NFB Opening Up Sask. Office, Reducing Local Positions
Posted by Tyler Sutherland
The National Film Board of Canada announced Tuesday the expansion of its Prairie division to broaden and develop expertise in multi-platform digital production.
The Montreal-based organization plans to open an office in Saskatchewan and will continue to maintain a strong presence in Winnipeg as a producer. Although, four positions are being abolished in the Winnipeg office, NFB said. Two new producers with digital experience will be hired for the west, and infrastructure costs will be reduced by consolidating administrative duties for the western provinces in NFB’s Edmonton office, a news release read.
“This is about putting less money into infrastructure and more into digital expertise and programming, while ensuring an increased presence in western Canada,” said Cindy Witten, Director General of the English Program of the National Film Board of Canada. “Production levels will be maintained in the Prairies,” Witten added, “and very likely increase as we explore new forms with the considerable creative talent of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.”
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January 27th, 2010 at 7:56 am
If you think about what they’re trying to do, it’s an excellent idea and I completely applaud their attempt to modernize themselves. However, it’s still unfortunate for the four employees losing their jobs – and for locals who will now have a much more difficult time breaking into and networking with the NFB.
BS Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 11:56 am
Unfortunately Jamie, what you hear and see are actually different from what is really going on. This is in fact a move by the Eastern NFB to consolidate their control over the NFB in the West and get rid of the older original team that was still running the show in the prairies and who often clashed with their Eastern counterparts. The idea that this is to modernize the NFB in the west is just spin doctor press and actually very insulting. The NFB Prairies was already focusing on the digital medium, and looking for new ways to expand in that direction whilst not losing focus on what the NFB is actually about. In reality the new office in saskatchewan and the one remaining in winnipeg will simply be Liaison offices and will not actively be pursuing local content.
This is all about money and consolidation of power. They are shutting down the Animation studio that produced numerous award winning animations and were currently shortlisted by the academy awards for “runaway”. Unbelievable.
Its the National FILM Board, not the National DIGITAL MEDIA Board. The digital media comes as a result of them producing films. What now? Are they going to spend their time creating apps for the iphone?
January 29th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Oh, that’s so unfortunate. The only aspect of the NFB that I respect is their animation studio.
There are other organizations to focus on other aspects of digital media – distribution in particular, which is important to help get the films to people in a modern way. However, if the films are terribly made, there’s really no point.
What a shame – thanks for the eye-opener, BS. Perhaps if you have expertise on the subject, an interview with ChrisD or another local news outlet would be warranted.