Filmmakers here doing just fine on YouTube

Source: Winnipeg Free Press

Even without a leg-up from regulators, Canadian content is just as likely to be watched as American programming -- online, anyway.

Despite not being held to the same Cancon carriage rules as traditional broadcasters, YouTube reports that Canadian videos are being sought-out and viewed at a rate roughly on par with those originating in the U.S. And the sheer amount of content is staggering.

Analysts say there are so many uploads from this country, it would take half a lifetime to watch just one year's worth -- and that's if you never left the computer to sleep. Annually, in fact, they calculate that the site features more original Canadian content than has ever been broadcast during prime time on CBC (English and French) and CTV combined.

"There's no Cancon mandate on YouTube," says Aaron Brindle, a public affairs executive with Google, the site's parent company. "These videos are popular based on their own merits and the quality of the content."

Nova Scotia's Andrew Grantham has amassed more than 204 million views, and a half-million subscribers, for his "talking animals" videos.

Ontario's Steve Glynn landed a job with Nike, thanks to the colourful hockey commentary he was uploading from his bedroom. Quebec filmmaker Patrick Boivin found such a strong global audience for his video channel, he financed a feature film with the ad revenue.

And let's not forget Maria Aragon, the Winnipeg elementary school student, who gained international fame when Lady Gaga tweeted a link to a video of her playing the keyboard while singing Born This Way. Her video came in at eighth place on YouTube's Top Ten list for 2011 with more than 45 million views since it was posted Feb. 16.

"The traditional model involved waiting for a gut instinct from a studio exec to green-light a project. But everything is green-lit on YouTube," says Brindle. "This kind of democratic platform allows users -- millions in Canada, and billions around the world -- to dictate the content's success."

Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law, suggests the implication is that Canadian content rules may not have a place in broadcast media's future.

"People are going to succeed more on their own merits, as opposed to where they come from," says Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa. "Many of the rules we established around Canadian content were premised on a world of scarcity: the notion that there were a limited number of channels, and the only way to ensure space for Canadian programming was to mandate it. But we now live in a world of abundant shelf space."

In other words, the challenge is no longer about ensuring Canadian efforts are publicly accessible; it's about ensuring they have the ability to compete in a globalized market (on YouTube alone, more than 48 hours of content is uploaded every minute).

Montreal-based filmmaker Boivin believes his 2011 film Fall, Finally -- which was the first feature-length Canadian movie ever to have its premiere on YouTube -- only found an audience because he first wooed viewers with more populist stop-motion clips. A video he made called Iron Man vs. Bruce Lee, for instance, has racked up nearly 13 million views.

"It's pretty hard to get noticed online because there are so many people," says Boivin. "So when I started, I made videos that I knew would attract the interest of a large public, hoping they'd go and watch my other stuff."

The good news is that Canadians are doing their part to support online content of every stripe. According to YouTube's latest numbers, we watch more of the site's videos per capita than anyone else on the planet.

For the people making and sharing those videos, it adds up to a world of possibility.

"My education was extremely important (to my career), but YouTube got me a name," says hockey pundit Glynn, a Toronto man best known by the pseudonym Steve Dangle. "It got me things I never imagined: covering the World Juniors, covering the Olympics . . . It's been pretty unbelievable."

© Winnipeg Free Press