Source : Globe & Mail

The Canadian Film Centre gave itself a new look yesterday, unveiling a hipper brand logo designed to take it boldly into the multiplatform/digital era.

Founded 18 years ago, the centre was looking a "little tacky, to tell you the truth," said founder-chairman Norman Jewison, who was part of a press conference held at the centre's historical Winfields Estate in north Toronto.

"I know something about makeup," added the Academy Award-winning Jewison, who has directed such classics as Moonstruck, Jesus Christ Superstar and Fiddler on the Roof. "In movies, we spend a lot of time making people up. Today, we're giving the centre a new face."

The centre's executive director, Slawko Klymkiw, dressed somberly in a black-and-white pinstriped suit and black shirt, told the crowd that the jazzed-up brand identity is part of a strategic plan to bring along new programs addressing multiplatform content, international co-production and script development, an enhanced feature film program, and expanded training in interactive cinema.

Klymkiw, a former programming executive with the CBC, also announced a new initiative called the NBC Universal Multiplatform Program, which will be rolled out in 2007 and encourage audio-visual innovation in areas such as convergent mobile/TV applications, to projects that span gaming consoles, the Web and digital cinema.

"This place reflects the vision and hard work of Norman Jewison, who long ago recognized the need for a place for storytellers to perfect their craft and embrace emerging talent," Klymkiw said.

At the end of the press conference, Klymkiw gave Jewison, who always wears a ball cap, one stamped with CFC's new logo. "We'd like you to wear this to your next directors guild meeting," he told the filmmaker.

To which Jewison quipped: "And you keep wearing that suit. You're right out of The Godfather."

© Globe and Mail