Media Lab

CFC Media Lab’s Fifth Wave Initiative supercharges the growth and impact of hundreds of women-owned/led enterprises* in southern Ontario’s digital media sector, while weaving intersectional feminist ideals of equity and fairness into sustainable and scalable business growth strategies. The Fifth Wave Initiative broadens the meanings of success and value in today’s everchanging business landscape.

There are many pathways to venture success.

*inclusive of women-identified and/or underrepresented women

The UK-Canada Immersive Exchange is a new talent development and co-production programme for UK and Canadian creatives and producers, who wish to work with immersive technology. The programme is supported by an international partnership between StoryFutures Academy, the National Centre for Immersive Storytelling (run by the National Film and Television School and Royal Holloway, University of London) and Arts Council England in the UK, and the Canada Media Fund, Canadian Film Centre and the Canada Council for the Arts in Canada.

Since 2012, IDEABOOST has accelerated dozens of companies in a unique startup program for companies involved in the rapidly evolving digital media and entertainment technology ecosystem, and has provided networking, mentoring and support services for more than 100 companies through the IDEABOOST Network Connect program.

Since its founding in 1997, CFC Media Lab has produced or collaborated on dozens of groundbreaking interactive digital media properties with the goal of pushing the boundaries of new technologies, storytelling approaches, and audience engagement modalities. Its productions have won many awards and garnered much acclaim, and have provided a showcase for emerging artists, new story formats, and unproven technical and production approaches. 

CFC Media Lab has become a leader in the rapidly transforming media and technology ecosystem in Canada and beyond through its research, thought leadership, publishing, speaking and convening activities.

The Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab (CFC Media Lab) and OYA Black Arts Coalition (OBAC) have teamed up to deliver Scale Up Immersive, a new accelerator to increase the capacity of Black content creators and/or producers working in the immersive media space.

OCAD University and the CFC Media Lab have partnered to launch a new and innovative Graduate Program in Digital Futures, with full-time Master's Degrees.

Enterprising Culture is an international meeting that will provide opportunities for unique discussions and exchanges between Canadian and French stakeholders and startups from the cultural, creative and media industries.

OPEN IMMERSION: A Virtual Reality Creative Doc Lab was created as an experimentation and creation lab for diverse creators from the US and Canada to explore VR storytelling.