It was standing room only at the Four Seasons in Toronto on Tuesday (Feb. 26) as the Canadian Screen Week in Toronto kicked off with Banff Industry Day. The event - a tease to the upcoming Banff World Media Festival - sold out in minutes and treated members of the film and television industry to panel discussions from some of Canada's top entertainment executives, as well as a special appearance from Canadian Screen Awards nominee and presenter Meg Tilly.
The first panel - comprised of brand executives including CBC's Gaye McDonald, Director of Client Marketing - tackled content marketing and brand integration as media industries and advertising groups merge. One of the main points made during the discussion surrounded the fact that product placement within programming must be displayed in a manner that the viewer will accept. Gaye gave an example of this kind of pure product placement with the McCafé cups within Arctic Air, Republic of Doyle and Mr. D. The cups have been written into the script so it makes sense to the viewer as to why it is there without having anyone explain it.
Another interesting point made by the panel, particularly to the producers in the audience, was to pick a brand that is up to something interesting, one that has a point of view that connects to your content and your audience.
Following a talk by Meg Tilly about breaking into the business, taking time off, and returning to acting in Bomb Girls (which is nominated for a Canadian Screen Award), some of Canada's most influential media leaders gave the audience a look at the state of the industry. Among the main points discussed were the commitment to Canadian content - although there is one, more compelling Canadian content is required on the on the world stage and private broadcasters claim they need to be more enticed to produce Canadian content because they can't pay for what they give viewers through advertising alone.
At the event, we spoke to the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's CEO Helga Stephenson and chair Martin Katz about the incredible start to Canadian Screen Week.
CBC Live: Why is this Industry Day a good event to kick off Canadian Screen Week in Toronto?
Helga Stephenson: Before the stories go on screen there has to be some business dealings, some agreement on what's going to go on that screen and who's going to pay for it. So the screen experience starts with the business deal that allows the screen product, the screen program to happen so that it can go an embrace the Canadian public.
Martin Katz: It's an unbelievable event today. Everyone in the industry is here. I haven't seen such a concentrated collection of people; film, television, new media, advertising, marketing, commercial sales, it's an incredible concentration of the higher media industry in Canada in that room today. It's been a phenomenal kick off to Canadian Screen Week.
What did you think of the panel discussion and the state of the industry?
HS: It's a wonderful thing in our business that any time you get a bunch of industry people together, something interesting happens, something new is created. These are people who spend their lives 24/7 looking for new ideas, new productions, new creations. So, something interesting will come of this and in the meantime people will be updated and learn about the latest trends in the industry.
MK: We've got the presidents of almost every network in Canada here, we've had presentations from the sales and marketing people from across Canada. It's hard to recall a time when there's been so much concentration of media power in the same room. I think one thing that's really interesting [is that] these are the people that organize the Banff World Media Festival and now they're transplanted here in Toronto where we are launching (yesterday in Montreal, today in Toronto) the first Canadian Screen Week. It's been literally a transnational event and it's resulted in this incredible concentration of market power.
Why do you think it was a sold out show?
HS: I think the industry was dying to get together and talking about where the future is going. They have different screens, people are consuming their entertainment and their television and film programs when they want to, not necessarily when people are programming them. It's an industry in huge flux, so they do want to get together to see how this is going to go forward.
MK: Today's event was sold out in minutes. I think it reflects a real a thirst on the part of people in our industry to get together across borders. Mixing the new media people with the online people, the on TV people, the in cinema people. I think it's a relatively new way of conceptualizing what we're doing. In the panel on television brand marketing there were questions about how we can do this with product placement in film so that cross filtration in the media sectors has just been on fire today and I think that's really reflected in the number of people that came and how difficult it is to get a seat in there.
The Canadian Screen Week continues with the first industry awards tonight (Feb. 27), leading up to the Canadian Screen Awards on Sunday March 3.
On the big day, we will be live streaming the star studded red carpet with CBC News arts reporter and film critic Eli Glasner and Mr. D star Naomi Snieckus, as well as our own Jamey Ordolis, who will keep you connected via social media (so follow us on Twitter @CBCLive).
