Economy and Digital Creativity at Special Meet-Up #1

Special Meet-Up #1 at Moment Factory

studios asked a key question: what economic benefits can digital creativity generate? This question guided a full day of discussion in the Moment Factory studios last winter. The event took place on Avenue du Parc, where Moment Factory moved after 15 years in its large Hutchison Streetspace. Part of the Chromatic Pro series, the professional component of the Chromatic festival, it combined daytime discussions and panels with festive music in the evening. Artists, entrepreneurs, cultural-sector stakeholders and digital-creativity enthusiasts gathered to discuss current issues: Is Montréal the capital of digital creativity? Can it become one? How can one develop an artistic

or

business venture as a media-arts creator or artistic director of a digital-music festival? The event also presentedtwo works: Moon by Daniel Iregui, an interactive audiovisual system controlled by hand movements, and Hétérotopie by artists Samy Lamouti and SamChenennou, produced as part of the 2016 DigiLabs.Eva

Quintas opened the day

by presenting a Printemps numérique study mapping Montréal’s digital ecosystem. Independent artists, industries, multinationals and entrepreneurs in video games, media arts and audiovisual creation all contribute to Montréal’s richness and diversity. The report concluded that closer ties between arts and business communities, a shared vision and better information exchange are essential if Montréal is to establish itself as a world capital of digital creativity. During the question period, one audience member asked what concrete steps could be taken. The answer was simple: find organizations or associations that share your values, transform them so they resemble what you want, work with people you like, and above all preach beyond the already converted. Jérôme Hellio, former director of content at Radio-Canada and tou.tv, added that people should share their failures, because less successful experiences can help others undertaking similar ventures. Tel Aviv is often cited as an entrepreneurial hub whose prosperity rivals Silicon Valley, partly because failure is seen not as stigma but as experience. Montréal’s ecosystem would benefit from thesame mentality. FailCamp MTL and entrepreneur Martin-Luc Archambault understand that we learn most when things work least well.

Event web page.

Photo credit: Loïc Raharison.