The addition of the New Media Exchange on December 4 to this year’s Whistler Filmmaker Forum (which runs December 3 to 6, in conjunction with the Whistler Film Festival) will, according to forum manager Angela Heck, “address a topic that’s on everybody’s lips”.

“We’ve made a conscious effort in a lot of what we’re doing,” Heck said by phone from Whistler, “to get people talking, get a little bit of market intelligence, to see what the trends are and how people are using it, in and of itself, but also to supplement more traditional pursuits.”

The exchange will consist of roundtable sessions and one-on-one meetings between participants and domestic and foreign industry representatives. “New media is offering a challenge to the traditional broadcast areas,” Heck said. CBC and Canadian Television Fund representatives will appear alongside Martin Wood, executive producer and director of the locally filmed Web series Sanctuary, which is now being shown on TV.

The Crossing Borders roundtables at the International Sessions (December 5) will discuss how technology is helping the industry overcome geographic boundaries. The Interactive Sessions (December 6) will feature representatives from China’s Huaxia Film Distribution Company in the Working With China panel and roundtables.

For full details, visit Whistler Film Festival's Web site.