This text is part of the special Hub Montréal notebook
Immersive projections, virtual reality, metaverse… While Hub Montreal will soon bring together different players in digital creativity, we can say that the metropolis and Quebec are a hub for this industry.
The annual fall meeting has two main missions: to promote the influence of Quebec studios and the ecosystem and to support international business development. Around 150 guests from foreign markets will also take part in the event, estimates Rachel Parent, director of programming at Hub Montréal.
One of the advantages of the metropolis is that of mutual aid between different companies, whether they specialize in artificial intelligence or virtual production. “For example, some will be able to integrate sound, while others will be more into visual content. The fact of working together within the ecosystem really generates a force which means that we have even richer creativity in Montreal and Quebec,” illustrates Mme Parent.
“It’s this strong and complementary ecosystem that makes us stand out and perhaps become the envy of certain other markets,” adds Sophie Couture, general director of the Xn Québec association. This non-profit organization brings together more than 185 studios in the field of digital creativity.
A force that attracts foreign markets
“Often, when we cite Montreal, it is for the attraction that we generate among international companies by having immense strength in several sectors to carry out a project,” underlines M.me Parent. Thus, a foreign actor will be able to request the services of Quebec studios which are among the best in the world, whether for content production, multimedia or others. “It’s very interesting for them to come and develop things in Montreal,” she believes.
Mme Couture agrees with this. Multimedia shows, interactive exhibitions, virtual reality in museums, cities or airports… Montreal creativity allows people here to experience international success. “We have a lot of people emerging from related sectors to use digital technology, explore and see if there are new ways of doing things. We position ourselves very advantageously abroad, precisely because of this creativity,” she adds.
If Quebec is a market “fairly small in itself”, Mme Couture believes that the influence of Quebec studios means that they are very active elsewhere in the world. “There is definitely interest from the public, but also growing demands,” she says. Thus, visitors particularly expect a level of experience with more depth in terms of the story that is told, she says. “And I think our creators are responding to this call. »
Proof by example
Overview of five Montreal companies that all stand out in their own way in the world of digital creativity, here and elsewhere.
Moment Factory
Founded in 2001, Moment Factory specializes in creating multimedia experiences. The famous Foresta Lumina in Coaticook, the illumination of the Jacques-Cartier bridge in Montreal, a project on the facade of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and Madonna’s concert at the Superbowl in 2012 are among his achievements. “It was created coming from the rave scene, underground, shows. Today, we are probably one of the biggest studios in the world,” rejoices Marie-Pier Veilleux, director of public relations and international affairs at Moment Factory.
The studio has just launched the Aura Invalides project in Paris. The company now has approximately 400 employees working in offices in Paris, New York, Tokyo and Singapore, in addition to the head office located in Montreal. The vast majority of its projects are carried out abroad.
Moment Factory has diversified its activities to offer experiences in airports, museums, forests, heritage places and cities. She also collaborates with various artists, including Billie Eilish.
For meme Veilleux, the strength of Montreal’s industry lies in the diversity of creative businesses. “We are in multimedia, but there is a cinema and video game industry which is very flourishing. These are people who have talents that adapt to one creative canvas and another. There is also an ability to dare to try things that allows us to do that in Montreal. Obviously, it’s a nice place to work,” she says.
TKNL
Specializing in immersive events and digital museum exhibitions, TKNL is the company behind the summer sound and light show projected on the Ottawa Parliament for nine years. She is also the creator of MTL Generations at the Pointe-à-Callière museum and the exhibition Explore at the Montreal Science Center. The Montreal Botanical Garden also hosts its interactive and immersive Garden of the Strange exhibition every year.
For Nathalie Gélinas, producer at TKNL, Hub Montréal allows “unique encounters” in order to stay at the cutting edge of trends in digital creativity. “There is a lot of collaboration and exchange. As we each have our own specificities, it is not uncommon for us to need the expertise of one or the other. And it is the fun. There is a very friendly side,” she observes.
“Producers from elsewhere come because they understand that something has been happening in Montreal for several years,” she adds. Thus, Hub Montreal provides the metropolis’ digital creativity studios with an opportunity to bring together knowledge, but also to engage in business development. “People from museums, but also companies and big brands are on site because they need teams to create installations,” she notes. It is truly a hub that attracts both the Quebec market and international buyers. »
Felix & Paul Studios
When the virtual reality industry was in its infancy, Felix & Paul Studios “started from zero,” according to Félix Lajeunesse, the company’s co-founder and creative director. Thus, the studio is behind the very first virtual reality film ever designed, Strangers With Patrick Watson, published in 2014. “There were no tools to do that. There wasn’t even any for viewing this content or for post-production. We therefore had to set up a chain of technologies to be able to carry out these creative projects,” adds Mr. Lajeunesse.
Over the years, the Felix & Paul company has helped build the ecosystem in which it operates, also integrating interactivity into its projects, here and abroad. For the one who also co-created the exhibition Space Explorers. INFINITY with the Phi studio, Montreal brings together “a lot of creativity”, both in the way of telling stories, but also in technologies. “I find that it works very well, especially in a studio like ours, which is at the junction of creative development and technological development,” he believes.
With the world of new media, the video game industry, visual effects and many others in the metropolis, Montreal is both attractive for local talent, but also for foreigners.
Studio Dept.
Using virtual, augmented and mixed realities, the Dpt studio. specializes in creating interactive experiences for immersive platforms, devices and locations. Recently, the company helped establish At full volume. Basquiat and music at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. This is the first major multidisciplinary exhibition focused on the place of music in the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat. The Dpt studio. also collaborated with the Jazz Festival for an augmented reality experience.
It is abroad that Nicolas Roy, president of Dpt., notes the attraction of different players for Montreal and Quebec. “We are always told to what extent we stand out through the quantity and quality of our studios and the works that come out from here,” he observes. He believes that public funding, whether from the National Film Office, SODEC or the Media Fund, allows many projects to see the light of day. “The digital creativity ecosystem is not as well supported elsewhere in the world. We can take risks and take a place in ecosystems that are emerging before big players manage to position themselves,” he says.
Gentleman Studio
For the president and executive creative director at Gentilhomme, the players in Montreal’s digital creativity are “all a bit like children of Cirque du Soleil.”
“Very early on, there was a desire in Montreal to make the digital sector flourish,” believes Thibaut Duverneix. His business started in entertainment by collaborating with the famous circus. “We also did a lot of music projects, like music videos for American stars. And that led us to do a lot of projects in America, in Los Angeles for artists like Elton John and others,” he adds.
Studio Gentilhomme has also created Pop!, an installation where five interactive inflatable puppets are controlled by voice in the Quartier des spectacles. In recent years, the studio has notably worked on permanent experiences in airports and shopping centers.
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.