® A PUBLICATION OF BRUNICO COMMUNICATIONS LTD. SPRING 2014 Getting a STATE OF SYN MAKES THE LEAP GRIon transmediaP + NEW RIVALRIES AT THE CSAs MUCH TURNS 30 | EXIT INTERVIEW: TOM PERLMUTTER | ACCT’S BIG BIRTHDAY PB.24462.CMPA.Ad.indd 1 2014-02-05 1:17 PM SPRING 2014 table of contents Behind-the-scenes on-set of Global’s new drama series Remedy with Dillon Casey shooting on location in Hamilton, ON (Photo: Jan Thijs) 8 Upfront 26 Unconventional and on the rise 34 Cultivating cult Brilliant biz ideas, Fort McMoney, Blue Changing media trends drive new rivalries How superfans build buzz and drive Ant’s Vanessa Case, and an exit interview at the 2014 CSAs international appeal for TV series with the NFB’s Tom Perlmutter 28 Indie and Indigenous 36 (Still) intimate & interactive 20 Transmedia: Bloody good business? Aboriginal-created content’s big year at A look back at MuchMusic’s three Canadian producers and mediacos are the Canadian Screen Awards decades of innovation building business strategies around multi- platform entertainment 30 Best picture, better box offi ce? 40 The ACCT celebrates its legacy Do the new CSA fi lm guidelines affect A tribute to the Academy of Canadian 24 Synful business marketing impact? Cinema and Television and 65 years of Going inside Smokebomb’s new Canadian screen achievements transmedia property State of Syn 32 The awards effect From books to music to TV and fi lm, 46 The Back Page a look at what cultural awards Got an idea for a transmedia project? mean for the business bottom line Arcana’s Sean Patrick O’Reilly charts a course for success Cover note: This issue’s cover features Smokebomb Entertainment’s State of Syn. Here, the fate of protagonist Annika Drake (actor Jewel Staite) hangs in the balance as she seeks to unravel a corporate conspiracy. spring 2014 | 3 PB.TOC.spring14.indd 3 14-02-05 6:29 PM PUBLISHER Mary Maddever • [email protected] CONTENT DIRECTOR & EDITOR Katie Bailey • [email protected] NEWS EDITOR Julianna Cummins • [email protected] CONTRIBUTORS Mark Dillon, Nick Krewen, Michael Kolberg, Melita Kuburas, Val Maloney, Sean Patrick O’Reilly, Leaning Etan Vlessing BRUNICO CREATIVE ART DIRECTOR back • Andrew Glowala [email protected] PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION SUPERVISOR I know that when some people see the word “transmedia” on the cover of this magazine, they will roll their eyes. Robert Lines • [email protected] Fancy words tend to have this effect. People stop listening as they dive inside their heads and try to fi gure out if a) you’re trying to be posh b) you’re clueless or c) if they should inform you that your word is now 15 months out ADVERTISING SALES of date and should never be used again. (416) 408-2300 Transmedia is especially adept at eliciting this reaction. It’s just cross-platform. It’s content. It’s a fancy word for FAX (416) 408-0870 franchising. It’s not new – Star Wars was – is! – transmedia, for $!*&’s sake! 1-888-278-6426 So, for the sake of this editor’s note, and the magazine, I will henceforth refer to transmedia as storytelling SALES SUPERVISOR across multiple platforms, and multi-platform as elements of a property existing on different media. Jessamyn Nunez • [email protected] On the factual side, the transmedia/multi-platform hybrid that is the second-screen experience is a thriving MARKETING CO-ORDINATOR industry, especially in Canada, where the CMF and Bell New Media Fund help creators and producers extend Vakis Boutsalis • [email protected] their ideas into the digital realm. And these ideas are spreading. Shaftesbury is currently in conversations with U.S. network The CW to bring BRUNICO AUDIENCE SERVICES its transmedia Backpackers series to broadcast, while the CBC marked an international fi rst with its on-air MANAGER Facebook/Battle of the Blades integration. Christine McNalley • [email protected] But outside of native transmedia fare (like Backpackers), digital extensions have proven trickier on the scripted side. And I think it’s a problem inherent to the form. I don’t think I’m the only person who doesn’t like being ADMINISTRATION sucked out of their immersive dramatic experience – or, as it is often called, lean-back TV – to engage with PRESIDENT AND CEO a story on a different platform. When I’m gripped by Sarah Manning’s close clone calls, I don’t want to stop Russell Goldstein • [email protected] watching and vote on whether or not her stabbing victim will live or die (ahem, Walking Dead). VP AND CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER What I wouldn’t mind, however, is a web series exploring the life of a deceased clone. Or even voting on what Omri Tintpulver • [email protected] clone deserves their own webseries. Just don’t yank me out of my cozy, genetically modifi ed universe. VP AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Which brings us to our cover story on Smokebomb Entertainment’s State of Syn. Five minutes in length and Mary Maddever • [email protected] airing on Hulu in the U.S., each episode is too short to really immerse your brain in. But fi re up that mobile app VP ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE while waiting for the subway, you’re instantly transported to 2043, helping the characters make life-and-death Linda Lovegrove • [email protected] decisions. That’s my kind of transmedia. And I think that’s really where transmedia’s sweet spot is, both creatively VP AND PUBLISHER, REALSCREEN and as a business venture. Claire Macdonald • [email protected] People’s attention spans are hard to gauge. They have all the time in the world to binge, but also a habit VP AND PUBLISHER, KIDSCREEN of fl ipping between screens. In complementing webseries with transmedia offshoots – and letting traditional Jocelyn Christie • [email protected] scripted do its thing – producers and creators are giving this new breed of audience options that go beyond “giving viewers what they want, when and where they want it” to truly complementing their engagement habits. Polls about blood splatter, on the other hand, should stay in the realm of reality TV. (Wait, what?) Needless to say, these are heady times in the content creation business, and as such, we’ve designed this year’s Playback Summit to help you navigate this new world. With a keynote from Group M Entertainment – a Playback is published by Brunico Communications Ltd., mediaco sprung from a global media agency, offering producers new ways to fi nance original programming – 366 Adelaide Street West, Suite 100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 1R9 and panels ranging from webseries business strategies to expanding your prodco outside Canada, we’re aiming (416) 408-2300; FAX: (416) 408-0870 to provide business intelligence to help you decide where to make your next move. Internet address: www.playbackonline.ca Editorial e-mail: [email protected], [email protected] But fi rst: awards. If Ontario manages to survive this crazy winter and not turn into The Colony, we look forward Sales e-mail: [email protected] to catching up with you all at the Canadian Screen Awards week in March. Let’s hope we don’t have to wear Sales FAX: (416) 408-0870 winter boots with our party clothes. © 2013 Brunico Communications Ltd. All rights reserved. Printed in Canada. Katie Bailey Canadian Postmaster, send undeliverables and address changes to: Playback PO BOX 369 Beeton ON, L0G 1A0 Content Director & Editor, Playback U.S. Postmaster, send undeliverables and address changes to: Playback PO BOX 1103, Niagara Falls NY, 14304 [email protected] Canada Post Agreement No. 40050265. ISSN: 0836-2114 Printed in Canada. 4 spring 2014 | playbackonline.ca PB.Editorial.spring14.indd 4 14-02-06 1:56 PM PB.24451.eOne.indd 1 14-02-05 12:51 PM One subscription. All the news. It’s a full glass. Online and This issue looks at the impact of transmedia – and all the digital iterations of content available – on Canada’s production in print. industry, and also explores the renewed interest and enthusiasm that’s been injected into the Screen Awards, adding some needed accelerant to Canada’s star system. Beyond the burgeoning digital award categories, the two areas have something else in common. Now more than ever, celebrity is global. And that goes double for transmedia. Playback magazines and Canada has spawned lots of talent – actors, comedians, musicians, directors – that more than hold their own on the world stage, and our animation, docs, fi lms and TV series have also sold around the world. But when it comes to channels, not so playbackonline.ca cover much – other than some Much/CHUM forays back in the day. the whole industry Canada has historically had trouble exporting branded platforms. And as the audience continues to fragment across time and space, and re-constitute at scale around borderless streaming communities of interest, that’s going to be key. Rather than from breaking news to focus on where the consumer is watching from the point of view of the type of screen, an important “where” is geographic – in-depth features. where does the content hail from? So as Much hits 30 and we take a look back at its legacy of innovation, it’s a good time to consider that as the audience moves towards streaming content, a digital opportunity presents itself. Canada has some shining examples of transmedia innovation – so why not double down on establishing Canadian digital channel brands that are category leaders. The Read both, all year, playing-fi eld economics of competing on that front, creating online destinations that attract a global audience, are certainly for less than $11 more level than on the broadcast front.