Section 2: IP, Audience, and Authenticity: Strategies for Sector Strength

Today’s competitive global market is increasingly driven by audience behaviour. Platforms fight for audience attention by investing in content. Placing IP at the centre of the relationship between creators and audiences opens opportunity for a diversity of content to find global success. Leveraging strategies to develop IP and connect with audiences across linguistic, geographic, and cultural boundaries are key to building creators’ corporate resilience and facilitating overall sector growth.

IP development and risk

Ownership of  IP (although often limited to specific content) has long been important to independent Canadian AV creators and is often cited as critical to the success of the Canadian content industry, as highlighted in the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) recent Defining Canadian Content – Workshops with Stakeholders and Industry: What We Heard” report.¹ While Canadian content regulations do not extend to interactive digital media (IDM), independent creators in that sector still face similar challenges, with publishers often acquiring content ownership from creators in exchange for royalties. When creators in IDM and AV industries cultivate audiences that are loyal to the IP (and to its creators), they have more leverage with platforms and are less likely to have to give up ownership rights.

Platforms are in the business of attracting and retaining audience. They earn revenue by selling access to the content (subscriptions, pay-per-view, tickets, etc.), selling ads, and, in some cases, selling other products and services to audiences. Platforms invest in content because the content attracts an audience, translating into sales and revenue. Ultimately, audience is the currency of today’s content marketplace. Investing in IP strategies that emphasize the creator-audience relationship can put creators in a stronger position as they bring content to market—whether to negotiate with a platform or to pursue a user generated scenario.

Focusing on IP to develop content with stickier audiences somewhat reorganizes the traditional model of production. Whether for video games, broadcast, or cinema, the traditional model relies on the creator making and selling content to platforms based on broadly defined audiences, usually described by age, gender, genre, content type, or geography. The platforms are gatekeepers to audience; the creators work with the basic assumption that platforms will look after marketing their content. In this traditional model, the content creator must take an idea to a platform they think will finance its development, prototype, demo, pilot, or other proof of concept.

Developing IP inherently requires experimentation, so there is no guarantee that this development process will be fruitful. In exchange for the platform assuming this risk, creators typically give up some portion of ownership, reducing their control and potential revenue through sales. In addition, in the traditional model, creators leave audience development and marketing to the platform. Any audience success is largely driven by the platform’s overarching objectives and the prominence it affords the content within its corporate marketing strategy. The creators, removed from marketing and promotion, become observers of audience numbers, left to develop new content with limited audience intelligence.

Putting creators in a stronger position

An emphasis on IP development puts creators in a stronger position when they bring content to market. Understanding that IP development is tied to audience engagement, as explored in the previous section, has implications for the entirety of the value chain. Identifying and connecting with others who share that interest is a first step in understanding what content might resonate. Why are people interested in the idea, topic, world, or aesthetic? Who else might be interested in exploring this story as a game, series, etc.? Why is it important to us?

Answering those questions speaks to the interplay between creator and audience in what can be called a community of interest, a broad group, or network of people around the IP. Rather than relying on making a traditional content demo or pilot, and then seeking an audience to test it on, the creator can explore audience connection to characters, stories, aesthetics, and/or issues through the community of interest. The creator’s connection with the community of interest allows for continued understanding of how the content is received, what worked, what didn’t, and what opportunity there is to develop other content from the same IP.

Previously explored examples have focused on interest in certain themes (period detective stories and horses/family sagas) and affinity with a type of game (Sea of Stars). An audience connection may also be developed around an aesthetic. Cuphead, the run-and-gun video game created by independent Windsor-based StudioMDHR, was inspired by the rubber hose animation style of the 1930s. Announced in 2013, the game was launched in 2017 as a timed exclusive on Xbox One with over two million copies sold within two weeks. The game was noted not just for its difficulty but for its hand-drawn animation and impressive big band score, which was recorded with a live orchestra. Both the animation technique and the music recall the distinctive aesthetic of rubber hose style.² In 2019, Netflix Animation announced The Cuphead Show!, an animated series developed by Dave Wasson at StudioMDHR, with the game’s creators, Chad and Jared Moldenhauer, serving as executive producers.³ First released in 2022 as a Netflix original, the three seasons received generally favourable reviews according to Metacritic.⁴ Cuphead proved to be a commercially successful IP, across different content types, by leveraging audience interest in the specific aesthetic and story approach.

While there will always be a place for content that should exist just for its intrinsic value, that is (and should be considered) art. If the objective is to create a sustainable company, developing the connection between IP and one or more communities of interest is critical.  After all, platforms are in the business of attracting and monetizing audiences, and they use the content they buy or license from creators to do so. The content (and underlying IP) itself is incidental. Creators that bring both content and—more importantly—a dedicated audience to the table will be in a better position to negotiate.

New approaches to development investment

Developing IP within a context of audience engagement can open new perspectives for creators, but it is not without risk. It is an expensive undertaking for independent creators already stretched thin by rising costs, shifting (and diminishing) Canadian financing sources, and a highly competitive global market. Current funding mechanisms are primarily focused on content production; new approaches could be considered that include robust IP development. Rather than creators exchanging rights at the development stage in order for platforms to assume the risk of that development, strategic IP investments could afford creators the resources to develop IP and audience. Creators would then be better positioned to negotiate in the marketplace using existing content financing approaches. Early investment in IP development could contribute to building stronger, more resilient companies, attuned to market imperatives, ultimately leading to a globally successful screen-based industry. Concurrently developing IP and audience creates lifetime enterprise value for creators. In the absence of audience and IP engagement, the control and ownership of content risks disappearing for Canadian creators, essentially positioning them as service providers who develop IP on behalf of their customers.

This approach does not seek to redesign the sector but to ensure Canadian creators benefit from telling Canadian stories and have the means to compete globally. Support for IP development is being explored through programs such as the CMF’s Slate Development Pilot Program, which enables recipients to develop content projects without the platform investment that traditionally activates funding in the Canadian system. In IDM, the Creative BC-CMF Video Games Business Development Program supports gaming companies in developing their own IP, “encouraging growth for mid-level and experienced studios beyond the constraints of project-by-project funding.” These models recognize the need for flexibility and exploration as part of IP development. Currently, most of the public funding for Canadian stories is invested in content-specific development and production. Public funding for content production does, and will likely continue to, figure in financing structures in the global screen-based industry; but investment in strategic, simultaneous IP and audience development could enhance the long-term valuation and sustainability of Canadian creators.

Local representation, international audiences

Investing in creators that bring authentic connection to a range of audiences affords an opportunity to engage with underserved communities within Canada and around the world. Recent Canadian content successes demonstrate how IP that represents experiences of diversity by prioritizing the creator’s perspective can lead to global success. Kim’s Convenience, centred on a Korean family-run corner store in downtown Toronto, is an example of storytelling that leveraged its creator’s own life and experiences working in the city’s convenience stores for proven audience success.⁵

Korean-Canadian playwright Ins Choi first debuted his play of the same name at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 2011 by securing a spot via the festival’s new play content. The show sold out and won the Patron Prize. The play was then produced by Soulpepper Theatre and toured across the country and internationally. When the play was adapted into a 30-minute episodic TV comedy with Choi as an executive producer, the ensuing television series and racialized cast clearly resonated with a broad audience. Airing on CBC, it was also later picked up by Netflix, with some of its stars securing roles in large global franchises (Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars). As a whole, Kim’s Convenience was highly successful, averaging just under a million viewers on CBC per episode by season.⁶ During its run from 2017 to 2021, Parrot Analytics—which considers multiple factors including social media, fan, and critic reviews—reveals a peak demand for the show that was over eight times greater than the average demand for a Canadian show, with a steady season-over-season increase that demonstrated⁷ audience interest. Notably, following its cancellation, some of the show’s key cast members expressed a desire for more Korean representation behind the camera and not just on the screen representing greater opportunities for authenticity in its storytelling.

Another example of how IP with greater representation can unlock audiences is the comedy-drama Sort Of. While its underlying themes of finding oneself and searching for meaning are broadly relatable, the show is rooted in the realities of being a South-Asian, gender-fluid millennial. Developed by creators who are of those communities, the show resonated globally. Co-creator Bilal Baig has said “I get messages from people from lots of different communities: cis people, white folks, 70-year-olds, queer and trans people, parents of trans children. There’s a real spectrum of people who feel like the show really speaks to them. And often those messages are just about the way the show has touched their lives.”⁸ Indeed, data from Parrot Analytics reveals a steady growth in audience demand over the show’s three seasons, with peak demand over seven times the average, further highlighting audience interest in storytelling that is authentic to a specific community’s experiences.⁹

Successful content both springs from IP and opens the door to new expressions of that IP. Despite its international success and having been picked up by HBO Max (USA), SkyComedy (UK), Stan (AUS), and M6 (FRA), Sort Of’s creators chose to end the series after season three as they felt they had come to an organic ending.¹⁰ The show’s success, however, ensures that the creators themselves are well-positioned to develop new IP. Baig notes they are working on plays, an anthology of monologues for queer and trans actors they co-edited, and an audiobook.¹¹ The circular IP/audience relationship outlined earlier in this chapter puts creators (whether individuals or companies) in a stronger position to develop new content and explore new IP opportunities over the long term, beyond the success of a single project. Strategies for industry growth can also drive audience growth, in Canada and internationally.

Leveraging authentic representation for audience development–and sectoral growth

The success of shows like Kim’s Convenience and Sort Of points to the value of authentic representation in content creation. The population of Canada is diverse, with talented creators across all communities. Equally diverse audiences are looking for stories that resonate with their experiences. According to 2021 Census data, Indigenous people account for five per cent of the Canadian population (a 9.4 per cent increase from 2016 to 2021),¹² people who identify as 2SLGBTQ+ account for 4 per cent of the population,¹³ Disabled Persons/Persons with Disabilities account for 27 per cent of the population,¹⁴ and people who have immigrated to Canada account for 23 per cent of the population.¹⁵ Significantly, from 2001 to 2021, Canada’s racialized population (not including non-permanent residents) grew from 3.85 million to 8.87 million people, a 130 per cent increase, with 64 per cent of that growth driven by first-generation immigrants.¹⁶ In the context of a global content market, Canada is well-positioned to leverage the rich composition of its population to develop IP anchored in authentic storytelling that resonates with international audiences.

Authenticity, especially when rooted in stories from Equity-Deserving communities, is a key plank for reaching those audiences. Funders, creators, and platforms increasingly recognize that general statements about inclusion are insufficient. Action is required to identify and remove structural bias and barriers that affect creators from equity-deserving communities. In its 2024 Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Report, the Writers Guild of Canada notes that writers from Indigenous and Equity-Deserving communities accounted for 40 per cent of television writing in 2023, largely due to higher participation from 2SLGBTQ+ and Indigenous communities, disabled writers/writers with disabilities, and writers of colour. While this is a major gain from 26 per cent in 2019, some still found  a glass ceiling when it comes to top decision-making positions, like executive producer (27 per cent in 2023, up slightly from 25 per cent in 2019).¹⁷ Evidenced by shows like Kim’s Convenience and Sort Of, bridging this gap represents a major opportunity for sectoral growth, as content creators from Indigenous and Equity-Deserving communities are connected to, and attract, underserved audiences within Canada and as well as international market interests.

Strong IP for a strong sector

The ongoing, rapid evolution of digital technology is likely to continue driving change in the ways content is distributed and consumed. Some of those changes are here to stay. Audiences, having secured the capacity to seek specific shows across multiple platforms, are unlikely to return to a broadcast model (although FAST channels continue to develop) and platforms will likely continue to provide services (including content) to attract customers and generate revenue. Ultimately, platforms, and content creators, are both interested in engaging with and attracting audiences.

Strengthening IP development processes to facilitate early audience engagement by creators would enhance the Canadian screen-based industries by facilitating retention of control and ownership of Canadian content, generating lifetime enterprise value. Industry support for concurrent IP and audience development that is anchored in authentic representation on both sides of the camera is a strategy that could position the Canadian screen-based industries for sustainable growth.