ideaBOOST Adapts 'Accelerator' Model With Intensive Boot Camp-Type Program to Support Digital Content Businesses and Products

TORONTO, Sept. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Exercising its own entrepreneurial chops, the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) announces ideaBOOST, a new creative business development lab to support early-stage teams and digital production companies with training and tools they need to create content for today's engaged and digital audiences.

"By offering strategic business and audience engagement support at the earliest stage of their concepts, the CFC believes ideaBOOST can help catapult start-ups and small-to-medium sized production companies to commercial success in this exploding world of digital entertainment," says Ana Serrano, CFC's Chief Digital Officer. "ideaBOOST combines the best program design elements from media production and prototyping, product development principles from technology's lean start-up movement, as well as the immersion of business accelerator programs that have recently emerged. As a result, ideaBOOST will provide the tools, strategic advice, and access to a global entertainment industry network for promising digital entertainment players as they build their ideas to the next level."

What makes ideaBOOST unique is its focus upon what the CFC calls "engaged entertainment," -- offerings that engage the audience in the creation process. These include video-based entertainment content, games, and applications on the web, mobile and other platforms and multi-platform properties designed for empowered consumers. ideaBOOST will engage consumers as active participants throughout the four-month process from ideation and development, to product launch and sales.

As part of the ideaBOOST process, audience members are encouraged to visit www.ideaBOOST.ca during the project selection phase (through September 18, 2012) to explore the submissions, share them across social media channels, and vote on the ideas they'd most like to see "BOOSTed". Applicants with the top votes will form a shortlist, which an expert jury will narrow down to between six to eight participating companies or teams.

Beginning November 5, the final participants will enter ideaBOOST's unique collaborative environment, where they will spend four intensive months creating digital entertainment prototypes and designing business models. They will be provided with a set of tools, access to industry-leading mentors and exposure to Canadian and American entertainment leaders and a unique audience engagement platform.

ideaBOOST's Board of Advisors is made up of leading entertainment players and successful entrepreneurs, including Bruce Croxon (Co-founder, Round13 Capital), Shawn Hardin (Entrepreneur in Residence, Bessemer Venture Partners), David Gale (Executive Vice President, MTVX at MTV Networks), Paul Woolner (Founder, 4Sight Partners) and Andrew Bailey (Chairman, North America, Proximity).

About the CFC Media Lab

Created in 1997 by the Canadian Film Centre (www.cfccreates.com), the CFC Media Lab provides a unique collaborative training, acceleration and creative production think-tank environment for emerging new media content developers, practitioners and companies.

To become a part of this ground-breaking program by voting on the short list of applicants, and to find out how you can help BOOST the selected participants and their ideas throughout ideaBOOST, please visit www.ideaBOOST.ca

For more information please contact:

Jacqueline Nuwame
Senior Manager, Client Relationships
CFC Media Lab
Phone: 416-673-6539
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.cfccreates.com 

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SOURCE Canadian Film Centre