New program promotes interactive media projects

At least three of the five winners of the new Pl@tform program say the initiative seems custom-made to help them break out of the fee-for-service cycle to begin creating original intellectual property. The program is being funded by the Ontario Media Development Corp., and administered by the New Media Business Alliance (NMBA). Method Group (Above the Clouds), CurioLAB (Hidden Connections), Zapdramatic Inc. (Move or Die), C.R. Visuals (Reconstructing Ontario’s Past) and Elliott Digital Inc. (Sir Readalot) each won a $30,000 grant to assist them in the creation of market-driven interactive digital media products. In addition, the winners will receive strategic support in the form of mentorship and workshops, and will be given the opportunity to promote their companies and showcase their projects at this year’s nextMEDIA festival, and on the Bell Canada Sympatico.ca site. The program was announced at last year’s nextMEDIA. The winners were chosen from 35 applicants, 10 of whom were invited to pitch to the Pl@tform jury on February 27. The jury was composed of Raja Khanna, president, SNAP Media; John McIarty, GM, broadband content and events, Sympatico; and Andra Sheffer, executive director, Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund. A deadline for second-round applications has not been announced (CNM, Mar. 3/04). Zapdramatic’s Michael Gibson says the funding and showcase opportunities will help put the company’s online negotiation games onto a more commercial footing. "Our revenue model is user-pay, which is not bringing in very much money, and we’ve been sort of crawling along trying to get each new episode out because there’s an appetite out there for them. But, it takes us a long time to create each one and we only get back a fraction of what it costs us in labour and hours to do it. We wouldn’t be able to do it, really, without an infusion of cash from somewhere. This is why Pl@tform has been a God-send for us, because it really allows us to take the time, bring in additional people to help us build it bigger and better." Gibson says the cash, the Sympatico help and the mentorship are, "really critical for us to make the next step - which is to become self-sufficient." He adds: "We’ve been developing all this stuff with a lot of sweat equity. But at a certain point you need outside cash, and there isn’t a heck of a lot of that around at the moment, particularly for people that are at our stage. The Move or Die thing is supposed to take everything we’ve done and take it to a whole new level, which will be a level that - particularly if we attract a couple of sponsors into the whole thing, it’s something that we can run and produce profitably." While $30,000 may seem like pocket change, particularly in light of some massive new deals such as SNAP Media’s new $10-million Mars project (see story in this issue), the Pl@tform winners say it’s plenty to help them proceed with original projects and to serve as leverage to find further cash. Elliott Digital’s head George Elliott says the funding is welcome. His company is working on creating a multi-platform brand to promote literacy under the moniker Sir Readalot. He notes: "Getting this money will just give it a kickstart, because it’s always so hard to develop things when you’re trying to work full-time and pay the bills, right?… We’re in that situation where we’re frustrated because, personally, I’ve got over 300 ideas in my idea hopper that I’ve been developing over the years, and there’s just no money to develop them. And, it’s frustrating because these ideas burn a hole in my head and I have to get them out." Besides the sweat equity that Elliott and his staff will put into the project, Elliott will also be seeking further funding. Asked if $30,000 is enough to put his ideas into action, he says, "It’s not, but, first of all, we know how to stretch a buck probably better than anybody else. Secondly, it’s not the only money we’re going to spend… We can make that go a long way. But, we’re intending to follow this up and go for additional funding and go to corporations and governments and we’re not giving up on this." C.R. Visuals’ Caroline de Gruchy also says the program and its cash are welcome. Her company will be creating a series of three virtual environments depicting significant pre-Confederation historical sites that she hopes will serve as promotional material for the company’s capabilities in that field. She says there’s little cash available for such projects, and that the company has tried to find financing in past without success. She adds that a company of her size often doesn’t fit into existing public support program guidelines. Canadian NEW MEDIA did not contact MethodGroup or CurioLab, but will bring readers their perspectives in an upcoming issue.

New program promotes interactive media projects

Broadcast | March 17, 2004

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