Industry committee  Mr. Chair, I'm thankful to the committee for inviting us to express our opinion on this subject of the entertainment software industry and video games. I'm the chairman and CEO of the Canadian Interactive Alliance, which is a trans-Canada association for all the interactive medi

Industry committee  I'd like to cover the last few minutes of our presentation with three other issues that are relevant to our industry. On slide 13, issue number one which I highlighted is access to early funding. The problem right now is there is a new innovation fund that was put together to fu

Industry committee  Different traits.

Industry committee  Yes. We spoke about the CMF. They funded about 80 projects last year, but there were over 500 projects submitted, so there is a lot of need among the young start-ups that are putting forward innovative and creative content. These start-ups need early stage funding to create these

Industry committee  By creating wealth in Canadian-owned companies that will stay in Canada because their shareholders feel an attachment to their home and native land, so to speak. By so doing, I feel that it is possible to create a much more solid industry that is capable of producing and marketin

Industry committee  As we said about the skills shortage, what we have to understand when we bring in a creative director, a senior creative director, let's say, is that this guy is going to be surrounded by juniors. There is a transfer of knowledge, and the juniors can become seniors themselves, to

Industry committee  Yes, thank you. Leave room for the creators to get off the ground and, as I say, market some great content and brands.

Industry committee  It's a potential avenue. It's a suggestion that could be embraced, because the problem we see right now is that the companies have to put as much money into the marketing and distribution of the products as they do into the development of the product itself. Even though the bar

Industry committee  Not yet. I'm doing it today.

Industry committee  I think it's based on the origin of the industry where AAAs were funded elsewhere. Our industry is still young. It's been since 1997 that we have really been embracing this industry. There was a culture of development here, but not publishing, that was in place for a long time.

Industry committee  It is. Though products are less tangible these days, in the sense that we no longer sell products in boxes, we distribute everything digitally, the fact remains that we still have to find partners to help us with the visibility of those products in emerging markets. I have worked

Industry committee  In our industry, Africa has a certain growth potential. The fact is that console users are few and far between, and mobile phones are just starting to be used in some countries. Right now, Canadian companies should pay particular attention to Asian markets, such as Japan, Korea

Industry committee  I think they react, but you have to understand that the video game industry is evolving so fast. The tools that we use now to create the games didn't exist four years ago. By the time that universities and colleges get on board to follow the industry lead, and the emerging new pl

Industry committee  It's newer for us. The origin of video games goes back to two major hubs that are ahead of Canada, namely California and Japan. A lot of these skilled workers come from these areas as well. Our industry is younger than theirs; that's for sure. We barely had an industry before 199

Industry committee  If I may, I think once more it's by having senior people mentoring the younger guys and being able to work on creative projects and innovations that are being built within the company, as we speak. That's what's going to make these younger guys able to teach and mentor other peop