2015AnnualReport

2015 was another busy and exciting yearfor SAW Video, and we are enormouslyproud of what we have achieved. Weintroduced a new signature event to ourcommunity, the Ottawa IndependentVideo Awards – or for short: the OIVAs - inApril. This biannual celebration ofindependent video work produced in ourcity lets us not only to show ourappreciation of all the artists thatcollaborate with SAW Video but it alsoallowed SAW Video to throw, by allaccounts, a great party. We are lookingforward to repeating the fun at the SecondOttawa Independent Video Awards in 2017so get your nominations ready.

SAW Video will be going through asubstantial change in 2017 and thatrequired us to engage in many planningactivities. Getting ready for the move intonew, purpose built centre space isimpacting all areas, including committees,board meetings, staff meetings and theboard/staff retreat. The City of Ottawa’sCultural Facility Operating grant allowed us

to create a business plan for the newcenter and to hire the services of atechnical consultant. During this entireprocess of our new center, our directorPenny McCain has been invaluable. Pennyhas ensured that everyone participating inthe creation of a new vision has thenecessary information to make sounddecisions. With that support we we wereable to come up with comprehensiveplans to function in the new space. Pennyis also the genius behind our fundingstrategies, so if you want to donate moneyfor SAW Video 2.0, please contact herwithout delay. And, without Penny, wewould not be able to hold a leadership rolein the Arts Court Redevelopment project.

I would like to thank Alex Massad forserving his term on SAW Video’s board, forbeing such a great board member and welook forward to collaborating with him inthe future. I would also like to thankSabastien Callendar who stepped downfrom the board mid-term after many yearsof service.

Being the Chair of the Board at SAW Videoallows me firsthand knowledge of all thehard work that the board and staff put in tomake SAW Video the best artist-run centerit can be. Not only do the board and staffperform their regular duties, each personalso participates on at least onecommittee. This dedication is very inspiringand the work at the committee level reallyshapes the present and future of SAWVideo. I would also like to thank themembership for their support andcommitment as well as all our sponsorswho help make SAW Video an amazingcenter to make art.

This year SAW Video Media Art Centre is 35years old and we look forward to having abig birthday party to celebrate oursuccesses at the end of August. We hopeyou will all join us.

Kerry CampbellChair, SAW Video's Board of Directors

Chair’sReport

OAG Expansion and Arts Court Redevelopment Ground Breaking

At the OIVAs

SAW Video realized several key goals in2015: enhancing our profile in thecommunity through the first annualOttawa Independent Video Awards, andthe launch of our Cultural Engineeringproject; increasing SAW Video’s fiscalstability through the establishment of areserve fund; broadening support andreaching out to diverse audiences throughour Black Radical Imagination screeningseries and Indigenous CuratorialIncubator initiative; and continuing toplay a leadership role in the Arts CourtRedevelopment project.

Strengthening our outreach to andrelationship with the local Indigenouscommunity was a strong thread in 2015.Thanks to a Community Foundation ofOttawa grant, we undertook a series ofinitiatives aimed at increasing our supportfor local Indigenous artists, including arevamped Aboriginal Voices grantcomprising of a mentorship program foremerging artists and retitled theIndigenous Voices Mentorship program;and an Indigenous Curatorial Incubatorundertaken with Asinabka Film and MediaFestival aimed at fostering youngindigenous media art curators. Throughthis program, we mentored 2 emergingcurators, and presented a media artscreening as well as the media artexhibition, Memories of the Future.

In 2015, SAW Video continued to play aleadership role in the Arts CourtRedevelopment project with myparticipation as a member of the SeniorPlanning Team for the project. Our CulturalEngineering project has also added anartistic perspective to this high profile

project. Under the guidance of projectcoordinator, Michael Davidge, CulturalEngineering will continue in 2016 with 4more issues as well as a publication andartist talk.

2015 was a very busy year forproduction at SAW Video. In all, wesupported 238 productions throughequipment access in 2015, a figure that isup over 25% compared with 2014 (188productions). Workshops were also busywith 41 workshops offered to 204participants. In light of all this activity,membership levels were up in 2015, with 231members as of December 31st as comparedto 210 as of the same time in 2014.

One of the reasons for the year end surpluswas the considerable success we had indiversifying funding in 2015. Threefoundations contributed to operations andprogramming: the Community Foundationof Ottawa, the RBC Foundation and the JPBickell Foundation and a grant from theEmbassy of the United States thatsupported our Black Radical Imaginationscreening series.

Programming partnerships were verystrong in 2015. We engaged in over adozen partnerships in 2015 ranging fromthe National Arts Centre, the DowntownRideau BIA, Arts Court, the Ottawa ArtGallery, Galerie SAW Gallery, the Visual ArtsDept. of the University of Ottawa, CarletonUniversity`s Dept. of Film Studies, CHUO-FM, the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa,Ottawa Architecture Week, Ottawa RockCamp for Girls, and the Asinabka Film andMedia Festival. Many thanks to all ourpartners and sponsors who contributed toSAW Video over the past year.

Many thanks as well to Katja Melzer whowas our Programmer during 2015.Although she was here for only 9 months,she left her mark with her strongprogramming. We wish her all the best inher position as Director at the GoetheInstitute in Montreal.

With 2015 put to bed, we turn ourattention to 2016 and SAW Video’s 35thanniversary. Incredible to think that ourcentre has been around so long! So far thisyear, planning has ramped up in earnestfor our new facility. We’ll also beundertaking a special outreach project forDeaf and disabled artists. The Spark Lab isa professional development/creationproject that will support up to 9 Deaf ordisabled individuals in making videos. Thisexciting program gets underway in June2016. And of course, there`ll be lots ofworkshops, programming and 35thanniversary related events!

Penny McCann, Director

231MEM-BERS

Director’sReport

Board/Staff Planning Retreat

IntROduCtIOn Of A nEwMEMBERShIP MAnAGEMEntSOftwARE

In 2015, we undertook a collaborativeeffort to create a unified contact data Basethat all staff can use . SuMAC, specializingin software for non-profits was selected asour new platform. To date, we havefinalized the data mapping process tomaximize our use of the data in a way tobest serve our members. Next step is tointegrate the mapped data into ourwebsite connecting all online transactionsincluding membership application,workshop registration as well as eventticket purchase. Members will see this newsystem in place by mid-summer.

GRAntS

Our JumpStart Mentorship Programreceived good responses in 2015. Fiveartists/artist teams were selected as 2015JumpStart artists (with one dropping offthe program due to personal reasons). Theremaining grantees, Alexandra Noble,Gillian Kirkland with Andrew Letourneau,Radamis Zaky, and Tripti Prinja, worked

with their mentors on their projectthroughout the year, and their finalproducts will be screened in Club SAW onJune 10th.

SAw Video Production fund alsocontinued to maintain its popularityamong mid-career artists this year. EricWalker, Jeff Parenteau, Lesley Marshall andPhilippe Osborne were awarded the fundfor 2015.

Responding to the changing dynamics oflocal needs for support SAW expanded theAboriginal Voices Fund under the new titleof Indigenous Voices MentorshipProgram. The next deadline for this newfund is October 1st, 2016.

updates of SAw Grant Guidelines andApplication forms

We gave SAW grant documents a bit of amake-over to deliver clearer informationpackages to applicants. The revisionincludes updated guidelines and separateapplication forms for each grant program.

MEMBERShIP

SAW Video membership grew in 2015,showing the total number of validmembership of 231, a sizable increase over2014 level. More members are interested inactive participation in the centre, using theproduction equipment and editingsoftware rather than staying basic members.

LAunCh Of OttAwA IndEPEndEntVIdEO AwARdS

SAW Video launched its inaugural OIVA inspring. This event was a great success inevery aspect including the participation of

local media arts community, businessesand media. OIVA attracted 57 nominationsin 5 different categories: Best Director-Documentary, Experimental, Narrative,Music Video and Under 25.

OutREACh And SPOnSORShIP

SAW Video participated in arts communityevents in 2015 underlining our position inthe Capital region arts landscape.

We took part in the inaugural InvestOttawa film/tV fair. Hundreds of peopleattended this first event aimed atshowcasing local employment in thesector.

SAW Video was present at theARtPREnEuR 2015 Conference held atthe Shenkman Art Centre on Saturday, Oct17, as an exhibitor in the Vendor EXPO.ARTPRENEUR is a one day conferencededicated to helping artists succeed. Theconference brings together leadingcreative experts and art communityindividuals who will motivate and informartists on their creative professions. SAWVideo now sits on the ARTPRENEURadvisory committee.

We sponsored several awards throughoutthe year: the digi60 Spotlight Award, thewomen’s filmmaker Award at the springDigi60 event, the Video Award at theUniversity of Ottawa BFA graduatingexhibition and the Ottawa PublicLibrary's teen tech Video Awards.

Moonsun Choi,Administartive Coordinator

Administrator’s

Report

Construction Pit

2015 saw the OAG Expansion and ArtsCourt Redevelopment project come to life,as construction on the new facility beganin earnest in July.

In the past 12 months, the facilitiescommittee met 3 times to discuss a widerange of issues including budgeting forfixtures, fittings, and specializedequipment, fundraising, technical planningand space collaboration.

Here are a few key moments whichsummarize the past year's milestones:

In early 2015, Montreal-based consortiumEBC Construction/Groupe Germain/DevMcGill were awarded the RFP by the City ofOttawa and construction began in earnestin July.  

The fall featured blasting and drilling in theformer parking lot beside Arts Court, whichwas a challenge for day-to-day staffoperations but did not interfere withprogramming.

2016 is bringing a new phase of planningfor the committee to consider – valueengineering, a construction term which

means finding ways of reducing theconstruction cost of a particular space tobetter met budgetary constraints withoutcompromising the overall functionality ofthe space.

Staff, led by Penny McCann and Eric Larock,have been working with the City to refinethe budget available for repurposing SAWVideo’s new space.  

Design drawings created 2 years ago arenow being revisited, furniture layouts arebeing drafted and equipment andfurnishing details are being reviewed inearnest.   

One change to note is the nature of theMedia Hub space: originally intended to bea shared collaboration space with only twoorganizations, artengine and SAW Video,has been revisioned as a collaborativespace run by SAW Video for all of ArtsCourt. For our members, it will offer aspace for meetings, auditions and co-working. More details to come!

At the last facilities meeting Penny McCannoutlined SAW Video's Capital Fundraising

Plan, which aimsto fundraise approx. $354,000 throughvarious grants from funding bodies such asthe Canada Council, the City of OttawaTrillium, and Cultural Spaces.

According to the project’s currentconstruction schedule, SAW Video’s newspace will be available for us to move to inearly summer 2017.  That means we have ayear to raise all funds and to make thetransformation of our centre a reality!

Eric Archambault,Chair, Facilities Committee

2015 was an excellent year for Productionat Saw Video. We focused our equipmentpurchase budget this year towardsproduction equipment, as much of itneeded updating. We also saw ourequipment rental revenue exceed ourforecast, up from $28,279 in 2014 to$32,120 in 2015, a %13 increase. 2015 wasa busy year for production at SAW Video. Inall, we supported 238 productions throughequipment access in 2015, a figure that isup over 25% compared with 2014 (188productions).

The equipment we purchased this year wasin three areas where our production whereequipment needed replacement. First, ouraging Sony Ex1 started having sensorproblems and was replaced with anotherdocumentary, ENG-like camera, the SonyPXw-fS7. This camera offers our membersan advanced camera that has the ability toshoot 4k, interchangeable lens, etc. andhas been receiving incredibly positivereviews throughout the industry. Secondly,over the last several years, there has beensignificant advances in film and videolighting, where several manufacturesstarting making LED (light emitting diode)lights that are becoming an industrystandard. It was imperative that Saw Videostart to replace its current Tungstenlighting units with LED lights mainly due to

the fact that they are safer on set and donot require high wattage pulls from thelocation. Thanks to a City of OttawaCultural Facilities grant, we purchased twoLED lighting kits. The first, the Arri L5-clighting kit, operates as our premierelighting kit, complete with adjustablecolour temperature, a colour mode optionand an extremely high CRI (colour indexrating) at 95. The second kit is our morepractical kit, the LEdgo light panels. Thisthree panel kit is battery operated,adjustable colour temperature and sturdywith metal housing. These two kits havegiven our members high quality lightingthat is much safer and more energyefficient. The LEDgo’s in particular haveproven to be popular, renting out 32.5 dayssince purchasing them in April. Thirdly, we

Production

Report

FacilitiesCommitteeReport

RESOLutIOn 2015 screening at the Mayfair theatre

Unlike 2014, which introduced a numberof upgrades to our post-productionfacilities, 2015 saw very little in the way ofchange in terms of post-production. Thatsaid, we will be purchasing 2 new 4Kreference monitors later in 2016, namely,two 31” LG 31MU97Bs which will replacethe aging HD Mac display in the finishingsuite and the 2 20” Dell monitors in EditSuite 2. The LG monitors will allow themembers to view their 4K footage in fullnative resolution with 10-bit colour depthat DCP-3 colour standard. Member rentalsare relatively steady, and grantee usagehas been significantly busy as well(Cultural Engineering, Production Fund,Jumpstart, etc.)

After a short hiatus (participation-wise, onmy part), the Arts Court redevelopmentproject continues to move forward with

the city’s value engineering process.Although this process has and continuesto test SAW Video’s resourcefulness, it isforcing us to sharpen our focus andprioritize our decisions, especially sincethe relocation timeline has been movedup by six months. The particulars of theaudio mixing suite and digital editing suiteare starting to become clearer, which isvery exciting.

The archival project is moving along. Thedigital-borne material has been entered inour database and is in the process of beingmigrated on to LTO tapes via our Cache-Aarchiving appliance.

Eric LarockTechnical Coordinator- Post -Production

also purchased an Atomos shogun 4krecorder/monitor. This device connectsvia HDMI and acts as a field monitor/and oras a recorder for members wanting largerfiles from their shoots. It is popular withour more experienced members. Lastly, atthe end of the year we and purchased atelephoto lens as we do not have one inour inventory and have been receivingrequests for one from our members. Thesenew purchases in equipment have givenour members the ability to remain at theforefront of technology, which meansbetter images, but also safer and moreefficient shooting.

2015, SAW Video contributed a total of$31,461 in equipment waivers to artistsand arts learners, a significant increaseover 2014. Increases in waiver activity canlargely be attributed to our CulturalEngineering commissioning project, whichcommenced in 2015 and will continue until2017.

For 2016, since we focused so heavily onamending our production equipment in2015, we will be focusing our equipmentbudget towards our post-productionsuites. However, we plan on making a fewadditions to our production equipment.First, with the exponential shift towardsDLSR video shooting, we plan onpurchasing another DSLR. Currently, wehave the Sony A7sII bookmarked for a fallpurchase. This camera has the option forextremely high ISO settings, allowing forlow/no light shooting scenarios, as well as4k shooting and interchangeable lensmakes it a great complement to our agingCanon 5d Mark III. Second, we also plan onpurchasing a set of filters for our Zeiss

prime lens kit. This lens will help protectthese expensive lens (clear filter) a well asgive members flexibility when shooting indifficult scenarios i.e. too bright (ND filters)or shooting through glass windows(polarizing filter).

My first full year here at Saw Video hasbeen an excellent and rewardingexperience helping the members with theplethora of projects and ideas they walkthrough door with. I look forward toanother year of exciting challenges andawesome productions that Saw Video getsto be apart of.

tyler ReekieTechnical Coordinator- Production

Post-ProductionReport

238PROduCtIOnS

Black Magic Camera Orientation

Workshops are a key pillar of SAW Video’smandate to support the development oflocal media artists, and in 2015 wecontinued to offer our broad range ofhands-on workshops aimed at fosteringthe professional development of artists atall stages of their careers.

OVERVIEw

Overall, 2015 was another successful yearin which we offered 41 workshops to 204participants. These numbers are similar torecent years, for example, in 2014 weoffered 44 workshops to 224 participants,and in 2013 we offered 38 workshops to232 participants.

number of beginner workshops offered: 20

number of intermediate/advanced workshopsoffered: 4

number of instructors hired in 2015: 21

number of women instructors: 8 (38%)

number of new workshops offered: 3

number of workshops offered to youth in 2015: 2

As the table shows, workshop revenues in2015 continue to be strong and judgingfrom the continued high interest, ourtraining is clearly meeting a need in thecommunity.

Our Intro to Video Production Workshopcontinues be one of the most popular,running 6 times with a total of 29participants, while our Intro to After EffectsWorkshop ran 4 times with a total of 19participants. With SAW’s acquisition of anew Sony FS7 Camera, free orientationsessions were also organized; they wereopen to SAW Video Producing levelmembers and had a total of 15 registrants.Other popular Workshops includedLocation Sound Recording, AdobePremiere, Lighting Techniques, Grant

Writing for Media Artists, and Camera onthe Move.

Our workshop subsidy program continuesto be in demand. Offered on a rolling basisthroughout the year, 3 workshop subsidieswere awarded in 2015 to individualsrequesting support.

SPECIAL wORKShOPS

The 4th edition of Video Schoolhouse wasalso offered in 2015 - it was created in 2012in response to requests from our membersthat workshops be longer in duration andmore comprehensive. This comprehensiveintroductory course runs over a 12 weekperiod for a total of 50 hours of training. In2015 it ran from March 4 to May 20 andhad a full enrollment of 9 participants. PastVideo Schoolhouse participants havebecome active members of SAW Video,applying for grants, returning for moreworkshops and attending ourprogramming and networking events.

SAW Video hosted special workshopprogramming throughout the year,including the second edition of our verysuccessful Video Camp for Girls Program,which took place in partnership with theOttawa Rock Camp for Girls over 2weekends in November. Other specialworkshops in 2015 involved delivery of ourestablished workshops to groups such asBRAVO, Colonel By High School and theOttawa Public Library. In June, incollaboration with the Ottawa Art Gallery,we also presented a very successfulInteractive Video Masterclass/Workshopwith Tyler Tekatch and Kyle Duffield, whichhad a registration of 20 participants.

2016 ACtIVItIES

SAW Video has had a really good start toworkshops in 2016, so far we have alreadyheld 21 workshops for 133 participants.The 5th edition of Video Schoolhouse hasjust wrapped up; the course had 10participants, was taught by MaaykeSchurer and Izabel Barsive, and ran for 12consecutive Wednesday evening fromMarch 9 to May 25.

SAW Video also has a number of newthings this year, including the E.S.P. TV: THETELEVISUAL EXPERIMENT which took placeon April 9, taught by New York basedmedia artists Victoria Keddie, and offeredas a free Workshop for 18 participants. Wealso have a special Interactive Video

Workshopwith With FreyaBjörg Olafson coming up on June 11.Offered in partnership with the CanadaDance Festival, registration in thisWorkshop includes a ticket to Freya’sperformance of HYPER on Wednesday June8th at the CDF. Following on the success ofthe last Scriptwriting Workshop back inMarch, we also have a new 4-sessionScriptwriting Bootcamp Workshop beingtaught by Jennifer Mulligun and plannedto take place over 4 consecutive Tuesdayevening in July.

Plans for 2016 also include the SPARK LAB,which is being funded by an OAC mediaarts project grant, and is a VideoProduction training program for deaf anddisabled artists. This program includes 2separate cohorts for each group. Theprogram is a blend of SAW’s VideoSchoolhouse and Jumpstart programs, as itwill include a mentorship component, aswell as a free membership, access toequipment, technical support, and a smallmaterials budget. The Deaf Artist cohort isplanned to start on June 8 and willcontinue into the Fall. It consists of 5participants and 2 mentors, and will takeplace with SPILL, our community partner.The Disabled Artist Cohort is planned totake place later in the Fall, and will includeat least three participants, as well as onementor.

howard AdlerWorkshop Coordinator

WorkshopsReport

Black Magic Camera Orientation

WoRkshoP Revenues 2010-2015

Year Revenues2010 $ 12,1502011 $ 16,8542012 $ 13,7352013 $ 15,7752014 $ 17,4762015 $ 16,530

41 wORKShOPS

Our 2015 programming was centred onthe theme of Dialogical, a year-longcelebration of art that created and fosteredcommunity dialogue and opened channelsof communication. From artist talks andmasterclasses to Q&As and AMAs, tointeractive artworks and publicinterventions, our 2015 programmingengaged diverse audiences in a series ofthought-provoking discussions on a widearray of topics. For the entire year of 2015,each of SAW Video's programming eventsput the spotlight on the importance oftalking, and of talking back.

Over 30 local artists from the Ottawa werefeatured in several presentationsthroughout the year: Resolution, ourannual screening of members’ works; theJumpstart Emerging Artist screening,nuit Blanche: desire Lines, the CulturalEngineering commissioning project, andthe free Spin open screening.

RESOLutIOn 2015 (OttAwA)VIdEO SCREEnInGThursday, February 5th, 2015Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank StreetCurated by the SAW Video ProgrammingCommittee - Presented as part ofWinterlude

Programming

Report

VIdEOntario (ACROSS OntARIO)VIDEO SCREENINGWednesday, April 29, 2015, 7:30pmClub SAW, 67 Nicholas StreetCURATOR: Scott McGovernPresented as part of the National ArtsCentre’s Ontario ScenePresenting sponsor: Downtown Rideau BIA

CuLtuRAL EnGInEERInGCOMMISSIOnInG PROJECtOnline & ongoing at culturalengineering.caCultural Engineering is a long-term projectin which local media artists document andrespond both critically and artistically tothe Arts Court Redevelopment Project as itunfolds from 2015 – 2017, engaging thecommunity in an open public dialogue andexchange of ideas.

dESIRE LInES: An ARtS COuRtEXPLORAtIOn (OttAwA)SITE-SPECIFIC INSTALLATIONS/WEBSITELAUNCHSeptember 19th, 7pm - 4.30 AMIn- and outside Arts Court, Club SAWPresented as part of Nuit Blanche Ottawa-Gatineau , Presenting sponsors: DowntownRideau Business Improvement Association(DRBIA) and Arts Court

“unMEntionables: IndigenousMasculinities”A screening program curated by CharlotteHoelke and Jocelyn Piirainen - part ofIndigenous Cuartorial IncubatorSaturday, August 22, 8pmPart of Asinabka Film & Media Art FestivalClub SAW, 67 Nicholas StreetAlethea Arnaquq-Baril, A Tribe Called Red,Jon Riera, Christopher Cegielski, The 1491s,Thirza Cuthand, Zach Soakai, Zoe Hopkins

JuMPStARt SCREEnInG (OttAwA)VIDEO SCREENINGMay 16th, 2015, 7pmClub SAW, 67 Nicholas Street

LORnA MILLS - wAYS Of SOMEthInG(tOROntO)OUTDOOR SCREENING/ARTIST TALK/SUMMER PICNICThursday, July 23rd, 6pm-11pmSAW Outdoor Courtyard, 67 Nicholas StreetPresented in partnership with CHUO 89.1FM Community Radio and the DRBIA.

fREE SPIn II (OttAwA)OPEN SCREENINGThursday, October 8th 2015, 7:00pmClub SAW, 67 Nicholas Street, OttawaPresented in partnership with AvailableLight Screening Collective and DAÏMÔN 

IndIGI-nAtE nOw: A PROVInCE Of nAtIOnS On fILMVIDEO SCREENINGMay 7th, 7:30, Club SAWCo-presented by ImagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and the National Arts Centre’sOntario Scene in collaboration with SAW VideoCurated by: Jason Ryle and Daniel Northway-Frank

SAw CItY dEBAtES: REnEwAL OfOttAwA’S ARt hOuSE (Ottawa)PANEL DISCUSSIONTuesday, September 22nd, 2015, 7.30 PMClub SAW (67 Nicholas Street, Ottawa)Presented by SAW Video Media Art Centre,Ottawa Architecture Week and Galerie SAWGallery 

ShIRAZ BAYJOO: AuthORInGCOLLECtIVE IdEntItY In A POSt-COLOnIAL wORLdWednesday, September 23, 6-8PMClub SAW, 67 Nicholas StreetThe artist talk is presented in collaborationwith Ephemeral Coast, an internationalresearch project led by Celina Jeffery(University of Ottawa, Canada).Presentedin partnership with Available LightScreening Collective and DAÏMÔN 

Memories of the futureWorks by Elizabeth LaPensée, Pinnguaq,and SkawennatiCurator: Charlotte HoelkeTechnical Assistance: Jocelyn PiirainenDecember 4 – 19, 2015Galerie SAW Gallery, 67 Nicholas Streetpart II of Indigenous Curatorial IncubatorMentorship programMentor: Ariel Smith

BLACK RAdICAL IMAGInAtIOn (uSA)SCREENING SERIES/LECTURE/WORKSHOPDATE: Nov. 19-21st, 2015We presented the Canadian premiere ofBlack Radical Imagination consisting of atwo part screening screenings at Club SAW,lecture at Carleton University and youthworkshop at Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa.

Apart from the day-to-day maintenanceand reoccurring programming, specialevents, like the inaugural OttawaIndependent Video Awards orprogramming resulting from IndigenousCuratorial Incubator 2015, createdsignificant opportunities for SAW Video toachieve greater visibility in the communityand generate conversations with a wholenew set of audiences.

SAW Video saw broadening and deepeningof existing relationships brought on byvery targeted outreach activities. Forexample: much of the communicationefforts around Black Radical Imagination(our 3 day series of screenings, masterclassand workshop of Afro-Futurism) proved tobe an excellent way to gain credibilitywithin the African-Canadian community inthe city.

Most events of 2015 were covered by localmedia (CBC Ottawa radio and television,CKCU and CHUO) and SAW Video eventsare staples in the city’s blogosphere (forexample APT 613, Ottawa Film Scene).Black Radical Imagination managed to getcoverage beyond the Capital region on

CBC Radio in Toronto (interview with theartists) and nationwide through CBC onlinemedia.

SAW Video manages two websites:sawvideo.com, the corporate home andgo-to place for all virtual activity, fromnews and programming announcementsto online workshop registration to accessto SAW Video’s Mediatheque. The websitehad 100,000 page views last year andmaintains the industry average of 30%return visitors.

culturalengineering.ca currently houses 4of 8 issues of online publications (withroughly a readership of 1000 per issue) ofthe two-year SAW Video project by thesame name. As this website is completelymedia arts specific and through its theme(the redevelopment of Arts Court) veryOttawa centric, statistics generated bytraffic is allowing very detailed insightsinto the current Ottawa media artsaudience.

In 2015 numbers of followers on socialplatforms increased by 25% to 30% over2014.

The numbers by year-end were:

Facebook Corporate Page likes: 1360

Facebook Group: 1140

95% of Facebook engagement is fromusers in and directly around Ottawa,demonstrating SAW Video’s solidpositioning within the region’s video andmedia arts community.

Twitter followers: 2180 and over 103,000impressions of SAW Video generatedtweets.

The bi-weekly newsletter consistently seeswell above industry average readership as

do targeted special e-mailannouncements. The total of mailing listsubscribers by year-end was 1330.

whAt’S uP fOR 2016

Our 2016 milestone, SAW Video’s 35thanniversary, will be the lens through whichcommunications will position theorganization demonstrating with a strongvoice the significance of the centre to themedia arts community specifically, and thepeople of Ottawa in general.

2016 will see a significant ramping up ofmarketing/communications strategicplanning activities in advance of SAWVideo’s move to the new facility and theaccompanying expansion of activities.Over the years SAW Video has been able tocollect a large amount of important dataabout our membership and audience, butwe have not had the capacity to mine thatdata to inform sustained and targetedmarketing and outreach campaigns.Through the ADOBE Bono Project(confirmed), we will be able to align ourmarketing efforts with meaningful marketsegmentation to position SAW Video forour future activities.

Annette hegelCommunications Coordinator

Communications

Report

15SCREEnInGS,

EVEntS &EXhIBItIOnS

unMEntionables Screening

The 2015 audited financial statements area good news story for SAW Video, showinga hard won surplus of $5,274, which in turnreduces our accumulated deficit to -$9,664.  In addition, 2015 saw the firstinfusion of money into our Reserve Fund.$3,013 earned from interest income andindividual donation in 2015 was divertedto our new Reserve Fund aimed atsupporting capital expenses in the newfacility. It’s hoped that additionalcontributions over the next two years willsee it grow to $20,000 by 2017.

The surplus arises in part from increasedself-generated revenues with membershipand equipment rental revenues up in 2015.This is also good news as bothmembership and equipment revenueswere down in 2014.

As part of the Business Plan drafted in2015, SAW Video engaged financial analystFrank Richter of the Community ForwardFund to create a Financial Diagnostic for

the centre. The report analyzed SAWVideo’s financial statements from 2010with projections to 2019.  In general, theanalysis demonstrated that SAW Video’sfinancial health in is improving with betterliquidity and cashflow.  Runningmeaningful surpluses for a few years willallow SAW Video to bolster its liquidityposition. Clearly this is something theboard will keep in mind.

We undertook a bit of housekeeping withour finances in 2015. Over the years,members have accumulated smallamounts of credit against their accounts.Two policies were enacted regarding this.At the November meeting, Boardmotioned that credit amounts more than 3years old be taken into income prior to theend of the 3rd year. The Board also movedthat the administrator keep a record ofthese credit amounts in case of an enquiryfrom a member. Letters to inform themembers who have unused credits morethan 3 years were sent in January 2016.

In addition, Board motioned that all creditsfor members who have passed awayduring the year are written off and that anysuch write-offs be approved by theDirector.

Thanks again to the staff and board whocontinue SAW Video’s legacy of goodfinancial oversight.

Jacques Ménard, Treasurer

Treasurer’sReport

2015 2014Revenue

Grants $ 338,855 $ 334,132Self-generating and other revenue 46,486 35,725Equipment rental 35,494 30,607Equipment & workshop grants to artists 31,461 33,450Membership Fees 11,960 9,423Workshop fees 16,315 17,641Tape sales 102 117

480,673 461,095Expenses

Program costs 289,105 275,741Salaries and benefits 84,354 85,929Office expenses 37,531 37,053Amortization 29,238 29,431Rent 19,008 18,948Strategic planning 2,946 55Professional fees 7,350 7,350Interest and bank charges 3,441 3,757Telephone 1,011 910Bad debts 1,131 1,191Other 284 548

475,399 460,913

ExcESS OF REvEnuE OvER ExPEndITuRE $ 5,274 $ 182

We are pleased to presentour summary financialstatements for the yearJanuary 1 to-December 31,2015, which were auditedby Parker Prins Lebano,Chartered ProfessionalAccountants. The detailedauditor’s report is availableon request.

sAW viDeo AssoCiATion, BoARD oF DiReCToRs 2015Kerry Campbell, Chair

Alex Massaad, Vice-Chair

Jacques Ménard, treasurer

Renuka Bauri, Secretary

Eric Archambault

Sabastien Callender

Monique fuller

Andrew hall

Kristen Mcnaule

Byron Pascoe

Jith Paul

Pavel Pavlov