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 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 way of directly engaging with Canadians: Digital distribution at the NFB
Three Essential Components
Customer Management
Platform Management
Content Management
A New Environment An ecology of business models Free Online retail
Subscription
Ad-based
VOD
The NFB Strategy Focus on three main markets: • Direct home consumer • Education and institutional • Syndication/aggregators
Freemium Mix of free and premium content
Micropayments iPhone, value added applications Online Retail
Ancillary Rights Ringtones, wallpaper, photos, etc
Downloads To rent or to own
Core concepts to guide us: • • • •
Our primary goal of accessibility and providing value to Canadians. Leveraging and protecting the NFB brand and its depth of content. A mix of “destination” and “syndication”. A mix of free content and revenue generating content.
NFB.ca
Best Online Video Portal Canada New Media Awards 2009
Top 50 Canadian Websites By Canada’s Web 50, a collection of Canadian creative designers, marketing managers and online media buyers,
Boomerang Grand Prize 2009 Arts & Culture Site
Boomerang Grand Prize 2010 Best 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!
Ah memories! This is part of our culture that we can’t get anywhere else. So grateful that these films are available.
Great job! Killer app! 100% Canadiana! 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.
Love it at home, love it on my phone!
Very proud that the NFB did this.
User Comments (Source: Apple app store comments)
Online Audiences in Denmark Plays by Country 2009-01-21 to 2011-04-05
Top Ten Titles Played in Denmark Plays
Online Date
1,198
20/01/2009
Project Grizzly
843
30/09/2009
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 How Do They Put the Centres in Chocolates?
479
14/03/2008
465
09/07/2009
RiP! A Remix Manifesto (Chapter 1)
461
10/03/2009
Title Carts of Darkness
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 Embedded videos:
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240-play peak on June 13, 2010, with 209 plays of Shredded
“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 Productions
Online Audiences
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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.
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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.
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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 & Syndication
l
YouTube.com
Dailymotion.com
Social Networks
Transactional
The 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). 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.
Infrastructure and Development 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). • 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 Management The 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 program • Channels and targeted updates on content • Ability to target newsletters • Playlist and user comments capability
The NFB in Schools
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NFB.ca public performance licences across the following provinces: – Quebec – Ontario – British Columbia – New Brunswick – The Yukon (and in negotiation with other provinces).
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In addition to licences with a number of school boards, colleges, universities and libraries across the country.
A 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 Digital storytelling online workshop Mobile applications that teach story telling and promote media literacy
New Digital Sales and Marketing Tools
Over 100 years of History 1896 – 2011 THE WORLD AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
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 Label Site Project
White Label Site for 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 to engage audiences and position the Canadian film and media brand • Offer a profitable business model for revenue generation and distribution of recent and back catalogue productions • The Canadian industry will benefit from an NFB-developped infrastructure and expertise in digital distribution that neither the private sector nor the public broadcast sector could have undertaken
The NFB in the Community E-Cinema
What is EE-Cinema? Works in high definition (HD) with high-quality sound (5.1) • Digital network for distributing and screening audiovisual works adapted to size of theatre - Projection system (image and sound) - Server - High-speed Internet connection
Benefits of EE-Cinema • 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 Plan
1. Facilitate the current and future accessibility of NFB works in digital formats
Goals of the NFB Digitization Plan
2. Ensure the preservation and conservation of NFB works in digital format and media
3. Restore certain NFB works that particularly suffered deterioration over time
Need for digital content: NFB Collection in detail The NFB has a vast collection of audiovisual material in 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)
NFB Collection - Image 16 mm
35 mm
Video (SD and HD)
NFB collection- Sound MO
Magnetic (4%)
(22%)
(17%)
DAT
Other media
(1%) (21%)
(61%) (74%)
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 Concept • Work: organized set of assets under which an original production, its versions (language versions, length versions, adaptations or revisions) as well as its trailer are grouped together. • Series and compilations constitute logical sets of works and not works in themselves. • The ‘’body’’ of the film, found in every version of a work, will be digitized and processed only once. • Digital archiving of a work, the DSM, comprises SEGMENTS AND METADATA 50
Enabling Digitization Tools Digitize Film in HD, 2K or 4K
Film Scanner
Digitizing Ratios: Real-time for HD or 2K 4 to 1 (1hr film = 4 hr of digitization in 4K Datacine
Digitize film in good condition, with minor deterioration 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 Colour timing Keep all pertinent information about treatment applied to each component of a film For Video Sources – DM created at Digital Processing Centre (DPC)
ISSUES •
Implement a Media Asset Management system (MAM)
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Optimization of workflows and automatization of some tasks
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Capacity/configuration of the infrastructure for storage and archiving
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Migration of Linear Tape Open (LTO) on new supports
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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 Roberts National Film Board of Canada Accessibility and Digital Enterprises j.roberts@nfb.ca +1 (514) 283-9426