National Film Board’s digital distribution partnership with China’s Phoenix New Media Limited
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is a federal cultural agency within the portfolio of the Department of Canadian Heritage which creates ground-breaking interactive works, social-issue documentaries and auteur animation. During the 2012-13 fiscal year, many of the NFB’s efforts were centred on managing existing relationships with other organizations and signing new partnerships with leading content aggregators and digital distributors.
In 2013, the NFB partnered with China’s Phoenix New Media Limited (FENG) to create NFB ZONE, the first Canadian-branded online channel in the People’s Republic of China. The channel offers Chinese internet users access to films produced and distributed by the publicly-funded Canadian filmmaker. Phoenix New Media, a private-sector media company, offers premium content across internet, mobile and TV channels in China, and its web portal and mobile channels reach 300 million page views each day.
The strategic partnership aims to enrich the NFB’s global distribution channels and Phoenix’s video content library, as well as to offer Chinese audiences an ideal destination to reach high-quality Canadian-produced documentaries and animated films. This partnership is the result of years of engagement between the NFB and Chinese partners, working together to forge relationships and utilize mobile media technology to build cultural bridges and business opportunities.
For more information, please see: http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/rapp_annuel_ONF_ang_2012-2013.pdf
In May 2013, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and Chinese company Phoenix New Media Limited (FENG) announced the creation of NFB ZONE, the first Canadian-branded online channel in the People’s Republic of China. This unprecedented partnership, which permits the airing of almost 130 NFB animated and documentary films, is in line with the NFB’s business plan favouring the creation of strategic partnerships and strengthening its leadership in the new international digital media landscape.
For more information, please see: http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/en/about-the-nfb/publications/institutional-publications/departmental-performance-report-2012-2013/
The strategic partnership between the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and Phoenix New Media Limited (FENG) will lead to an increased audience and exposure for documentaries and animated films which are produced by the NFB, through digital distribution across multiple platforms in China. Consequently, the increased level of exposure will lead to stronger recognition of Canadian audiovisual content abroad, allowing the NFB to grow its international reputation.
This measure will also favour the creation of further strategic partnerships and strengthen the NFB’s leadership in the new international digital media landscape. 2013 was the final chapter of the NFB’s 2008–2013 Strategic Plan that proposed a sweeping transformation of the film board, and challenged it to lead the way in the new digital age with productions that placed Canada at the forefront of digital media innovation.
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