The screening will feature top picks in three genres 鈥� riveting short fiction, provocative documentaries and cutting-edge alternative works 鈥� selected by five leading lights of the Canadian film and media scene. The winning titles will be announced at the event.

Home, a finalist in CineSiege 2012

The jurors for this year鈥檚 program are: iconic Canadian producer Robert Lantos (Barney鈥檚 Version, Eastern Promises); Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Patricia Rozema (I've Heard the Mermaids Singing, Six Gestures); experimental filmmaker聽Rick Hancox (Waterworx, Moose Jaw); Karen Gordon, writer, story editor and film reviewer for 鈥淢etro Morning鈥� on CBC Radio One; and Genie Award-winning documentarian Alan Zweig (A Hard Name, I, Curmudgeon).

Jurors will be on hand at the screening to introduce the CineSiege picks and explain why they were chosen.

BBreaking Over Me, a CineSiege finalist

The jury made its selections from a shortlist of 19 productions by upper-year students, nominated from the pool of 144 short films produced in the past year by undergraduate students in 91亚色鈥檚 Film Department. In addition to genre winners, recognition is also given to exceptional achievement in specific creative and technical crafts of filmmaking: screenwriting, cinematography, sound and editing.

Also in the nominee lineup this year are six works by first and second-year students. Faculty members in the Department of Film will choose an award-winner from each year.

Nebula, a CineSiege 2012 finalist

"The remarkable productions competing for CineSiege honours are a glowing testament to the creative talent, hard work and professionalism of our students,鈥� said Professor John McCullough, chair of the Department of Film. 鈥淵ear over year, they set the bar higher. My sincere congratulations to all the nominees.鈥�

View an image gallery of stills from the nominated films on the .

鈥淲e are grateful to our illustrious panel of jurors for giving so generously of their time and expertise to support the work of the next generation of filmmakers,鈥� McCullough said. 鈥淎nd we are indebted to our event sponsor, Cinespace Film Studios, for their ongoing commitment to film education and exemplary support over the years.鈥�

Sticks and Wheels, a finalist聽in CineSiege 2012

CineSiege finalists and prizewinners regularly go on to screenings and awards at home and abroad. Recent success stories include Pouyan Jafarizadeh Dezfoulian鈥檚 Morning will Come (2008), which played at the Los Angeles and Montreal film festivals, the International Experimental Film Festival in Bucharest, Romania, and won the audience vote for the Vtape Award at the 2009 Images Festival in Toronto. Mark Pariselli 鈥榮 After聽 (2009) was shortlisted for the prestigious Iris Prize, won Best Short Film at Italy鈥檚 2011 Sicilia Queer Film Festival, and has screened at more than 40 other festivals worldwide, including Paris, Athens, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco and in Germany and Switzerland.聽Gerald Patrick Fantone鈥檚 Play.Stop.Rewind. (2010) was an official selection of the Montreal World Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival and Beijing International Student Film & Video Festival. Nikolas Tsonis鈥� Children of the Sun (2011) showed at Images and took top prize in the experimental category at the Savannah International Animation Festival in 2012. Emily Pickering鈥檚 What a Young Girl Should Not Know (2011) made waves at the 2012 Worldwide Short Film Festival and Janice Lee鈥檚 Faraway (2011) was presented at the Reel Asian filmfest and won a Toronto Film Critics Award in 2012.

CineSiege is made possible through the generous support of Cinespace Film Studios. The event runs one night only, Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 7pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox, 363 King St. West in Toronto. Admission is free.

For more information, visit the 听飞别产蝉颈迟别.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin to research stories on the research website.

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The first of its kind in Canada, the Toronto International Stereoscopic 3D Conference is organized by the 3D Film Innovation Consortium (3D FLIC), and researchers from 91亚色.

See the for start times, remarks and speakers.

Bridging academia and industry, the event is designed to create dynamic synergies to funnel cutting-edge research into 3D production and best practices, to continue to improve the stereo 3D experience and respond to the growing audience appetite for 3D entertainment across all platforms.

The conference will offer film and TV production companies, 3D practitioners and enthusiasts the opportunity for far-ranging discussions about contemporary challenges and possibilities in stereoscopic 3D. It will feature keynotes, panel discussions and presentations, with screenings and master classes rounding out the program.

Keynote presenters include renowned German director , who will discuss the creation of his 3D documentary , about the influential choreographer Pina Bausch; Irish director and stage designer Catherine Owen, who will share her experiences co-directing U23D, the first film shot in digital 3D; Graeme Ferguson, co-founder of IMAX and one of the filmmakers behinds some of its most successful films, and Thomas Elsaesser, renowned international film historian.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaB5Nc0XNOY&feature=player_embedded

The live-action nature drama Bugs, the science-fiction action blockbuster and , the IMAX exploration of the profound impact of the Hubble Space Telescope on the way we view the universe, will all be screened and聽introduced by their producers.

Panels include Stereography and Cinematography, Producing and Directing Stereo 3D, Expanding the Tool Set: Post-production and visual effects, Shooting for Conversion, Stereoscopic Perception and Cinema, History of Experiments in 3D Film and Photography, and many more.

All panels, presentations, keynotes and screenings will be held at the 350-seat 3D-capable cinema at TIFF Bell Lightbox, giving all speakers the possibility to show footage during their presentations.

The Toronto International Stereoscopic 3D Conference runs immediately prior to , June 15聽to 19, allowing for synergies and exchanges between the two international events.

The conference is produced and presented by 3D FLIC and 91亚色.聽Presenting partners: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Graphics Animation and New Media (GRAND) NCE, Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC). Supporting partners: City of Toronto, Canadian Digital Media Network, Goethe Institute Toronto, IMAX, Cinespace Film Studios, 3D Camera Company, Creative Post, Studio SysAdmin and Geneva Films. Additional support from: FilmOntario and Computer Animation Studios of Ontario (CASO). Master classes co-presented by TIFF Bell Lightbox.

A full聽conference pass is $180. Passes for students and seniors are聽$60. A day pass is $75, with student and senior聽day passes priced at $25.聽Tickets for the Wim Wenders master class are $25 each, and $15 for聽students and seniors. Tickets for other master classes are $15 each, with students and seniors tickets priced at $10 per class.

Information and conference registration forms can be found on the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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In order to see 3D images properly, our left and right eyes have to view separate images. Because 3D display technology isn鈥檛 perfect, there are times when images intended for one eye become contaminated by images meant for the other. Researchers have uncovered a link between this phenomenon, dubbed 鈥渃rosstalk鈥�, and the amount of depth in the images we see onscreen.

鈥淥ur study found that the more interference from crosstalk, the less depth you鈥檒l see. This reduction in depth can make 3D images appear less realistic,鈥� says Inna Tsirlin, a PhD student in psychology working in 91亚色鈥檚 , part of the .

Right: An image that is undistorted by crosstalk

To minimize such visual distortions, crosstalk should be kept at levels of four per cent or lower, the study recommends. 鈥淔or viewers to see as much depth as intended, 3D displays should ensure that less than four per cent of the left image leaks into the right eye, and vice versa,鈥� Tsirlin says.

Tsirlin and her collaborators conducted experiments using a custom-built display. They introduced precise amounts of crosstalk to a pair of lines presented separately to participants鈥� left and right eyes. The brain combines these 2D images to perceive them as one image in 3D.

Participants were asked to indicate the amount of depth they perceived using a virtual ruler. The study showed that crosstalk was detrimental at even the smallest depths tested, and became more disruptive as depth increased.

鈥淔or example, instead of seeing two objects at ten centimetres apart in depth, you would see them at five centimetres apart if the crosstalk is high enough. We also found that the detrimental effect of crosstalk on the perceived amount of depth is stronger when there is a larger depth range in a 3D image. So, there will be聽more disruption for objects at one millimetre apart than for objects at ten centimetres apart in depth,鈥� says Tsirlin.

Left: The same image showing the distortion caused by crosstalk

Previous research has established that crosstalk causes viewing discomfort, which can include eye strain, headaches and dizziness. Tsirlin says optimizing hardware for a crosstalk level below four per cent may resolve these issues as well.

Tsirlin is supervised by 91亚色 Professors and , who co-authored the study. Their initial findings were recently presented at the international Stereoscopic Displays and Applications 2011 conference in San Francisco.

The research was conducted as part of the (3D FLIC), an interdisciplinary collaboration of scientists, filmmakers and industry partners such as Cinespace Studios, IMAX, Christie Digital and Starz Animation. 3D FLIC is funded by the聽Ontario Media Development Corporation聽(OMDC) and the聽Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE).

Tsirlin鈥檚 research is supported by a (NSERC) graduate scholarship. She was among the first cohort of students to complete 91亚色鈥檚 Neuroscience Graduate聽Diploma Program.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

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Two 91亚色-led industry-academic partnerships have received a total of $1,237,136 through the 's (NSERC) Strategic Projects Grants program.

Sergey Krylov, professor in the Faculty of Science聽& Engineering and Canada Research Chair in Bioanalytical Chemistry, has received $773,200 over three years to explore new therapies to treat metastatic cancers聽鈥� secondary tumors that originate from a malignant primary tumor and subsequently invade different organs.

Right: Sergey Krylov

Laurie Wilcox, associate professor in the Faculty of Health鈥檚 Department of Psychology, is co-principal investigator on Depth in Motion with Ali Kazimi, associate professor in the Faculty of Fine Arts鈥� Department of Film. Theirs will be the first research project to rigorously assess human responses to moving content in stereoscopic 3D film (S3D), while challenging current practices and intuitions filmmakers have garnered through 2D and static 3D experience. The grant is provided through a collaborative initiative between NSERC and the ; NSERC has provided $286,836 while the Canada Council has provided $177,100 for a cumulative three-year total of $463,936.

Left: Laurie Wilcox

Krylov has partnered with , whose Canadian offices are based in Concord, Ontario, to create personalized diagnoses and therapy monitoring for metastatic cancers. Current difficulties in detecting and eradicating these tumors significantly contribute to cancer mortality rates; therapies that are efficient for one patient often do not work for others. Their research uses "aptamers"聽鈥� short DNA strands capable of selectively binding molecules on cell surfaces聽 to serve as tracers for metastatic cancer tumors and, potentially, as vehicles to deliver drugs to metastatic cells.

Wilcox and Kazimi will collaborate with , associate professor in the Faculty of Science & Engineering鈥檚 Department of Computer Science & Engineering and member of the , to create an independent S3D film installation based on a piece of dance choreography and presented in both a large-scale S3D projection format and on multiple S3D displays. Audience members will move through a gallery space and choose to view the large-scale screen or one of the alternative displays containing different motion in depth sequences. The project will evaluate movement鈥檚 effect through depth on observer preferences, determine if these preferences are contingent on the nature of the movement, and determine if pacing differences exist between 2D and S3D film content.

Right: Ali Kazemi

Jim Mirkopolos, vice-president of operations for Toronto-based , is the project鈥檚 industry collaborator; Cinespace's Kleinburg studios are providing space to set up and test the installation later in the project.

鈥淭hese projects build on 91亚色鈥檚 expanding expertise in digital media and life science research, and our value-added industry-academic partnerships,鈥� said Stan Shapson, vice-president Research & Innovation. 鈥淒epth in Motion is a natural next step in the 3D film research 91亚色 began through the in partnership with Toronto-based industry leaders, and demonstrates the innovation unleashed when the creative arts and science converge. Professor Krylov鈥檚 work with in 91亚色 Region has a six-year history that involves two past successful collaborations and will further contribute 91亚色鈥檚 scientific expertise to the region鈥檚 growing and vibrant biotech sector.鈥�

91亚色鈥檚 projects were among 120 chosen to receive a total of $55 million in funding under聽NSERC鈥檚 Strategic Project Grants program, which aims to turn the results of academic research into real benefits for Canadians.

The announcement was made by聽Gary Goodyear, minister of state (Science聽& Technology) in Waterloo, Ontario. 鈥淪upporting science and research is critical to Canada鈥檚 future economic growth,鈥� said Goodyear. 鈥淭his investment will bring together 100 teams of some of the world鈥檚 top researchers to work with industry on promising new projects that will help strengthen our economy, create jobs and bring other benefits to communities.鈥�

鈥淭hese Strategic Project Grants show that the NSERC community has risen to the challenge and is putting the federal S&T strategy to work,鈥� said NSERC President Suzanne Fortier. 鈥淲e received a high number of quality submissions, and the peer review committees were impressed with the research teams鈥� excellence, their proposals鈥� importance and potential impact, and the strong support from partners.鈥�

For a complete list of NSERC recipients, visit the website.

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer.

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鈥淭he studios are realizing there鈥檚 a golden goose here because you get all these bums in seats that will pay a 30 per cent premium,鈥� says Ali Kazimi, an independent filmmaker and professor in 91亚色鈥檚 Department of Film in the Faculty of Fine Arts.

. . .

Several Toronto firms are participating in a provincially funded research project called 3D FLIC. The two-year project combines the talents of visual scientists at 91亚色 with film makers and their suppliers.

One of the driving forces behind the project is Jim Mirkopoulos, vice-president at family-owned Cinespace Film Studios.

鈥淭wo years ago we really became interested, before the big wave hit, in how to optimize our space for 3D so we could help spur Ontario鈥檚 transformation into a 3D centre of excellence,鈥� Mirkopoulos says.

The company partnered with 91亚色 and 3D Camera Company, shot a few test projects and then applied to the Ontario Media Development Corp. for a grant. The project received $1.4 million in funding.

鈥淭he idea is to build a competency in 3D that surpasses other jurisdictions in North America,鈥� Mirkopoulos says, and generate jobs in the new 3D industry.

Kazimi, the film maker, educator and member of 3D FLIC, says a lot of work lies ahead.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a new medium. It鈥檚 akin to switching from black and white to colour, compounded many times,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e really don鈥檛 know at this stage what are the true possibilities of 3D story telling in film language.鈥�

But it鈥檚 also a huge business opportunity for the city, Kazimi says.

Between Mirkopoulous, White and others, Toronto is becoming a hub of 3D activity, he says. 鈥淧eople are coming to Toronto because of them.鈥�

More information about 3D FLIC is available on the and in the . To read the complete Star article, .

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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At the April 23 launch at Toronto鈥檚 , 3D FLIC researchers Professor from 91亚色鈥檚 and Professor from the spoke about the critical importance of collaboration to their respective 3D research in film and psychology.

Right: Launch goers watch a聽2D to 3D conversion demo at the 3D FLIC launch

鈥淏ecause the perception of S3D is personal, opinions are strongly held,鈥� Wilcox said. 鈥淧eople assume that how they see is how everyone sees. This is simply false, and testing is the only way to determine the average human鈥檚 perception of 3D. Our goal is not only to study the issues with rigour, but also to disseminate our research results widely. 3D FLIC鈥檚 mandate is to make our results public, and in doing so highlight the central role that the Ontario film industry is playing in advancing S3D.鈥�

Several 3D FLIC industry partners were on site to give previews and demonstrations of their work. The showcase included the 3D Camera Company鈥檚 new Hawkeye S3D camera with a live 3D footage feed; a demo of 2D to 3D conversion by Communications Research Centre Canada in association with Cinespace Film Studios and Creative Post Inc.; a demo reel from Starz Animation Toronto; and a presentation of Side Effects Software Inc.鈥檚 procedural 3D animation software Houdini, which was used for special effects in blockbusters like and .

Left: From left, Stan Shapson, vice-president, research & innovation at 91亚色; David Choat, vice-president of聽human resources at the Ontario Centres of Excellence; Laura Albanese, parliamentary assistant to the minister of聽culture and MPP for 91亚色 South-Weston; Karen Thorne-Stone, president and CEO of the聽Ontario Media Development Corporation; and Jim Mirkopoulos, vice-president of operations at聽Cinespace Film Studios

Visual arts Professor Nell Tenhaaf, associate dean of research in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Fine Arts and 3D FLIC鈥檚 principal investigator, welcomed representatives from government and granting agencies, including Laura Albanese, parliamentary assistant to the minister of culture and MPP for 91亚色 South-Weston; Karen Thorne-Stone, president and CEO of the Ontario Media Development Corporation; and David Choat, vice-president of human resources for the Ontario Centres of Excellence. Over 100 industry delegates were on hand to learn about 3D FLIC鈥檚 unique convergence of academia, industry, art and science. Attendees included longtime S3D industry leaders such as IMAX and RealD, stereographers and filmmakers.

The 3D FLIC research team includes:

• 91亚色鈥檚 in the Faculty of Fine Arts and the interdisciplinary Centre for Vision Research
• Canadian Film Centre Media Lab
• Ontario Centres of Excellence
• Computer Animation Studios of Ontario
• Cinespace Film Studios
• 3D Camera Company
• Creative post Inc.
• Starz Animation Toronto
• PS Production Services Ltd.
• Side Effects Software Inc.
• Saw VII Productions Canada Inc.

For more information, visit the Web site.

By Amy Stewart, publicist, Faculty of Fine Arts.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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The Hollywood Reporter April 23:

After losing traditional Hollywood film and TV shoots to rival U.S. states like Louisiana and New Mexico, the Ontario provincial government is looking to lift its local production sector by luring 3D flicks and 2D-to-3D conversion work up north.

In the wake of "Avatar," the Ontario Media Development Corp. on Friday unveiled a two-year $1.4 million 3D Film Innovation Consortium (3D FLIC) to expand Toronto's 3D film expertise.

OMDC president and CEO Karen Thorne-Stone said her agency, which markets the province as a film location in Hollywood, is looking to build out Ontario's 3D infrastructure to entice Los Angeles producers with next-level 3D projects to complete.

Jim Mirkopoulos, vp operations at Cinespace Studios, a major Toronto facility, said he is talking to major studios about shooting their movies in the city, and then remaining here to convert 2D content to 3D at partner Creative Post's 3D stereoscopic post facility.
. . .

Nell Tenhaaf, associate dean of research at 91亚色, and the 3D FLIC project leader, said little research has been done into how audiences react to misaligned objects in 3D projection, or the illusion of depth, all of which may produce occasional nausea.

"We want to understand how the brain interacts with 3D film so we can make the experience as good as it can possibly get," she said.

Tenhaff added the practical solutions discovered by Ontario academics will be put into locally produced postproduction technologies and 3D film production processes to better attract Hollywood and other foreign producers to the province.

The project was also covered in the Hindustan Times April 25:

Forget , it was just the tip of an ice cube. The technology that James Cameron鈥檚 film is credited to have breathed life into has been around in some way or the other since the 1890s, when a 3-D moviemaking process was first patented in Britain. Over the next century came technologies that failed on the cost-benefit scale. What Avatar did was to show the marketing possibilities of 3-D 鈥� marking the second coming of the old magic. Much of these must have been in the works for years. What has brought about their releases now?

The spread of digital projection and better camera technology helped. But there鈥檚 surely more to the momentum. A few weeks ago, the Delhi-born Ali Kazimi, a professor at the Centre for Film & Theatre in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Fine Arts, started on a $1.4-million interdisciplinary project to research 3-D cinema. 鈥淎 project this size cannot be started overnight...but the funding fell in place after the success of Avatar.鈥� Now everyone is playing for the 3-D effect, said Kazimi.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

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Filmmakers, vision scientists and psychologists at 91亚色 have secured over $1.4 million to fund the 3D Film Innovation Consortium (3D FLIC), a two-year academic-industry partnership that will expand capacity for 3-D film production in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Ontario.

"The recent success of films like Avatar has changed the perception of 3-D film with the public and the major studios," says Nell Tenhaaf (right), professor and associate dean聽of聽research in聽the Faculty of Fine Arts and the project lead. "As more live-action films, dramas and documentaries get developed in 3-D over the next few years, the GTA must aggressively build its capacity for 3-D film production. 3D FLIC envisions the GTA as a hub for the best quality and most original stereoscopic film production."

3D FLIC brings a uniquely interdisciplinary team to tackle the challenges involved in improving 3-D entertainment technology. Teams of filmmakers at 91亚色, led by Professor Ali Kazimi (right) in the Department of Film, Faculty of Fine Arts, will work with an array of film industry partners and the Canadian Film Centre to develop 3-D scenes and films. Vision researchers and psychologists in 91亚色's internationally-recognized Centre for Vision Research, led by Professors Rob Allison聽 in the Faculty of Science聽& Engineering's Department of Computer Science & Engineering and Laurie Wilcox in the Faculty of Health's Department of Psychology, will then use this material to conduct tests exploring how humans perceive and process the images, which the filmmaking teams will use to refine their films.

This interdisciplinary cycle of research promises to develop practical solutions that will create better post-production technologies and processes for 3-D film production, which will benefit the film industry as a whole.

Left: Rob Allison

Researchers plan to address the question of how best to control viewers' attention when viewing 3D imagery and the role this technique could play in the 3D-film narrative.

"Vergence is a basic mechanism of binocular vision," says Wilcox. "Normally, simultaneously moving both eyes maintains single vision: we cross our eyes to look at near objects (convergence) and move them apart to look at far objects (divergence). This process doesn't happen when viewing conventional 2-D film because both eyes see exactly the same image. But in 3-D film, the illusion of depth allows a viewer to look into the scene and converge their eyes on objects at different depths.

Left: Laurie Wilcox

"We want to know if we can control a viewer's attention by changing how the 3-D images are aligned. Are there techniques that will reduce the discomfort that viewing 3-D images prompts in some individuals? How should 3-D images be constructed to scale differently for display on screens ranging from an IMAX to a television set to a hand-held device?" says Wilcox. "These are some of the questions 3D FLIC will explore."

Collaboration between industry and academia is crucial to the project's success. "Ontario has film crews, technicians and camera operators with decades of experience, and we need to support and hasten their transition to 3-D film to remain competitive," says Jim Mirkopoulos, vice-president of operations at Cinespace Studios. Cinespace is a longstanding supporter of the Faculty of Fine Arts and one of 3D FLIC's partner organizations; their standing White House sets in Kleinburg, Ont., will be used as a 3-D research studio.

The 3D FLIC team includes:

• (CFC)
• (3DCC)
• Production Canada, Inc.

鈥淭his initiative brings 91亚色鈥檚 outstanding researchers in digital media, 3D film, and vision science together in a most innovative way,鈥� says Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation. 鈥淏uilding on this unique internal capacity, CONCERT, the 91亚色-led Consortium on New Media, Creative and Entertainment Research & Development, has helped to establish our reputation among the GTA鈥檚 digital media industry and allowed for successful and sustainable research partnerships between our researchers and local companies. 3D FLIC is one of several exciting media projects we鈥檙e launching this year. Of course, research informs our teaching programs; our 3D FLIC members are already discussing new innovations in our curriculum to benefit our students 鈥� stay tuned for more to come.鈥�

3D FLIC has a unique funding arrangement with (OMDC) and Ontario Centres of Excellence. OMDC has contributed over $436,000 to help recognize 3D film as a new production paradigm through the project鈥檚 innovative partnerships; OCE has allocated over $287,000 to support the project鈥檚 scientific and technology development aspects of stereoscopy research. Seven industry partners will provide over $450,000 through in-kind support, with additional institutional support from 91亚色.

OMDC鈥檚 portion of this funding is part of a $2.9 million investment made on Feb. 10, 2010 through its Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund to leverage an additional $7.1 million from 94 partners to support a total of 17 projects.

Designed to help Ontario鈥檚 entertainment and creative industries invest in smart ways to grow their competitive advantage in the global marketplace, the partnership fund supports projects involving book and magazine publishing, music, film, television, interactive digital media, and commercial theatre. This industrial cluster experienced growth in 2009 and produces $15 billion in revenue and over 200,000 jobs, contributing $12.7 billion to the province鈥檚 GDP. In the last four years, the partnerships fund has provided $9.7 million to support 60 projects involving 379 partners and leveraging a total of $23 million in industry matching funds.

鈥淭he entertainment and creative cluster is one of the fastest-growing sectors in Ontario鈥檚 economy,鈥� said Michael Chan, minister of tourism and culture. 鈥淥ur government is proud of the investments we have made in the culture sector, which are driving economic growth and contributing to a great quality of life for Ontarians.鈥�

For a , visit the OMDC鈥檚 Web site.

(OMDC) is an agency of the that facilitates economic development opportunities for Ontario鈥檚 cultural media industries including book publishing, film and television, interactive digital media, magazine publishing, and music industries.

(OCE) Inc. drives the commercialization of cutting-edge research across key market sectors to build the economy of tomorrow and secure Ontario鈥檚 global competitiveness. In doing this, OCE fosters the training and development of the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs and is a key partner with Ontario's industry, universities, colleges, research hospitals, investors and governments. OCE鈥檚 Centres work in communications and information technology, earth and environmental technologies, energy, materials and manufacturing and photonics. OCE is funded by the government of Ontario and is a key partner in delivering Ontario鈥檚 Innovation Agenda. OCE through its Centre for Commercialization of Research (CCR), an initiative supported by the federal government, also acts as a catalyst which allows innovative businesses to grow and achieve sustainable, commercial success and global competitiveness.

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer; photos courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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