Common menu bar links
Breadcrumb Trail
ARCHIVED - National Film Board of Canada - Report
This page has been archived.
Archived Content
Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats on the "Contact Us" page.
Minister’s Message
Year after year, Canadian Heritage portfolio organizations pursue Government of Canada objectives to allow Canadians to discover the richness of their culture and their heritage. As Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, I am pleased to present the 2012–13 Report on
Plans and Priorities prepared by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).
The NFB plays a unique role as a producer and distributor of audiovisual works. It is recognized as a leader both in the field of traditional film production and in the constantly changing world of digital media. By presenting bold and cutting-edge Canadian works, the NFB highlights Canada’s creative and technological originality.
In keeping with its commitment to strengthen the bonds between all Canadians, the NFB is constantly exploring new possibilities offered by the world of media in order to build a unique heritage collection. The diversity of its productions reflects Canadian viewpoints and values and allows audiences to enjoy enriching cultural experiences. By chronicling significant events in Canada and around the world, the NFB helps strengthen Canadians’ sense of pride and promotes their full participation in society.
As indicated in this report, in 2012–13, the National Film Board will continue to take concrete measures to promote our arts, culture, and heritage. In so doing, the NFB will help improve the quality of life of Canadians, while contributing to Canada’s social, cultural, and economic vitality.
The Honourable James Moore, P.C., M.P.
Commissioner’s Message
After four years as Government Film Commissioner at the National Film Board of Canada, I can see how far we have come in implementing our 2008–2012 Strategic Plan. In 2008, in light of the dramatic transformation of the audiovisual landscape, we began to redefine our relationship with our audiences and assume a leadership role in the digital realm, thereby making our collection more accessible than ever. At one time firmly anchored in traditional media, the NFB is now a key player in the film industry’s digital economy.
An internal reorganization enabled us to accomplish the mission we defined four years ago. We reviewed and refined our organizational structure and work methods to make the NFB more flexible and adaptable to the requirements of a constantly changing environment. Achieving those objectives required strong discipline, different budget management methods and innovative organizational practices.
Through sustained effort, we were able to lay the foundations for new ways of developing, producing and distributing content. As we enter the fifth and final year of our strategic plan, we can safely say that the NFB is recognized the world over for its creativity and originality in the use of digital media. Moreover, the digital shift has helped strengthen our commitment to Canadians by making our productions available to an increasingly broader audience.
In keeping with its mandate, the NFB will continue to provide diverse Canadian productions of the highest quality in both form and content, focusing on documentaries, auteur animation and interactive programming. As a creative laboratory, the NFB has changed the face of film over the decades and will continue to make room for as-yet unimagined productions, using emerging and untested technologies for creative purposes. Every genre and format of work we produce wins accolades internationally, while conveying Canadian values and perspectives at home and abroad.
Since we launched our online Screening Room, NFB.ca, in January 2009, we have forged a series of partnerships with online video portals such as YouTube and Dailymotion, giving the whole world an opportunity to discover Canada and the NFB brand. To counter declining revenue from traditional sources, we have implemented a business plan with the objectives of increasing revenue and audience size and enhancing our reputation by exploiting the possibilities of the digital revolution. As part of our goal of diversifying our sources of revenue, in fall 2011 we launched our transactional site, where our productions can be bought and downloaded.
Our digitization strategy is central to our research and development efforts. Our innovative approach to the digital archiving, conservation and accessibility of our collection has attracted attention both at home and abroad. Our participation in prestigious events such as the International Conference on Preservation of Digital Objects (iPRES) and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) conference has earned us acclaim and positioned the NFB as a leader of Canada’s digital economy.
Every year, the NFB enters into major partnerships that help us promote creativity and the exploration of other forms of art and entertainment. For example, the NFB will put its documentary expertise to work on the multiplatform project At Home/Chez soi, created in collaboration with the Mental Health Commission of Canada. The NFB will chronicle the impact of mental illness and homelessness on project participants in five Canadian cities.
As a public producer, the NFB plays a key role in the great moments in the life of our nation by paying tribute to Canada, its history and its values. Throughout the coming year, the NFB will draw on its artistic and technological expertise to mark milestones in the history of Canada. It will celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II with a souvenir box set that features two famous films from our collection, Royal Journey (1951) and Canada at the Coronation (1953). As a bonus, the box set will also include The Portrait, a documentary short by Hubert Davis that follows Canadian artist Phil Richards as he rises to one of the greatest challenges of his career: painting a portrait of the Queen. The NFB will also commemorate, in its own way, the bicentennial of the War of 1812, which set the stage for our present-day Confederation. These celebrations are the first steps in paving the way to 2017, Canada's 150th anniversary.
Since its founding, the NFB has worked with Inuit communities to tell their stories and share their traditions. As a result, we now have the world’s largest collection of audiovisual works about northern peoples. With the help of some key partners, we have produced a box set of exceptional archival films. The project, Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories, will help perpetuate the Inuit tradition of transmission of knowledge and culture through storytelling. In phase two of this Inuit audiovisual legacy project, the film collection—which will be dubbed in Inuktitut—will be used in Inuit schools and, thanks to subtitling in both official languages, schools throughout the country. At a time when the Arctic is attracting increasing international attention, dissemination of this cultural heritage is vital.
Creating strong ties with Canada’s youth and ensuring that the NFB’s audiovisual heritage will be accessible to future generations are issues that we take very seriously. The digitization that began a few years ago increases our presence in classrooms all over the country and enables thousands of young Canadians to see our films. As schools increasingly employ digital teaching resources, the NFB is using its Web-based CAMPUS portal to meet the needs of teachers here and abroad.
Throughout the year, we will take part in major events consistent with our action plan goals of enhancing promotion and development of the French language and extending the influence of our French audiovisual heritage, both in Canada and elsewhere in the world. First, we will take part in the French Language World Forum being held in Quebec City in July, where we will present a new interactive work that will build on the participation of the young people expected to attend. Then, we will take part in the World Congress of the Fédération internationale des professeurs de Français (World Congress of International Federation of Teachers of French) in Durban, South Africa, where we will give a presentation on how access to digitized knowledge and heritage is a key factor in the vitality of the French language.
My team and I have already started thinking ahead to the next strategic plan. The standards of good governance and sound management of public funds, as well as the essence of our mission, will remain central to our thinking. It is principles such as these that make the National Film Board of Canada a unique institution.
Tom Perlmutter
Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson of the National Film Board of Canada
Section I: Organizational Overview
Raison d’Être
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) was created by an Act of Parliament in 1939 and is a federal agency within the Canadian Heritage portfolio. The NFB’s mandate is to produce and distribute original and innovative audiovisual works that add to our understanding of the issues facing Canadians and raise awareness of Canadian values and viewpoints across the country and around the world. Throughout the decades, the NFB has also played an important role in marking the major changes and events taking place in Canadian society, and has become Canada’s best-known cinematic brand.
As a producer and distributor of audiovisual works, the NFB provides a unique perspective on Canada’s cultural wealth and diversity. The NFB explores contemporary social issues through point-of-view documentaries, auteur animation and new-media content. Over the years, the NFB has played an important role in marking the major changes and events taking place in Canadian society. The NFB has set the benchmark for audiovisual innovation in cinema.
Responsibilities
As a creative laboratory, the NFB plays a leadership role in exploring new formats and new types of narrative, from the creation and distribution of digital productions to the development of innovative forms of audiovisual expression. The NFB is expanding the vocabulary of cinema by proposing new avenues for point-of-view documentaries, animated films and interactive productions.
By supporting emerging filmmakers, members of diverse cultural and linguistic communities, Aboriginal communities and people with disabilities, the NFB is making sure that its audiovisual works reflect Canada’s changing cultural and social realities.
Ensuring that Canadians have access to the audiovisual works it produces and distributes is a top priority for the NFB. It has one of the world’s largest audiovisual collections, which is an invaluable heritage for all of Canada and the rest of the world. With the launch of the online Screening Room at NFB.ca, Web users from Canada and around the world now have unprecedented access to content that reflects Canadian culture and values, wherever it suits them and on whatever platform they prefer. The NFB is also helping pass Canadian values on to the younger generation by providing educational institutions with its productions in several formats and in both official languages.
For more information about the NFB, visit: http://www.nfb-onf.gc.ca/eng/about-us/organization.php
Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture (PAA)
In pursuing its mandate, the National Film Board aims to achieve the following *strategic outcome:
Canadian stories and perspectives are reflected in audiovisual media and accessible to Canadians and the world.
Program Activity Architecture
The chart below illustrates the NFB’s program activities and sub-activities that contribute to its strategic outcome.
Organizational Priorities
| Priority | Type1 | Strategic Outcome and/or Program Activity(ies) |
|---|---|---|
| Creative leadership and excellence in programming The NFB will exercise its leadership as a world reference point for innovation and creation of documentaries, auteur animation, digital/new media content and other emerging forms for and across all platforms. |
Ongoing | *Strategic Outcome PA 1: Production of Audiovisual Works |
| Description | ||
|
Why is this a priority?
Plans for meeting the priority In 2012–2013, the NFB will continue to offer programming that focuses on both multiplatform digital productions and more traditional sectors. It will continue to explore new formats and new types of narrative in the making and distribution of digital works, as well as in its usual areas of strength. Through its various initiatives, the NFB will pursue and consolidate the identification, development and nurturing of creative talent and skills among both established and emerging filmmakers from all parts of Canada and from a variety of ethnocultural, Aboriginal and linguistic communities. The NFB will continue to seek out and develop public-private partnerships and will maintain and consolidate existing ones. |
||
| Priority | Type | Strategic Outcome and/or Program Activity(ies) |
| Wide Accessibility and Democratic Engagement The NFB will make its work and the work of its partners readily and widely accessible to Canadian and international audiences on all relevant platforms. |
Ongoing | *Strategic Outcome PA 2: Accessibility and Audience Engagement |
| Description | ||
|
Why is this a priority?
Plans for meeting the priority In 2012–2013, the NFB will boost its online presence through content syndication partners and will continue to add high-quality productions to NFB.ca. The NFB will continue to expand and improve its online offerings for the educational market, and will develop products specifically for this market. The NFB will take a more effectively structured approach to marketing, with a greater focus on priorities. |
||
| Priority | Type | Strategic Outcome and/or Program Activity(ies) |
| Digital Transformation By continuing to implement its digital strategy, the NFB will ensure that it can deliver on its mandate into the future: in programming, distribution, accessibility, business development and conservation of its audiovisual heritage. |
Ongoing | *Strategic Outcome PA 1: Production of Audiovisual Works PA 2: Accessibility and Audience Engagement |
| Description | ||
|
Why is this a priority?
Plans for meeting the priority The NFB will continue to implement its digitization and digital archiving plan. The NFB will be able to do a better job of meeting the needs of shifting to new media. |
||
| Priority | Type | Strategic Outcome and/or Program Activity(ies) |
| Organizational renewal The NFB will become a model for the creative organization of the 21st century: a flexible, efficient and effective organization that is a crucible for creative innovation, values its employees, works in a timely and transparent manner with its stakeholders, delivers value to Canadians and takes initiative in implementing environmentally sustainable practices. |
Ongoing | *Strategic Outcome PA 1: Production of Audiovisual Works PA 2: Accessibility and Audience Engagement |
| Description | ||
|
Why is this a priority?
Plans for meeting the priority The NFB will take measures to maintain and improve its performance in areas of management for which recommendations were made as part of the Round VIII Management Accountability Framework (MAF) assessment. The NFB will implement its 2011–2014 Human Resources Strategic Plan to ensure it has the skill sets it needs by offering staff various professional development and training options. The Operations Committee will continue with implementation of the strategic plan in keeping with the priorities set for last year. It will also continue to provide coordination and communication between senior management and operations. |
||
| Priority | Type | Strategic Outcome and/or Program Activity(ies) |
| Firm Financing The NFB continues to implement financial planning and control mechanisms to maximize internal efficiency. It will seek new revenue-generating sectors, optimize its partnerships in such areas as marketing, and give new impetus to its conventional distribution activities. |
Ongoing | *Strategic Outcome PA 1: Production of Audiovisual Works PA 2: Accessibility and Audience Engagement |
| Description | ||
|
Why is this a priority?
Plans for meeting the priority The NFB will keep strict cost controls in place. It will continue to follow its business plan and develop business partnerships. The objectives of the business plan: increasing revenue and audience size and enhancing our reputation. It will continue to implement a structured, efficient marketing and distribution strategy. |
||
Risk Analysis
The NFB’s ability to achieve its strategic objectives depends greatly on its proactive management of external and internal risks to the organization. In recent years, the audiovisual environment has been in major upheaval, making it necessary to adapt and to encourage research, debate and the development of innovative solutions. Internally, the NFB has made significant changes to its operations and structure in order to implement its strategic plan efficiently and effectively and be prepared to react to changes in the environment in which it operates.
The NFB is pursuing its commitment to improve its integrated risk-management capacity and approach. Among other things, it intends to revise and publish its organizational risk profile this year and make greater use of it in planning its activities. A working group of middle managers from the NFB’s various divisions has been set up to assist senior management in this regard.
Here is an overview of the main risks that the NFB will face in 2012–2013.
External Risks
The film and television industry has been going through profound changes in the last few years. Traditional television broadcasting models continue to crumble as markets evolve and fragment and broadcast licensing budgets are tightened. According to Profile 2011,2 the production of single-episode documentaries for television declined in 2010–2011 in both official language markets. The value of animated film production in 2011 was $136 million for the film and television market, its lowest level in 10 years.
These changes have meant a significant drop in the NFB’s traditional sources of revenue for several years now. To offset the loss in revenue, the NFB adopted a business plan that focuses on the development of markets tied to the increase in Internet use, but also related to mobile platforms such as tablets and smartphones. Even though new content consumption patterns and new business models are still in transition, the NFB will implement its business plan in 2012–2013 and the years to come to foster new growth.
Internal Risks
The physical security of our audiovisual assets is one of our top risk-management priorities. The NFB has one of the world’s largest audiovisual collections, representing an invaluable heritage for all Canadians. The collection is stored in a single location (Montreal head office), which is a major risk, as it could be lost forever. To ensure the long-term protection and preservation of the collection, the NFB has implemented a conservation plan that involves moving one copy of each work to a separate location having conservation conditions similar to those in our head office conservation rooms. Close to 5,200 cubic feet of material will be relocated over three years.
Digitizing the NFB’s collection is essential to avoid the risk of technological obsolescence and to ensure that the collection remains accessible to present and future generations. To this end, the NFB has developed a seven-year digitization and digital archiving plan that raises a number of technical and financial challenges. The NFB must digitize over 13,000 titles, close to 20 percent of which could ultimately be lost if they are not transferred to new media.
Given that audiovisual distribution is migrating increasingly to digital platforms and the Internet, it is crucial for the NFB to make its works available to Canadians in the formats and on the platforms of their choice. The NFB regularly innovates by taking artistic and technological risks. There are two sides to the constant, rapid pace of technological change: on the one hand it gives creators wonderful possibilities, but at the same time it threatens their long-term survival.
In addition, the NFB must confront the major issues facing human resource management (competition, aging labour force, etc.) and ensure that its employees have the required expertise to deal with technological change. A workforce without up-to-date skills and knowledge could undermine achievement of the organizational renewal objective that the NFB has set as part of its strategic plan. To help the NFB adapt to the realities of the new digital environment, Human Resources has drawn up an integrated professional development plan. This year the 2011–2014 Human Resources Strategic Plan will also be implemented to ensure that the organization can meet its current and future needs in this area.
Planning Summary
| 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 |
|---|---|---|
| 66,782 | 66,782 | 66,782 |
| 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 |
|---|---|---|
| 428 | 428 | 428 |
| Performance Indicators | Targets3 |
|---|---|
| Percentage of Canadian population that indicated that NFB productions reflect Canadian stories or perspectives | 75% by March 31, 2015 |
| Canadian stories and perspectives: percentage of completed productions exploring Canadian diversity | 75% by March 31, 2015 |
| Canadian stories and perspectives: percentage of completed productions exploring socially relevant issues | 75% by March 31, 2015 |
| Number of titles available on NFB.ca | 2,500 by March 31, 2015 |
Planning Summary Table
| Program Activity | Forecast Spending 2011-12 |
Planned Spending | Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | |||
| Audiovisual Production | 43,177 | 40,755 | 40,755 | 40,755 | Social Affairs: A Vibrant Canadian Heritage and Culture |
| Accessibility and audience engagement | 15,982 | 17,779 | 17,779 | 17,779 | |
| Internal Services | 8,329 | 8,248 | 8,248 | 8,248 | N/A |
| Total planned spending | 67,488 | 66,782 | 66,782 | 66,782 | |
Expenditure Profile
($ thousands)
Estimates by Vote
For information on our organizational appropriations, please see the 2012–13 Main Estimates publication.