The Digital Transformation at the NFB

Since its inception, the NFB has served Canadians by producing and distributing programming designed to reflect Canadian realities and to engage Canadians in issues of importance.

The NFB is a public producer and distributor

• A collection of 13,000 audiovisual works, an invaluable chronicle of Canadian life and culture.

• Over 5,000 awards; 70 Oscar© nominations – more than any other producer in the world, with the exception of major U.S. studios.

• A world pioneer in producing works by Aboriginal filmmakers.• World’s first studio devoted to women filmmakers. • Over 200 projects in development and in production each year, primarily involving

documentaries, animation and interactive creation.• According to a survey of experts by the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA),

16% of the best animated films over the past 50 years have been NFB productions.• The feature documentary Manufactured Landscapes, produced by the NFB, selected as • The feature documentary Manufactured Landscapes, produced by the NFB, selected as

one of the 12 best Canadian films of the decade by Playback magazine.• First online screening room entirely available in English and French.• iPhone application launched in October, 2009; named one of the year’s ten best

applications. iPad 2.0 launch: application of the week in March 2011

In the 30s and 40s, distribution was carried out largely by our travelling projectionists, who would cross the country and screen films in small community centres and church basements.

With the advent of television, the NFB sought the mass audience potential of this new medium, but in turn, lost the direct connection to its audience and the “conversation” that its programming elicits.

A new wayof directly engagingof directly engaging

with Canadians:Digital distribution at

the NFB

Three Essential Components

Customer Management

Content Management

Platform Management

Management

A New EnvironmentAn ecology of business models

Free

Ad-basedOnline Ad-based

VODSubscription

Onlineretail

FreemiumMix of free and

premium content

MicropaymentsiPhone, value added

applications

Ancillary Rights

Online Retail

Focus on three main markets:

• Direct home consumer• Education and institutional• Syndication/aggregators

The NFB Strategy

Core concepts to guide us:

• Our primary goal of accessibility and providing val ue to Canadians.• Leveraging and protecting the NFB brand and its dep th of content. • A mix of “destination” and “syndication”. • A mix of free content and revenue generating conten t.

Ancillary RightsRingtones, wallpaper,

photos, etc

DownloadsTo rent or to own

NFB.caNFB.ca

Best Online Video PortalCanada New Media Awards 2009

Boomerang Grand Prize 2009

Top 50 Canadian WebsitesBy Canada’s Web 50, a collection of Canadian creative designers, marketing managers and online media buyers,

Arts & Culture Site

Boomerang Grand Prize 2010Best Mobile Application (iPhone and iPad)

Brilliant! Some of the best short films ever made. I don’t

consider myself patriotic but the NFB makes me proud to be

Canadian. Great App!

Great job! Killer app! 100% Canadiana!

Ah memories! This is part of

I so love this! Thank you for this. I have rediscovered films seen decades ago … Also I can now effortlessly discover many new treasures from the NFB. We're very

lucky to have this.

User Comments(Source: Apple app store comments)

Ah memories! This is part of our culture that we can’t get anywhere else. So grateful

that these films are available.Very proud

that the NFB did this.

Love it at home, love it on my

phone!

Online Audiences in Denmark

Title Plays

Online

Date

Carts of Darkness 1,198 20/01/2009

Project Grizzly 843 30/09/2009

Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows 770 19/03/2009

Plays by Country2009-01-21 to 2011-04-05

Top Ten TitlesPlayed in Denmark

Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows 770 19/03/2009

Shredded 623 09/02/2009

How Do They Make Potato Chips? 534 03/07/2009

How to Build an Igloo 483 21/02/2008

Ryan 482 16/02/2009

Cat Came Back ,The 479 14/03/2008

How Do They Put the Centres in

Chocolates? 465 09/07/2009

RiP! A Remix Manifesto (Chapter 1) 461 10/03/2009

TOTAL 7,302

Online Audiences in Denmark

• 163-play peak on June 1, 2009, with 137 plays of the different chapters of RiP! A Remix Manifesto

• 240-play peak on June 13, 2010, with 209 plays of Shredded

Embedded videos:

“The NFB success story is noteworthy for two reasons beyond the impressive statistics.

“First, the project is instructive from a public policy perspective. As NFB's content manager recently noted, the Screening Room "puts the films back in front of the people who paid for them in the first place – Canadian

taxpayers.

“Second, the NFB has demonstrated the potential of the Internet and new media to attract new audiences for

Canadian content.

“National Film Board unreels online smash hits”Michael Geist, Feb. 1, 2010 thestar.com

Interactive ProductionsProductions

Online AudiencesAudiences

• Canadian and int’l NFB.ca plays for Q1–Q3 this year total 3.7 M, a 27% increase over the same period last year.

• Repeat visitors have increased by 30% (217,000 in Q1–Q3 last year vs. 282,000 this year), as has the visitor repeat rate (24% of visitors during Q1–Q3 this year vs. 16% in the comparative period last year). Views-to-visits ratio (online film plays in relation to the number of visits) has increased from 1.58:1 last year to 2.16:1 this year.

• Interactive projects are beginning to demonstrate significant impacts on NFB.ca online traffic results—drawing 422,000 visits during Q1–Q3 this year as compared to 98,000 visits for the same period last year (a 330% increase).

Audiences by Channel

Partnerships&

SyndicationSyndication

lYouTube.com

Dailymotion.com

Social NetworksSocial NetworksSocial NetworksSocial Networks

Transactional

The ObjectiveThe Objective

To develop a transactional capacity within NFB.ca that provides the flexibility to develop several consumer and institutional business models, including DTO (download-to-own), SVOD (subscription-based video-on-demand via streaming) and VOD (unique video-on-demand via streaming).(unique video-on-demand via streaming).

The technology adopted must:• Be designed specifically around a user-centric model.• Be fully integrated into NFB.ca.• Support the development of direct relationships with individual

end users.• Foster user engagement.

We chose to develop our capability with an open-source API toolbox, as it provided us with the capacity to:

• Maximize what is already available in the marketplace to reduce costs (as opposed to developing all internally).

• Integrate transactional capabilities within our screening room experience (as opposed to a non-integrated boutique or i-store).

Infrastructure and DevelopmentInfrastructure and Development

• Integrate transactional capabilities within our screening room experience (as opposed to a non-integrated boutique or i-store).

• Scale the development according to the business value and provide flexibility to build on the basis of future development.

• Build on the NFB.ca compatible software and language.• Meet Government of Canada guidelines to favour open-source

technology when available.

Customer ManagementCustomer ManagementThe User HubThe User Hub

Objectives:• Integrated User/Customer Management Systems for

transactional and non-transactional clients• Value added to encourage registration• Ability to provide Engagement tools to create a fidelity • Ability to provide Engagement tools to create a fidelity

program• Channels and targeted updates on content• Ability to target newsletters• Playlist and user comments capability

The NFB in Schools

• NFB.ca public performance licences across the following provinces:– Quebec– Ontario – British Columbia– New Brunswick– The Yukon–(and in negotiation with otherprovinces).

• In addition to licences with a number of school boards, colleges, universities and libraries across the country.

A Dedicated Portal for TeachersA Dedicated Portal for Teachers

• Password-protected access to exclusive content

• Teachers’ guides and complementary material

• MARC records and added search tools by age group and educational level

• Targeted channels

• Film descriptions intended for (and written by) teachers

• Ability to chapter, bookmark films, create multiple playlists• Ability to chapter, bookmark films, create multiple playlists

• Digital storytelling online workshop

• Mobile applications that teach story telling and promote media literacy

New Digital Sales New Digital Sales and Marketing and Marketing and Marketing and Marketing

ToolsTools

THE WORLD AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

Over 100 years of History1896 – 2011

� > 80% of collection on 16 and 35mm film

Search / preview /share / edit / free download

� > 80% of collection on 16 and 35mm film

� HD native footage

� Preservation

� Carefully selected footage from NFB documentary

and co-productions

� Long sequences for better editing

� In-house transfer in SD & HD on demand

NFB Stock Footage• Social• Historical• Creative• Environmental

Our Partners • National Geographic (USA)• Getty Archives (USA)• Gaumont-Pathé (France)• Framepool (Germany)• Radio-Canada (Canada)

White LabelWhite LabelSite ProjectSite ProjectSite ProjectSite Project

White Label SiteWhite Label Sitefor the Canadian Film Industryfor the Canadian Film Industry

• Offer an online screening room and distribution outlet for Canadian films using NFB.ca technology, infrastructure and workflows

• Provide Canadian producers and institutions with a bilingual platform• Provide Canadian producers and institutions with a bilingual platformto engage audiences and position the Canadian film and mediabrand

• Offer a profitable business model for revenue generation and distribution of recent and back catalogue productions

• The Canadian industry will benefit from an NFB-developpedinfrastructure and expertise in digital distribution that neither the private sector nor the public broadcast sector could have undertaken

The NFB in the CommunityCommunity

E-Cinema

What is EWhat is E --Cinema?Cinema?

• Digital network for distributing and screening audiovisual works adapted to size of theatre

Works in high definition (HD) with high -quality sound (5.1)

works adapted to size of theatre

- Projection system (image and sound)

- Server

- High-speed Internet connection

Benefits of EBenefits of E --CinemaCinema

• Access to vast collection of films

• Programming selected via consultation Web site

• Delivery via download from computer network

• Secure and available for rights-period granted

• Digital stability and quality (no graininess, scratches, dust or grime)

• Facility costs correspond to theatre size (large, medium, small)

Digitization Digitization Digitization Digitization PlanPlan

Goals of the NFB Digitization

1. Facilitate the currentand future accessibility of NFB works in digital formats

2. Ensure the preservationand conservation of NFB works in digital format and NFB Digitization

Plan

works in digital format and media

3. Restore certain NFB works that particularlysuffered deterioration over time

Need for digital content: NFB Collection in detail

The NFB has a vast collection of audiovisual materi alin its conservation vaults

• Visual - 12,963 titles (10,141 film and 2,822 Video) – 6,148 hrs• Sound - 10,728 titles – 5,043 hrs• Stock footage – 3,502 hrs or 50,650 clips • Music and Sound Effects – 19,617 NFB sound effect and 5,754 master tapes

of music• Photo Library – 460,000 elements (photographs, stills, negatives, etc)• Photo Library – 460,000 elements (photographs, stills, negatives, etc)

(61%)(17%)

(22%)

NFB Collection - Image16 mm 35 mm Video (SD and HD)

(21%)

(74%)

(4%) (1%)

NFB collection- SoundMO Magnetic DAT Other media

DIGITIZATION PLAN CONCEPTS

• Create a DSM, a DM and a PIVOT File of all works in our collection, beginning with our active collection (60%).

• We estimate this phase to take us 5 to 7 years.

• Work : organized set of assetsunder which an original production, its versions (language versions, length versions, adaptations or revisions) as well as its trailer are grouped together.

• Series and compilations constitutelogical sets of works and not works

Work Concept

50

logical sets of works and not worksin themselves.

• The ‘’body’’ of the film, found in every version of a work, will bedigitized and processed only once.

• Digital archiving of a work, the DSM, comprises SEGMENTS AND METADATA

Enabling Digitization Tools

� Digitize Film in HD, 2K or 4K

� Digitizing Ratios:

� Real-time for HD or 2K

� 4 to 1 (1hr film =

Film Scanner

4 hr of digitization in 4K

� Digitize film in good condition, with minor deterioration

Datacine

�Digitize fragile and deteriorated film

�Higher digitization ratio

� 5 to 1 for 2K

� 20 to 1 for 4K

The Digital Master (DM) - image

1. Creation of the Digital Master (DM)

� Bring back the original aspect of the film

� Automated restoration

� Digital treatment of work’s image

� In-depth restoration� In-depth restoration

� Colour timing

� Keep all pertinent information about treatment applied to each component of a film

� For Video Sources – DM created atDigital Processing Centre (DPC)

ISSUESISSUES

• Implement a Media Asset Management system (MAM)

• Optimization of workflows and automatization of some tasks

• Capacity/configuration of the infrastructure for storage and archiving

• Migration of Linear Tape Open (LTO) on new supports

• New digital formats may emerge or digital file format may become

obsolete; this would require a new encoding of our digital files, not a new

digitization

Digital files must be regularly migrated

to new media.

Thank you!

James RobertsNational Film Board of CanadaNational Film Board of Canada

Accessibility and Digital Enterprisesj.roberts@nfb.ca

+1 (514) 283-9426