Vucavu Outreach: Marketing Film and Video in the Digital Age

VUCAVU OUTREACH: Marketing Film and Video in the Digital Age hosted by VUCAVU and co-presented by Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre (CFMDC) and Images Festival. This workshop is held at the Toronto Media Arts Centre in Dames Making Games Toronto on the 3rd floor, accessible by elevator and stairs.

VUCAVU.com is a bilingual video streaming platform operated by the non-profit Coalition of Canadian Independent Media Art Distributors / Coalition canadienne des distributeurs indépendent en arts médiatiques (CCIMAD/CCDIAM). CCIMAD was established in 2013 by a group of independent Canadian film and video to improve accessibility to the artists’ works in their catalogues by creating a shared digital distribution strategy. To this end, they established the VUCAVU.com platform to provide greater national and international awareness of Canada’s filmmakers and video artists and offer a new revenue stream to artists. VUCAVU currently streams 1,300+ films spanning 45 years of Canadian moving image art of all kinds.

This VUCAVU OUTREACH presentation is led by Jacquelyn Hébert, VUCAVU’s Community and Program Manager, and is intended for artists and filmmakers interested in learning about distribution options available for their films and videos. During the session, Jacquelyn will discuss digital marketing for film and video, what VUCAVU.com is, what an independent distributor does and what we offer artists. The presentation includes an overview of a few other View-On-Demand (VOD) platforms available to artists and a discussion about how artists can use digital tools to promote their work to broader audiences. In addition to its marketing and streaming functions, we encourage people to utilize digital tools like VUCAVU for curatorial, research, and educational purposes. Finally, we discuss what changes are on the horizon as we work to expand the platform’s usage and functionalities.

This presentation will be followed by a tour of CFMDC’s film vault.

More information: www.vucavu.com

About the presenter:

Jacquelyn Hébert — VUCAVU Community and Program Manager Jacquelyn Hébert has worked in arts administration and arts education since 2005, holding positions with Concordia University, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, the Manitoba Arts Council and the Winnipeg Film Group to name a few. Jacquelyn is also a visual artist and filmmaker whose work stems from an interest in historical, cultural and imagined narratives. She has presented her work both nationally and internationally. In addition to her work as VUCAVU’s Community and Program Manager, Jacquelyn works at the University of Toronto as the Website Manager for the Un Canadien Errant research project. www.jacquelynhebert.com

About CFMDC: Established in 1967, CFMDC is a not-for-profit, non-commercial media arts distributor that specializes in independent, artist made work on film and video including works from historically underrepresented communities. We advocate for a holistic understanding of production, distribution and exhibition that prioritizes artist rights, accessibility and the creation of new audiences through education and critical thinking. We have one of the most important collections of artist-made moving image on film in Canada and have recently moved into a facility with a specially designed space for our 16mm, 35mm and (s)8mm collection. Through a unique and successful national and international distribution service, CFMDC makes its collection available for preview, rental or sale for the purposes of research, exhibition, screening and broadcast as well as for institutional and private acquisition. We work with and distribute on multiple formats including; celluloid, video, digital, and DCP. Both physical media and online streaming. www.cfmdc.org

About Images Festival: Images Festival is one of the most enduring and respected platforms in the world for the exhibition and discourse of independent film and media art. Created in 1987 as an alternative to the only other Toronto film festival at the time, Images has spent the last 32 years presenting media works that are challenging in their form and content. Images showcases the intersection of emerging and established practices and invites open critical dialogue in the film and media arts community around the political herstories of moving image production, distribution, exhibition, and representation. www.imagesfestival.com