SAW Video is continually developing this resource section, aimed primarily at independent media artists working in the Ottawa-Gatineau region. Please contact the administrative coordinator with suggestions or link requests.
RESEARCH and DEVELOPMENT
Canadian Filmmaker
This website contains resources and links for the development, production, marketing and distribution of Canadian films and videos.
Development and Other Challenges: A Producer's Handbook
This handbook addresses business issues and considerations related to the production process, namely development and the acquisition of rights, producer relationships, and low budget production — all areas that present particular challenges to Canadian producers. Designed for both emerging and experienced producers, it can help refine questions and approaches in the preparation of applications to Telefilm Canada for financial assistance.
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit internet library that offers permanent access to texts, audio, moving images, software and archived web pages. It promotes universal access to all knowledge.
Library and Archives Canada
The collection held by Library and Archives Canada is the shared heritage of all Canadians. It spans the entire history of Canada and comprises materials in all media from all parts of the country, as well as records and publications of Canadian interest from outside the country.
PRODUCTION FUNDING
The following list provides an overview of production funding sources for independent film and video makers but is not intended as a comprehensive guide. For additional funding sources, particularly for Canadian television programs and feature films, please refer to the Canadian Media Production Association guide available online and at SAW Video.
National Sources of Production Funding
The Banff Centre
The Banff Centre's arts programming supports the commissioning and creation of new work by individual artists and arts collectives, and provides resources for collaboration and applied research. Film and Media is a multi-disciplinary department with programming that includes film and new media residency programs, creative training and workshops, as well as self-directed opportunities.
Bravo!FACT
Bravo!FACT (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent) distributes grants for the production of short films and videos in Canada. Awards cover up to 50 per cent of a project's total cost and vary from several hundred dollars to a maximum of $25,000.
Canada Council for the Arts
The Canada Council for the Arts provides research, creation, production and dissemination support to artists in film, video and new media, as well as providing support for travel. The Grants to Film and Video Artists program offers grants for research/creation, production and scriptwriting. Established, mid-career and emerging artists are all eligible.
Canadian Film Centre (CFC)
The CFC promotes and invests in Canada's diverse talent, providing exhibition, financial and distribution opportunities for creative content leaders across the country.
National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
The NFB works with filmmakers and other media artists as directors or co-producers in the production of POV documentaries, auteur animation and original interactive digital content for all platforms including mobile and the internet, and has a number of filmmaker support programs. The NFB also produces digital projects, working with Canadian artists and media-makers who experiment with the creative application of digital technologies and interactivity
as it relates to story, expression and community.
Telefilm Canada
Telefilm Canada provides the film, television and new media industries with financial and strategic support. It fosters the production of films, television programs and cultural products that reflect Canadian society, and encourages their dissemination at home and abroad. It also emphasizes the importance of Canadian content and the need to use digital platforms in order to reach wider audiences.
Provincial Sources of Production Funding (Ontario)
CBC Regional Programming Development Fund (RPDF)
Through local CBC offices, the RPDF supports independent production partners in the development of entertaining and innovative programming for regional broadcast on CBC Television over six weeks during the summer. Producers are expected to seek production funds from various sources. The development fund values regional content, collaboration with independent producers, diversity of voices and points of view, and emerging on-screen talent. It is ideal for content with strong links to local communities, and particularly ideal for music, documentaries, and comedy relevant to local audiences.
Ontario Arts Council (OAC)
The Ontario Arts Council funds film, video, audio/sound art, documentary, drama, experimental, animation, dance film/video, media art installation, new media, and any fusion thereof. An Ontario-based applicant must be the driving force behind the project and maintain complete creative and editorial control over the work. The OAC does not fund work intended for commercial film and television.
Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance
This program provides grants to assist individual Ontario-based visual, craft and media artists with costs related to presenting their work in exhibitions. Exhibitions in Ontario, other Canadian provinces and international locations are all eligible. Grants are made through third-party recommenders (public art galleries, artist-run centres and arts service organizations). Artists must apply directly to a recommender located in the zone in which they live. Approved applications are forwarded to OAC by the recommender once a decision to award a grant has been made.
SAW Video is one of three provincial recommenders accepting applications for media art exhibition assistance. More information here. (LINK GOES TO SUB-PAGE in GRANTS section. See end of this document for sub-page content.)
Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC)
The OMDC Film Fund fosters the production and development of
films in Ontario. Both television and interactive digital media producers have access to provincial funding
and tax credits through OMDC programs
and initiatives.
Local Sources of Production Funding (Ottawa-Gatineau)
Centre de production DAÏMÕN
Centre de production DAÏMÕN is a non-profit, artist-run centre in Gatineau that supports artistic enquiry, creation, production and dissemination in media art with a focus on video, audio and photography.
DAÏMÕN provides financial assistance and/or support in-kind for the following programs: Artist in Residency, Research and Creation, Photography and Digital Imaging, and Support for First Works. DAÏMÕN favours projects that emphasize the interrelations between media, and projects that push the limits of intermedia. Only projects involving a degree of research are considered.
City of Ottawa
The city's Arts Funding Program supports media artists in the creation, production, completion, presentation, exhibition and dissemination of art in Ottawa. Funding is awarded to individual emerging and established artists.
CTV Ottawa Program Development Fund
The CTV Ottawa Program Development Fund invests in concepts and scripts that emanate from the independent production community within CTV Ottawa's broadcast coverage area, and that are designed for broadcast by CTV Ottawa or any other Canadian television station. The fund provides for script and concept development in the form of interest-free loans, repayable on the project's first day of principal photography. If the project does not go into production, the loan is not repayable.
Independent Filmmakers Co-operative of Ottawa (IFCO)
IFCO is a centre for artists who express their ideas, values and experiences using the medium of film. On a co-operative basis, it provides training, facilities, equipment, funding, information resources and the means to exhibit work. Financial assistance is offered through IFCO's Mini Grant, Major Grant and the Frank Cole Documentary Film Fund.
SAW Video
SAW Video is a media art centre in Ottawa offering up to 16 grants per year. Grants are awarded through the following funds and programs: the JumpstART Mentorship Program, the SAW Video Production Fund, the Video Virgin Fund, the Cultural Equity Fund, and the Aboriginal Voices Production Fund. From time to time, SAW Video also commissions artists for themed artistic programs.
TRAINING
Algonquin College Documentary Production Graduate Certificate Program
Based in Ottawa, this one-year graduate certificate program provides students with a solid grounding in the business of independent documentary production, and an understanding of the Canadian policy landscape of documentary funding, marketing and distribution. Students learn to perform as researchers, scriptwriters, camera operators, sound recordists, video editors, field producers, directors, and production managers.
Algonquin College School of Media and Design
Algonquin College's School of Media and Design offers 23 programs in the creative arts, including animation, broadcasting, documentary production, game development, graphic design, interactive multimedia, journalism, photography, scriptwriting and theatre arts.
The Art of Managing your Career in Film and Television
This enhancement of The Art of Managing Your Career offers information, resources, tips, pitfalls and links to relevant websites. Document provided by the Cultural Human Resources Council.
The Banff Centre
The Banff Centre provides financial aid for participants to attend its programs in the form of scholarships and fellowships. Film and Media is a multi-disciplinary department with programming that includes film and new media residency programs, creative training and workshops, as well as self-directed opportunities. The centre's arts programming supports the commissioning and creation of new work by individual artists and arts collectives, and provides resources for collaboration and applied research.
Canadian Film Centre (CFC)
Based in Toronto, the CFC offers advanced training and production in three streams: film, television and new media. It also offers a program for actors. CFC programs emphasize the fusion of artistic and creative considerations with the financial reality of the industry.
National Screen Institute
The National Screen Institute is a non-profit organization headquartered in Winnipeg. It is a film, television and digital media training school for writers, directors and producers, featuring market-driven programs lead by experts in their fields. Its programs strive to give students the training required for sustainable careers in film, television and digital media. Participants do not pay tuition fees or relocate, just a one-time application fee of $50 or less.
Screen-based Media Training Database
The Training Database for Screen-based Media features a list of training providers across Canada that includes college and university film programs, artist-run centres, and film and video training centres. The Cultural Human Resources Council website that houses this database also features a search tool for finding courses on specific topics by geographical region.
PRODUCTION
Artengine
Artengine is a non-profit, artist-run centre in Ottawa that fosters democratic and innovative approaches to electronic art and its evolving relationship with society. Artengine is committed to the creation, presentation/dissemination and promotion of art concerned with technological experimentation, both online and in physical space.
Canadian Media Producers' Association (CMPA)
The CMPA represents the interests of screen-based media companies engaged in the production and distribution of English-language television programs, feature films and new media content across Canada. It negotiates and manages labour agreements, and actively lobbies the federal and provincial governments on policies such as taxation, trade, copyright, broadcasting and film. The association also publishes GUIDE, a national production industry directory, and has a national mentorship program for film, television and interactive media production talent.
Carleton Film Society
The Carleton Film Society is a cinéclub and filmmaking community at Carleton University, Ottawa. It encourages students and members to make films, and supplies them with the resources to do so. The society meets weekly during the school year for a filmmaking workshop and a screening.
Centre de production DAÏMÕN
Centre de production DAÏMÕN is a non-profit, artist-run centre in Gatineau that supports artistic enquiry, creation, production and dissemination of media art with a focus on video, audio and photography. The centre provides artists with access to equipment such as edit suites, production equipment, and production supplies (audio, video, photo and lighting), as well as technical services and the expertise of its staff.
CinequipWhite Inc.
Across Canada, CinequipWhite Inc. is a service and sales company serving the Canadian motion picture, film, broadcast, architectural, theatrical and live entertainment industries. Specialties include the supply and installation of equipment including lighting fixtures, dimming, control, audio, video, rigging, fabric, gels and lamps.
Codes Pro Media
Codes Pro Media is an Ottawa retailer of professional production equipment and supplies such as videotape, audiotape, batteries, CDs, DVDs, monitors, data-storage products, DVD and CDR recorders, and more.
DigiteckMedia Services
Based in Ottawa, DigiteckMedia Services focuses mainly on video transfer and encoding. The company works with VHS, VHS-C, 8mm, Hi8, Digital8, Mini DV, 8mm and Super 8 film, 35mm slides, photos and digital images. It also works with audio from standard CD to DTS and Dolby digital formats, and does video editing.
Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC)
The Documentary Organization of Canada is a non-profit organization representing the interests of independent film and video makers in Canada. DOC promotes the production of independent documentaries through a number of activities, including the annual Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival. The Ottawa-Gatineau chapter of DOC was formed in 2005 to address the needs of local documentary filmmakers.
Le Front des réalisateurs indépendants du Canada (FRIC)
Le Front des réalisateurs indépendants du Canada is a collective of French directors from across the country. Since 2004, FRIC has been advocating for its members on the Canadian political and cultural scenes. It also participates in francophone cultural initiatives and works to support the professional development and influence of its members.
Independent Filmmakers Co-operative of Ottawa (IFCO)
IFCO is a centre for artists who express their ideas, values and experiences using the medium of film. On a co-operative basis, IFCO provides training, facilities, equipment, funding, information resources and the means to exhibit work.
Independent Media Arts Alliance (IMAA)
IMAA is a member-driven, non-profit organization working to advance and strengthen the media arts community in Canada. It represents over 80 independent film, video, audio and new media production, distribution, and exhibition organizations, and serves over 12,000 independent media artists and cultural workers.
Le Labo
Based in Toronto, Le Labo's mandate is to produce and promote francophone media art and interdisciplinary projects. Members have access to Le Labo space for production, workshops, exhibitions and rehearsals, and to its multimedia studio for equipment such as imaging, printing and editing workstations, audio equipment and editing programs.
Ottawa-Gatineau Film and Television Association (OGFT)
The OGFT provides location and other services to companies making film, television and new media productions. Through the OGFT, production companies can access information about potential locations, production services, crews, talent and other resources. The OGFT also serves as liaison between production companies and government agencies to facilitate smooth location filming.
Ottawa Video Transfer
Ottawa Video Transfer offers transfers of video and film in a variety of formats to DVD, VHS, web formats and photo slide shows, as well as conversion from one video format to another, restoration, replication, and audio services.
Parktown Productions
Parktown Productions provides production services and rentals such as cameras, lighting, gripping, and rigging accessories. Its rental and post-production editing services target independent and professional productions. The company also produces its own films, videos and commercials.
Precision Transfer Technologies
Precision Transfer Technologies is a media service company that offers media duplication and packaging services in Ottawa and Toronto. It supports duplication or authoring jobs of varying complexity and scale, and customized graphics or packaging.
ProductionGuide.TV/Ottawa
ProductionGuide.TV/Ottawa is a resource for the film and television production community in the Ottawa region. The user-driven site consists of a blog for production news and announcements, and a database of freelance and employed individuals.
Total Media Systems
Based in Ottawa, Total Media Systems rents a range of broadcast and audio-visual production equipment.
Vistek
In Ottawa and across Canada, Vistek sells and rents consumer and prosumer photo and video equipment (production and post-production).
DISTRIBUTION and EXHIBITION
AXENÉO7
AXENÉO7 is an artist-run gallery in Gatineau with a mandate to disseminate contemporary practices in visual art. Since 1983, it has enabled the presentation of exhibitions by a wide variety of artists.
Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre (CFMDC)
Based in Toronto, the artist-driven CFMDC is a Canadian non-commercial distributor and resource for independently-produced film. A national and international distributor, it advocates for the accessibility of independent films and remits royalties to artists for the exhibition of their work. The CFMDC collection is available for preview, rental and sale.
Le Centre d'artistes Voix Visuelle
Le Centre d'artistes Voix Visuelle is a contemporary art exhibition space in Ottawa that supports and promotes the work of francophone artists to a wider audience.
DOCspace
DOCspace is an online community for independent Canadian documentary professionals and fans maintained by the Documentary Organization of Canada. DOCspace aims to raise awareness about independent Canadian documentary filmmakers and their films while improving access and availability to them.
Les Films du 3 mars (F3M)
The distribution centre Les Films du 3 mars disseminates, distributes, edits and promotes independent audio-visual works and art house films that cover a wide range of genres and subject matter. The films are sold on national and international markets, with the aim of disseminating them to as broad an audience as possible. F3M also seeks to defend, promote and consolidate the important role of these works in the artistic, cultural, historical and social life of Quebec and Canada.
Fringe Online
Fringe Online is the largest online publication project in Canadian media arts. It features a wide range of writings, stills and clips from Canadian media artists, and displays hundreds of obscure documents in a suite of virtual libraries.
Gallery 101
Gallery 101 is a non-profit, artist-run centre in Ottawa, dedicated to the professional presentation and circulation of visual and media arts.
Groupe Intervention Vidéo (GIV)
Groupe Intervention Vidéo is a non-profit, artist-run centre in Montreal that supports the distribution, exhibition, and production of works by women. The sale, rental and previews of tapes comprise the main part of its activities. Curators, institutions and community groups may select videos from its collection of over 300 works.
Le Labo
Based in Toronto, Le Labo's mandate is to produce and promote francophone media art and interdisciplinary projects. Its programming includes residencies, exhibitions/installations, workshops and conferences.
La Médiathèque du Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal
The Médiathèque or Media Centre of the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal is devoted to documentary research into contemporary Quebec and Canadian art, but also receives information and content for its collection from an international network of museums. The Media Centre contains a directory of sites related to contemporary art and culture with over 2,000 links.
Moving Images Distribution
Based in Vancouver, Moving Images Distribution works in the independent film and video community. It distributes over 800 works, many concerned with social justice issues whether contemporary or historical. It also distributes works that are culturally significant, works that provoke, amuse, explore and push the perimeters of the medium.
Ouat Media
Based in Toronto, Ouat Media specializes in the worldwide distribution of international short films. It strives to be the premier multiplatform content aggregator and provider of short film content for broadcast, internet, mobile devices, and all other newly-developed media.
Reelport
Reelport is a short film portal based in Europe that facilitates the worldwide distribution of short films by reducing the process to a small number of steps: filmmakers register online, complete the submission form, provide a synopsis, film stills, and upload their films. Potential buyers and over 70 international film festivals have access to the films online.
SAW Gallery
SAW Gallery features contemporary Canadian and international artists, both emerging and established, from diverse cultural backgrounds. An artist-run centre, the gallery promotes politically- and socially-engaged art, presenting a contemporary art program with a strong focus on Canadian performance and media art.
Vidéo Femmes
Based in Quebec City, Vidéo Femmes is a production and distribution centre for independent films and videos made by women. The centre distributes nationally and internationally, but mainly to the French Canadian market.
Video Out Distribution
Based in Vancouver, Video Out Distribution is a non-profit, non-exclusive distributor of media art on video to galleries, festivals, educational institution collections and broadcasters nationally and internationally. Its primary activity is to provide artist-driven distribution services that promote the practices of independent media art and earn revenue for independent media artists.
Video Pool Media Arts Centre
Based in Winnipeg, Video Pool is a non-profit, artist-run centre dedicated to independent video, audio, and computer-integrated multimedia production. Video Pool has been distributing video since 1983 and now represents hundreds of artists. Its goal is to assist artists in getting paid for their work and to expose prairie media art to the world.
Vithèque
Based in Montreal, Vithèque is a bilingual site with hundreds of independent videos available for free viewing by Canadians, and downloading for a fee. Artists may post their videos at no cost. Video genres include animation, documentary, fiction, dance video, art video and more. Vithèque belongs to Vidéographe, an artist-run centre devoted to the creation, distribution and dissemination of media art.
V tape
V tape is an international distribution, exhibition and resource centre with an emphasis on contemporary media arts. It carries more than 5,000 titles. In addition to an online searchable catalogue of independent videos and mediaworks, V tape also offers a video art research database with articles on artists and video art.
Winnipeg Film Group
The Winnipeg Film Group is an artist-run education, production, exhibition and distribution centre committed to promoting the art of cinema. Its distribution department offers film and video distribution to members from across Canada with a focus on those from the prairie region, the North West Territories and Nunavut.
Withoutabox
Withoutabox is a free online application submission service for film festivals. It also provides filmmakers access to major channels for promotion and distribution of their work (i.e. internet sites that stream and sell).
LOCAL CONTACTS
Artlist
The Artlist is a moderated e-mail-based mailing list maintained by Artengine. Its focus is the diffusion of non-commercial information concerning artistic events of interest to its subscribers.
Arts Court
Arts Court is an Ottawa centre for the performing, visual and literary arts. The historic building is home to a significant number of professional arts producers and presenters. Space may also be rented for artistic purposes such as performances, screenings, workshops, rehearsals or meetings.
Arts Ottawa East
Arts Ottawa East is a non-profit organization with a mission to support, promote and develop the practice and appreciation of the arts in Ottawa. Its website contains member profiles and listings of opportunities in the local arts community.
AXENÉO7
AXENÉO7 is an artist-run gallery in Gatineau with a mandate to disseminate contemporary practices in visual art. Since 1983, it has enabled the presentation of exhibitions by a wide variety of artists.
Canadian Film Institute
The Canadian Film Institute presents a public program of contemporary, historical, and international cinema in the national capital region, presented in the auditorium of the Library and Archives Canada. It also curates and circulates a number of its film series to cinematheques across the country.
Le Centre d'artistes Voix Visuelle
Le Centre d'artistes Voix Visuelle is a contemporary art exhibition space in Ottawa that supports and promotes the work of francophone artists to a wider audience.
Coalition of New Canadians for Arts and Culture (CNCAC)
The CNCAC supports the diverse interests of new Canadian immigrants and refugees who wish to be actively engaged in arts and culture, including youth and community groups.
Council for the Arts in Ottawa
The Council for the Arts in Ottawa is a non-profit, membership-based organization dedicated to encouraging and developing an appreciation for the arts in the Ottawa region.
Gallery 101
Gallery 101 is a non-profit, artist-run centre in Ottawa, dedicated to the professional presentation and circulation of visual and media arts.
Mayfair Theatre
The Mayfair Theatre is one of Ottawa's last two neighborhood cinemas and one of the oldest surviving independent movie houses in all of Canada.
Ottawa International Animation Festival
Taking place in September each year, the Ottawa International Animation Festival is the largest of its kind in North America, attracting film buffs, art lovers, filmmakers and cartoon fans from around the world.
SAW Gallery
SAW Gallery features contemporary Canadian and international artists, both emerging and established, from diverse cultural backgrounds. An artist-run centre, the gallery promotes politically- and socially-engaged art, presenting a contemporary art program with a strong focus on Canadian performance and media art.
Red Wall Gallery
The Red Wall Gallery at School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa (SPAO) exhibits photographic artworks by emerging and established photo-based artists, as well as photographic professionals. Works are exhibited without fees or commissions, and in-house frames are available. Both group and solo exhibitions are scheduled, as well as periodic exhibitions by SPAO students.
EMPLOYMENT
Careers
Careers is a free national job posting service provided by the Canadian Museums Association and the Canadian Heritage Information Network.
Charity Village
Charity Village is Canada's supersite for the non-profit sector. Every day there are more than 3,500 pages of news, jobs, resources, how-to articles, volunteer and event listings, educational opportunities and more.
Culture Works and Careers in Culture
CultureWorks is a national online job board and career resource centre provided by the Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC). The CHRC also provides the online site Careers in Culture, featuring tools such as job search strategies, job interview tips, examples of cover letters and résumés, and more.
The Career Centre / myCareer (Carleton University)
The Career Centre is Carleton's on-campus centre for career development, employment preparation and co-operative work opportunities. myCareer is the centre's online portal where students and alumni can search for jobs, volunteer positions and internships. ;.They can also book career advising appointments, register for workshops, employer recruitment and information sessions, and create online resumes and portfolios.
Work in Culture Job Board
Cultural Careers Council Ontario provides the Work In Culture job board as part of its mission to build a more resilient cultural sector by delivering business skills training and resources to the cultural workforce throughout the province.
CALLS for SUBMISSION
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