Internet Video and Film Marketing Project to Increase Distribution under Canada-B.C. Agreement
VANCOUVER, January 17, 1996 THA Media Distributors Ltd. and Moving Images Distribution will create a new distribution infrastructure on the Internet for video and films produced in B.C. through funding under the Canada - B.C. Agreement on Communications and Cultural Industries, Canadian Heritage Minister Michel Dupuy and British Columbia Minister of Small Business and Culture, Tourism Bill Barlee announced today.THA Media Distributors Ltd. and Moving Images Distribution, representing a large number of B.C. producers, will each develop and market a web site that will allow customers to view promotional material and catalogues, subsequently providing buyers with information on B.C. products through their web page for purchases or previews, and they will explore the use of email in marketing. THA has already begun to establish a web site which includes an extensive non-theatrical video catalogue for schools, school boards, universities and libraries. The project's objective is the long-term increase in sales of B.C. videos and films, specifically broadcast television and non-theatrical productions, in Canada and world-wide.
"Strengthening the province's video distribution companies will ensure that the industry maintains its market share and continues to thrive in a competitive business. The project will make the distributors significantly more noticeable, bringing broader direct distribution of titles and increasing acquisitions, and helping them to better market their product in the future," said Mr. Dupuy.
"The project will develop marketing strategies to use the Internet effectively. It will provide a model approach, benefitting industry distributors and producers by increasing the speed and decreasing the cost for many B.C. businesses within the cultural industries considering marketing through the Internet," Mr. Barlee explained.
The partners will receive funding in the form of a non-repayable contribution of fifty percent of the total combined project budget, to a maximum of $33,000 to support their active use of the Internet to market B.C. films and videos.
The Canada - B.C. Agreement is a two-year, $9 million federal-provincial initiative designed to help develop and apply innovative technology, to create new markets for products and services, and to strengthen the industrial infrastructure by sharing costs with project proponents.
The Agreement is administered by Industry Canada and Canadian Heritage on the federal side, and on the provincial side by the Ministry of Employment and Investment and the Ministry of Small Business, Tourism and Culture.
Funding for this project was provided for in the 1995 federal budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework. This initiative is an example of how this government is prioritizing its spending so that it can better serve Canadians by making efficient use of their tax dollars.
Information:
Carol Sill
THA Media Distributors Ltd.
Tel: (604) 687-4215
Fax: (604) 688-8349
Laurel March
Manager, Cultural Development & Heritage
Department of Canadian Heritage
Pacific & Yukon Region
Tel: (604) 666-5089
Fax: (604) 666-3508
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