Backgrounder – Minister Guilbeault Announces Recipients of the Creative Export Canada Program

BRITISH COLUMBIA

HIPSTER BAIT

The company: An artist-focused company that is committed to creating unconventional, gamified experiences to help artists in the music industry grow and monetize their audiences internationally.

The project: Hipster Bait is a free music discovery app for iOS and Android that brings players into the real world to find unreleased music. Artists submit songs to the Hipster Bait platform, and players use maps and markers to locate the virtual cassettes.

Creative industries: Interactive digital media and music

OZNOZ ENTERTAINMENT

The company: A sister company of Big Bad Boo (BBB), a children’s animation studio that develops and distributes programs that promote diversity, equality and pluralism. Oznoz is an Over-the-Top (OTT) service that offers children's educational content to consumers and schools in 10 languages on a subscription basis.

The project: A sales and marketing campaign to launch Oznoz in the United Stated as a multilingual OTT service. In addition to the United Stated market, Oznoz signed a long-term service agreement with UNICEF that enables any UNICEF office in the world to procure Oznoz with Ministries of Education to provide E-Learning Platforms as well as other BBB content.

Creative industries: Audiovisual, publishing and music

ALBERTA

BYTA INTERNET

The company: Byta is the platform enabling everyone to send and receive digital audio in a clean, simple and secure way. Built for everyone working with music today.

The project: Byta will introduce, develop, and expand its brand into three new international target markets: the USA, Australia and Brazil.

By becoming part of the conversation when it comes to digital best practices in the music industry, Byta will create several new business and networking opportunities.

Creative industries: Interactive digital media and music

ONTARIO

GURU ANIMATION STUDIO

The company: Creative-driven entertainment company renowned for creating, developing and producing internationally acclaimed and highly animated television series.

The project: Export Guru Studio's projects and services to global broadcasters, distributors, retailers, game platforms and audiences around the world by securing funding for original productions, expanding licensing opportunities and developing new creative partnerships.

Creative industries: Interactive digital media and audiovisual

KNIX WEAR

The company: High-tech Canadian intimate design and manufacturing company that specializes in fabrics with moisture wicking capabilities, including stylish designs and with a mission to inspire women.

The project: Increasing the digital presence of Canadian-made fashion designs through investing in brand awareness, marketing material, and a public relations launch event, in order to generate sales revenues with their reinvented intimates.

Creative industry: Fashion design

NUMI

The company: Sustainable women's clothing company that specializes in designing solution-based garments that use high-performance fabrics and innovative design. The company is female-founded and led, and all garments are designed and manufactured in Canada.

The project: This project aims to deploy NUMI’s two new fashion lines into the United States in order to increase their export revenues and test their products in England, Germany and France. In order to do so, NUMI will create new professional brand assets as well as modify existing ones, and conduct brand awareness and conversion-based advertising campaigns over the 2020–2021 fiscal year.

Creative industry: Fashion design

PIPELINE STUDIOS

The company: Award-winning Canadian production studio that develops, produces and distributes children and families content for global audiences.

The project: Export and develop global market opportunities for the DoggyWorld brand (a preschool animated series) with a focus to grow international broadcaster and SVOD licensing and acquisition opportunities, merchandising master toy deals. Deploy a digital campaign showcasing new content, creating direct engagement with the target audience through games and interactive content in new and expanding markets

Creative industries: Interactive digital media, audiovisual and visual art

PORTFOLIO ENTERTAINMENT

The company: A leading producer and distributor of premium television and multi-platform content.

The project: Portfolio will generate new export revenues by leveraging its core assets and expertize to address the opportunity presented by the number of rapidly expanding subscription video on demand (SVOD) platforms, as well as traditional channels in unexploited territories.

Creative industry: Audiovisual

QUEBEC

MEDIA RANCH

The company: An international distributor, creator and producer of unscripted television formats.

The project: Support and develop Media Ranch’s growth as a leader of the format industry. By acquiring, creating and distributing local and international formats, Media Ranch is positioning itself as a world-class international hub, bridging Canada to the rest of the world by attracting talent, producers and broadcasters. Using their current diverse portfolio, and their international market research, Media Ranch fosters and distributes Canadian intellectual properties that are certain to be successful in the future.

Creative industry: Audiovisual

NOTETRACKS

The company: Creation of innovative products that enhance the productivity of creators and collaborators working on audio and video projects within various cultural industries.

The project: Launch of the digital platform Notetracks Pro that facilitates audio and video content creation and collaboration for those working in the creative industries remotely. It allows a user the ability to upload audio and video content, take notes, share their projects, communicate in real time and review the media in sync with team members within one integrated environment.

Creative industry: Interactive digital media, audiovisual and music

PAPP INTERNATIONAL

The company: A dynamic publishing company focused on creating fun and innovative books for both children and adults.

The project: Launch of an integrative marketing campaign to market and sell a multitude of books, audiobooks, subscription programs and publishing rights over the world.

Creative industry: Publishing

PRODUCTIONS SQUEEZE

The company: Internationally renowned animation studio working in the creation and production of television content and animated feature films.

The project: International export of Productions Squeeze Originals Portfolio, including the international launch and distribution on traditional and non-traditional platforms of their animation series Cracké (season 2), in addition to promoting the brand in various formats (mobile games, etc.) and licensing, and the confirmation of international partners for the TV series Jax and the animated feature film SugarLoaded.

Creative Industries: Interactive digital media and audiovisual

PRODUCTIONS 10E AVE

The company: Pioneering company specialized in 3D animated feature films and in family and children's productions.

The project: International export of three 3D animated feature films intended for children and families, Nelly et Simon: Mission Yéti, Félix et le Trésor de la Morgäa, and Béluga Blues, as well as a series of TV specials: L’Île de W. The objective is to maximize their visibility through the production of promotional material, various communication methods and collaboration with specialized resources.

Creative industry: Audiovisual

SPHÈRE MEDIA PRODUCTIONS

The company: Leader in audiovisual creation and production in Quebec in the fields of animation, fiction and documentaries.

The project: Establish a permanent presence in Los Angeles and London to generate additional revenue than their current numbers in the Canadian market. The company then intends to follow co-production activities and establish distribution agreements through a constant presence in the target markets.

Creative industries: Interactive digital media and audiovisual

SILENT PARTNERS STUDIO

The company: A visual content creation studio targeting the entertainment, theater, exhibitions and world-class cultural and television events industries.

The project: While maintaining the creative and production process in Montréal, Silent Partners Studio will formalize their presence in the United States market by establishing a permanent office equipped with their innovative technology in Los Angeles.

Creative industries: Interactive digital media, audiovisual and music

ULULAB

The company: An educational video game studio specialized in game-based mathematics learning.

The project: To grow a marketing and community team to enact large-scale marketing activities in order to rival their international competitors. Their objective is to amplify their discoverability and become the world leader in mathematics education through video games.

Creative industries: Interactive digital media and audiovisual