Latest news with #documentaries
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
The NFB's new strategy: milk the ‘Stream Canadian' moment and reinvest in creativity
The National Film Board has always been ahead of its time. But the federal cultural agency, which has produced thousands of documentaries, animated films and interactive digital works since its inception in 1939 – collecting a dozen Academy Awards along the way – hit a particularly prescient nerve this past March when it launched its 'Stream Canadian' campaign, pointing audiences to the free streaming service. 'It was prepared well before the Canadian election,' and certainly any of Donald Trump's movie-tariff talk, says NFB chair Suzanne Guèvremont. 'It was something that we were reflecting upon, because in our new strategic plan one of our priorities is to elevate the awareness and esteem of the NFB. So when we came into the elections, we just said, 'Oh god, this is so timely.'' The response has been encouraging, with the NFB reporting a 25-per-cent increase in new online Canadian visitors to the site (the world's largest non-commercial streaming platform) compared with the same period last year. Guèvremont is hoping to keep the NFB headline momentum going, too. Last week, she was at Cannes for the premieres of two NFB animated shorts, Martine Frossard's Hypersensitive and Alex Boya's Bread Will Walk, just a few days ahead of the organization's debut of its 2025-2028 strategic plan. The plan (titled 'Sharing Our Past, Shaping Our Future, Stories for Today') prioritizes shaping the NFB for next generations and expanding its audience – not surprising directions given the current and intense war for eyeballs when it comes to the attention economy. But the plan also arrives after a period of years-long tension inside the NFB between its filmmakers and Guèvremont's predecessor, Claude Joli-Coeur, who was alleged to have prioritized administrative salaries over resources for content production. Guèvremont, whose background in the development of Quebec's 3-D animation and video-game industries stands in contrast to Joli-Coeur's history in entertainment law, says that the NFB's current relations with the creative community are strong. 'We're engaging in dialogues with the creators, with the filmmakers – we have scheduled meetings every year, to give them updates on the strategy before it comes out,' says Guèvremont, who was appointed to a five-year term in 2022. 'We're really trying to make sure that when we make a decision, we inform them, we give them the rationale behind it. And we did make a promise to reinvest in production, which was part of the exercises that we did last year.' Guèvremont acknowledges, though, that the NFB isn't exactly in a safe financial situation, noting that it has been in a structural deficit for the past eight years. Last year, the organization underwent a restructuring, eliminating 55 jobs, or roughly 14 per cent of its work force. The cuts have led to resources being reinvested into production, Guèvremont says, as well as lower administrative costs. 'This is a transitional year, so we are adapting our structures, adapting our teams and our boots on the ground,' she adds. 'We hope in the years to come, with the renewal of our funding, that we will actually be able to increase our budgets for production. Reinvestment is absolutely necessary.' Another pillar of the strategic plan is to 'foster a culture of creativity and innovation,' a goal that may initially seem at odds with the NFB's decision last year to close its interactive studios in Montreal and Vancouver. 'We realized that what we needed to do right now was focus on innovation, so we stopped producing installation works, because those are really expensive – it was brick-and-mortar installations,' Guèvremont says. 'We needed to refocus on animation and documentaries and storytelling in innovative ways. We'll continue to foster that creation in all the different fields of the NFB.' Just before Cannes, Guèvremont was in Ottawa to address the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which was holding consultations about the definition of Canadian content as part of its hearings over the Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11), and how much domestic broadcasters should contribute to the production of homegrown documentary programming. 'We're talking about real documentaries – not lifestyle or, you know, reality television," Guèvremont says, referencing the 'factual' programming more often favoured by Canada's big broadcasters. 'These are timely and timeless stories that you can watch and learn from, and they need to be protected.' 'The NFB is the largest producer of documentaries in Canada, but we certainly don't want to be the only.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Netflix hit dominates charts with 10.7 million views in 3 days
Struggling to find something to watch for your next movie night? Look no further - here are the films dominating Netflix's charts this week. From documentaries to horror films, this week has it all. Fear Street: Prom Queen Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Nonnas Untold: The Fall of Favre Instant Family Havoc A Deadly American Marriage Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds With 3.8 million views this week, Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds secures the ninth spot on Netflix's global charts. Released on May 23, this documentary gives an inside look at the U.S. Air Force's Thunderbirds flight squadron. If you're looking for a new documentary, this could be an excellent pick. The Wild Robot
Japan Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Times
Lewis Hamilton has more movies in mind after working with Brad Pitt
Lewis Hamilton is planning more movies after working with Brad Pitt on "F1" and also documentaries and possibly a television series with his Dawn Apollo production company. The seven-time Formula One world champion, a co-producer and consultant on the upcoming F1 Movie starring Pitt, told reporters at the Monaco Grand Prix there was plenty more to come. "I've gone in very high, I couldn't go any higher for the first movie, but we will be producing more movies over coming years," said the Ferrari driver, who launched his company in 2022.
CNA
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
Hamilton has more movies in the pipeline
MONACO : Lewis Hamilton is planning more movies after working with Brad Pitt on 'F1' and also documentaries and possibly a television series with his Dawn Apollo production company. The seven-times Formula One world champion, a co-producer and consultant on the upcoming F1 Movie starring Pitt, told reporters at the Monaco Grand Prix there was plenty more to come. "I've gone in very high, I couldn't go any higher for the first movie, but we will be producing more movies over coming years," he said. "I've got three concepts that I'm writing," said the Ferrari driver, who launched his company in 2022. "I'm going to write with a writer because I've never written a movie before. I've got these concepts, these ideas that I've come up with for movies. "At least two of them will be animations and one of them is already in a phase of the first part of the script, so it's exciting. "Then there will be documentaries, there will be maybe a TV series at some stage, but mostly movies. I like the development of movies. That's what I love the most." Hamilton joined his fellow drivers for a special pre-release screening of the Apple Original film, due out next month, in Monaco on Wednesday. He said that although he had seen the film many times already, it had been a stressful moment as well as a proud one when the Dawn Apollo logo appeared with other production companies. "All of a sudden I've got all the drivers there and I was sat in the middle, I was nervous. I was like 'everyone is seeing it for the first time', and it was great to look around and see some of the reactions from, particularly the drivers," said Hamilton.
Entrepreneur
07-05-2025
- Entrepreneur
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