Village Gamer

If your racecar has sped away from your Monopoly board or you’re embarrassed about the sorry state of your Sorry! game, then Hasbro’s Great Games Trade-In Event is the perfect solution to revive your board games and your Family Game Night experience.

This fall, Hasbro Canada Corporation has teamed up with Toys”R”Us locations across Canada to help families responsibly dispose of their old, worn-out games. Toys”R”Us is offering exceptional savings to replace these old games with new refreshed editions of Hasbro games, to bring an extra dose of fun to all Family Game Night gatherings. At the same time, consumers will also be contributing to a great cause. Read the rest of this entry »

Camelot Entertainment Group, Inc. has announced that Camelot Distribution’s Co-President and Head of Sales Michael Kananack will be attending the 35^th Annual Toronto International Film Festival. The entertainment company has its eyes on many films at the festival for potential acquisitions for American Film Market, which is produced by the Independent Film & Television Alliance and takes place this November 2nd through 9th in Santa Monica.  Read the rest of this entry »

The Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF), presented by Global Montreal in collaboration with the Fabienne Colas Foundation, has unveiled the program for its 7th edition today at the NFB office. This year’s Festival will run from September 22 to October 2, 2011.

With an impressive line-up of 125 films from over 35 different countries, the majority of which are world, international, Canadian, Quebec or Montreal premieres, as well as a panoply of special events, the 7th edition of the MIBFF is just brimming over with enthusiasm, energy and freshness, and offering its audiences rich and diverse perspectives. Read the rest of this entry »

Vancouver’s largest and most comprehensive social media conference, Social Media Week Vancouver has opened for registration, and as Canada’s only host city for the fall conference, events are already starting to fill up. Socialized! Ltd. announced the free conference in July of this year which will take place September 19^th through 23^rd.

Social Media Week is a global platform that connects people, content and conversations around emerging trends in social and mobile media. Vancouver is one of twelve global locations selected to host the bi-annual conference that is free for registered participants to attend.

“This will be the largest social media conference of its type in Vancouver,” says Rob Lewis, Editor-in-Chief of Techvibes.com and a member of the Social Media Week Vancouver Board of Advisors. “We are excited to be involved in an event of this magnitude. Techvibes is connected to many different industries and this conference will touch on everything from journalism and government to social media and the use of technology.”

The principle is simple, visit Social Media Week Vancouver’s website and register for the events of your choice. Events are free for registered participants and will include summits, mashups and soirees that take place in various venues around Vancouver from Monday, September 19^th through Friday, September 23^rd.

“Some of the events are already sold out, but we encourage people to get registered today as some of our venues have limited capacity,” says Teri Conrad, Senior Social Strategist for Socialized! Ltd.

With conference events planned throughout each day and into the evening, Ceili’s Irish Pub has reserved the rooftop patio for the week, with soirees currently planned for Monday, Thursday and Friday evening. “Ceilis is excited to be hosting several of the day time events and are, of course, proud to be the official party and soiree venue for Social Media Week Vancouver,” notes Mark Reid, Vice President, Ceilis Group.

Alliance numérique committee Alliance Mobilité has confirmed some of the top international names in the mobile industry will be attending this very first edition of Mobiz, presented by the Canada Media Fund. Mobiz, Quebec Mobile Congress, is a new event dedicated to mobility, which aims to foster the outreach and discovery of the most recent technology, as well as best business practices. Mobiz will take place on October 31st at the Hilton Montréal Bonaventure hotel as part of MTL DGTL. Register now to take advantage of the 30% Early Bird discount by registering online before September 16.

Confirmed For Mobiz:

• Eric Morris, Head of Mobile Advertising, Google Canada
• Gladstone Grant, Vice-President, Platforms and Developers Group, Microsoft Canada
• Philippe Lozier, Director of Convergence, Samsung Canada
• Niels Helkov, Vice-President, e-health & M2M Americas, Orange

“Mobiz provides a unique opportunity to get a feel for a booming industry through current topics such as mobile marketing, mobile wallet, convergence, cloud computing, emerging trends and, of course, market research,” highlights Martin Dufresne, Event Director.

Mobiz is already expecting a number of companies from across Quebec and Canada who are active in the mobile industry:

• Rogers
• Transcontinental Interactive
• Mirego
• Canadian Tire
• Yellow Pages Group
• WhereCloud
• DH International
• Wavefront
• Soluteo

“We are very proud of this first edition which brings together players of the international and local arenas, and will be featuring business cases that will address both current issues and future avenues for the mobility world,” adds Mister Dufresne.

The day will end with Mobiz Awards, which will provide an opportunity for five mobile industry companies as well as five startups to increase their visibility within the industry. Seasoned developers and emerging Montreal professionals will have five minutes to present their innovative mobility projects to Mobiz attendees. Registration for participation in Mobiz Awards will end on September 15th.

Among the Canadians films being featured at the Toronto International Film Festival is Breakaway, which will be featured in a TIFF Buzz Event on September 11^th at Chinguacousy Park in Brampton. The film’s international mega-cast including Rob Lowe, Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, the film’s main leads Vinay Virmani, Noureen Dewulf and Camilla Belle, the comedic superstar Brampton-born funny man Russell Peters and Gurpreet Ghuggi will be in attendance at the Breakaway Buzz Mela.

In keeping with the theme of the film, the festivities will begin with the Hyundai Hockey Tournament in which 16 local teams compete for Nav Bhatia’s Hyundai Indo Canada Cup trophy to be presented by GTA’s very own businessman, sports aficionado and entertainment czar Nav Bhatia along with the Honorable Mayor of Brampton Ms. Susan Fennell. The Breakaway Buzz Mela will also feature international recording superstars and Brampton’s own Brand Ambassadors RDB along with Josh, Bohemia, Jassi Sidhu,

H-Dhami and Veronica ‘live’ in concert. These performances will be livened up by Shiamak Davar’s internationally renowned dance troupe. Along with the music and celebrations, the event will have food and market vendors. The event is supported by the City of Brampton.

Actor and director Adrian Grenier will walk the Ottawa red carpet with co-producer Evan Ferrante for the screening of his documentary “Teenage Paparazzo“.  The documentary film turns the camera on the paparazzi, exploring celebrity culture through the eyes of 13-year-old photographer Austin Visschedyk. The evening’s time frame is as follows:

The Press Conference will take place at the Lobby Nightclub, which is located at 158 1/2 Rideau Street. This will be followed by a screening of “Teenage Paparazzo” and Question & Answer with Adrian Grenier at the Rainbow Theatre, 1200 St. Laurent Blvd.

Directed by Grenier and co-produced by Evan Ferrante and Matthew Cole, Teenage Paparazzo documents the true story of a relationship between a 13-year-old paparazzo (Austin Visschedyk) and Adrian Grenier, the star of the HBO series Entourage.  Inspired by a chance encounter with Visschedyk during an evening in Los Angeles, Grenier turns the cameras on the paparazzi in an effort to document this unique teenager’s world.

One of 20 stops on the Teenage Paparazzo Experience’s North American Tour, the Ottawa event features a film screening, Q&A with Grenier and Evan Ferrante, an art show featuring Shepard Fairy, Banksy, Adrian Grenier and more.  Also included is a post screening party at Lobby and Mansion Nightclubs in the ByWard Market.

“The Teenage Paparazzo Experience brings a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience art, film and the Hollywood culture alongside one of the biggest celebrities in the entertainment industry today,” says Michael O’Farrell, Marquis Group. “We get the chance to explore the conception of “fame” firsthand as Ottawa becomes star struck with the anticipation of the film screening.  We are thrilled with the buzz and excitement surrounding the Ottawa stop of the Teenage Paparazzo Experience tour”.

Adrian Grenier will host a single Ottawa screening on September 10, 2011 at the Rainbow Theatre located at 1200 St. Laurent Blvd, as well as a post screening party at Mansion and Lobby nightclubs located at 400A Dalhousie Street and 158 1/2 Rideau St. respectively.  Tickets for the film screening and post screening party are $20.00 and can be purchased online. The Teenage Paparazzo Experience tour is presented by the Marquis Group, Projekt Events, A-List Entertainment, Urban Male Magazine, 105.3 Kiss FM, Madflower Creative Group and Area 32a.

Four Canadian architectural illustrators have had their artwork chosen to be part of Architecture in Perspective 26, the International Competition of Digital and Traditional Architectural Illustration. Marie Eldridge from Calgary, and three Toronto-area illustrators – Roberto Ou, Michael  Ouzikov (Forrec) and Michael McCann – will all have their work featured in the exhibition, which opens on September 26 at the Pola Gallery in Tokyo. Architecture in Perspective (AIP) is presented by the American Society of Architectural Illustrators (ASAI), whose annual convention and exhibition will be held this year in conjunction with the UIA 2011 World Congress of Architecture, also taking place in Tokyo, from September 24 to October 2.

“Winning the ASAI Award of Excellence was extremely gratifying; there is nothing more professionally satisfying than the recognition of your peers,” says Marie Eldridge. “Attending the conference in Japan will be the icing on the cake.”

From among the 56 pieces selected for the exhibition, Michael McCann’s illustration received two major awards: The Formal Category Award and The Members’ Choice Award. The preeminent award, The Hugh Ferriss Memorial Prize, was awarded this year to Swiss illustrator Marcel Schaufelberger.

With 10,000 people expected to attend the 2011 UIA Conference, ASAI President Masaaki Yamada stated that “This year’s exhibition Includes the largest international exhibition of architectural illustration ever assembled, featuring AIP26 (ASAI) and exhibitions from Japan (JARA), Korea (KAPA), Australia (AAAI) and China.”

The Free Thinking Film Society kicks off its 2^ndannual film festival to celebrate liberty, freedom and democracy on November 11th in Ottawa. The Free Thinking Film Festival will feature three major events, two panel discussion and over 20 films, between November 11-13, 2011 at Library and Archives Canada and the Bronson Centre.  There will also be a Free Thinking Alley where attendees can buy books and DVDs, and enjoy food and drink.

“I love celebrating liberty, freedom and democracy,” says Free Thinking Film President Fred Litwin. “Get ready for three days of challenging films and discussions with no political-correctness.”

The Festival opens at 6:30 PM November 11^th with History Wars, a debate between Jack Granatstein (Historian and former director of the Canadian War Museum) and Michael Byers (Professor of Political Science at UBC) on the future of the Canadian military, moderated by Michael Bliss. This event is co-sponsored by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and will take place at the Bronson Centre.

The Festival will end with “Unmasked: Judeophobia and the Threat to Civilization”, the Canadian premiere of a documentary about the current political assault against Israel.  Producer Gloria Greenfield will be in attendance.

A sample of other scheduled films include:

• “Angryphone,” about English language rights in Quebec
• “The Biases of the CBC,” a film and panel discussion on CBC bias against Israel and conservatives
• “The Power of the Powerless,” a look at the velvet revolution that toppled communism in Czechoslovakia
• “The Living,” a film about the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s
• “Freedom of What?cott,” a documentary about free speech in Saskatchewan
• “Freedom Fighter,” Rev. Majed El Shafie’s campaign against discrimination against religious minorities around the world
• “The 10 Conditions of Love,” about Rubiya Kadeer, the leader of the Uyghur people and their fight to save their culture
• “Cool It,” why we should ‘cool it’ when it comes to global warming
• “3 Billion and Counting,” tells us why we need DDT to fight malaria in Africa

Last year’s Merging Media Conference+Masterclass marked the first time that the $10,000 BC Film Development Award was awarded to the best cross-media project presented at the annual event. Merging Media will once again offer this wonderful opportunity to cross-platform content creators at its Merging Media Pitch 360 sessions during the upcoming 2011 event on October 27th and 28th.

Andrew Williamson of Off Island Films and Audrey Mehler of Paperny Films each won $5,000 last year to develop their projects. Andrew came to Merging Media with the Spiral, a web based interactive drama series that went on to become a part of another local media initiative called Melting Silos. Audrey pitched Eat St. Tweet, an innovative way to bring a Food Network show about food carts to life online as well as in a mobile app. The series and app launched earlier this year and more goodies are in store with their fall season that premiered on September 2nd. Audrey’s team offers viewers an unparalleled culinary experience by revealing new culinary carts around cities in North America, with access to information across three media platforms.

Now here’s your chance to take your project to the stage and win this year’s award! If you have an innovative transmedia or cross-media project in the works, apply before September 30 to be one of 8 participants to present at Merging Media’s Masterclass and Pitch 360 sessions and you could be the next one to win that $10,000 award! For more information, contact: coordinator@mergingmedia.ca. If you haven’t registered yet, it’s not too late to take advantage of Early Bird rates.