The Chamber would like to thank the following organizations that provided images for this video: Ballets Jazz de Montréal, Behaviour Interactive, Centre Phi, Cirque du Soleil, Conseil des arts de Montréal, Creos, Felix & Paul Studios, Grappe mmode, HUB Montréal, La Factry, LaVitrine.com, L'Équipe Spectra, LNDMRK, Lune Rouge, Media Ranch, Moment Factory, Productions l’Éloi, Provencher_Roy, RodeoFX, Society for the Celebration of Montréal's 375th Anniversary, TOHU, Ubisoft and Zú.
On December 3, close to 500 participants gathered for the Strategic Forum on creative industries organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal. This major event mobilized representatives from every area of the creative industries and highlighted their contribution to the city’s reputation.
December 3, 2018
New City Gas
500 participants
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Introduction
“For the past 15 years, the Chamber has been working to increase the understanding of the creative industries. It’s not just a sector; it’s part of our economic DNA.”
– Michel Leblanc
President and CEO
Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal
Study’s key finding and the sector’s economic impact
“We have to be vigilant and create the conditions to strengthen our creative core.”
– Céline Huot
Vice-President, Strategy and Organizational Development
Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal
“We have decided that the cultural and creative industries will be one of the flagships of our economic policy.”
– Valérie Plante
Mayor of Montréal
President of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal
Agile renewal: the impetus behind excellence
“When you talk about creativity, you are talking about vision. We have to keep encouraging young people to take risks. As we speak, our companies have Guy Lalibertés in their midst. We need to find and support them.”
– Daniel Lamarre
President and CEO
Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group
Part I – Innovation: the ultimate distinction for success
Vibrant performing arts: a Quebec specialty
“We are starting to be included in export programs, but there is still a great deal to be done to support local businesses internationally.”
– Mikaël Frascadore
Senior Director, Production & Programming for Illuminart
L’Équipe Spectra
“People come to Montréal for an experience. Audacity knows no bounds: we need to take them somewhere they’ve never been.”
– Nadine Marchand
Director
Montréal complètement cirque
“By getting Leonard Cohen’s rights, we are reaching people who otherwise wouldn’t have seen a jazz ballet show. It’s a chance to introduce them to something new.”
– Marie-Joëlle Tremblay
Deputy General Manager
Ballets Jazz de Montréal
Equipping, financing and training to create an impact
“People come to Montréal for artificial intelligence, circus school and more. I want them to come to Montréal from around the world to develop their creative skills.”
– Marie Amiot
CEO
La Factry
“My dream is that institutions understand that beyond returns, companies go through a start-up phase. There is risk in that.”
– Elsie Lefebvre
Director
La Ruche
“We need to foster diversified revenue sources. The Conseil des arts encourages collaboration during the financing phase.”
– Nathalie Maillé
Executive Director
Conseil des arts de Montréal
Transcending habits and customs for growth
“Content is king. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. New technologies are a tool, not a substitute.”
– Nathalie Bondil
Director General and Chief Curator
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
“The digital transformation has already happened. It completely changed the way we view specialties.”
– Mélanie Dunn
President and CEO
Cossette
“We need to protect the courage to dare. The hardest thing is creating an environment where creators feel comfortable trying, whether they succeed or fail.”
– Yannis Mallat
CEO
Ubisoft Canadian Studios
“The customer experience benefits tremendously from new technologies.”
– Claude Provencher
President and Cofounder
Provencher_Roy
Part II – Quebec creative genius taking the world
Supporting, guiding and propelling our champions
“Creative cities have one thing in common: they can mobilize schools to reposition their economy.”
– Louis Vachon, C.M.
President and CEO
National Bank
Putting the spotlight on the development of Quebec content
“We want to keep our intellectual property here at home. That’s our model.”
– Sophie Ferron
President, Executive Producer
Media Ranch
“We need to keep creating openly and give creativity free rein. But if we want to export, we need to understand export markets.”
– Nadine Gelly
Executive Director
Zú
Behaviour’s iconic crusade
“The advent of the smartphone changed everything. It was the Big Bang of the video game industry.”
– Dominique Lebel
Senior Vice-President, Business Solutions
Behaviour Interactive
Internationalization: the strategic secret to our growth
“The windows of opportunity for meeting potential partners are limited – maintain a targeted approach, spend time in China and study business practices.”
– Carl Breau
CEO
Saimen
“We are known for our content. Our competitive advantage is quality.”
– Alexandre Lemieux
Cofounder and Business Development
Creos
“We have to work together to give our brands international exposure.”
– Debbie Zakaib
Executive Director
mmode – La Grappe métropolitaine de la mode
Part III – Cultivating collaboration to shine
Strengthening the ecosystem’s synergies
Cooperation, internationalization, commercialization: “I want Montréal to be to creativity what Bordeaux is to wine.”
– Éric Fournier
Partner and Executive Producer
Moment Factory
Business models of the future: predicting them accurately
“How do you compete with Netflix and Amazon on equal footing? We need to ensure the impact of the cooperative model is understood.”
– Alexandre Taillefer
Managing Partner
XPND Capital
Conclusion
“The Premier said we need vision to tackle the upcoming challenges. And from what I have seen today, creative people have no shortage of vision!”
– Nathalie Roy
Minister of Culture and Communications
Minister Responsible for the French Language
This Strategic Forum on creative industries was organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal in partnership with the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, the Ville de Montréal, the Direction régionale de Services Québec de l’Île-de-Montréal and the Ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation. It was made possible through the invaluable cooperation of our Gold sponsor: Ubisoft, our Silver sponsors: Cossette, Montreal Gazette, TELUS and Zú, and our Bronze sponsors: the Association of Creative Communications Agencies and the Conseil des arts de Montréal.