NSI has announced two new web-based initiatives to debut in the first quarter of 2008 – the establishment of a permanent online industry centre and the launch of a quarterly online, 100% Canadian short film festival. As a result of the organization’s focus on these new online educational and showcasing platforms, NSI FilmExchange will be retired after a successful nine-year run and will not be produced in 2008.
“NSI has continued to remain relevant and successful through the years by being aligned with evolving industry trends and technologies,” said Susan Millican, NSI CEO. “By investing in online training and film showcasing we will be able to harness the power of the internet to expand our brand offering to a larger, national audience and on a year-round basis as well. This new direction will allow us to significantly exceed the reach and impact we were able to traditionally achieve over NSI Film Exchange’s four-day long schedule.”
Millican additionally acknowledged that NSI FilmExchange has been an important event in the Canadian filmmaking community. “While we are proud of the festival’s nine-year run we also know that as the marketplace changes and delivery technologies improve we need to be on the cutting-edge of interacting with our client base across the country, so that we can provide NSI’s suite of services on an increasingly efficient and inclusive manner.”
Said Jamie Brown, NSI Chair and CEO & Executive Producer of Frantic Films, “These new online initiatives will give NSI a greater presence as a national training institution and our migration to more web-based interaction with the filmmaking community will allow for enhanced year-round learning, film showcasing and exchange.”
Despite NSI FilmExchange being retired, the popular SnowScreen evening that traditionally opened the festival – where animated shorts are projected for the general public on an outdoor movie screen made of snow – will remain as a hallmark Winnipeg winter event and will include an expanded industry reception as well.
“With our new online initiatives, traditional programming and expanded regional receptions held during SnowScreen in Winnipeg, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Atlantic Film Festival, we will be able to achieve an optimum mix of core training, virtual education, Canadian film showcasing and face-to-face networking,” said Millican.