(Source: Michael Geist @ the Toronto Star)
In recent years, Canadians have become increasingly accustomed to hearing about Internet success stories elsewhere, with fewer examples of homegrown initiatives. However, an unlikely Canadian online video success has emerged recently that has not received its due – the National Film Board of Canada's Screening Room.
The NFB may never replace YouTube in the minds of most when it comes to Internet video but a series of innovations have highlighted the benefits of an open distribution model and the potential for Canadian content to reach a global audience online.
Last year, just months before the NFB celebrated its 70th anniversary, it launched the NFB Screening Room, an online portal designed to make its films more readily accessible to Canadians and interested viewers around the world. To meet its objective, it committed to be as open, transparent, and accessible as possible, including making the films freely available and embeddable on third-party websites.
In January 2009, the site started with 500 films. Today, the number of available films has nearly tripled, with almost 1,500 films, clips and trailers. The growing selection has been accompanied by a massive increase in audience. There have been 3.7 million online film views over the past year – 2.2 million from Canada and 1.5 million from the rest of the world ...
Read the full article at the Toronto Star or visit nfb.ca.
