Montreal 375 program aims to break down barriers in creative industry

The organization behind the celebrations of Montreal’s 375th anniversary is launching a new program aimed at bringing together different parts of the city ’s creative economy.

The initiative, announced on Thursday, will be launched in collaboration with business conference C2 Montréal; the Lune Rouge Creative Hub, an entertainment industry incubator founded by Guy Laliberté; and HUB Montréal, a conference and marketplace for creative industries.

The goal of the project is to break down the barriers between different parts of Montreal’s creative industries, so that businesses can draw on each other’s expertise, said France Chrétien Desmarais, the chair of the Society for the Celebration of Montréal’s 375th Anniversary’s board of governors.

Instead of everyone reinventing the wheel in separate silos, businesses will be able to see what others have done well and integrate that knowledge into their business model, she said.

“We have a challenge — all the sub-sectors we’re talking about worked in silos historically,” said Jean-François Bouchard, the chair of the board of directors of C2 Montréal. “We have a difficulty coalescing the entire industry. We think that by working as a team, this industry will be stronger.”

Each of the different organizations will play a different role in the process, said Alain Gignac, the executive director of the society.

Ideas for projects will be identified at the C2 conference, and there will then be a call for projects based on those ideas. Those projects will then be developed at the Lune Rouge Creative Hub before being presented at HUB, he said.

He said the three different events complement each other.

The 375th anniversary society will provide the program with $1.3 million in funding over three years, but Chrétien Desmarais said she hopes the program will continue beyond that.

Three projects will be chosen for the program each year.

The program won’t necessarily support individual businesses — instead it will be looking for projects with an industry-wide impact.

The criteria for projects and the way they will be selected is still being decided, the organizers said.

The initiative is also being supported by the Quebec Film and Television Council; Alliance Numérique, an industry association for video game companies; the Guilde des développeurs de jeux vidéo indépendants du Québec; and the city of Montreal.