Village Gamer

Recreationalists and resource professionals looking for an easier way to explore B.C.’s wilderness can now leave their fold-out maps at home. GeoBC has created a series of free, high-resolution topographical maps specifically designed for viewing on mobile devices. GeoBC’s popular Terrain Resource Information Management (TRIM) base map series has been redesigned to enable the GPS georeferencing functionality associated with mobile devices and allow users to zoom into small areas of the new maps without compromising detail. Over 7,000 free maps covering the entire province of British Columbia (at a scale of 1:20,000) are now available as downloadable PDF files through GeoBC’s Base Map Online Store or through its popular KML viewer (with TIFF versions coming soon). Read the rest of this entry »

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has announced $1.9 million in funding to ten projects that applied to the Convergent Stream’s Diverse Languages Program. Projects include television productions with digital media components, six in Mandarin, two in Spanish, and one each in Italian and Persian. Of the ten projects, five are documentaries, three are dramas, one is Children’s & Youth, and one is Variety and Performing Arts. Seven projects originated from Ontario, two are from British Columbia and one is from Québec. Read the rest of this entry »

The Creative BC Project Development Fund provides “market triggered” development financing to British Columbia owned and controlled production companies for individual projects. Applications are evaluated on a first come-first served basis, and funding is available until the budget for the program is expended. A non-recoupable advance, matching up to 50% of the eligible triggering agent commitment is available. Please note that international treaty or inter-provincial co-productions are eligible under this program. Read the rest of this entry »

BC’s Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister Coralee Oake announced earlier this week that the B.C. government is investing $300,000 over two years in artsVest, a non-profit program helping small and mid-sized arts organizations help themselves through effective private sector fundraising. Read the rest of this entry »

Corus Entertainment and Telefilm Canada today announced the creation of the Family Feature Production Fund, a joint pilot initiative created to encourage increased production of audience-driven Canadian English-language live-action family movies for theatrical release.

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I also tweeted from the Banff World Media Festival session yesterday where the Canada Media Fund (CMF) announced the official launch of a new website dedicated to information on crowdfunding. Read the rest of this entry »

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) is making its way to the Banff World Media Festival to celebrate the talents and successes of Canadian content producers and to share the work the CMF is doing as a key industry partner. The CMF is one of the festival’s Grand Patrons and many of our team members will take an active part in sessions as panelists or experts. On Monday, June 10th, the CMF will host a series of must?see presentations that will explore various topics including: Read the rest of this entry »

iPad users can now discover the genius of animation pioneer Norman McLaren and find out how their artistic skills compare to his, using his creative tools and techniques to make and share new works of their own. All of this and more can be found in McLaren’s Workshop, the new free iPad app developed by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and now available in Apple’s App Store. Selected as the Editors’ Choice at Apple’s App Store, McLaren’s Workshop lets users discover the techniques pioneered by the founder of animation at the NFB, enabling them to bring images to life, just as he did. Read the rest of this entry »

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) announced today a contribution of more than $7.8M to 19 eligible projects that applied either to the Francophone Minority Program or the Anglophone Minority Incentive.  As the CMF enters its fourth year, it continues to support diversity of voices from a regional, language and point of view perspective by offering financial support to official-language minorities across the country.  Read the rest of this entry »

Shirley Douglas, Officer of the Order of Canada, and a long-time protector of child actors in the entertainment industry, will be on hand at the Ontario Legislature today with child actors, parents and other supporters of Bill 71 – Protecting Child Performers Act. ACTRA Toronto and Canadian Actors’ Equity Association, representing screen and stage actors, jointly support the bill. The private members bill will be presented at second reading today in the Ontario Legislature by Paul Miller, MPP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek. Read the rest of this entry »