measured important just the same. for analysis – in the case of the media The broadcasting segment today, he industry, social TV engagement stats, ad says, thrives on individuality of audiences. viewing time, click rates, repeat viewing, “What is different in this data-rich world number of downloads, audience impressions, is, really, just the fact that we now have Neufeld social media interactions and so on. Big data access to that many more stories (about is an opportunity to fi nd insights into content programming),” Neufeld tells Playback. Neufeld says that broadcasting and analyze conversations to create a better That means that instead of always striving thrives on audience stories and picture of audiences. to come up with the next big, broad demo- It’s a big and still developing fi eld of reaching hit, creators should accordingly individuality – so use the small inquiry. As Neufeld, who discussed the hone in on audience segments and develop data to really understand those merits of paying attention to small data at niche programs. stories and develop niche January’s TV industry-focused Innovatv programming. conference in Toronto tells Playback, “If BY DANIELLE NG-SEE-QUAN big data is the new oil, we haven’t yet discovered the combustion engine.” He adds that big data to date is incredibly vague, and even with 20 measurable
10 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
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TelevisionTheatrical Foreign location and service
2,345 2,305 2,276 2,231 367 Data from the Canadian Media Production Association’s annual 359 271 economic report on Canadian screen production, released in early 2,032 64 440 1,959 1,848 February, showed that while there was an overall drop in the total 72 102 1,754 1,741 225 export value of Canadian fi lm and TV output in 2011-12 versus 192 1,713 255 116 37 2010-11, international TV sales climbed to $440 million versus 98 267 251 252 85 $367 million in the previous period. As well, international fi lm sales 42 hit $116 million, up fron $64 million in the earlier period. 27 28 Here are some other 2011-12 highlights from the report. • $5.89 billion fi lm and TV production volume in Canada (up 5.6% versus 2011-10)
$ Millions • $1.26 billion from broadcaster in-house production 1,914 1,904 • $1.68 billion from foreign location and service production 1,669 1,770 1,874 • 87 theatrical feature fi lms created 1,462 1,433 1,445 1,508 1,675 • 35% of Canadians reported using a PVR • $253,000 average per-hour broadcast licence fee for English- language Canadian fi ction • $1.5 million average per-hour English-language market budget.
Source: Profi le 2012: An Economic Report on the Screen-based 2002-032003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Production Industry in Canada released by the CMPA.
spring 2013 | 11
THIS IS WHERE WE LIVE
PB.22779.Mijo.inddPPB.FOB.2013.inddB.FOB.2013.indd 1111 15/02/13115/02/135/02/13 3:49 3:593:59 PM PMPM In December, IBM released a list of the top fi ve innovations that it predicts will change our lives within fi ve years. The list connects our fi ve senses with sophisticated computer processes, such as digital tastebuds and smartphone technology that let us touch things remotely and give computers a sense of smell. The innovations are little more than theoretical right now, TOUCHING but are based on research such as the development of advanced Digital gurus brainstorm ideas about medical diagostic imaging in which software is enhancing the detection of cancerous tumours. how content creators could tap into Since digital shop Secret Location is always fi rst to leap in and use soon-to-emerge technologies to make new technology, Playback asked creative director Pietro Gagliano and project manager Ashlee Lougheed how the new sensory interactive 2.0 projects IDEA innovations could be deployed. DNSQ
TOUCH TASTE SIGHT This innovation will be particularly powerful There are really two Could computers decipher “what’s in the education sphere. In fi elds like ways to interpret this hot” right now by analyzing fashion architecture, engineering and particularly innovation. One is that trends? This innovation really begins biomimicry, we can imagine the benefi ts the user can remotely to challenge the notion that beauty of experiencing different materials via electronic touch in order to taste something themselves, through the power is in the eye of the beholder, because arguably the beholder learn how to use them in production. of technology. And the other is simply that the could be a computer, one that doesn’t assert its individuality This would be great for children’s storytelling as well, particularly computer itself has the intelligence to process and is immune to the pressures of mass consumer society. since young children are so tactile when it comes to learning and taste. It’s imaginable that the latter will come It will be interesting to see the day when artifi cial exploring. Currently we can only teach through sight and sound fi rst and progress to the former. intelligence can give people fashion advice, or predict new when it comes to digital media, but teaching by example through If the user can taste through the computer: styles based on current fashion trends. touch would greatly enhance storytelling for a young audience. We can imagine the over-the-top gameshows “Ask Hal What to Wear” will be a reality show just waiting What young kid watching Sesame Street doesn’t want to know that will arise from the ability to taste something to happen. what Big Bird’s feathers feel like? from home. A Fear Factor-style competition could actually be played by users in their own homes, competing by tasting nasty virtual foods. Whoever can stomach the nastiest virtual SOUND SMELL food wins! The virtual scavenger hunt could be So Smell-O-Vision could fi nally be a thing? If the computer itself tastes: This is a foodies a fantastic application for this. Since smell is the closest sense tied to dream come true, and could no doubt be It would be a great challenge to memory, we imagine there could be a real implemented by a number of food-oriented collect different sounds in nature nostalgia play with this one. Perhaps your television properties. that are beyond the spectrum that humans are able to Facebook timeline will recount the smells of different experiences This innovation could gamify the Food perceive but the app or whatever could. from your past, putting you right back into that time and place where Network overnight - where unbiased computers We imagine nature documentaries being taken to a whole it happened. In some cases, this could certainly be a bad idea. give users insight to the taste “profi le” of food new level with this technological advancement. This innovation will certainly be the most powerful for extending being created on the screen. In turn, perhaps virtual environments to be even more convincing. With new toys in we will see people from home voting on who the video game industry like the Xbox IllumiRoom, we are already the next “Top Chef” is. seeing virtual environments extending beyond the screen itself. Adding the sense of smell to an immersive environment will make it all the more convincing.
12 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
PPB.FOB.2013.inddB.FOB.2013.indd 1122 119/02/139/02/13 2:392:39 PMPM PB.22534.Bell.indd 1 14/02/13 2:50 PM NEXT GENERATION MARKETING Multiplatform and digital executions, as The Bramble Berry Tales, produced by we’re all seeing, have become the norm for Vancouver’s Rival Schools, are interactive reading adventures infl uenced by content creators to market their content. Indigenous spoken word stories. But some TV and fi lm distributors are adding another dimension. Take Entertainment One. The Canadian BOOK E-WORMS producer and distributor partnered with Aurasma, a developer of augmented reality Remember when the most dynamic part of a book was Toronto-based FilmCan’s cross-platform doc platforms, to create eOne Plus, an app a pop-up? We’ve come a long way from unevenly cut Northwords is literally a literary expedition. In it, journalist for iOS and Android devices that make paperstock to interactive e-books, and, with the way Shelagh Rogers leads fi ve Canadian writers – Joseph promotional material 3D and interactive. In immersive technology is going, we’re pretty sure that soon Boydon, Alissa York, Noah Richler, Sarah Leavitt and we’ll be able to physically jump down the Rabbit Hole with Rabindranath Maharaj – to Torngat Mountains National practice, that means hovering a smartphone Alice. In the meantime, here are some Canadian screen Park in northern Labrador. In Russian nesting doll style, viewfi nder over a DVD cover image to projects that are innovating on the medium. Northwords uncovers stories within a story, as through make it come to life, and, in some cases, Nova Scotia’s Huminah Huminah Animation spinoff the week, each writer also produced an original work unlock extra user content and even more Funibooks last year debuted “pop-up” Barnes & Noble refl ecting their experience and idea of the north. The Nook e-reader titles, the fi rst of a proposed 52 titles in essays were contained in an e-book, released jointly by marketing materials. the partnership. At $3.99 a pop, the e-books, classed House of Anansi Digital. On a more physical front, Calgary’s as tier 3 Read and Play, the interactive stories are And The Bramble Berry Tales reinvent the art of oral Mobovivo has partnered with Alliance based on Huminah’s I Am a Dinosaur comic TV shorts, storytelling. Vancouver-based Rival Schools, collaborating Films to draw greater attention to the which aired on TVO. with writer Marilyn Thomas and working with TV-writer Last year the NFB put a virtual spin on the war of Cathy Moss, created a series of mobile apps that present second-screen rollouts of its titles by tie-in 1812. The public fi lm agency’s free interactive graphic interactive reading adventures infl uenced by Indigenous consumer brand promotions. For example, novel app, The Loxleys and the War of 1812, produced spoken word stories, such as the legendary mysterious a campaign last year saw specially marked with the Department of Canadian Heritage, centres on Sasquatch and Kalkalih, a scary cannibal woman who cases of Grolsh beer containing a promo a fi ctional Upper Canadian family and their experiences lives in the mountains. The apps (produced with CMF code to stream one of its titles, such Milk or during the 19th century confl ict in the Niagara experimental stream funding) are set to roll out in March Peninsula. Tapping into the graphic novel as a medium for iOS, Android and Nook. Men Who Stare at Goats, for free. to both show and tell, it features illustrations, animation, music and sound effects. BY DANIELLE NG-SEE-QUAN BY DANIELLE NG-SEE-QUAN
spring 2013 | 13
CANADIAN SCREENWRITERS ARE… Writing Writing what WRITING what SUCCESS Canada SELLS ON ALL SCREENS Watches Lead Partner Major Supporters Media Partner Internationally
Writers Guild Telling Canadian stories… to the World. of Canada www.wgc.ca
PB.22523.WGC.indd 1 14/02/13 2:50 PM
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COMPILED BY RODRIGO COKTING AND DANIELLE NG-SEE-QUAN
BUFFALO MEDIA GROUP OMNIFILM QUADRANT MINDSET TELEVISION BASED IN TORONTO AND WINNIPEG BASED IN VANCOUVER BASED IN VANCOUVER BACKGROUND: BACKGROUND: BACKGROUND: Pooling together contacts and experience made The production shingle is not a merger but In February industry vet Shepard sense for the four principals of Buffalo Media rather a new company created in December announced he was leaving Vancouver- Group, who joined forces in December. Krech through the joint efforts of Omnifi lm based Thunderbird Films, the is a long-time animation producer, founding Entertainment and Quadrant Motion Pictures. company he co-founded with Tim DKP studios 27 years ago. Laing (of Buffalo Gal It plans to produce Cancon as well as service Gamble and whose credits include KEN ZORNIAK Pictures) is a multiple award-winning fi lm and BRIAN HAMILTON foreign projects. Waterhouse has experience MICHAEL SHEPARD Mr. Young and Package Deal. The television producer. Zorniak is a co-founder of working on projects including Gemini-winning new venture will take on all aspects Frantic Films while Kevin Hicks is the former TV movies. Chechik, Schonbach and Hamilton of TV program development, fi nancing and head of fi lm at The Talent House. are the partners behind Omnifi lm, the production (including international copros) Vancouver-based production company with in the niches of drama, comedy and factual. WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS MODEL? over 30 years experience in the business. Shepard also has a fi rst-look fi nancing and Our model is to build a diversifi ed production distribution deal with Thunderbird. PHYLLIS LAING company and studio that crosses not only GABRIELA SCHONBACH WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS MODEL? different production genres, but also production To develop and produce market-worthy methods and technology. As part of building original feature fi lms that have the potential to WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS MODEL? the animation studio, a signifi cant amount of capture a broad audience both in Canada and Creating and delivering television resources will be devoted to build key tools around the world. In addition, we will be doing programming for Canadian networks that that will aid in the production of animated and production service work, but always with gets terrifi c rating and that sells around digital content. Some of these tools will be used original productions as our priority. the world. to develop our proprietary capabilities while DAN KRECH others will be re-sold to other studios to provide MICHAEL CHECHIK WHAT’S YOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE? WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS IN FOLLOWING an added revenue stream. Our goal for the We bring a tremendous amount of experience THAT BUSINESS MODEL?: studio is to develop an expertise in short form to the table that leads to a large number of Customer focus. Helping our Canadian production that is delivered across a wide range close relationships, which are key to success. broadcaster clients get exactly what of platforms. And possibly the most important quality, we they need to support their vision for their work really hard and are endlessly tenacious. network – and having fun. WHAT’S YOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE? WHAT DOES YOUR BEST ELEVATOR PITCH WHAT IS YOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE? KEVIN HICKS We have technical capabilities and experience. MARY ANNE This added to the strong eye for talent and WATERHOUSE INVOLVE? Passion for what we do. We love television. vision for outstanding projects creates a A story with a great premise, a targeted winning formula. audience, and a killer hook. And of course WHAT DOES YOUR BEST ELEVATOR a full brass band, dancing clowns and PITCH INVOLVE? WHAT DO YOU LEAVE OFF THE SLATE? extensive pyrotechnics. Moving my hands a great deal – it’s a sales Currently we don’t have plans to develop trick that never fails. lifestyle projects. WHAT DO YOU LEAVE OUT OF THE PITCH? Horror movies, sci-fi disaster, or big budget WHAT DO YOU LEAVE OUT OF THE WHAT WAS YOUR 2013 RESOLUTION? action. PITCH? Broccoli. Build innovative production processes that support a strong but managed level of growth. WHAT ONE THING DID 2012 TEACH YOU? WHAT WILL YOUR COMPANY Expanding our slate, and completing three REINVENT? PROJECTS ON THE GO? low-budget features, taught us to always I don’t want to jinx this – but I hope that We are starting the new year with Cry Fly, a be developing new projects. And of course, every show we do reinvents the genre Spanish treaty co-production, and Siberia 2 always be in pre-production, production or that it is in. That is the goal each time both, started mid January. On the animation post production! out: to reinvent something or re-imagine side we are currently in the middle of something. production of Bella Sara with a second Bella PROJECTS ON THE GO? Sara project and a new project with Funimation Our fi rst Cancon project will be the R-rated WHAT ONE THING DID 2012 TEACH soon to follow. comedy My Asshole Neighbour written by YOU? Robert Chomiak and Andrew Currie and It is really important to show up. directed by Currie. In addition, we have a service project going to camera in March WHAT WAS YOUR 2013 RESOLUTION? – Words and Pictures, a romantic drama To be 10% more resilient and 14% more starring Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche, effective. directed by Fred Schepisi.
14 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
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Pinewood Toronto Studios offers national and Pinewood Toronto Studios has also recently begun international producers a modern, purpose construction of three new, state of the art sound stages, built fi lm and television facility which is widely specifi cally designed for small features, television series recognized as one of the leading studio facilities and live television. in North America. With this continued investment in recent years the Studios Part of the Pinewood Studios Group, which is a has become one of the premier hubs for the producers of leading provider of studio and related services creative content in North America. Pinewood is proud to to the global fi lm and television industry, and help nurture the next generation of Canadian talent, this synonymous with world class productions, has included: Sarah Polley’s second feature, the 2012 indie Pinewood offers easy access to the world’s relationship drama, Take This Waltz. most experienced crews and the best quality sound stages, production resources and post Other recent Canadian fi lm and TV productions that have used production facilities. the Studios’ facilities include: veteran director Cronenberg’s cerebral thriller Cosmopolis, which was almost entirely shot The Studios have 250,000 sq ft of production space on one of Pinewood Toronto Studio’s soundstages, Andres on an 11 acre site, based minutes from Downtown Muschietti’s feature debut Mama, from Toronto based De Toronto. All of its eight stages, including North Milo and del Toro’s Toma 78, David Hayter’s Wolves; Jeff America’s largest purpose built soundstage – Renfroe’s The Colony from Canada’s Alcina Pictures, and the 46,000 sq ft Mega Stage, are soundproofed, currently in production, acclaimed Canadian director, Atom clear-span and equipped with ample power Egoyan’s Queen of the Night, alongside Canadian TV content and supporting infrastructure to accommodate such as Pivotal Media’s talent show Zoink’d and Spun Out TV productions of all sizes and budgets. pilot, produced by Project 10 Productions for CTV.
For more information on the Studio facilities and its recently hosted Canadian productions, visit: www.pinewoodtorontostudios.com
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1 Catalyst for great ideas the CMF offers the to means succeed. mergeAs media emerge, and onething is constant: innovative content that transcends platforms. marketand intelligence, support we the creation of and new offers edgethat an make can the difference. Through funding Even the best stories can’t goit alone. Fund Media TheCanada 114/02/13 2:51PM 4 / 0 2 / 1 3
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AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
based Switch United to produce the episode, is packaging a second, self- contained story branch that will act as an epilogue for people who want to investigate the other side of the story (with a few secrets built in). Heywood says that considering the role of the audience in transmedia storytelling “is always a tricky question, because you don’t always want to just ‘hand over the keys’ to the story, so to speak.” “We know that a lot of viewers want to participate somehow, to feel included, but I think it’s not necessarily a desire to ‘control’ the story,” he explains. Bringing viewers in by letting them become more fully immersed in the storyworld, to feel like they’re a part of the environment the characters exist in, or providing pre-determined (and pre-scripted) decision points that can affect HOW TO ENGAGE WITH THE the narrative without changing the overall arc of the story, are some strategies to consider, Heywood explains. The online components of Epitome Pictures’ iconic Degrassi property have PEOPLE FORMERLY KNOWN undergone several evolutions as they have evolved along with the internet. Company president and producer Stephen Stohn says the series’ audience is always at the forefront of new technologies and platform executions, which is AS YOUR AUDIENCE what has compelled Epitome to take to them in the fi rst place. Degrassi’s digital presence today includes websites for the property via BY DANIELLE NG-SEE-QUAN During a Toronto International Film Festival industry panel last fall, U.S. MuchMusic and U.S. broadcaster TeenNick, two Twitter accounts for the transmedia producer Lance Weiler, the co-founder of New York-based show plus 24 active character accounts. There’s also Facebook (DegrassiTV Reboot Stories and a noted thinker who sits on two World Economic has 3.4 million likes), Tumblr, Google+, YouTube and WhoSay accounts. The With transmedia Forum steering committees, referred to the group “formerly known as mobile game and chat and co-viewing app are available through iTunes. And storytelling, content the audience” during a discussion of collaborative social storytelling. don’t forget the newly-launched Degrassi Instagram account. The various Weiler’s phrasing spotlights an essential aspect of transmedia digital touchpoints let fans customize their experiences and engage with the creators need projects. The audience is at the centre. No longer passive consumers characters and stories across various social networks. strategies to work of entertainment content, they’re also project participants, your But Stohn says there have also been failures in some of their executions, collaborators and co-creators. They consume, create, vote, game and misfi res that they learned the hard way interfered with the storytelling or didn’t with their newest socialize with a project’s live and digital assets, and play a part in jibe with their audience. collaborator: the shaping and building the layers of a storyworld. (Hopefully they’ll also “A decade ago we partnered with Bell to create and broadcast an interactive spend some money.) Degrassi so that satellite viewers could click buttons on their remote while consumer The strategy lies in fi nding the balance in this authorship shift – essentially, watching and learn background info, get some trivia, answer a contest how to give users what another panelist, BoomGenStudios’ Mahyad Tousi, question, etc. We learned that it was very costly, and interfered with the referred to as “the cow balls” of content (the rest of the story, beyond the fi let dramatic storytelling,” Stohn recalls. The company also a few years ago The extended season fi nale episode of Arctic Air will mignon or sirloin) without letting the story canon run buck wild. shelved a game/app before launching it because it wasn’t consistent with the include online chapters that “It starts with collaborative fi lters,” says Weiler, who has worked Degrassi world values. unlock during the broadcast on numerous projects, including the NFB’s Bear71 and an upcoming “Our mantra since the new Degrassi launched in 2001 has been ‘we are not episode breaks. project with David Cronenberg in conjunction with TIFF and the in the television business, we are in the engagement business’,” Stohn insists, CFC Media Lab. “What are the open areas? Where am I okay adding that Degrassi’s digital assets have strongly contributed to series’ longevity. and comfortable with letting somebody step in, in terms of the Caitlin Burns, editorial lead at U.S.-based transmedia and digital producer collaboration? Find places with some degree of ‘agency’,” he suggests. Starlight Runner, asserted during the TIFF panel that creative control in a world The upcoming season fi nale of Arctic Air is one example of a project of active content consumers is a huge business issue. She said that using whose primary goal is to engage and entertain viewers while also giving strategies that provide an opportunity to speak back and forth in a controlled them choice in their level of immersion. The so-called extended episode universe, and developing extensions that speak to different user segments are builds about 60 minutes of storytelling into a 45-minute drama, by a way to maintain the balance. using two parallel streams – one to be broadcast on the CBC and the She referenced the Walt Disney Company’s Tron: Legacy, which rolled out other unfolding online through video, audio and text messages, says targeted experiences for immersion (like an ARG game that picked up an CBC interactive content senior producer for commissioned and scripted alternate storyline from the original fi lm), brand partnerships (with Adidas, programming Fergus Heywood. Nokia, Reebok and Coca-Cola) and live events, to name a few. Each act of the fi nale on-air will point viewers to a new chapter that “I think we’re very early days here, and we’ll start to see a lot of different unlocks online during the broadcast’s commercial break, showing approaches. From my standpoint, as long as the audience stays with us, and what’s happening between acts (giving a sense of real-time viewing). feels engaged, which is what this is all about, really then anything is worth Heywood adds that his digital team, who worked with Vancouver- experimenting with,” says Heywood.
spring 2013 | 17
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FREEMIUM PAYS OFF By many indications, this revenue generating model, based on ‘try before you buy’ (users get a basic version of a digital entertainment property free, but need to pay for premium content) has a promising future ahead of it, especially as far as apps are concerned. Abby Ho, Epitome’s director of digital and social media, says Degrassi’s online monetization strategy that formerly required users to pay up-front for its mobile game, as well as pay for additional in-app purchases, will be migrating over to freemium in the coming months. “To stay Marotz Offi erski competitive and to reopen to a broader audience, we’ve decided to drop our game to free (with some paid hooks) to encourage more downloads,” she explains. The change of approach is due in part to the fact it’s now USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN been two years since it launched, “and in digital, a lot has changed in that time... We believe a freemium push can re-energize and draw new Seven tips for better multi-screen engagement users and exposure to the game.” Another transmedia property that launched a freemium play was Totally BY DANIELLE NG-SEE-QUAN Amp’d, the 2012 Digi Award-winning live-action tween-oriented sitcom from Smokebomb, the digital subsidiary of Shaftesbury. Its fi rst appisode With the audience at the core of the multiplatform CONSIDER TIERED LEVELS OF was free to download, but the following nine were purchasable for $5. experience, content producers need to strike a 3 INVOLVEMENT Toronto-based XMG Studios built both these apps. MS balance in their interactive content. It should be Content that’s accessible across different formats engaging but not too complicated; and should compel should augment and improve the experience. the user forward and inspire repeat visits, and of “Highly engaged users get a different or better course not confuse or detract from the core idea. experience out of your production, but at the same It’s also important for second screen content time, you have to create or account for the baseline to be relevant at a given time, whether the of people who want to have a ‘1D’ experience,” ONLINE SHOPPING audience is interacting with that additional content says Offi erski. Old school merchandising is an obvious income stream for digital contemporaneously with watching a TV broadcast, content producers who are selling everything from toques to tickets outside of their primary viewing window, or DO ONE THING REALLY, REALLY WELL directly to audiences without the middlemen. Stitch Media’s Drunk immersing themselves into a separate story arc. 4 “A second screen user is already being And On Drugs Happy Funtime Hour web comedy (fi rst created as a These are the considerations of user experience entertained by the fi rst screen.Your app should broadcast property with Shaw’s Showcase Action) generated revenue design. Konrad Group creative director Gevi focus on doing one thing really well. The key is the not only from in-video advertising online but also merchandising Marotz and strategy and tech lead David Offi erski stickiness of the app which engages users but also sales and spun off a lucrative sketch comedy show performed live discussed experience-driven design at the January has them coming back for more,” says Marotz. around the world. The performers – Funtime features Trailer Park Boys Innovatv conference in Toronto. Below, the execs alums John Paul Tremblay, Robb Wells and John Dunsworth – have at the mobile, web and social app development DON’T PLAY DOUBLE DUTCH integrated some of the characters and videos into their live shows. agency (which has offi ces in Toronto, New York 5 “Second screen engagement should act as a According to Stitch Media cofounder and producer Evan Jones, and Chicago) offer some tips for content creators companion to the fi rst screen. Don’t interrupt the future plans include the creation of a mobile app that would offer an looking to design an engaging and dynamic multi- show by playing a video in the middle of it. Wait immersive experience into the trippy world (if you haven’t guessed, screen experience. your turn and fi nd an appropriate time to insert drugs and alcohol are core to the property). music, videos etc. Your best bet is right before a Another property with a promising multi-platform revenue recipe KEEP IT SIMPLE commercial,” advises Marotz. is Epic Meal Time, from the Montreal-based team of Nextime 1“Popular television, fi lm and games are Productions. The irreverent and youth-oriented cooking show is a hit designed for the masses. To make sure your DESIGN FOR YOUR AUDIENCE on YouTube, where it has 3.4 million subscribers who have viewed content is being consumed, structure the content 6 Offi erski advises to design different their videos a whopping 507 million times (yes, you read those well and keep your prompts at speeds that are interactions for different audiences. “Youth numbers right). They have also released an app-based game and are easy to follow,” says Marotz. “The rules for second audiences are going to be potentially open to more selling merchandise such as $20 toques and $70 hoodies; slogans screen engagement are constantly changing, so touchpoints,” he says as an example. emblazoned on them include “Bacon Strips,” “Drunk Bacon God” and, innovate, but don’t cram too much content to the beneath an image of bundles of cash, “YouTube Money!” Funny, that point where the second-screen experience takes COMMUNICATE USER PARTICIPATION one - but T-shirt sales reportedly make up more than 50% of their away from the fi rst screen.” 7 AND OUTCOME CLEARLY purported six-fi gure revenue. Offi erski says it’s imperative that the user knows Also using direct sales to bolster revenues is Prison Dancer, a ENGAGE USERS ON THE FLY that he or she will get something out of their transmedia property produced by Ana Serrano and director and 2 “Being able to identify and dynamically insert participation in the second-screen experience, co-writer Romeo Candido (along with co-writer Carmen de Jesus). and change content specifi c to the viewer in realtime and create a reward that resonates. For example, They are selling swag like T-shirts and tickets to performances. is a huge opportunity for content creators to push if voting affects the outcome of a reality-based The interactive web music was inspired by the viral YouTube video relevant material on the fl y,” Marotz explains. show, show the audience how their participation of Filipino prison inmates dancing to pop culture hits like Michael Offi erski adds: “Build a structure that creates is measured against their peers. Or, show the Jackson’s Thriller. Featuring a cast of YouTube stars, the series incentives for users to be more engaged,” – like apps user that participating and engaging in periods culminated in a ticketed live stage event that was also broadcast on where users watching a broadcast are given a real- where the primary screen or production isn’t the web. MS time challenge, or content that ties the interactive being shown can translate into increased meta- experience to what’s going on the TV screen. story infl uence, points or additional rewards.
18 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
PPB.Transmedia.2013.inddB.Transmedia.2013.indd 1818 115/02/135/02/13 4:224:22 PMPM PB.22701.Transcon.indd 1 14/02/13 2:51 PM WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM BY DANIELLE NG-SEE-QUAN BRANDED GAME PRODUCERS CONTENT For traditional producers making their fi rst forays into digital content “Even in the writers’ room, thinking ‘Are there any loose ends that and transmedia, there’s a lot to be learned from game producers, we can leave that are not major plot points that we can open up or OPPS beyond creating a digital game as an add-on. come back to?’” says Walsh. So the character that didn’t appear in On the tech side, CEO and chief creative two episodes of the TV series can have their own arc Branded content appears to be a revenue offi cer of Toronto-based game-maker Phantom in digital episodes, or as a game quest. opportunity that, due to the changing nature Compass Tony Walsh says to keep pixel-based Walsh says that while games are a different beast of the screen entertainment industry, holds elements at the highest resolution and strive for (because a core element of game-play is the idea of a lot of promise. It’s an opportunity to co- the most fl exibility in source fi les that can be the do-over, which isn’t really suited to linear media), create entertainment that allows the brand afforded. This means keeping multiple layers content producers should think about using cues to integrate in new mediums and the content in image fi les and considering resolutions that much in the same way that games do (like leveling producer to tap another funding source (as would work for both digital and print. up or unlocking additional information) as a narrative well as the brand’s existing audience). “A lot of content producers are working smarter progresses – a structure of basic storytelling. One of the most eye-catching examples of than they have done before. I think it’s becoming Walsh “The key with games is the high level of such a partnership last year involved fast food more common now in traditional productions for interactivity. Because games are rising in mainstream chain Pizza Pizza backing the web mystery producers to never throw anything out,” says Walsh, who has been culture, it’s something that traditional producers just cannot series Guidestones, produced by iThentic and producing and designing in the indie game biz for almost 20 years. ignore anymore. People want to feel involved in a way other than 3 o’clock.tv. The arrangement saw the chain’s That means keeping original material – like behind-the-scenes just watching,” says Walsh. “The audience wants some kind of logo, branded packaging and stores weaved and on-set photos, outtakes and source fi les – as back up. Walsh acknowledgement, but more than that, they’re happy when they feel into the storyline as well as the execution of an adds that producers should try to capture more footage than they like something happens that they wanted. That requires a higher integrated online contest (serial codes needed might normally use for a single-purpose production. degree of communication and engagement with your audience. to score points in the contest were hidden in Those assets can be built out into, or used as the foundation for, a That’s something that games usually do quite well, and traditional the episodes and on a tie-in app). MS spin-off game, a mobile app or another dimension of a storyworld. media and TV can learn a lot from,” he adds.
spring 2013 | 19
At TC Media we connect everything that matters by creating a multitude of touch points between brands and consumers to enhance loyalty, offering targeted content at the right time, in the right place and in the right context. Find out how TC Media can link it all together for you today. Linking it all together
PB.22701.Transcon.inddPPB.Transmedia.2013.inddB.Transmedia.2013.ind d 1 1919 14/02/13115/02/135/02/13 2:51 4:234:23 PM PMPM GRAND NARRATIVES BY DANIELLE NG-SEE-QUAN Digital design and As transmedia continues to emerge as a storytelling medium, content creators can take a few cues from some recent standout projects that are story-telling consultant making the grade with smart community-building, participatory theatre, and Siobhan O’Flynn the use of public screens. Here, Siobhan O’Flynn, co-creator, co-designer and co-developer of the TMC Resource Kit and a CFC Media Lab faculty, discusses three breaks down the success strategies of three Canadian IPs. compelling transmedia HOOKING GENERATION POTTER executions Ruby Skye P.I., created by Jill Golick and produced by Toronto’s Story2.OH, is a project that O’Flynn says has a “really, really smart community-building ethos” behind it. While she says it’s not a radical innovation on the web series medium, she argues that it’s a “well-executed application of simple principles.” O’Flynn The original web series targets the tween and teen demo, and follows lead character, the resourceful 17-year-old would-be detective Ruby Skye. The series’ second season, The Haunted Library, which launched in October BYOLOGYC’S LOGIC 2012, hit a total of 1.5 million views last year on Koldcast TV, blip, YouTube and O’Flynn calls ZED.TO “hands down the most radical innovation in DailyMotion, the digital platforms on which it’s currently available (and shares transmedia in Canada to date.” revenue with). On Koldcast alone, the season has netted more than 600,000 The Digi Award-winning transmedia experiential theatre series was views. The second season is funded by the Independent Production Fund and produced by a Toronto-based design collective called The Mission Business the OMDC and through brand and industry partnerships. (TMB), a group of fi ve people with very different backgrounds who wanted to The Haunted Library launched with several interactive features bring a compelling sci-fi story to theatre, while also using that story to explore expanding the main Ruby Skye storyworld, including companion website technology (and vice versa) – presented as an augmented reality game. ODearyPuzzles.com (created for character Mrs. O’Deary’s love of puzzles) The story charts the rise and fall of ByoLogyc, a fi ctional biotech corporation and the O’Deary Library. With the second season focusing on Ruby whose products promise to improve people’s lives, only to spawn a potentially attempting to save the O’Deary Library by searching for a lost will, its deadly pandemic, overshadowed by greed and corruption. online counterpart lets users learn more about the series characters, books TMB built several online channels for the project, including a slick referenced in the series, and fi nd and post reviews of books themselves. website for ByoLogyc, the VIP Initiative (“versatile intern program”) that And as Ruby fi nds clues throughout the season, viewers can solve them let users join the company’s infrastructure through a series of tasks via the web, unlocking additional information and content between episodes. (the output was used to enrich the storyworld for casual participants, The smart community-building comes from knowing the series’ audience, according to TMB), a Twitter account run by ByoLogyc staff, a fi ctional says O’Flynn. The series features a plot and characters that engage the hacker group, EXE, whose mission was to track and expose ByoLogyc’s Harry Potter generation, or the next generation Nancy Drew super sleuths wrong-doings, and a graphic novel, which was presented as a graduate who are highly active in spreading online content, she explains. student’s report on the corporation. She adds that Golick believes that TV underserves the tween/teen The story unfolded over approximately eight months and included eight market, an audience which she described as avid readers of multiple live events – both ticketed and not – in which the audiences (3,500 genres, broader than the narrower niches currently in the TV space. With a people in total for all) participated in and contributed to the storyline. mix of characters, Ruby Skye also closes the gender divide, and, because The events began with a ByoLogyc event at a Toronto gallery, where it’s on the web, actually targets a wider age range. Considering the Potter the company unveiled a new product. Attendees were also witnesses to audience as an example, while that generation has grown up, they still arguments among ByoLogyc staff, planting the seed for the confl icts to have a propensity to be engaged with similar teen content. come. The event during the Toronto Fringe Festival brought participants KoldCast TV CEO David Samuels himself calls the show “good old-fashioned, into the VIP and gave further insight to ByoLogyc behind the scenes. family-wide entertainment in this new era of television and digital media.” The Patient Zero installation at Toronto’s Nuit Blanche incited fear over Creating dynamic content, with puzzles and clues distributed across a possible pandemic, and invited participants for an examination and entertainment platforms, social media destinations including Facebook, immunization pill. The story culminated in the fi nal live event at the Twitter and Tumblr, and even Golick herself engaging directly with fans, Evergreen Brick Works, where ticketholders saw the fi nal breakdown the series has built a strong community. In turn, it has harnessed its of the institution. The event offered different types of tickets, so that audience’s inclination to share as marketing power. audience members could participate in different aspects of the story.
20 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
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From left to right: A Ruby Skye seance; ZED.TO’s ByoLogyc Retreat at Toronto’s Evergreen Brickworks; a Murder in Passing “fugue,” a clue (with audio) that would be seen following a regular AND NOW, “A 30-second silent episode if a viewer was watching the series on the web. WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR”SUBTLEY GOES ONLINE... ZED.TO stepped outside of traditional drama and the audience’s ENLIVENING URBAN SCREENS understanding and anticipation of what would come next, says O’Flynn says that transmedia murder mystery series Murder In Epitome Pictures goal for Skittles and Playtex- O’Flynn. “ZED.TO amplifi es the logic of transmedia as a system Passing is a smart use of urban screens, which she says are sponsored webisodes during recent seasons of of invitations. The audience is invited to participate and to actively an underutilized platform to deliver entertainment content and Degrassi was to not be overt over product inclusion. contribute to how the future narrative is shaped during the connect with new viewers in public spaces. The webisodes contained some subtle visual element events and online,” she explains. “Avid fans were incorporated as Murder In Passing, written and directed by John Greyson and integration, such as a logo or a product, and themes, characters into the unfolding story, becoming performers in the produced by Toronto-based Greyzone/Future Cinema Lab with explained Abby Ho, Epitome’s director of digital and successive live events.” support from Art4Commuters and Pattison One-Stop, played social media. The partnerships, formed in cooperation “Online engagement rose pretty consistently, mostly in surges out in 30-second episodes on Toronto Transit Commission with MuchMusic, leveraged the tween drama’s around the live action pieces,” TMB producer Trevor Haldenby commuter screens from Jan. 7 to Mar. 1. enormous online following and were a success for all tells Playback. “It’s really challenging to take most audiences from The story focuses on solving the murder of a transgender bike involved, she added. digital and virtual to live action,” he says, adding that the majority courier, interweaving contemporary social issues like gender, equity, You don’t have to be an iconic Canadian program to of the people who attended the live action events didn’t know the bike/car debate and environmental sustainability,. The constraint attract sponsors. Stitch Media fi ttingly secured a deal initially about ByoLogyc’s online presence (which has surpassed of the 30-second time limit, silent video format, and narrative design with Winnipeg-based ICUC Moderation Services - an 20,000 engagements via Twitter, Facebook and other platforms). and cinematography that are completely different than feature fi lms online community moderation company - to support “We created a rich touch point with our audiences really early on or TV series, add to the project’s effectiveness, O’Flynn explains. its online series Moderation Town. The comedy that determined much of what we did next.” Haldenby recommends Clues to solving the mystery were hidden in subway stations, program, commissioned by Showcase and backed rather than adapting and evolving an existing story through multiple embedded in the episodes, posted online (daily ‘fugues’) and by Film Nova Scotia, focused on the online brand- media, “fi gure out who is going to be interested in the story and then sent out via Twitter (detective tweets). “Given that the episodes management niche industry that ICUC specializes fi gure out how to get to them in any way you can that makes sense.” are designed for maximum ‘spreadability’ and in designing for TTC in, what Stitch cofounder and producer Evan Jones He adds that due to its participatory nature ZED.TO’s approach, platform screens, Greyson has a captive audience,” she says. described as “somewhat of an ‘invisible service’ and ARGs more generally, could be used as a system to The key strategic element in Murder in Passing is that the series that nobody notices if it’s done well.” ICUC came on understand real-world implications of mock business problems. creates “in situ” engagement in an unusual space, says O’Flynn. board after seeing Stitch’s development promos for “There seems to be this new sense of opportunity, particularly “Thinking differently about urban screens, in tandem with the series, believed to have been the fi rst Canadian around transmedia storytelling, that your audience doesn’t have other transmedia platforms, opens up the possibilities of webseries featured on iTunes Canada (the series is to be an audience of paying consumers – your audience can be combining exclusive and/or scarce experiences with the instant, today available on YouTube.). MS anyone for whom what you’re doing solves a problem,” he says. ubiquitous availability of digital content,” she says.
spring 2013 | 21
The CMPA presents: PRIME TIME March 5-7, 2014 in Ottawa CELEBRATING THE SUCCESS OF CANADIAN CONTENT Thanks to all our sponsors and delegates for The CMPA congratulates its members for the numeruous nominations at the Canadian Screen Awards! making Prime Time in Ottawa a success.
See you next March!
If you aren’t yet a member of the Canadian Media Production Association, consider the benefits of becoming part of the “who’s who” of Canadian content creators.
JOIN OUR SUCCESS! Find out how at www.cmpa.ca. Networking event for Canada’s business leaders, decision-makers & policy experts in screen-based media production. Find out more at www.primetimeinottawa.ca.
PPB.Transmedia.2013.inddPB.22782.CMPA.inddB.Transmedia.2013.in d 1d 2121 119/02/1314/02/139/02/13 4:0142:52:01 PMPPMM TRANSMEDIA UNCOVERING GEOFREAKZ
CCI Entertainment’s taps BY MATT SYLVAIN geocaching’s family-oriented, According to CCI Entertainment VP of marketing and licensing Kristin Lecour and her colleague, VP production outdoor treasure hunt Kristine Klohk, the future is promising for the GeoFreakZ franchise. A transmedia execution launched in 2012 potential to link brands with that includes television, online and live event components, the strategic partners on the CCI-owned property include broadcasters Teletoon in Canada and Kabillion in the U.S., and GPS-maker Magellan, Geocaching.com an integrated user journey and Parks Canada. Here’s how the IP’s various pieces all fi t together.
Animated characters search for caches in GeoFreakZ episodes, which end The MMOG combines a social networking site with a quest game that GeoFreakZ geocaching challenges were held at six national parks and with cliffhangers to encourage kids to go online to reveal their conclusions. integrates real-world geocaching excursions. to earn bonus points. historic sites in Canada in 2012.
TV EPISODES ONLINE LIVE EVENTS
Televised animated shorts introduce and follow the antics of Here cross-promotion and user interaction come into their What kid doesn’t like to tromp in the great outdoors the GeoFreakZ characters who fondly pursue geocaching, own. In a nutshell, the GeoFreakZ.com GeoTrails MMOG in search of a surprise? In 2012, GeoFreakZ GeoTrails which in real life is a sophisticated-yet-accessible treasure- combines a kid-friendly social networking site with a geocaching challenges were held at six national parks and hunt game (it requires the use of a GPS device to locate the dynamic quest game: at its core, participants can create historic sites in Canada. “treasure” – a cached weatherproof box where participants log an avatar and tackle a series of challenges that allow them Families were able to show up, receive a free Magellan his or her fi nd and can retrieve kid-friendly tradable goodies). to collect rewards points and move up levels. As well, by GPS device and hardcopy “passport” and then orienteer The episodes currently are broadcast on both the English and completing real-world brand-integrated treasure hunts, they in search of the GeoFreakZ-branded target boxes. Upon French Teletoon channels in Canada and, as of this January, on can earn massive bonus points. fi nding the boxes, participants signed the log book and also free U.S. video-on-demand and broadband channel Kabillion The GeoFreakZ and Groundspeak systems have been stamped their passports certifying their fi nd. Families were (CCI owns the property). Each one ends in a cliffhanger to linked so that when kids and families register their then rewarded with bonus points for their online avatar and encourage kids to go online and watch a video containing the geocaching activity at Geocaching.com, GeoFreakZ avatars also entered into a draw to win a Magellan eXplorist GC, a conclusion. accrue additional points and rewards. GPS designed for geocaching. As each platform is designed to promote the others, the Meanwhile, GeoFreakZ has a presence on Kabillion’s Magellan, as an authority in GPS technology, were episodes include clues that are useful in the GeoFreakZ massive main kids’ page and also funnels kids to the game via their brought in very early in the development of the series to multiplayer online game (MMOG). They also tease the GeoFreakZ online partner Yoursphere.com, a global kids-only social ensure accuracy surrounding the ins and outs of GPS GeoTrails live events, as well as promote key partners Santa destination. Yoursphere.com has also created a GeoFreakz- technology, and helped with orchestrating the live events. Clara, Calif.-based GPS-maker Magellan and Geocaching.com, specifi c “sphere,” with links to the game and social For its part, Magellan benefi ts as GeoFreakZ helped it to an international online registration site for the recreational activity networking area. tap into the kid and family demographic that in the past operated by Seattle-based Groundspeaks that has seven million Magellan promotes GeoFreakZ through banner ads was diffi cult to penetrate. The plans for 2013 include worldwide users. Both were obvious fi ts, explains CCI’s Lecour. and also by sending out updates about the brand via its expanding the event partnerships into the U.S. market, and The property also received $150,000 in support from the Canada newsletters as well as on all platforms of social media. to launching licensed products, possibly including a kids Media Fund’s convergent stream. GeoFreakZ GPS device.
22 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
PPB.Transmedia.2013.inddB.Transmedia.2013.indd 2222 119/02/139/02/13 4:004:00 PMPM NATPE Triumphs!
Can’t wait for next year...great from a TV perspective, “ and it was the center of the YouTube content universe . - Mark Cuban, Chairman,” AXS TV As the linear and digital businesses start to blend, “ NATPE becomes more and more valuable. - Larry Tanz, CEO, Vuguru ” Best NATPE conference in years! “ - Thomas Vitale, Executive Vice President of Programming & Original Movies for Syfy and Chiller” The market delivered exactly what we expected in terms of exposure and business “ opportunities. - Antonio Barreto, CEO, DLA
The NATPE Legacy” Award was a wonderful experience which I will remember for the rest of “ my days! - Herbert G. Kloiber, Chairman, Tele München” Gruppe
Thank you to all who participated and contributed. Join us:
May 9-10, 2013 June 24-27, 2013 January 27-29, 2014 SLS Hotel, Los Angeles Sofitel Chain Bridge Hotel, Hungary Fontainebleau Resort, Miami Beach www.pitchcon.org www.natpebudapest.com www.natpemarket.com
PPB.22861.NATPE.inddB.22861.NATPE.indd 1 115/02/135/02/13 3:433:43 PMPM THEBIGPICTURE On the eve of the inaugural Canadian Screen Awards, we take an insightful look at what broadcasters are looking for, the latest trends in scripted fare, and probe what can be done to get more Canadians to view Canuck fi lms.
The awards will be handed out in 116 categories over three nights, ending with a televised gala March 3. Nomi- nated works include (clockwise from left) top: Silent Hill: Revelation, Omerta, Mr. D, Stella and Sam; bottom: Saving Hope, Murdoch Mysteries, Bomb Girls, The Borgias and Battle Castle.
24 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
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MONSTER While the supernatural characters of Lost Girl may be fantastical, their MASHUP very human problems strike a chord with audiences. Another multi-tasking Canadian-made supernatural series choosing to stay in the present is Muse Entertainment’s Being Human, originally commissioned by Syfy for the U.S. market. The dramedy, a North American adaptation of BY ETAN VLESSING PRESENT TENSE the BBC sci-fi series of the same name, portrays 20-something housemates trying to live normal Canadian producers are fi nding a new “We knew we had to have a special person to play the part, lives, even as one is a werewolf, the second is a and, while it took some searching, at the end of the day Tatiana is vampire and the third a ghost. hook for their sci-fi shows – basing an unbelievably gifted character actress and absolutely inhabits “It’s really a human drama, more than them in here and now the characters on screen,” Fawcett says. He likens Orphan Black anything,” says Stefan Pleszczynski, a to The X-Files, the 1990s supernatural show injected with just supervising producer on Being Human, a twist on enough paranormal/conspiracy sensibility to remain believable to the monsters-seeking-humanity genre. Sci-fi series have come a long way from William Shatner and audiences. Indeed, there’s no need to travel to another fellow actors in corrugated rubber headpieces embarking on galaxy when you want your audience to readily intergalactic travel. THE MIDDLE PATH see themselves in the main characters. Yet despite a myriad of ways to bring the past and the future to Another solid sci-fi performer is Lost Girl, a nominee for Complicating the task of getting audiences life in sci-fi TV, Canadian genre series these days are increasingly multiple Canadian Screen Awards. to identify with characters is the U.K.-to-North fi nding audiences at home and abroad by shrewdly sticking to Now in its third season from Toronto-based Prodigy Pictures, American adaptation which Pleszczynski adds the present with emotional tales of smarts and heart. the supernatural series makes much of Bo, the gorgeous and required starting with a kernel that defi ned the John Fawcett, who created the clone-saga Orphan Black along sexy lead, played by Anna Silk. British characters, before layering on North with Graeme Manson (Flashpoint), describes the Tatiana Maslany- A so-called Succubus, Bo feeds off of sexual energy and takes American cultural references like the Boston setting. starrer as a paranoid identity thriller about an orphan and street- a middle path between the human and Fae worlds. “It’s about not trying to carry too many things with wise chameleon named Sarah and her multiple personalities. She also becomes entangled in a love triangle with Dyson, a you when adapting,” he insists, warning against “It’s kind of ‘sci-fi now,’ where you’re taking things that shape-shifting Fae and homicide detective, and Lauren, a human getting weighed down by a lot of complications. could possibly be happening, and adding a sci-fi twist,” doctor who has found a way, through science, to help give Bo the The challenge is ensuring believability he explains of the series, produced by Temple Street, BBC sexual self-control she craves. when customizing a sci-fi series format for America and Bell Media and shot in Toronto until February. It Tara Ellis, Shaw Media’s senior director of drama content, consumption in different international markets. premieres on Space this spring. insists Bo’s appeal to viewers comes in part from her supernatural “What’s funny or colourful in one culture could A kaleidoscopic mystery that starts with the Sarah character powers, and a “tongue-in-cheek” tone for the sci-fi series. become farcical in another,” Pleszczynski says. taking the identity of a woman who committed suicide to solve her “There’s a lot of potential for escapism in it: we have a wonderful Nevertheless the show is able to travel. For problems, only to discover Sarah and the dead woman are clones, female lead, who doesn’t bow to anyone’s rules,” she explains. instance, in January British broadcaster UKTV is potentially a lot to take in for audiences in the rookie season. At the same time, Vanessa Piazza, a Prodigy co-producer, says inked a deal with Zodiak Rights to bring Being “It’s already an absurd premise. We don’t want the series the series remains accessible to audiences as it balances the Human North America to its Watch Channel. Talk to be silly,” Fawcett says. Hence the choice to stay in the present human and fantastical worlds. about continuum. and cast Maslany, a breakout actress already impressing audiences “Our lead characters are going through human problems at all on both sides of the border (for example, she was named a Toronto times, which the audience can relate to,” she adds. BY ETAN VLESSING International Film Festival rising star last summer) to portray its darker nature and threat. (continued on page 26)
spring 2013 | 25
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(continued from page 25)
Beyond Star Trek and warp travel is that distant realm which Space specialty channel programmers Catherine MacLeod and Rachel Goldstein-Couto call the “phenomenal.” Think sci-fi , but ironically grounded in present-day reality. “The characters are struggling with relationships and their job, but there’s the added element of stakes and the phenomenal,” Rachel Goldstein-Couto, director of specialty programming, comedy and drama at Bell Media, says of the current template for series Space is looking to schedule. She holds up for example Orphan Black. “That show is very ‘right now.’ It’s set in our world that we all inhabit, but there’s this phenomenal thing in the main character. She’s a clone, but also trying to be a good mother and forging a good relationship with a man and reconciling with her family,” Goldstein-Couto observes. The trick is building an audience for a sci-fi series by building credibility in a fast-changing world. As MacLeod, the VP of specialty channels at Bell Media describes it, “this notion that the world can change, and we’d be in flying cars, happened in an ‘outside’ reality,” recalling early era sci-fi series like Lost in Space and My DECONSTRUCTING SYFY’S Favorite Martian. BY ETAN VLESSING But today’s sci-fi shows, while still requiring suspension of belief, are CANADIAN MONDAY grounded in a world of possibilities. “It could happen, because this world has changed so much,” MacLeod says. Asked to explain his Monday night mash-up of three Sandwiched between Continuum on Mondays at 8 Canadian sci-fi series Thomas Vitale, the executive vice p.m. and Lost Girl at 10 p.m. is the original Syfy series president of programming for U.S. specialty Syfy, states Being Human at 9 p.m. the obvious. Being Human, the American adaptation of the Genre shows like Continuum, Being Human and original BBC3 sci-fi series, is produced by Montreal- Lost Girl, which starting kicking off Syfy’s weeknight based Muse Entertainment and reflects a changing schedule in January, easily cross borders, into the U.S. acquisition strategy at Syfy in answer to increased and other world markets. audience fragmentation and time-shifting. (It airs in “Sci-fi , fantasy, supernatural series travel well,” Vitale Canada on Space.) told Playback. “Not every genre travels as well,” he said. “The competitive landscape has changed. In a world Vitale adds Canadians have a long tradition making of growing PVR/VOD penetration, you’re looking for sci-fi shows, either for their own market or the world. original programming,” Vitale says of new Canadian “Whether it’s shows that are made in Canada for sci-fi shows, including Primeval: New World, co- the international marketplace, or some very original produced by Vancouver’s Omni Film Productions, and shows produced in Canada, the Canadian marketplace set for a summer 2013 debut on Syfy. Indeed Syfy is a terrifi c place for good programming in the sci-fi , isn’t alone in its interest in Primeval: New World – fantasy and supernatural genre,” he argues. Entertainment One has sold into France, Germany, Lost Girl, now in its third season and is carried north Turkey and the U.K. of the border on Showcase, has been a perennial Another appeal is the business model for Canadian performer for Syfy, and comes from a preferred sci-fi production, where local tax credits and subsidies supplier, Prodigy Pictures, the founder and president of help underwrite the cost of homegrown shows. which is Jay Firestone. “The economic equation can be favourable; a lot “We bought some of Firestone’s programming in the has to do with the Canadian fi nancing structure and past, and have a longstanding relationship with Jay,” how they are made, which gives great value for other Vitale says. markets,” Vitale says. All three programs are nominated for Canadian Still, the bottom line, he adds, is Canada offers an Screen Awards. assured pipeline of genre programming to Syfy and More recently, Reunion Pictures’ Continuum debuted other foreign buyers. well for the American channel on January 14, jumping “There’s familiar talent in front and behind the 87% in its second week among adults 18-49, 56% camera. And you’re confi dent the audience will like the In the mystery series Orphan Black, up-and-comer Tatiana Maslany plays a lead in adults 25-54 and 42% in total viewers, when shows,” Vitale insists. character who discovers she’s a clone. measured against the premiere episode. “We have high expectations for Continuum, now that the viewers have found it,” Vitale said. So high Being Human’s North American adaptation (that also broadcasts in fact that they have taken the U.K. rights to the on Space) is produced by Montreal’s Muse Entertainment. futuristic drama.
26 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
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How a slew of new sitcoms are harnessing Canuck industry veterans to make programming that can go toe-to-toe with primetime U.S. comedies CALIFORNIA DREAMING BY ETAN VLESSING
Canadians are a funny people, as witnessed by our homegrown hands of an all-Canadian writers room led by Greg Lawrence A scene from the multiple Canadian Screen Award nominated comedy talent, from Lorne Michaels and Dan Aykroyd to Martin Short (Crash Canyon) and including Mark McKinney and Jenn Engels. series Michael: Tuesdays & Thursdays. Production on scripted comedies is on the rise. and Mike Myers. Breakthrough Entertainment principal Ira Levy, who is Yet this country has historically seen far more of its comic executive producing Mother Up!, says a host of Canadian talent land on U.S. TV schedules than seen its locally-made acting and writing talent that went down to Los Angeles for sitcoms land there. better opportunities over the years are returning home to for Family Channel. Now a slew of Canadian comedies debuting in 2013 aim to stimulate a cascade of creativity in local TV comedy aimed right He argues a U.S. network deal for any of the upcoming sitcoms smash through the glass ceiling between the Canadian and back at the U.S. market. will shatter the glass between American and Canadian comedies. Hollywood sitcoms. “Now people are coming back from LA as performers and “Up until now, Canada has produced quirky little comedies writers, and they want to do some homegrown shows and get BIG LEAGUE COMPETITION that can be funny, but have not crossed over,” Brian Roberts, some audience in the States,” Levy explains. Andrew Orenstein, the Toronto-born, Los Angeles-based co-creator of the upcoming Spun Out comedy pilot for CTV, For Canadian broadcasters, the shows represent the chance comedy veteran who created Package Deal and is executive tells Playback. to acquire homegrown comedies to complement popular U.S. producing the sitcom, agrees the competition for his comedy Spun Out, a multi-camera comedy like other new laughers comedies already on their primetime schedules. comes from the most popular U.S. sitcoms in Canadian Package Deal for City, and single-camera comedies like “We need to get some Canadian comedies going,” says Phil primetime. Satisfaction for CTV and Seed for City, mark a paradigm shift: King, president of CTV programming and sports, not least to “The show has to have the look and feel of what you’re They are blending Los Angeles and Canadian talent and replace Corner Gas. competing against. I don’t think it’s unfair for the audience to experience, resulting in shows that look and feel as slick and Ironically, the key is creating a comedy that is made in expect that,” he says. stylish as anything coming out of Burbank. Canada, doesn’t feel like it’s made in Canada, and instead The next-wave Canadian comedies also have global player looks and feels like more popular shows on the Canadian dial. written all over them by their choice of internationally-recognized CANUCK COMEDY CASCADE “On CTV, if we get a pick-up (for a season of Spun Out), cast, with Mother Up! starring and executive produced by Eva The single-camera comedy Satisfaction comes from the pen Canada, instead of relying on the crack pipe of American Longoria, and Package Deal have guest starring roles for Pamela of Canadian Hollywood transplant Tim McAuliffe (Up All Night, programming, can start to develop and create its own Anderson and Eugene Levy and Spun Out starring Dave Foley, no The Offi ce), while Seed, also a single-cam, is the brainchild programming that Canadians will watch, because they’re stranger himself to American audiences. of Joseph Raso, who developed the Disney teen musical pilot obviously watching the American shows,” Roberts says. As yet, these in-the-work comedies, all of which will hit the Zombies and Cheerleaders in Los Angeles in 2011 before City He points to the international success the Canadian industry airwaves later in the year, represent as yet distant peals of gave him his break at producing a 13-episode sitcom. has had in recent years with one-hour dramas like Flashpoint laughter from Canadian living rooms. “For me, it is a dream come true. I’m getting to tell the and Rookie Blue, and kids shows like Life with Derek and My But they’re also indicators of how homegrown comedies are story I want – and for the network and the audience I want,” Babysitter’s a Vampire. possible contenders for U.S. and foreign network slots much as Raso explains. Roberts, a veteran U.S. comedy producer that moved with local scripted one-hours have been in recent years. City also ordered 13 episodes of the half-hour adult animated his family to Canada in 2008, set the table for Spun Out and comedy series Mother Up!, which was created by Michael Package Deal with two earlier multi-camera comedies the: the Shipley (Family Guy, My Name is Earl) before landing in the Memory Lanes pilot for the CBC and the kids sitcom Really Me
28 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
PPB.CSA.2013.inddB.CSA.2013.indd 2828 114/02/134/02/13 4:594:59 PMPM con PRESENTED BY b expo WESTIN HARBOUR CASTLE THE NEW BRAND CONTENT UPFRONTS MARCH 28TH 2013
With all the key players in one room, B-CON is a unique opportunity for Canadian producers to meet with top brands and explore content collaboration potential. We’re thrilled to introduce you to the industry advisors who are helping us shape the dialogue and agenda of the day.
the advisory board CO-CHAIR CO-CHAIR
Sunni Boot Jeff Peeler Neal Bouwmeester Tony Chapman Jennifer Dettman President & CEO President & Executive Senior Manager Partner & CEO Head of Factual ZenithOptimedia Producer Frantic Branded Nissan Marketing Capital C Entertainment Content + Commercials Nissan Canada CBC Frantic Films
Michael Grier Jared Hoffman Carmen Lago Marie-Josée Lamothe Adam Pincus Mike Wiese VP Business Managing Partner & Director Brand VP, CMO and chief Director of Branded Content Director of Branded Development President, Partnerships communications offi cer & Entertainment, MediaCom Entertainment Totem Brand Stories Branded Entertainment Bell Media L’Oréal Canada Head of Programming & JWT Generate Production GroupM Entertainment NA Everything (and everyone) you need to know to achieve killer content & integration + Canada’s top media & entertainment players preview what’s new & next
This inaugural conference will deconstruct the new models The New Brand Content Upfronts and showcase success across a range of activity: Get briefed by the leading media and entertainment Stand-alone content created by & for brands; companies in broadcast, publishing and music Brand content created to leverage entertainment, editorial & event sponsorship; Learn practical intel on what’s working now Brand integration in existing/new entertainment & media content.
BCON.STRATEGYONLINE.CA
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With ambitions of creating the next Flashpoint super hit, producers are constructing shows they designed to connect with the female demo
BY ETAN VLESSING COP PSYCHOLOGY With Nielsen telling us women dominate primetime viewing, it’s not Kyle Cameron. The gender switch clicked with Barry. Continuum pairs Victor Webster’s present-day cop with Rachel Nichols’ no surprise today’s Canadian police procedurals are hoping to “Having the network’s approval and encouragement made futuristic Protector. repeat the success of Rookie Blue and Flashpoint by installing it easier. They had thought about the demographics, and for female leads to anchor them. them the female audience was something they were tuned The Showcase cop drama Continuum has Rachel Nichols into attracting to the show,” he recalls. The female lead also Raymont, who executive produced the January-premiered CBC playing a cop trapped in present day Vancouver, while CTV’s opened up a host of novel story-line possibilities. “It allowed police procedural Cracked, reminds us that cops often come in Motive, also shot in Vancouver, has Angie Flynn, played by Kiera to have a more ‘organic’ connection to her husband and son, pairs in popular dramas. Kristin Lehman, matching wits with killers. rather than have a more male-driven psyche,” Barry says of the “We had Sutcliffe, who’s very experienced and attractive, and And psychiatrist Daniella Ridley, played by Stefanie von Pfetten, female lead, who is desperate to get back to her husband and son it made sense to team him with a woman,” he points out, with doesn’t pack heat in CBC’s Cracked. But she helps a gun-wielding in the year 2077, even as she battled fanatical terrorists during the von Pfetten’s character assessing the motivation and emotions cop played by David Sutcliffe solve crimes as part of the Psych present day before they change the course of history. of those involved with crime. Crimes Unit. The women-with-bullets-and badges trend That says, Barry didn’t make it easy on himself or fellow Cracked co-creator Calum deHartog agreed the series benefi ts included the King police procedural. The Canadian Screen writers by choosing a female lead. “Like most writers, I don’t from having twin leads from vastly different perspectives for the Award-nominated drama, which ran on Showcase for one base my expectations on what a character will do based on sex. I crime narrative. “They both have the same goal, to solve a crime. season starred Amy Price Francis as police sergeant Jessica base it on their back-story and their situation,” he explains. Now you get different investigative avenues to explore. It gives King. Francis also earned a CSA nomination for her star turn. So what emerges in Continuum is a female lead balancing you different angles of exposition,” he argues. And the business thinking linking each of the newest cop her professional life with being stranded in time. It seemed to Elsewhere, Kristin Lehman stars in Motive as a feisty lead dramas with female leads is the ambition to pick up where click with real women that are balancing their professional and detective chasing clues in each episode to a killer already national and international hit Flashpoint left off after its fi ve- family lives, as its June premiere netted 1.1 million viewers, revealed to viewers. This cat-and-mouse series explores the season run: replacing brawn and gore with the emotional side making the drama the highest ever single airing on Showcase. emotional side of murder, according to showrunner James of criminal activity to connect with a female demo. Thorpe. “She’s a woman, and people tend to underestimate Continuum creator/executive producer Simon Barry tells WALKING THE BEAT her,” he says, noting she uses that as an advantage. Playback however that he didn’t originally conceptualize a woman Of course, there’s nothing new in police procedurals with And the international market is showing interest in all three in the lead. But when Barry, co-executive producer Pat Williams female leads. shows. In January ABC picked up Motive and Cracked was and Reunion Pictures pitched the sci-fi cop drama to Showcase, Recall Angie Dickinson as “Pepper” Anderson in Police sold to France’s Canal Plus. In February, Endemol took the network execs had a female audience that advertisers covet in Woman, the Helen Mirren and Maria Bello-starring Prime international sales rights to Continuum. mind when suggesting the lead character be Kiera Cameron and Suspect series and Marg Helgenberger in CSI. But Peter
30 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
The Saint Agency is utterly thrilled to congratulate Jim Donovan on his CSA nomination for Best Director on the series Flashpoint. Now aren’t you glad you moved to Toronto? Cuz we sure are.
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In addition to being nominated for Canadian Screen Awards, these kids and youth programs notched notable business achievements in the last year. Clockwise from left: Franklin & Friends (1 nom) is being incorporated into new SeaWorld Kids brand extensions; the Degrassi (6 noms) franchise unspooled its 400th episode, among other developments; Scaredy Squirrel (2 noms) was branched into a number of digital executions and Stella and Sam (1 nom) saw the release of a DVD and music album.
spring 2013 | 31
WHITE PINE PICTURES IS DELIGHTED TO CONGRATULATE BARRY STEVENS & PATRICK REED FOR THEIR CANADIAN SCREEN AWARD NOMINATIONS FOR PROSECUTOR AND THE TEAM
PROSECUTOR THE TEAM NOMINATED FOR NOMINATED FOR Best Writing in a Documentary Best Direction in a Documentary Program or Series - Barry Stevens Program or Series - Patrick Reed Best Photography in a Documentary Program or Series - Chris Romeike Both are nominated for the Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary Program
www.whitepinepictures.com
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The second season premiere of CSA-nominated period drama Bomb Girls netted a 1.4 million audience this January.
relationships between one another at work and their men at war overseas has resonated with audiences. “The ratings are there,” she adds, after Global Television ordered a second season of 12 more episodes. Indeed, its January season premiere netted a 1.4 million audience. More specifi cally, the dozen new hours are divided into two six-episode slots to fi ll a main network window left open as Global Television waits for ratings juggernaut Survivor to return. “We designed Bomb Girls for a time slot. We knew that Survivor is off the air, and we (cyclically) always have that Survivor slot sitting there open for six weeks, before the series comes back,” Williams explains. The key is not leaving a timeslot’s regular audience fl oating, and instead fi lling a popular berth for them.
PAD FOR BACHELOR Another example is Rogers Media’s The Bachelor Canada. Rogers Media ordered the local version from Vancouver’s Force STRATEGIC WINS Four Entertainment after the American franchise ran for 16 Top network programmers talk primetime successes BY ETAN VLESSING seasons on City and Omni Television, and still counting. Claire Freeland, director of original programming at Rogers Original homegrown series, especially dramas and reality unabashedly where they are,” Wilson argues, in contrast to Media, argues City viewers were well primed to watch The series, are marquee staples of Canadian conventional and private networks that mostly set dramas and comedies in Bachelor Canada after the U.S. series wrapped. specialty broadcast schedules. Anywhere, U.S.A. “We want to show the North, we want to “We experienced success because it was scheduled where we To show what current success stories mean for the show the Prairies, where Toronto and Montreal is, and how didn’t have any other Bachelor on air. It fi lled a void,” she explains. industry’s future, Playback asks top network programmers beautiful Vancouver is,” she adds. Importantly, Freeland insists City delivered on strong storylines what’s working in primetime, and why. It turns out Canadian The also remain strong with audiences. For example, their and characters for The Bachelor Canada so it stood up with TV audiences are embracing character-driven shows winter-season premieres netted Heartland 992,000 viewers viewers against the American series. strategically scheduled by programmers. and Doyle 806,000. As well, Doyle has one CSA nomination. “People weren’t complaining about the production values. That was not a barrier to entry for that show,” she says. NO PLACE LIKE THIS GIRLS AWAY It doesn’t get better scheduling-wise for a Canadian show than Christine Wilson, executive director of content at the CBC, Barb Williams, senior vice president of content at Shaw to earn the post-Super Bowl slot on CTV. points to the scripted series Heartland and Republic of Doyle Media, insists the success Global Television is having with That privilege this year went to Motive, the new cop drama from performing well on Sundays, traditionally a family destination the Bomb Girls series, produced by Muse Entertainment and Foundation Features and Lark Productions. night for the pubcaster. Both shows are character-driven and Back Alley Film Productions, is down to experimenting on With the biggest night of the TV year as its lead-in, Motive feature distinct regional settings to help draw audiences, Wilson theme and scheduling. “The story has never been told on TV was poised to be sampled by a large of number of Canadians explained. Seven24 Films and Dynamo Films’ Heartland is set before. The material is unique and compelling and distinctive looking for great entertainment, says Phil King, president of CTV in wild west Alberta and Take the Shot Productions’ Doyle takes for Canadians,” she says of the period drama’s Second World programming and sports at Bell Media. The gambit paid dividends, place in gritty Newfoundland and Labrador. War Toronto bomb factory setting. as 1.2 million tuned in to watch Motive, billed as a ‘whydunit,’ not “As a public broadcaster, we can make shows that are Williams adds Bomb Girls’ female heroines grappling with a ‘whodunit.’
32 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
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Canadian producers of non-fi ction fare have a lot to feel positive about this spring, in addition to being nominated in various Canadian Screen Award categories. Top (all from left): Battle Castle (1 nom) has been sold into the U.S.; the new season of Canada’s Handyman Challenge (2 noms) is an HGTV Canada tentpole and season two of Real Housewives of Vancouver (1 nom) remains, well, over the top. Middle: Dragons’ Den (1 nom) continues to be among the CBC’s top-rated programs; D-Day to Victory (1 nom) continues to win awards while OLN’s Saw Dogs (2 noms) cuts loose. Bottom: Metal Evolution (1 nom) received a marathon rollout on MuchMore on New Years Eve; Trashopolis (1 nom) unlocks the dirty little secrets of global cities; and Eat St. (2 noms) season two is chewing its way into Food Network Canada’s schedule.
spring 2013 | 33 audio mixing Johnny THE SECRET DISCO REVOLUTION You Gotta Eat Here Test digital CANADA’S Faces of
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CRISIS ON BY KEVIN RITCHIE In anticipation of the Canadian Screen Awards, Playback asked three entertainment thought leaders about how to THE SET improve the ROI on theatrically released Canadian fi lms
Do you think it is challenging to get Canadian audiences to metric in this regard: Mars et Avril received 9,600 views in English see Canadian fi lms? and 43,000 in French. To me this indicates that the fi lm industry is seen as part of the cultural fabric of Quebec in a way in which it is AM: We need to clarify fi rst what is a “Canadian fi lm.” Is it a movie not seen in other parts of the country. From local TV talk shows to produced and fi nanced in Canada? Is it a fi lm with a Canadian cast social media, the marketing campaigns for Canadian fi lms need to and a Canadian director? Or is it a fi lm about a Canadian story – be integrated in the production budgets, with marketing receiving the with the action taking place in Canada? In my view, the latter is the funding it demands and deserves. descriptor that best defi nes “Canadian fi lm.” The strategies will vary based on the content of each fi lm, and so Resident Evil hardly qualifi es as a Canadian fi lm under this will the most appropriate channels and engagement platforms. We defi nition; the movie’s box offi ce success in Canada in 2012 can be now have three screens we interact with each and every day, and explained precisely because no one knew this was a Canadian fi lm. marketing needs to address each one in the context of its associated Unless the story is Canadian, a fi lm’s provenance hardly matters to behaviour. The opportunity we now have is to micro target content viewers. So the framework we use to describe a fi lm as “Canadian” to specifi c taste parameters, on an individual’s smartphone. Add ALEXANDER MANU (AM) matters, and this is where the discussion must start. Is Midnight’s augmented reality to this and we are looking at a completely new is a strategic innovation practitioner, lecturer, Children a Canadian fi lm? Why or why not? marketing landscape, in which multiple content creators will be author and a senior partner at Toronto’s competing for the attention of an individual. So the game is changing InnoSpa International Partners SR: It’s not at all challenging to get Canadians to see feature fi lms. and it will demand more sophistication as well as way more money. Is We see more per capita than many other nations, so it’s a matter the industry ready for this? Is Telefi lm ready to increase contributions of producing good fi lms. This means either fi lms with production based on a new marketing reality? values high enough to compete with Hollywood product, or fi lms with suffi ciently strong writing and acting to become popular breakout SR: In my view, marketing strategies need to increase exposure for indie hits. Canadian fi lms across all platforms. Period. You can’t convince the For a long time, the Canadian fi lm community was tasked with audience of quality and value; they’ll decide for themselves. defi ning our national identity by telling “Canadian” stories. I spent a couple of years as a creative consultant at the Canadian Film BG: For all fi lms, distributors fi rst determine the potential target Centre, reading all the scripts that the residents had in development audience and then, using various forms of publicity, promotions and and giving them notes. With only one exception, every producer had advertising, position the fi lm accordingly. managed to unearth an obscure piece of Canadiana and had crafted a fi lm around it, hoping to attract Telefi lm funding. How would you advise a smaller distributor in marketing a Times have changed, and there is now a more commercial focus on Canadian fi lm on a limited budget? telling good stories, as opposed to merely Canadians stories. But the STEPHEN ROLOFF (SR) aftereffect of those years lingers. I don’t believe that Canadian – or AM: Mobile networked individuals are the new target audience for is a producer, writer, production designer and global – audiences will change their perception of Canadian fi lm until entertainment; and these individuals have a multimedia marketing development consultant at Radiant Media we have had a good run of successful indie features. platform in their pocket, or purse. These platforms do not require Personally, I believe that Canada has all the ingredients for success: gigantic budgets, rather they require imaginative and new engagement a highly talented labour pool, excellent infrastructure, good incentive strategies. How many Canadian distributors have a smartphone app? systems and a universal voice. But we need to create strongs brand - something Canadians haven’t traditionally excelled at. SR: This will sound counter-intuitive, but I’d suggest this: from among the many possibilities, choose a revenue model that best suits the fi lm BG: It is challenging to compel Canadians to see any fi lm. We have an (and this won’t be box offi ce), and allow for free screenings on, for incredibly talented creative community in Canada but it is expensive example, YouTube. Encourage piracy. to create awareness and develop “want to see”; often associated marketing costs are too large to be profi table when amortized against Films are ‘experiential’ by their nature but what are some our relatively small population. ways marketers of fi lms can extend that experience to attract viewers? When it comes to attracting Canadians to Canadian content, what are some marketing strategies the industry can use? AM: With everyone having a screen display in their possession at all BRYAN GLISERMAN (BG) times – which is unprecedented in human history – we are looking at AM: There seems to be very little engagement at the present between new forms of engagement. As an example, augmented reality can be is the president of Entertainment One Canadian audiences and Canadian content producers, and more so Films Canada in English Canada. The viewership of trailers on YouTube is a good (continued on page 36)
34 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
PPB.CSA.2013.inddB.CSA.2013.indd 3434 115/02/135/02/13 10:0410:04 AMAM ALL FILMS TOTAL B.O. STARLIGHT’S STAR BRIGHT? 1 The Avengers (Disney) $58 350 612 Industry heavyweights gamble Canuck fi lm channel is a contender 2 The Dark Knight Rises (Warner Bros) $46 161 089 3 Skyfall (Sony) $42 548 289 4 The Hunger Games (Alliance) $40 190 985 The fi fth fi lm in Don Carmody’s Resident Evil franchise ended 2012 with a cumulative box 5 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Warner Bros). $32 204 292 offi ce of just over $5 million. That’s compared 6 The Amazing Spider-Man (Sony) $28 732 453 to The Avengers, which took in a whopping 7 Twilight: Breaking Dawn (EOne/Seville) $24 425 247 total of $58.3 million here (see list). 8 Ted (Universal) $21 011 115 U.S. blockbuster franchises ruled the theatres 9 Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax (Universal) $20 535 182 (Bond and comic superheroes especially), 10 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (Paramount) $19 353 820 suggesting that audiences fl ock to the familiar, in a continuation of the connections they’ve CANADIAN FILMS already made with entertainment properties. 1 Resident Evil: Retribution (Alliance) $5 194 370 Former head of the Canadian Media Production 2 Goon (Alliance) $4 145 263 Association Norm Bolen, producer Robert Lantos, Director Michael Dowse sets up a shot during the shooting of Goon. The 3 Omerta (Alliance) $2 738 160 former Alliance Films head Victor Loewy, along fi lm’s writers, Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg, are working on the script 4 Monsieur Lazhar (EOne/Seville) $2 123 583 with a slew of veteran producers and directors, of a sequel. 5 Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (Alliance) $1 918 046 are proposing that the same can be done for independent Canadian fi lms too. 6 Les Pee Wee 3D: L’Hiver Qui A Changé Ma Vie (EOne/Seville) $1 369 413 Their proposed venture is Starlight, an all-Canadian-fi lm pay TV channel, for which an application has been 7 A Dangerous Method (EOne/Seville) $1 354 740 submitted to the CRTC to give the new service mandatory carriage. The plan also makes available $22 million 8 Esimesac (Alliance) $862 135 towards production of domestic indie fi lms. The argument is that the more access people have to Canadian fi lms, 9 Derapages (Alliance) $697 354 the more they’ll watch them, which will be refl ected in the box offi ce numbers. The Starlight Feature Film Fund 10 Midnight’s Children (Mongrel/Met) $594 555 gives young and emerging fi lmmakers a running start at making a quality fi lm and establishing themselves in the industry. The initiative’s launch is timely, as the industry preps for the CSAs and readies for new CanCon promotional Note: Films shown here were released at different times throughout 2012 (and Monsieur strategies to be unveiled by a working group at the CMPA’s Prime Time in Ottawa conference in March. Lazhar was released in 2011). As well, some English fi lms had very little or no distribution BY DANIELLE NG-SEE-QUAN in Quebec, with some Quebec fi lms receiving similarly meager distribution in English Canada. Source: Motion Picture Theatre Association of Canada/Zoom Services.
spring 2013 | 35
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Resident Evil: Retribution was the fi fth fi lm in the franchise fronted by Milla Jovovich. It is receiving the 2012 Cineplex Golden Reel Award at the CSAs.
(continued from page 34) takes its audience on a visceral ride through some aspect of the human condition. Smaller budget fi lms can do this without the navel gazing, as used to both acquire viewership as well as extend the experience of a seen in breakout successes such as Sideways, Billy Elliott, Juno, Once, performance. I can see places used as triggers for experiences (location- Napoleon Dynamite and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Canada has not based experiences) with users receiving subtle broadcasts on their mobile managed to achieve this kind of low-budget resonance – even though platform, with various incentives to engage with movie web portals. some of these fi lms are shot here! Marketing is moving rapidly into multiple layers of experience in dynamic situations, and the fi lm industry can become the leader of compelling BG: We believe that fi lms which are of quality and have integrity can “We believe that fi lms experience design and delivery. be successful. However, we also believe “large” is a relative term. which are of quality and Success should be measured in relation to audiences in all platforms, SR: Find and engage affi nity groups who would be attracted to the fi lm’s and against the resources employed to create, distribute and market the have integrity can be themes. The rest of Canada could learn from the Quebec experience. feature fi lm. Silver Linings Playbook, Beasts of the Southern Wild, and successful. However, we our celebrated Canadian and Quebec fi lms Incendies, Monsieur Lazhar believe “large” is a relative Do you think it is possible for the industry to attract large and Starbuck, among others, are examples of feature fi lms which are audiences without compromising the integrity of more both successful and their creators have not compromised the fi lms’ term. Success should be artistically-minded fi lms? quality or integrity. measured in relation to audiences in all platforms, AM: With a suffi ciently large marketing budget and enough imagination What are some ways marketers of Canadian fi lms can exploit everything is possible. I am stressing marketing budgets as the fi lm ‘niche’ content to their advantage? and against the resources industry in Canada suffers from the same plight as the innovation employed to create, sectors of the economy: everyone wants to understand why Canadian AM: In countries in which culture is a strategic sector (such as Finland, distribute and market innovations are not commercially successful at the same rate as other Denmark, France, Sweden and in a large measure the province of them,” says Gliserman. countries’ innovations, but no one is talking about the very obvious Quebec) there is a well-established “star system” which includes “why?” The “why” is marketing. actors, directors and cinematographers, personalities which are the The producers of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, spent main attractor to a particular fi lm. English Canada did not cultivate such $75 million on marketing and $94 million on production. And this for system – save for a few exceptions in the case of Egoyan or Cronenberg the third movie in a trilogy, when one will assume that the public already – opting instead to cast American stars, believing that the attractor lies was aware of the story and the production value of the fi lm! This was at in Hollywood. This is a mistake, and it comes at the expense of Canadian a time in which social media and crowdsourcing were not behaviours of actors as well as at the expense of Canadian content. A fi lm’s content is everyday life. Now imagine the possibilities of gaining audience support rarely the attractor (unknown value); people are the attractor because they using these new tools. are a known value. Cultivate this value and you create a market. And then we have movies like Pulp Fiction – witty, artsy in a declared way, confusing, groundbreaking and shot for $8 million and returning SR: A friend of mine likes to say that producers and marketers often need $212 million worldwide (a success formula that Tarantino himself was not to “produce the audience” before they produce the fi lm. Social media, able to repeat, by the way). coupled with inventive live engagement, can create fertile possibilities.
SR: I don’t believe that highbrow equals quality and integrity. A A longer version of this story is published at Playbackonline.ca successful fi lm, be it a blockbuster or an indie, is successful because it
36 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
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Shown here is a sample of some of the fi lms that re- ceived the most CSA nominations. Many of them have worn threadbare the festival circuit far and wide as well as have been sold for theatrical and other releases in numerous territories. Clockwise from top left: Laurence Anyways (10 noms), Goon (6 noms), Midnight’s Children (8 noms), Still Mine (6 noms), Inch’Allah (5 noms), L’Affaire Dumont (7 noms) and War Witch/Re- belle (12 noms, and is in competition for Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards).
spring 2013 | 37
IPB.22802.IATSE891.inddATSE Local 891 Final Pla y b1ack ad Feb 2013.indd 1 113-02-153-02-15 1 3:450:02 PMAM PPB.CSA.2013.inddB.CSA.2013.indd 3737 119/02/139/02/13 3:293:29 PMPM THE CFC: CENTRE OF THE (INDUSTRY) UNIVERSE
BY MARK DILLON
The brainchild of Norman Jewison has remained not only relevant but central to the Canadian screen entertainment industry despite enormous media
From its earliest days a CFC strength has been its ability to get big names involved with landscape changes since 1988. its mission. Upper images: (clockwise from left) CFC mentor Ivan Reitman, CFC Comedy Program chairman Eugene Levy and CFC mentor Daniel Goldberg; CFC founder Norman Playback takes a look at its quarter Jewison; CFC Actors Conservatory founding chairman Kiefer Sutherland Lower images: (clockwise from left): CFC Cineplex Entertainment and Short Dramatic Film Programs chair- century of evolution. man Paul Haggis and CFC Actors Conservatory chief programs offi cer Kathryn Emslie; CFC CEO Slawko Klymkiw.
38 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
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Slawko Klymkiw believes the Canadian Film Centre is nearly as big as it needs to be. “The last thing you want to do,” says Klymkiw, the CEO of the centre that always seems to be evolving, “is grow beyond your means and then forget why you’re there.” The year the centre celebrates its 25th anniversary is a good time to ponder why the storied institution is there. The non-governmental organization describes its mandate as providing the training, partnerships, promotion and investment to launch “Canada’s most creative ideas and voices” across the media spectrum. In those four key areas it has been remarkably successful (see sidebars on the following pages). But back on Feb. 28, 1988, when it opened its doors in a leafy acreage of north Toronto, its focus was squarely on cinema. It was then known as the “Canadian Centre for Advanced Film Studies,” befi tting founder Norman Jewison, the Toronto native who directed Hollywood classics including In the Heat of the Night and Fiddler on the Roof. “It was a place that was needed,” Jewison told Playback in 2004. “We were the only country that didn’t have a fi lm institute. There were courses at universities – Ryerson and York and stuff like that – but I’m talking about an AFI or the British Film Institute.” A sweetheart long-term property deal came from tycoon E. P. Taylor, whereby the CFC pays annual rent of $2 for eight of 22 acres at the scenic Windfi elds Estates but must cover its grounds and buildings upkeep. With further support from then-North York mayor Mel Lastman and private and public funding, Jewison realized his dream. “It’s probably one of the best things I can leave behind,” But the media landscape has evolved considerably in a Molly Maxwell, a CFC Features fi lm that said the fi lmmaker, now 85. quarter century, especially with the birth of the internet. stars Lola Tash, is to be released by Entertainment One in April. Another legacy would be the centre having turned out In particular, the bottom fell out of the indie theatrical fi lm many successful fi lmmakers and, through its CFC Features market, but luckily fi lmmakers have been able to migrate to program, enabling some to get their fi rst movies made when cable television, where most quality sub-blockbuster work they otherwise might not have. The fi lmography includes is now being produced. The centre has deftly changed with Clement Virgo’s Rude (1995), Holly Dale’s Blood & Donuts the times, and now the fi lm programs coexist with the TV (1995), Paul Fox’s The Dark Hours (2005), Charles Offi cer’s production and marketing streams, the Actors Conservatory, Nurse.Fighter.Boy (2008) and Vincenzo Natali’s futuristic the Slaight Music Residency and the CFC Media Lab, thriller Cube (1997), which, on a $365,000 budget, achieved which in 1997 opened its doors to digital artists, content what few Canadian movies ever do: boffo international box developers and practitioners. offi ce, with a gross of $490,000 in the U.S. and more than The CFC now has more than 1,500 alumni, and 800,000 admissions sold in France alone. according to Klymkiw, 92% of them are working in media.
25 YEARS OF SHARING Numerous industry luminaries, including some big Hollywood names, have shared their knowledge and experience as CFC trainers, mentors or master class teachers over the years. Here’s a sample of who’s made their way to Windfi elds Estates: Ron Howard, Max Von Sydow, Nia Vardalos, John Hamburg, Judd Apatow, Leslie Mann, Kim Catrall, Paul Haggis, Kiefer Sutherland, Tom Fontana, Hugh Dillon, Gale Anne Hurd, Maria Jacquemetton, Andre Jacquemetton, Roger Corman, Sandra Oh, Tim Long, Joel Cohen, Philip Rosenthal, Peter Casey, Michael Douglas, Martin Scorsese, Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess, Spike Lee, Pam Grier, Lee Daniels, James Cameron, Clint Eastwood, John Singleton, Anne Fletcher, Jim Sheridan, Pen Densham, Mike White, (continued on page 42)
spring 2013 | 39
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Creative teams formed at the centre have launched 105 production companies, including Shaftesbury and Smiley Guy Studios. “The whole notion of community within the centre creates these economic and production relationships when graduates leave the place,” says Klymkiw, who came over in 2005 from the CBC, where he was executive director of network programming. The graduates do seem to be productive. According to a recent Nordicity study commissioned by the CFC and the Ontario government, graduates since 2006 worked an average of 3.2 times more production minutes than before their CFC training and were paid 2.5 times more for their work three years after attending. Nordicity calculates that between the boost in incomes CFC graduates earn, plus the revenues their productions create, Ontario saw $98 million more in incremental household income between 2006 and 2012 and $115 million more in GDP for the province than if the CFC didn’t exist. For Klymkiw, ROI is important. “The notion of just boys and girls in the centre doing wonderful work – ‘Isn’t it great the kind of talent that comes out of there?’ – doesn’t really help me with funders,” he adds.
Vincenzo Natali’s 1997 futuristic thriller Cube, a box offi ce hit, might not have been made were it not for the CFC Features program.
40 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CANADIAN FILM CENTRE ON YOUR 25TH ANNIVERSARY
From your friends at Deluxe
www.bydeluxe.com
PPB.CFC.2013.inddPB.22471.Deluxe.inddB.CFC.2013.indd 4040 1 114/02/1314/02/134/02/13 3:073 2:34:07 PMP PMM PB.22756.Doug.indd 1 14/02/13 2:34 PM “The whole notion of community within the centre creates these economic and production relationships when graduates leave the place,” says Klymkiw. CFC BY THE
And not only does he have to make his case to UPPING THE ANTE the province, which is a major fi nancial supporter, Today, the CFC’s focus, says Kathryn Emslie, NUMBERS but even more so to private funders, which put up chief programs offi cer, fi lm, TV, actors and music, is • CFC has 1,500 alumni. about 65% of the CFC’s annual $13 million operating “looking at the design of our programs and whether or • They have formed 105 production companies. budget – an amount that is more than twice what not they’re still relevant, and how we can really up the it was when Klymkiw arrived. Sponsored programs ante in those programs.” She adds that the centre will • The CFC has directly produced 295 original projects including: include the Cineplex Entertainment Film Program, the be increasingly involved in helping alumni navigate the 21 feature fi lms Actors Conservatory presented by Shaw Media and market longer after graduation. 154 short fi lms Bell Media’s Prime Time TV Program and Showrunner One current program with this goal is the CFC North 4 TV and web-based pilot episodes BootCamp. “When Bell Media decided they wanted to South Marketplace, which helps centre attendees 1 interactive feature fi lm be part of the TV program, they realized the writers they foster U.S. relationships. It promotes Canadian talent 120 interactive digital media prototypes. met and the stuff we developed inevitably could show and projects while also keeping Canucks aware of • As well, CFC has played the role of informal midwife in up on their screens,” Klymkiw notes. Indeed, Bell Media American market trends. Initiatives include getting the development and packaging of over 55 TV projects will soon see executive producer Graeme Manson’s fi lmmakers from underrepresented communities and 11 features in the last fi ve years through the Orphan Black, a sci-fi series workshopped through the in the industry into workshops and panels at the centres many programs and north-south initiatives. prime time TV program, airing on its Space channel. Tribeca Film Festival, and the Telefi lm Canada Feature Comedy Exchange, which provides producers of • More than 250 CFC alumni have worked in the U.S. at least at feature comedy projects with creative, marketing and some point in their careers. fi nancing guidance from Hollywood experts such as
spring 2013 | 41
“BRILLIANT.”- doug & serge
Congratulations on 25 outstanding years, from your friends at doug & serge.
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Two shots from Blackbird: a completed scene (left) as well as lead actor Connor Jessup with director Jason Buxton. Buxton has secured the Canadian Screen Awards’ Jutra Award for the fi lm, his fi rst feature.
them like the writers who are going to write the season with me. Hopefully they’re learning how to write a one-hour like a pro and how to treat other people with respect and to help other people cook their ideas and how to work in a room. As a student, you ex-pats Ivan Reitman and producer Daniel Goldberg (The In addition to having such shining lights in overseer roles, would never have an experience like that aside from being in an Hangover). programs benefi t from the direct participation of veteran actual story room.” Securing high-profi le industry names from Canada and creatives. For example, Shelley Eriksen, who graduated from CFC teachers have a strong sense of giving back to young talent, abroad to participate in CFC ventures is a big part of the writers’ lab in 1996, has enjoyed a busy career, working even if they aren’t themselves centre alumni. “When I was starting Emslie’s job – one she says is getting easier. “Having Paul most recently on the Showcase sci-fi series Continuum. out, the Canadian industry was so diffi cult to crack. Nobody wanted Haggis as our fi lm programs chair and Kiefer Sutherland She was invited back to teach writers in the prime time TV to talk. It was so hard to get information,” says writer/director and as chair of the actors conservatory, along with Norman program in 2003 and did so again last year. The program fi lm mentor Ruba Nadda (Cairo Time, Inescapable). “So I promised as our founder and David Cronenberg and Eugene Levy replicates industry conditions as much as possible, with myself that if I was ever in a position to help, I would, ” says Nadda, on our board, really helps establish our legitimacy in the teachers functioning as showrunners. who did not attend the centre as a student. international world. There’s growing awareness of who we “Your students are your story room,” Eriksen explains. “I Aspiring producers, meanwhile, gain market insights from are,” she says. come in with a series for which I’ve written a pilot and treat visiting industry players. Marc Almon, who attended the fi lm
(continued from page 39) David Frankel, David Cronenberg, Eugene Levy, William Goldman, Colm Feore, Susan Coyne, Diane Keaton, John Malkovich, Whoopi Goldberg, Dan Akroyd, Liza Minelli, Patrick Swayze, David Fury, Rene Balcer, Meredith Stiehm, Jon Kinnally, Tracy Poust, Darren Starr, David Shore, Dawn Prestwich, Stephen Frears, John Patrick Shanley, Joel Schumacher, Peter Hedges, Guillermo del Toro, Daniel Goldberg, Jimmy Miller, Etan Cohen, Kirsten Smith, Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Donald Petrie, Peter Saraf, Adam Brooks, Ron Yerxa, John Landis, Christine Vachon, Ted Hope, Anne Carey, Caroline Caplan, Michael Moore, Atom Egoyan, Peter Bogdanovich, Guy Ritchie, Deepa Mehta, Thelma Schoonmaker, Patricia Rozema, Edward Norton, Hart Hanson, Charles Wessler, Lindy Davies, John Sayles, Michael Dowse, Ron Sanders, Ruba Nadda, Don Carmody, Jacob Tierney, Joe Medjuck, Chantal Kreviazuk, Michael McGowan, Jim Cuddy, Christophe Beck, Mychael Dana, Lynda Obst, Arsinee Khanjian, Christina Piovesan, Patricia Clarkson, Bruce McDonald, Jean Marc Vallee, (continued on page 44)
42 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
PPB.CFC.2013.inddB.CFC.2013.indd 4242 114/02/134/02/13 3:013:01 PMPM program in 2008, says that helped guide him on EXPANDING BEYOND ONTARIO his fi rst feature, the teen drama Blackbird, written While it’s been common for applicants such as and directed by fellow Nova Scotian Jason Buxton Almon to hail from across the country, less common and completed in 2012. “Based on my experiences over the years has been for the CFC to venture CFC TV HISTORY talking to distributors and experts while at the CFC, I beyond Ontario’s provincial boundaries. But that is was able to protect Blackbird much better, because something that CFC Features, which was launched The number of TV series created or worked too many producers focus on just trying to get in 1992 and functions as executive producer and something made and they’ll sign away rights they fi nancier on projects, is doing, thereby helping the on by CFC alumni runs into the hundreds. shouldn’t,” he says. centre meet its national-identity goals. Here’s a sample of some better known Blackbird was part of Almon’s CFC application In November it wrapped on Rhymes for Young submission, and he honed the project there, aided Ghouls in Montreal and Cruel & Unusual in Vancouver, ones: Copper, Mad Men, Orphan Black, by story editor Maureen Dorey, producer advisor the program’s fi rst out-of-province productions. Lost, Bomb Girls, Murdoch Mysteries, Call Greg Klymkiw and Almon’s producer peers. “They Merlin Dervisevic, writer/director of the fantasy read it and found it diffi cult to connect with the main thriller Cruel & Unusual, attended the CFC’s fi lm, Me Fitz, The Vampire Diaries, House, Lost character; it had not been developed enough. So that short fi lm and TV pilot programs. After graduation, Girl, Beverly Hills 90210, Warehouse 13, became my mantra as we tried to get the project a couple of his projects got far in the development off the ground: how can we make our protagonist stage but did not come to fruition, so he looked to Skins, The Wire, Mad Love, The Listener, somebody people can relate to?” Through the CFC, the centre for help. “I wrote this script specifi cally Republic of Doyle, Spartacus, Less Than he was able to pitch the project to Super Channel, for CFC Features, because I really wanted to get a which eventually bought a broadcast license. The fi lm fi lm made with them,” he says. “I knew there were Kind, Castle, Dexter, Law & Order, Living in received two Canadian Screen Awards nominations, parameters I had to deal with – and budget was one My Car, Degrassi, Flashpoint, Being Erica, in addition to Buxton receiving the Jutra Award for of them – but I see that as a challenge to making praiseworthy work on this, his fi rst feature fi lm. an interesting fi lm.” The CFC Features selection Cracked and Rookie Blue. committee includes representatives of Entertainment
spring 2013 | 43
The National Film Board of Canada Business growth salutes the Canadian Film Centre starts with a conversation.
When growing your business, the most useful financial advice is industry specialized advice. RBC® is proud to be an active member in the Media & Entertainment sector. Congratulations to the Canadian Film Centre on their 25th5th anniversary.anniversary.
To start a conversation today, visit rbcroyalbank.com/media and contact Congratulations on 25 years one of our local team members. of excellence and leadership
TM Late Fragment produced by the National Film Board of Canada and the Canadian Film Centre ® / ™ Trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. RBC and Royal Bank are registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. VPS80274 30060 (02/2010)
PB.22778.RBC.indd 1 14/02/13PB.22495.NFB.indd 2:35 PM 1 14/02/13 2:35 PM PPB.CFC.2013.inddB.CFC.2013.indd 4343 114/02/134/02/13 2:462:46 PMPM CFC@25
“What I got out of it was the sense of myself as a self-employed businessperson and of acting as an actual career,” says Paxton-Beesley. area more robust too. In 2013 the CFC is looking to construct a pavilion on its Windfi elds’ grounds which would be the home, and fi nal campus building, for the Actors Conservatory. Launched in 2009, the conservatory is an immersive six- month program that takes performers with a foundation of training – often from theatre schools – and guides them in the craft and business of fi lm and TV acting. “What I got out of it was the sense of myself as a self- employed businessperson and of acting as an actual career,” says Alex Paxton-Beesley, who attended the conservatory in 2010-11 and now has a recurring role on Cinefl ix Studios’ One, which automatically becomes the fi lms’ domestic and $600,000 – although Ghouls was allotted $1.5 million, the Copper and recently wrapped the romantic comedy Dirty international distributor, and The Movie Network and Movie most yet. Singles, produced by CFC alumna Melanie Windle. Central, which become the domestic broadcasters. Whyte adds that she would like to back more projects With its bricks-and-mortar needs nearly achieved in its “For so long we had the support of the Ontario Media outside Ontario. Of course, of greatest importance is the script 25th year, Klymkiw, ever mindful of the need to keep the Development Corporation. We had to shoot in Ontario,” and ability of the creative team to get a fi lm produced – no CFC relevant, is turning his attention to the virtual world. “We explains Justine Whyte, director of CFC Features. But for matter which province they call home. But the advantage of are now re-looking at our entire digital assets. We have a several years the OMDC has been supporting only fi lms shooting in a fi lmmaker’s hometown is the relationships they YouTube channel and we are going to evaluate our website budgeted at $1 million and up, which excludes most CFC can tap there to help get a project made on a low-budget. to make sure that it is absolutely contemporary and does projects. Support continues to come from unions, guilds everything it needs to as a fundraising, communications and and industry suppliers. Indeed, Rhymes and Cruel followed WANTED: ONE ACTORS PAVILION content tool,” he says. the Ontario-shot Molly Maxwell and Old Stock, bringing the Of course, of primary importance to any project’s success is the “One of the things I’ve learned in this job is if you don’t stay initiative’s total output to 21 titles. Budgets now are usually talent who dramatizes it, and the CFC is making its offering in this agile about the changes around you, then you’re out of business.”
(continued from page 42) Roger Frappier, Vanessa Redgrave, Kurt Sutter, Mark McKinney, Sally Potter, Peter Greenaway, Frank Pierson, Dan Petrie Sr., Sidney Lumet, Guy Madden, David O’Russell, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Alexander, Carol Littleton, Joan Tewkesbury, Hal Hartley, Joel Schumacher, Zach Braff, Peter Stebbings, John Paizs, Greg Klymkiw, Noel S. Baker, Susan Maggi, Robert Lantos, Jeremy Thomas, Jimmy McGovern, Russell T. Davies, Anthony Minghella, Saul Zaentz, Tim Southam, Patrick Cassevetti, Doug Taylor, Matt Gorbet, Susan Gorbet, Martha Ladly, Siobhan O’Flynn, Ilona Posner, Marty Avery, David Wolfenden, Paul Woolner, Andrew Bailey, Christopher Barnard, Rupert Dilnott-Cooper, David Gale, Shawn Hardin, Roma Khanna, Corey Vidal, Corrado Coia, Saskia Vanell, Samantha Fall, Mitchell Moffi t, Gregory Brown, Lillian Chan, John Poon, Tony Walsh, Thomas Detko, Ericka Evans, David Evans, Aylwin Lo, Alaska B, Ange Loft, Alex Jansen, Jason Gilmore, Matt DeBoer, Ina Fichman, Marc Beaudet, Theresa Kowall-Shipp, Dale Herigstad, Esther Lim, Carla Serrano, Brian Seth Hurst, Suzanne Stefanac, Chris Dorr, Rosi Allimonos, Christopher Sandberg, John Canning, Robert Kenedi, Nicholas Demartino, Tim Warner, Aaron Williamson, Jay Bennett, Veronica Heringer, Steph Ouakinine.
44 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
PPB.CFC.2013.inddB.CFC.2013.indd 4444 114/02/134/02/13 2:462:46 PMPM PB.21312.CMG.Ad.indd 1 16/05/12 4:04 PM GIVING DIGITAL VENTURES A BOOST
As part of the Canadian Film Centre’s reenergized focus on science buffs around videos covering biology, chemistry enabling success beyond its doors, the CFC Media Lab is and physics – and the Buffer Film Festival (ApprenticeA reaching out to Canadian digital production companies with Productions), an annual festival for online videomakers led by accelerator program IdeaBoost. full-time “YouTuber” Corey Vidal. The initiative provides $15,000 in seed capital as well “We think YouTube channel creators are the next wave as guidance and resources from the likes of Shaw Media, of content entrepreneurs,” Serrano says. “They’re making Google and Corus Entertainment to help prodcos’ digital $100,000 to $300,000 a year, and some of them are not Serrano ventures generate and sustain revenues. The four-month content to just say ‘Okay, I’ll pocket this and do the same program’s fi rst installment began in November with eight old, same old.’ They are hungry for some support and projects selected from a crowd-sourcing voting process. advice on how to turn their almost serendipitous businesses its alumni have gone on to start their own companies, as with “It’s not just about helping you develop your ideas and into sustainable ones that can grow. We are trying to craft Secret Location’s founder and executive producer James Milward, making ideas happen, but helping you develop the right ideas the right type of business strategies so they can move Stitch Media’s creative director and partner Evan Jones and with the right market in mind and actually sell them,” says CFC forward with their next set of product offerings.” IdeaBoost’s Trapeze’s co-founder and VP creative Mike Kasprow. Now, says chief digital offi cer Ana Serrano, who founded the Media Lab board includes chair Paul Woolner, a coach of Fortune 500 Serrano, the CFC has moved much of its talent development and oversees digital integration across all CFC programs. companies, Round 13 Capital’s Bruce Croxon and Points initiatives to downtown Toronto’s OCAD University, and developed Among the participants are YouTube channel AsapScience International’s Christopher Barnard. partnerships with major players including research centre MaRS (from University of Guelph biology grads Mitchell Moffi t and When it launched, the Media Lab looked primarily at and professional services powerhouse Ernst & Young to focus on Gregory Brown) – which looks to build a community for graduating strong talent in the fl edgling digital world, and taking digital innovation to the next level of commercialization.
spring 2013 | 45
The media is a tough industry
From time to time, you need some muscle. That’s where we come in.
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PB.21312.CMG.Ad.inddPPB.CFC.2013.inddB.CFC.2013.indd 4545 1 16/05/12114/02/134/02/13 4:04 2:462:46 PM PMPM Comedy writers Bob Martin (co-creator of Michael: Tuesdays & Thursdays) and Craig David Wallace (co-creator of Todd & The Book Of Pure Evil) share their advice on crafting TV Martin comedy that is ahead of its time. Wallace
BOB & CRAIG’S TOP 10 TIPS FOR A KING YOUR TV SERIES INTO MMAKINGA YOUR(*A cultTV hit is by defi nitionSERIES a show that isn’t appreciated by everyone. INTO It has a small but very passionateA fan base. If your series is blessed with low ratings, then it’s well on it’s way to being a cult sensation! And the fewer episodes, the better. Premature cancellation combined with critical acclaim puts you on the fast track. Remember, a cult hit should be a rare * commodity, like helium. Yes, apparently the world is running out of helium. Seriously: look it up. We know; it’s a tragedy. CCULTULT HIT.HIT. In the near future balloons will trail along the fl oor behind sad children in birthday hats.)
Give your show a title that is extremely Alternatively, give your sex, drugs, confusing and diffi cult to remember. Bonus and gore laden show a title that Tip 1: points if the title causes people to tune in Tip 2: sounds like a kid’s TV show. on the wrong night.
Be bold! Make a sitcom Kill off one of your main that is incredibly characters and have the rest be Tip 3: depressing. angry in your half-hour comedy Tip 4: season fi nale.
Get press so good Get your show When advertising that a prominent nominated for a lot of your show, be Tip 5: journalist calls the Tip 6: awards. This will make Tip 7: discreet. This will public idiots for not people feel obliged to give it an air of watching. watch it. And nobody mystery. likes obligations.
Wait until you reach middle age Assume that before starring in your own TV everyone loves Tip 8: show, and then appear naked in the obscure heavy metal third episode. That’ll drive the Tip 9: as much as you do. numbers down!
Wait until people appreciate your show. ** amount of money unlikely to be signifi cant. It may take years, but it will happen. And when it does, sit back and watch the Editors’ note: Both Michael: Tuesdays & Thursdays and Todd & Tip 10: money roll in**! The Book Of Pure Evil received nominations for the Canadian Screen Awards.
46 spring 2013 | playbackonline.ca
PPB.Backpage.2013.inddB.Backpage.2013.indd 4646 119/02/139/02/13 3:213:21 PMPM CANADIANDIAN TAALENT TAKES CENTRRE STAGE
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL 2013 CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS NOMINEES AND WINNERS!
CHAMPIONING CANADIAN TAALENT
CONGRATULATIONS CANADIAN FILM CENTRE ON YOUR 25TH ANNIVERSARY 25 STORIES THAT BRING US TOGETHER DES HISTOIRES QUI NOUS RASSEMBLENT
TELEFILM.CA
PPB.22801.Telefilm.inddB.22801.Telefilm.indd 1 113-02-143-02-14 3:543:54 PMPM For Incredibly Vivid HD, start with the 4K imager of the Sony F5.
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PPB.22855.Dynamix.inddB.22855.Dynamix.indd 1 113-02-153-02-15 3:433:43 PMPM