Intro: The Critical Relationship between IP and Audience

Looking beyond jurisdiction-specific political and policy approaches to incentivize and regulate audiovisual (AV) and Interactive Digital Media (IDM) industries, this issue of Perspectives returns to the fundamentals of media creation. It explores how broadening the way we think about intellectual property (IP), and understanding the role of audiences in discoverability, can better position Canadian creators to compete globally. A fresh perspective that can help build both corporate resilience and longer-term audience engagement.

The evolution of distribution platforms over the past two decades has driven a paradigm shift in both the AV and IDM sectors. At the same time, these new and evolving platforms have reshaped the fundamental relationship between audience and content. No longer constrained by collective, appointment-driven viewing, audiences today can act as individuals to choose when, where, and what to watch.  Novel, resonant experiences unconstrained by geographic and cultural boundaries are available in just a couple of clicks. Focusing on how IP, audience, and content intersect in this new landscape offer pathways to strengthen the screen-based industries in Canada.

What is IP? Is it a book? A video game? A film? The term “IP” is often used interchangeably with “content,” yet IP is broader than the individual works created. It is the core story, world, narrative, or character material that can be shaped into “content”—a television show, feature film, video game, or XR experience. The same IP can be the source for multiple types of content; and the IP itself is worth more than any one piece of content that flows from it.

Defining IP as distinct from content offers new ways of thinking about the life cycle of production, including the mechanisms that support the AV and IDM industries. Most funding structures focus on supporting the production of a single piece of content (a series, a game, etc.). This support is often contingent on confirmed investment by a distribution platform. The platform is the audience gatekeeper, and creators typically give up some, or all, of their content ownership in exchange for production funding and access to audiences.

The global marketplace still operates on the basic premise that creators sell content to distribution platforms and those platforms sell content access to audiences—but those audiences are no longer captive. They actively seek content that is meaningful to them. Investing in content that may not attract and retain audience represents a significant expense and risk to platforms without some guarantee of potential return on the investment. Creators that provide evidence of audience interest are better positioned to negotiate financing and distribution deals with platforms (both broadcast and online).

In this way, the traditional order of events has changed. In the past, we have had content creators that create form-specific content (e.g., independent producers or game developers) for audiences supplied by the platforms. Now, to be globally successful, creators must create IP for audiences in the form (i.e., content) that maximizes their engagement.

The relationship that audiences have with IP has also changed. Cultivating this connection to IP early in the development process helps creators develop content that is more likely to appeal to a specific audience. Indeed, authentic engagement with the community of interest—the networks, affinity groups, and audiences that gather around the IP—can bring audience into the development and production process. This approach strengthens the business proposition of the creators. Investment in IP and audience development can translate into content that is primed for successful exploitation in the market, arming the creators with valuable evidence of audience engagement. Early, and continuous, audience engagement is essential to the discoverability of content.

The inherent value of IP is its adaptability and potential to appeal to a range of audiences. Understanding IP as a broader source material for specific, and potentially multiple forms of content, provides context for why we might support concurrent IP and audience development in addition to supporting production of the content itself. A focus on IP development is about creators building long-term connections with audiences. The objective of that focus is to facilitate the resilience and valuation of creators—which is directly tied to their capacity to retain, manage, and exploit content, and the ongoing potential of the related IP. Ultimately, successful IP development is anchored in authentic storytelling based on a relationship of mutual respect and trust between creators and audiences.

In the following sections, we will explore the audience, IP, content, and discoverability connection; the intrinsic relationship between stories, experiences of diverse communities, creators, and audiences; and the clues the transmedia strategy of the 2010s may provide about the future of content production—all leading to enhanced opportunities for Canadian creators. Embracing IP strategies that put audiences at the centre of content development is fundamental to building a strong, resilient, screen-based media sector, one that is better positioned to secure financing and distribution, and to connect with audiences at home and abroad.