Canadian Companies to Showcase Digital Innovation in Cannes

TORONTO/CANNES: The Canadian digital media companies Secret Location, Félix & Paul Studios, MiiScan and Zandel Media will be at MIPTV this week to showcase their latest multimedia propositions.

Secret Location is showcasing Are You on the Blacklist?, which is nominated for a 2015 International Digital Emmy Award. The property was developed by Secret Location in partnership with Sony Pictures Television and NBC Entertainment to drum up buzz for the series premiere of The Blacklist.

From Zandel Media, Missing: An Interactive Thriller brings together crime television and video gaming. MiiScan's SmartTones, meanwhile, uses sound codes embedded in broadcast or theatrical video as triggers to deliver media content on mobile devices. Félix & Paul Studios will be showcasing Introduction to VR, a two-minute cinematic experience created for the launch of Samsung's Gear VR head-mounted display.

Additionally, Temple Street Production’s X Company will be featured by the Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada at MIPTV's International Drama Co-Production Summit. X Company follows five young recruits training as spies who take their new skills behind enemy lines during WWII.

“Canadian companies are at the forefront of digital innovation,” said Carolle Brabant, executive director of Telefilm Canada, “developing technologies that are transforming the way we interact with stories. Embedded digital codes, immersive second-screen platforms, virtual reality interaction, social media integration—these bold, groundbreaking approaches to content engage viewers in ways that would not have been possible only a few years ago. The competition for any given person’s decision to watch and pay attention to a particular production is fierce. We live in an attention economy. The Canadian industry must also be creative in how it connects with audiences.”

Valerie Creighton, the president and CEO of the Canada Media Fund, added: “For the past five years, a Canadian production has been nominated every year for a prestigious International Digital Emmy Award. This attests to Canada’s leadership on an international scale in regards to creative storytelling and is a reflection of the environment in which the Canadian audiovisual production industry is thriving. Canada’s digital media success stems from the entrepreneurial skills of our content producers, the creativity of our artists, and the financial resources and supportive public policies that encourage Canadians to create and share content to be enjoyed by Canadian and international audiences.”