Workshop Registration

Canadian Filmmakers’ Toolkit for National Reach and Engagement

This workshop is designed to empower Canadian filmmakers, particularly Anglo-Canadian filmmakers, by offering practical strategies, tools, and resources to address the distinct challenges of securing a theatrical release, audience identification and engagement, and national reach for Canadian content. Participants will gain insights into overcoming the core obstacles that affect access, visibility, and the overall success of Canadian films in theatres nationwide.

The session will feature a combination of case studies, informed guidance, peer discussion, and tested examples. Whether a distributor is attached to their project or not, filmmakers will benefit from shared experiences and actionable advice tailored to the Canadian landscape.

The workshop will provide actionable solutions and strategies to help filmmakers meet and overcome significant hurdles, including:

Audience Engagement Challenges: Canadian audiences possess diverse tastes shaped by regional, cultural, and linguistic differences. This diversity can make it challenging for films to achieve broad appeal across various communities.

Competition with Global Content: Canadian films consistently compete with international productions, particularly those from the United States, which dominate theatre screens and capture audience attention with higher budgets and greater visibility.

Limited Marketing Budgets: Smaller marketing resources restrict the visibility and reach of Canadian films. As a result, filmmakers often rely on word-of-mouth promotion and support from niche communities to build momentum.

Accessibility Issues: Limited screening venues and distribution channels reduce opportunities for audiences to engage with Canadian films, impacting overall reach and success.

Algorithmic Biases: Digital platforms frequently prioritize mainstream or international content, making it more challenging for Canadian films to surface organically and reach potential viewers.

Lack of Centralized Promotion: The absence of a unified national platform or promotional campaign for Canadian films diminishes discoverability and hampers efforts to build a broad audience base.

Through targeted discussion and collaborative problem-solving, the workshop aims to equip filmmakers with the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate these barriers and increase the presence of Canadian films in theatres across the country.

part 1: Tue 14 April 2026, 6 - 10 pm   
part 2: Thu 16 April 2026, 6 - 10 pm   
(Registration deadline is Tue 14 April 5:00 pm)

Instructor: Marva Ollivierre

Marva Ollivierre is a Gemini nominated executive producer, a management accountant, a mask maker, and Floyd Chalmers-awarded writer with over 25 years of experience in the arts-culture industry. A storyteller multimedia disciplinary artist - director/curator /producer/entrepreneur/educator, a committed mentor, and self-described “collaborating maker” she has significant creative roots in multiple art disciplines. Marva’s deep and varied expertise is underpinned by rich diverse experiences in screen media. During her five-year tenure with Inner City Films, several productions received broad acclaim and continue in present-day to deliver significant international sales earnings including US Broadcast revenues. They include Skin Deep a Gemini Winning Best Lifestyle/Doc, one of the first internationally produced docu-lifestyle series; and Jozi-H, the Canada/South Africa co-production medical drama series, a multiple Gemini Nominee including Best Drama. In 2006, Marva started her own independent production house, Doe Eye Media Production https://www.doeeyemedia.com. Drawing on research that began in 1998, DEMP has subsequently written, developed, and produced several media projects that address the dismal state of distribution and discoverability of Canadian Content within the Canadian screen-consumer marketplace - They are the graphic animation video shorts -  Tax Credits; Canada’s Market Share of Box Office/Have you seen a Canadian Film Lately https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=herL47P3gTA  - a brief animated history of Canadian film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGLtPtNUC4U  and Made in Canada, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVhX--O6uio&t=6s a 2013 feature documentary. There are currently several writing and production projects on DEMP’s slate including Men in Raincoats, the animated documentary on the arrested development of CanCon, and the post-WW11 narrative drama 2nd draft script SHE Pirate of the Caribbean.



Location: 1137 Dupont Street, Toronto, Ontario M6H 2A3
Category: Producing
Maximum Capacity: 12
8 hours of instruction in 2 parts$125 /member$150 /nonmember
Registration opens
Tue 13 Jan at 10am