Creative Export Canada investment will help seven creative
Nova Scotia organizations with
global initiatives.
HALIFAX,
NS, July 4, 2024 /CNW/ - The Government of
Canada is committed to helping
Canadian creative businesses and organizations enhance their
visibility and increase their exports in global markets. This
benefits Canada's economy and our
creative professionals.
Today, Andy Fillmore, Member of
Parliament (Halifax) announced a
$290,000 investment in seven creative
Nova Scotia companies, as part of
the first cohort of the Creative Export Canada program's Export
Development Stream. He made the announcement on behalf of the
Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage. This
support will help Canadian companies and organizations grow their
business and achieve financial success abroad.
Maritime Digital Art Design specializes in interactive digital
media. It focuses on 3D visualization, multimedia, immersive and
interactive media. The Export Development Stream is investing
$90,000 to help the company publish
two virtual reality games worldwide, created by its subsidiary
Parcosm Studio. Dagger Woods VR: Echoes of the Lost, its main
intellectual property, immerses players in a psychological thriller
inspired by true Nova Scotia
events and folklore in 1922. POI: VR Dance provides players with a
meditative experience through momentum and dance and is
designed to be relaxing and energizing.
The company's plans include international distribution and
participation in major gaming conferences to meet with key industry
players. Despite being new to the export space, it aims to tap into
the potential of the virtual reality market by exporting to
countries such as the United
States, Germany,
France and China, known for strong gaming industries and
enthusiastic player communities.
The Export Development Stream supports projects by Canadian
businesses and organizations that are entering international
markets and expanding their global networks. This includes support
for creative businesses and organizations from equity-deserving
communities, including Indigenous communities.
This Export Development Stream is also supporting six other
Nova Scotia businesses:
- Atlantic Film Festival Association
- Atlantic Presenters Association Inc.
- Brass Door Productions Inc.
- Craft Alliance
- Lunenburg Doc Fest Association
- Moonshot Rights Inc.
See the attached backgrounder for details on these projects and
the Creative Export Program funding support.
Quotes
"Expanding a business on the world stage can be challenging.
That's why Creative Export Canada helps companies and organizations
meet the global demand for quality interactive digital media
products. Maritime Digital Art Design demonstrates beautifully how
Canada's creativity and rich
culture can be innovative and thrive in international markets."
—The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian
Heritage
"By supporting homegrown talents from Nova Scotia's interactive digital media,
audiovisual, performing arts and artistic crafts sectors, we are
showcasing some of our region's best creative businesses in the
international market. All these export development projects are
important to Nova Scotia's
economic success and the province's creative industries."
— Andy Fillmore, Member of
Parliament (Halifax)
"We have more than a decade of experience in creating
architectural visualization, design and immersive training
simulations for the aerospace and defense industries across
Canada. In 2021, we expanded our
services to the gaming industry. We now have two games ready for
global release. With the support of Creative Export Canada, our
games are available in English, French, Spanish and Chinese on
Meta, PC-VR and PS-VR platforms. This funding has allowed us to
participate in Meta - US, Gamescom - Germany and Game Developers Conference - US.
These events have provided us with the opportunity to showcase our
work, network and build relationships with key industry players. As
a result, we have seen significant financial and technological
benefits, allowing us to establish our position as pioneers in the
international VR gaming industry."
— Sadegh Mahjoob, Managing
Director/Senior Multimedia Specialist, Maritime Digital Art
Design
Quick Facts
As part of the renewal of the Creative Export Strategy in
April 2023, the Creative Export
Canada program received $33 million
over three years, from 2023 to 2026. The Export-Ready Stream
invests $7 million per year in
export-ready projects that generate export revenues and help
Canadian creative industries reach more people around the world.
The new Export Development Stream invests $4
million per year in new and early-stage exporters entering
international markets and experienced exporters expanding their
global networks.
Since its launch in 2018, Creative Export Canada has invested
$51.7 million in 117 export-ready
projects under the Export-Ready Stream and $5.95 million in 80 projects under the Export
Development Stream.
Associated Links
Creative Export Canada
Creative Export Strategy
Doing business with Indigenous creative industries in
Canada
Helping Canada's creative
industries succeed in global markets
Backgrounder: Canadian creativity from Nova Scotia expands into new international
markets – List of funding recipients
The Canadian Heritage Creative Export Canada program's new
Export Development Stream is investing $290,000 to support to seven creative
Nova Scotia businesses and
organizations in its inaugural cohort.
Below are details on the recipients' funding and project
descriptions. Some projects are also receiving funding over a two
fiscal-year period to finalize their project activities in order to
export Canadian creative content.
List of supported projects from Nova Scotia
|
Location
|
Recipient
|
Project
description
|
Funding
support
|
|
Halifax
|
Atlantic Film
Festival
Association
|
The Atlantic Film
Festival Association is receiving funding in the 2023-24 and
2024-25 fiscal years to support a two-year Atlantic International
Film Festival Partners spotlight on New Zealand and to develop the
coming two-year spotlight on the Nordic region. This initiative,
which is held during the Atlantic International Film Festival, is
an annual co-production/financing market which facilitates
partnerships and funding for feature films, television and digital
fiction projects. Over three days, roundtables, panels and
networking events bring together international and Canadian
delegates to secure essential partnerships and funding. The 2022
edition of the Atlantic International Film Festival directly
benefited 36 film/television/digital fiction projects, projecting
an estimated contribution of more than $190 million to the Canadian
economy.
|
$70,000
($63,000 in 2023-2024
and $7,000 in 2024-2025)
|
|
Halifax
|
Atlantic
Presenters
Association Inc.
|
The Atlantic Presenters
Association Inc. received funding to support an international
delegation and pitch session at the 2023 edition of Contact East,
held in Newfoundland and Labrador. The organization invited
international presenters and networks from the U.K. and U.S. to
attend Contact East to see Canadian artists perform. Over four
days, performances, showcases, pitch sessions and networking
opportunities connected regional arts presenters with counterparts
from across Canada and internationally. Twenty-three artists were
showcased in live performances and eight others provided pitch
sessions where they presented videos and spoke about their work.
The variety of disciplines that they represented include music,
dance, theatre and circus. The target markets are England,
Scotland, and the U.S.
|
$20,000
(2023-2024)
|
|
Halifax
|
Brass Door Productions
Inc.
|
Brass Door Productions
Inc. received funding to promote its slate of five feature films to
prospective production partners and buyers in the international
marketplace.
The company attended
major film festivals and global content markets to develop
professional relationships, discover new business opportunities and
meet with top decision makers. In addition to supporting travel to
these festivals, Creative Export Canada funding supported costs
related to market research, product preparation for sale to
international markets, and networking activities. The target
markets for this project are the U.S. the U.K., France, Germany,
Spain and China.
|
$26,000
(2023-2024)
|
|
Halifax
|
Craft Alliance/
Alliance Métiers d'art
|
Craft Alliance/Alliance
métiers d'art received funding in 2023-24 to support the promotion
of 19 Atlantic Canadian fine craft artists at Collect, an
international fair dedicated to contemporary craft and design, in
London, England. At Collect, more than 40 specialist galleries,
dealers and collectives from around the world display work made in
the last five years by more than 400 living artists and designers.
Featured artists must be represented by a gallery or organization
to be able to show at the exhibition. Collectors, art consultants,
interior designers, curators and others will be able to purchase
directly at the show. The target market for this project is the
U.K. However, as it is an international event, the Craft Alliance
connected with galleries, collectors and museums from across Europe
and Asia.
|
$32,000
(2023-2024)
|
|
Lunenburg
|
Lunenburg Doc Fest
Association
|
Lunenburg Doc Fest
Association received funding in 2023-24 to support the Dock Market
as part of its tenth edition of the Lunenburg Doc Fest. This
non-fiction film market runs parallel to the festival with the
purpose of connecting filmmakers with national and international
buyers, broadcasters, streamers, funders and co-production
partners. Events include workshops, panels, roundtables,
masterclasses and networking events to facilitate sales and funding
for future film projects. For this project, the target markets are
France, the U.S., the U.K., Spain, Germany, Qatar, Italy and
Scandinavia.
|
$15,000
(2023-2024)
|
|
Halifax
|
Maritime Digital Art
Design ltd (MDAD)
|
Maritime Digital Art
Design ltd received funding in 2023-2024 to publish two virtual
reality games worldwide, created by its subsidiary Paracosm Studio,
globally. Its main intellectual property, Dagger Woods VR: Echoes
of the Lost, immerses players in a psychological thriller inspired
by true Nova Scotia events and folklore in 1922. In addition,
the studio offers another distinctive game, POI: VR Dance,
which provides players with a meditative experience
through momentum and dance, designed to be both relaxing and
energizing. MDAD's plans include international distribution
and participation in major gaming conferences to meet with key
industry players. Despite having a limited export experience, the
company aims to tap into the potential of the virtual reality
market by exporting to countries with strong gaming industries and
enthusiastic player communities such as the U.S., Germany, France,
China and Brazil.
|
$90,000
(2023)
|
|
Halifax
|
Moonshot Rights
Inc.
|
Moonshot Rights Inc. is
receiving funding in 2023-24 and 2024-25 to support the export of
two market-ready animated children's television series, Unboxables
and Thickety Thicket, to major networks and distributors. This
project focuses on the U. S. as its primary market, with the U.K.,
France and Germany being the next target markets. The company will
also pursue the export of these series to secondary markets (China,
Japan and Australia).
|
$35,000
($15,000 in 2023-2024
and $20,000 in 2024-2025)
|
|
Total funding for Nova
Scotia projects
|
$288,000
|
Associated Link
News release: Canadian creativity from Nova Scotia expands into new international
markets
SOURCE Canadian Heritage