Friday, Nov. 5, the Surrey Board of Trade building attracted number of people who gathered for a National Film Board reception.
Representatives of the NFB from eastern to western Canada attended the event, whose goal is to start a dialogue between the city of Surrey and the film industry for future growth in that sector of the creative economy. City counsellors, MLAs, entrepreneurs, professors and students were there to be part of the dialogue.
“It’s truly a networking event for those of you that are interested in film and for those of you that are doing film productions,” said Anita Hubermann, Surrey Board of Trade CEO.
According to Hubermann, Surrey has been increased its economy notably by investing in the creative economic sector.
“There’s an economic urgency for the province to support our creative economy, specifically its film and television industry. In 2012 in Surrey alone, there was $880,000 in economic impact. The income from the TV and film sector in residents is over $24 million in annual payroll. And that is nothing to ignore.”
Tom Perlmutter, Government Film Commissioner and chair of the National Film Board of Canada, which is based in Montreal, is well aware about Surrey’s potential.
“I did a cross-country tour a couple years ago and Surrey was one of the places I visited with a community that I found incredibly dynamic and to which we have to listen,” he said.
Perlmutter is responsible for promoting digital media production among Canadian producers, and also responsible for and has developed the online platform, NFB.ca, that has so far over 200 films available for viewing by the public.
The National Film Board is an agency of the government of Canada. It is an Academy Award-winning public film and digital media producer and distributor of films, animation and web documentaries. It has offices across the country, with two main production offices, in Vancouver and Montreal.
“The National Film Board is your public producer and distributor. That’s why I came here to listen, to be part of your community and understand your needs,” said the NFB representative.
As part of the commitment with the city, a representative of Kwantlen Polytechnic University was there to start a dialogue between the Surrey Board of Trade, the National Film Board and the university.
Aaron Goodman, a journalism instructor, said he was to start to build a network and a partnership that will benefit directly the students. According to him, it’s an opportunity to the students to acquire the necessary support and incentives to put into practice their multimedia projects.
