Today In TV Land
Vancouver tech entrepreneur Ms. Shahrzad Rafati, founder of BroadbandTV, is the only Canadian to join household names such as Oprah Winfrey, Conan O’Brien, and key industry players such as Sebastian Thrun of Google and Andy Mooney from Disney on Fast Company magazine’s 2011 list of top 100 most creative people in business. Fast Company magazine is the world’s leading progressive business media brand.
In 3 short years, Rafati’s company, BroadbandTV, has partnered with content providers such as the National Basketball Association (NBA) to help curate, and match user-created video content with online advertising opportunities.
BroadbandTV is helping change the relationship between “pirates” and corporate content providers. BroadbandTV identifies positive and potentially revenue-generating fan-created content and helps its partners claim it, put advertising against it and generate revenue.
“Corporations no longer look at piracy as a black and white issue,” explained Rafati. “Instead of battling against their most enthusiastic fans, they’re starting to realize there’s more value in working with them. We’re helping companies identify and take control of their content and generate revenue from it.
The next big step for the company is a mobile app that will suggest video content, often from BroadbandTV’s content, for users based on their interests and personal preferences.
Shahrzad Rafati emigrated to Canada in 2000, studied Computer Science at The University of British Columbia and upon graduation founded BroadbandTV. BroadbandTV has curated more than hundreds of thousands of videos and monetized billions of impressions generating millions of ad dollars for its clients.
Astral’s The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (Western Canada) today announced their participation in the 12-part action series Transporter-The Series. Based on the high-octane Transporter films, the series is an international co-production between The Movie Network and Movie Central, Canada’s QVF Inc., M6 and Atlantique Productions in France, Germany’s RTL Group and 
HBO/Cinemax in the U.S.
“The Movie Network is all about premium entertainment and we’re proud to add this made-in-Canada big-budget action series to our original content offering,” said Aubie Greenberg, Director, Original Programming, Movie Services, Astral Television. “The theatrical Transporter franchise has connected with audiences on The Movie Network and around the world through its iconic characters and frenetic pace. We’re excited to further this connection through participation in such a large-scale production, especially one that takes our long-standing partnership with HBO to the next level.”
“We are thrilled to be partnering with HBO/Cinemax,” said Jocelyn Hamilton, Vice President, Original Programming, Kids, Comedy, Drama, Corus Entertainment. “As a franchise, Transporter offers a solid fan base with appeal to grow into an exciting series. Filming in Toronto with our world class production partners, the action-filled series will bring the beloved character of Frank Martin to premium television.”
