Thank you very much.
Thank you for having me today. It is a real honour.
I am going to share a little bit about myself. I have been working in communications for about 30 years, including 14 at MusiquePlus where I still work today. I host M. Net. Over the past 14 years, I've had the opportunity to witness the growth of the video game industry in my area of the country, Montreal. I've seen companies like Ubisoft be created. At the helm of that company, there were many very enthusiastic people who were ready to throw themselves into this new adventure on this side of the ocean.
What I most noticed were young people who finished school, who had practically no experience on the labour market, who had just finished a course and who, overnight, found themselves leading projects. At the time, we called them "Lego" projects because they were based on children's games. Fifteen years later, however, the same people are in charge of studios. I am thinking of Cédric Orvoine, who is now in Toronto and who is in charge of Ubisoft's studio. He started out working in media relations.
Unfortunately, most people don't know much about video games, perhaps even some people sitting around this table. We're not just talking about 35-year-old guys who live in their basement or living room and eat cheezies while playing video games. These are people who are passionately creative.
I often see this in action since I also make documentaries on the making of video games. My latest is Deus Ex: Human Revolution, for Eidos Montreal. During four years, I followed the development of this game. I saw dramatic situations where people faced technological dead ends, but finally found ways to get around them. It's all because people who were there 14 years ago are now in key positions. They face situations that can be difficult, but they manage to get around pitfalls thanks to their experience.
People with a lot of experience are few and far between. I realized that. The person who worked at Ubisoft three years ago now works on another project at Eidos. He will work there for three years, then when another position opens up at BioWare in Vancouver, he will apply there. The departure of these people leaves gaping holes. They are important positions to fill.
I went to Paris recently, and I met people from Ubisoft France. They told me they would really like to come work in Canada. They had the impression that things are happening here, that it is a sort of Mecca for development, Hollywood for video games. I told them to come, but they told me that the snag was that they would have to wait 16 or 18 weeks.
If I had one suggestion to make to you, ladies and gentlemen, it would be to reduce that wait time a bit to allow those brains to come here. Yes, Canada is Hollywood for video games, but there are other countries around. I am thinking of England, among others. Last year at the MIGS, the Montreal International Games Summit, representatives from that country distributed bags to promote gaming in England. Their message was the following: "Come and work with us in England; we have great conditions, great job offers."
It is not a well-known field and we should do more to introduce it to, among others, the parents of these kids. I speak on it. I did a tour involving 90 schools as part of a series called Vigilance on the Net. We talked about cyberbullying and the jobs of the future in the video game industry. I realized that parents were completely out of their depth. They are scared of video games because if their children are playing, they aren't studying. For my part, I explain to them that in this field, we need architects, engineers, actors, computer technicians and all kinds of other people. The jobs are pretty much the same as in the film industry. In fact, movies and video games are incredibly similar. The difference is that if we create a game starring Lara Croft, we don't have to pay her 20 million dollars.
It is a great field that I would like to promote more. I don't know if governments could help us do so. For my part, I do it daily on my show. I try to convince people — and especially young people — to go into this field. People who work in this area will have work for the rest of their lives.