Last September I ran around the Lower Mainland, from Surrey to North Vancouver, blogging as I went and producing videos as a part of National Digital Media Day.
On September 25th digital media producers and enthusiasts will get together for 24 hours of collaboration and celebration of the medium. An annual day to raise the profile of the digital media industry and celebrate the dynamic work taking place in this sector. In Canada, a massive cross-country event that will include gatherings, lobbying, education and celebrations. In other countries, linked in celebrations and demo camps. [Miss604, tag NDMD08]
It was an effort to raise awareness of the new media sector and how important it is, especially for those in our town which has been dubbed Canada’s new startup capital.
Yesterday as a part of the budget announcements, the Canada New Media Fund got a boost.
[From the CBC] The Conservative government announced $438.6 million in spending to arts and culture over the next two years in the budget handed down Tuesday.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty barely mentioned the arts in a speech that lavished money on tax cuts and infrastructure spending.
However, background documents say the government plans:
$100 million in spending over two years on arts, music and comedy festivals. $60 million over two years for infrastructure spending that could help in repairing theatres, museums and other cultural buildings. $28.6 million over two years to the Canada New Media Fund, which creates interactive digital content. $20 million over two years for a national arts training program. $30 million for Canadian magazines and community newspapers. $200 million for the Canadian Television Fund (CTF).
The story was picked up in the Vancouver Sun, which quotes various members of the new media community is Vancouver, from Kris Krug at Raincity Studios to Tris Hussey from Media2O, and Irwin Oostindie.
“In general, I think it is great to see the government embracing and supporting the creative technology industry,” said Kris Krug, president of Vancouver’s Raincity Studios (raincitystudios.com). “I think that having the government put actual money and programs behind it will help nurture growth that is taking place already. They are just trying to put resources behind places that are seeing organic growth anyway. This is definitely not a bailout.”
…
Rebecca Bollwitt, who co-founded the startup sixty4media (sixty4media.com), a social media and WordPress web design company, said Vancouver’s new media could benefit from public-sector dollars. “It’s fantastic,” she said. “On the National Digital Media Day held last September, that was the goal — not to fall off the map. Money is always a good thing and even just being on the radar is a good thing.
I count this as a victory but hopefully it’s just the first of many for the industry that has such potential in Vancouver.