Canadian Film Centre, DHX Media Present Kids’ Programming Initiative

TORONTO: The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) and DHX Media have teamed up to launch The DHX Experience, a new multiyear initiative designed to inspire and help develop a new generation of creative talent for the family, tween and kids’ marketplace.

The DHX Experience kicks off with a symposium at the CFC tomorrow. Led by top practitioners and DHX executives, this daylong event will provide an overview of the kids’, tween and family world. The symposium will jump-start a series of workshops and boot camps to explore creative processes and best practices as the initiative seeks to develop talent destined for the kids’, tween and family market. Initially, The DHX Experience will be integrated across the CFC’s film, TV, music and acting programs, engaging more than 40 screen-based entertainment industry professionals a year by introducing them to this specialized market through workshops and practical exercises.

The initiative will also extend beyond the CFC’s talent base to offer a showrunner boot camp and a British Columbia-based voice for animation workshop. Additional offerings include a hands-on music creation workshop, a story room for an animated show experience, and pitching and concept-development boot camps.

“We are pleased to partner with DHX, an internationally renowned brand of excellence in the creation of family/kids’ programming, on this new initiative,” said Slawko Klymkiw, the CEO of CFC. “We look forward to working with them to open yet another door for our talent to develop and produce quality content and build their careers and businesses.”

“Canada is renowned for its innovative and diverse children’s programming, and investing in Canadian talent is the best way to continue to serve high-quality content to the international market,” said Steven DeNure, the president and COO of DHX Media. “By partnering with the CFC on this all-encompassing initiative, we are able to expose up-and-coming content creators to the opportunities this sector of the industry presents and encourage them to make kids' entertainment their first choice.”