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Pay Culture - Vancouver Workshop

Pay Culture

We’ll focus on standards and equity when it comes to pay for comedy, on-stage, on-screen, and online. Are there pros and cons to the pressure we face to work for little or no pay in comedy venues, festivals, and even produced media? Let’s explore how we make things worse for ourselves, the challenges faced by equity-deserving communities, and why the basic fees for live comedy performance haven’t seemed to change for decades.

  • Date: Sunday, October 23rd
  • Time: 1pm PT / 2pm MT / 3pm CT / 4pm ET/ 5pm AT / 5:30 NFLD
  • Host: Andrea Jin
  • Facilitator: Caitlin Howden
  • Educators: Ronald Dario, Keith Nahanee, Jackie Hoffart, Jane Stanton, Randy Jernidier,
  • Industry Guests: Jake Hirsch, Mark Breslin
  • Venue: Watch online (at the link below) or make a request to attend in-person at Tightrope Theatre in VANCOUVER, BC

Description includes content that may be covered in the live program, or as downloadable content on the event site.

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Star System & Digital Reach

We’ll discuss whether hype and monetization online can make the limitations of exposure and earnings for Canadians a thing of the past. Learn about the benefits and costs of livestreaming shows for in-person and online audiences simultaneously, then having content to edit and stream at a later date. Find out how emerging artists can be mentored in places that aren’t major cities. Plus, are you more worried about what Bill C-11 (aka The Online Streaming Act) means for you, or about trying to understand it?

  • Date: Sunday, November 27th
  • Time: 1PM PT/ 2PM MT / 3PM CT / 4PM ET / 5PM AT / 5:30 NFLD
  • Host: Byron Martin
  • Facilitator: Celeste Lampa
  • Educators: Kathleen McGee, Sterling Scott, Elena (or Eli) Belyea, Gordie Lucius, Dakota Ray Hebert, Donovan Workun.
  • Industry Guests: Sarah Quan, Jesse Griffiths, Jenna Warriner
  • Venue: Watch online (at the link below) or make a request to attend in-person at Grindstone Theatre, EDMONTON, AB

Description includes content that may be covered in the live program, or as downloadable content on the event site.

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CANCOM Symposium

Touring and Showcasing

Touring in Canada is expensive and time consuming. Who has solved this problem and how? Will we ever be able to tour in the U.S. as easily as Americans can tour here? Build your networking skills and get info that will help you find work away from home, (and still call Canada your home), as well as industry leads for showcasing your live, or produced content. Plus, budgets and Taxes for the comedy worker, hooray!

  • Date: Monday, December 19th
  • Time: 1pm PT / 2pm MT / 3pm CT / 4pm ET/ 5pm AT / 5:30 NFLD
  • Host: Tim Gray
  • Facilitator: Abby Falvo
  • Educators: Matt Falk; Mike Green; Shannon Guile; Joyce Delaronde; Angie St. Mars; Scott Porteous; Vanessa Prevost
  • Industry Guests: Zoe Rabnett; Dean Jenkinson; Dan Quinn
  • Venue: Watch online (at the link below) or make a request to attend in-person at TBA in WINNIPEG, MB

Description includes content that may be covered in the live program, or as downloadable content on the event site.

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CANCOM Symposium Montreal

Pro-Health/Anti-Oppression/ Anti-Competition

Health, safety, harassment and discrimination incidents take place in the many "workplace(s)" for comedy workers, which includes: performers, technicians, servers, managers, producers, patrons, and peers; in clubs, theatres, green rooms, hotels, condos, cars, front of house bars, writing rooms, and on-set. What are the immediate and long-term options to minimize toxic cultures and maximize creative cultures? Plus, what is our industry approach to Freedom of Expression and censorship? And what about freedom to work wherever we can and be paid what we’re owed, without fears of repercussions?

  • Date: Sunday, January 29th 2023
  • Time: 1PM PT/ 2PM MT / 3PM CT / 4PM ET / 5PM AT / 5:30 NFLD
  • Host: Wassim El-Mounzer
  • Facilitator: Hedi Foss
  • Educators: Dana Saleh; Rodney Ramsey; Oren Shbiro; Carly Baker; Sara Meleika; Sandi Armstrong; Nazeer Khan
  • Safe Spaces Facilitators: Donna-Lynn Turner; Jordyn Samuels
  • Venue: Watch online (at the link below) or make a request to attend in-person at The Comedy Nest in MONTREAL, QC

Description includes content that may be covered in the live program, or as downloadable content on the event site.

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IP & Branding

Learn how to start building or bolstering your “brand” now and create opportunities with other industry stakeholders to take your content to the global market. We’ll discuss whether surrendering control of your Intellectual Property (IP) can be to your advantage in certain situations. Plus, is there a roadblock that’s unique to Canada when it comes to comedians getting access to clips and pics from IP in which they appear or write for, so that they can post in social media, or promo on-stage to help boost audiences? 

  • Date: Sunday February 26th, 2023
  • Time: 1PM PT/ 2PM MT / 3PM CT / 4PM ET / 5PM AT / 5:30 NFLD
  • Host: Nikki Payne
  • Facilitator: Travis Lindsay
  • Educators: Clifton Cremo, Line Woods, Gil Anderson, Beni Malone, and Luba Magnus
  • Industry Guests: Sylvia Beirnes, and Victoria Novak
  • Venue: Watch online (at the link below) or make a request to attend in-person at Yuk Yuk's in Halifax, NS - email info@cancomedy.ca

Description includes content that may be covered in the live program, or as downloadable content on the event site.

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Investment, Funding
& Development

We’ll help reverse engineer what the content providers like Netflix, CBC, Amazon Canada, Bell Crave, Disney+, JFL, etc… want, and how you get in touch with them to pitch. What are the creative platforms, and funding/sponsorship resources for content creators in non-traditional formats? Learn about the process involved in independently producing your own comedy album or Web Series. Plus, if you did go viral on TikTok or YouTube, what can you realistically expect to happen next?

  • Date: Sunday, March 26th
  • Time: 1PM PT/ 2PM MT / 3PM CT / 4PM ET / 5PM AT / 5:30 NFLD
  • Host: Martha Chaves
  • Facilitator: Judy Croon
  • Educators: Ajahnis Charley, Christele Bartelse, Allison Dore, Brandon Hackett, Vance Banzos
  • Industry Guests: Lisa Crawford, Andrew Barnsley
  • Venue: Watch online (at the link below) or make a request to attend in-person at the Comedy Bar (Danforth) in TORONTO, ON - email info@cancomedy.ca

Description includes content that may be covered in the live program, or as downloadable content on the event site.

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This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada. 
Ce projet a été rendu possible en partie grâce au gouvernement du Canada.