Canada’s place in the global content industry and government oversight in the face of huge technological change, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), are just a few of the topics Prime Time will tackle this year, the annual media production summit hosted by the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), slated to take place Jan. 31 – Feb. 2, in Ottawa.
Andrew Addison, Vice President, Communications, Marketing & Membership, with the CMPA, says this year’s gathering of content industry professionals will be the biggest to date, with the most vast lineup of concurrent sessions the event has ever staged.
“I think we’re really looking at a inflection point in the production content industry globally,” Addison told Broadcast Dialogue. “We’re coming out of COVID and its long tail effects, we’ve also seen an end to some of the labour activity in the U.S. last year and now it’s where is the industry going? Prime Time is looking at that from a whole host of angles.”
This year’s event is on track to host at least 900 delegates from all levels of the industry, following a concerted effort initiated last year to welcome delegates from Indigenous and equity-seeking groups. That includes creating more dedicated meeting space for networking and one-on-one meetings, including the opening afternoon Paramount+ Meeting Cafe, and Breakfast With… and Coffee With…, offering the chance to sit down in small groups with industry executives as part of the event’s Market Access Program.
“More executives will be participating in our market pitch program than ever before, said Addison. “We’ve been on a steady growth curve with Prime Time and as more and more global execs are aware of it and wanting to attend, we’re thrilled with the number of folks coming to take pitches. I think it’s really going to be a boon to delegates. The counter-intuitive beauty of Ottawa is that it’s cold out in February and everyone stays inside the conference centre, resulting in unprecedented access to meetings.”
Prime Time will open with a panel looking at the global content ecosystem from production to distribution and what’s forecast for 2024 and beyond. The session that formerly opened the conference, featuring Canadian media leaders on the state of the domestic television sector, moves to close the event this year, exploring what’s happening domestically, the Online Streaming Act framework on the horizon, and the challenges of planning for an uncertain future as regulations continue to be written.
Addison says several panels aim to elevate regulatory discussion from previous years, including “Big Tech” balance: Safeguarding national interests while promoting growth,” featuring Paul Deegan, President & CEO of News Media Canada, which championed Bill C-11, and Taleeb Noormohamed, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Canadian Heritage Min. Pascale St-Onge also makes her first appearance on the Prime Time stage in an “In Conversation With” session on Feb. 1.
“AI and the content industry: Artificial promise or genuine progress?” on Feb. 2, features artificial intelligence experts Jared Ficklin, one of the founding partners of Austin, TX tech-driven product design consultancy argodesign, and Nicholas Ning, the founder and CEO of global AI consulting firm, Farpoint, discussing implications for the content industry, opportunities and risks.
“It will be a great way to get the latest from a practical standpoint,” said Addison. “And a great opportunity for delegates to ask questions.”
Find the full Prime Time schedule here. CMPA says more speaker announcements are forthcoming.
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