Village Gamer

An overwhelming response to the annual Women in Games Scholarship offered by Vancouver Film School (VFS) has led to the unprecedented announcement of four recipients. Janel Jolly of Canada, Nicha Jaijadesuk of Thailand, Jaymee Mak of Australia, and Anna Prein of Russia have all been awarded a full-tuition scholarship to the one-year Game Design program. This scholarship, the first of its kind in the world, covers the full tuition for an aspiring female game designer in VFS’s acclaimed Game Design program. Read the rest of this entry »

The North Vancouver School District’s Digital Media Academy will be hosting the Digital Media Youth Expo 2013 at Argyle Secondary School in North Vancouver this Saturday, March 2nd, from 12 to 4pm. The goal of the Digital Media Youth Expo is similar to that of the DMA which is to bring together high school students and their parents, teachers, post-secondary students, educators and members of industry to learn about the many educational and employment opportunities in digital media. Our key audience is high school students and their parents, however the event is open to anyone in the community. Read the rest of this entry »

Screenwriting fans of the AMC’s The Walking Dead will get the chance to learn from the series head zombie wrangler, Glen Mazzara, in a Marquee session at the Toronto Screenwriting Conference (TSC). Mazzara was the executive producer and showrunner of The Walking Dead for the second and third seasons, and has also penned for FX’s Golden Globe Award-winning police drama, The Shield. The TSC takes place at The Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University on April 6 & 7, 2013. Read the rest of this entry »

The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) and Bell Media are pleased to announce participants, esteemed mentors, and guests of the 2013 Bell Media Showrunner Bootcamp. This advanced professional initiative is designed to equip three experienced TV writers with the knowledge, access, and executive skills necessary to establish themselves as showrunners. The annual bootcamp offers participants intimate and practical insight from top professionals in both Canada and in the United States. Read the rest of this entry »

ICTC has recognized Toon Boom Studio and its curriculum as one of the best vehicles to teach 21^st century business and technology skills to Canadian students. Montreal-based Toon Boom Animation Inc., the two-time Emmy award-winning digital content and animation creation software provider, has been approved as an official educational resource and curriculum to support the learning of 21^st century skills among Canadian students through one of ICTC’s youth and education initiative programs, Focus on IT (FIT). Read the rest of this entry »

Canada’s mid-sized companies, a key motor of the economy, saw their numbers decline by 17% – 9,370 to 7,814 – from 2006 to 2010, according to a new study (PDF link) by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC). Hardest hit was the manufacturing sector, which saw over half its mid-sized firms vanish between 2001 and 2010 from 2,807 to 1,381. BDC undertook the study to fill an important research gap on mid-sized firms. The study is based on Statistics Canada data and supported by survey results from market research firm Harris/Decima. The study is one of three that the BDC plans to release this year on economic issues of importance to Canadians. Read the rest of this entry »

After reviewing more than 150 applications from schools seeking upgrades to their technology, Future Shop is pleased to announce grant recipients for this year’s Future Generation Tech Lab program. The 2013 program is gifting nearly $250,000 in total grants to the 12 deserving schools across Canada for classes and programs focused on students in Grade 9-12. These schools submitted applications in November and December 2012 and were judged based on the impact of the technology on student learning potential. Read the rest of this entry »

Biznest Ventures Ltd., a Vancouver-based business development company for start-ups, has announced a Business Venture Challenge specifically dedicated to start-ups and anyone with creative new ideas looking to take their product to market. The contest began on January 21st and will run until February 24th, at which time all submissions received will close and the submissions will be reviewed by a panel of experts. The top ten will then be given a second challenge to complete and submit by March 10th, 2013. Read the rest of this entry »

The Motion Picture Production Industry Association of BC (MPPIA) has released BC Film Industry Public Perceptions and Support (PDF), a research report which discusses the findings of a Mustel Poll commissioned by industry to measure understanding and support for motion picture production in British Columbia’s economic mix. Read the rest of this entry »

Game Changers: Leadership in the Digital Age (PDF), a new study released today by Canadian Women in Communications (CWC), reveals a changing leadership paradigm in Canadian technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sectors transformed by digital technologies. The consultation, which canvassed the views of 61 sector leaders across Canada and the U.S., found that traditional management skills, while still important, no longer assure success for executives or their organizations. Read the rest of this entry »