With the increase of platforms, independent cinema and the Canadian audiovisual sector are facing growing competition. This competition raises an array of questions and urges major players in the industry to keep innovating. How can we stay ahead of the digital curve and adapt to new techniques of dissemination? How can we reach younger audiences and educate moviegoers of tomorrow? How can we re-engage the public to return to screening rooms?
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Roxanne Sayegh, Martin Bilodeau and Hugues Sweeney all chose a different path to overcome these challenges. With Cinéma Moderne, Roxane and her staff will give neighbourhood cinemas a new life and redefine festivals, by presenting events throughout the year. Martin is pursuing his mission to educate young moviegoers with CinÉcole, a program supported by Téléfilm Canada which sends over 5000 students each year to movie theaters. At the same time, the editor-in-chief of Médiafilm has been developing Où Voir Ça, an innovating application utilizing the news agency’s large database, which keeps a record of masterpieces and less good productions since 1968. Finally, Hugues Sweeney, executive producer at the National Film Board of Canada and innovating player in the industry for over 15 years, will complete this panel. On top of sharing his expertise on changing media, one of his specialties is to build audiences thanks to audiovisual interactivity, a key aspect in the discussion about innovative media nowadays.
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Projects that function quite differently but raise the same questions. These nice initiatives are an opportunity to have a discussion regarding innovation in the audiovisual sector with true experts in the field.
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Presented by Telefilm Canada
Photo credit: Erik Witsoe
Roxanne Sayegh has been working in cinema for more than 15 years, in Montreal and in Mexico. For a few years she was in charge of indie movies’ production and distribution, however her main experience is in festivals.
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From 2008 to 2010, she worked for the Ambulante documentary festival in Mexico as an executive producer, She then directed Montreal’s RIDM, from 2010 to 2014. She participated in the jury of several film festivals and now currently sits at the board of Vox, centre de l’image contemporaine and 24 Images magazine.
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She cofounded Cinema Moderne, a project opening during summer 2018, for which she is also the Executive and Artistic Director.
Martin Bilodeau in General Manager or Mediafilm, a press agency specialized in film reviews. He joined Mediafilm in 2006, as chief-editor. From 1995 to 2014, he has served as film critic and columnist for the daily Montreal newspaper Le Devoir.
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His other outlets include Elle Québec, Radio-Canada (radio), L'Actualité. Martin has covered many film festivals, most regularly Cannes, Berlin and Toronto, the latter of which he has also worked for as Canadian feature films programmer, in 2010 and 2011.
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He has a bachelor's degree in Journalism (UQAM) and a master's degree in film studies (Université de Montréal).
Photo credits : Yves Mondoux (Prima Magazine)
After several years of twisting letters as well as ideas by studying philosophy, literature and Death Metal, Hugues Sweeney became interested in stories as much as the opportunities that technology offers to tell them.
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First in new media at Radio Canada, then head of Bande à Part and Espace Musique, he joined the National Film Board of Canada in 2009 as executive producer dedicated to interactive works.
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Continuing experimentation both in the grammar of interaction, in sound creation or in generative art, projects from the interactive studio of the NFB has received more than 150 awards and honors all around the globe including Webby, SXSW, Japan Media Arts and the Gémeaux.