Why You Should Join FWC!

With the TIFF on I've been doing some volunteer work, handing out info for the First Weekend Club (they also have just relaunched their site.

For those of you who don't know the First Weekend Club exists to build audiences for Canadian Film. In English Canada, Canadian Film currently gets 3% of screen time in movie theaters and generally underperform in terms of revenue. Some feel that this is because Canadian film isn't good, and doesn't connect with the audience. Personally, I don't think that anyone who has seen much recent Canadian film feels that way.

The problem is that people simply don't know about Canadian film. As I said, only 3% of cinema screen time is devoted to English Canadian film. There is also little or no money for marketing Canadian films. So it takes something of a perfect storm for a person to be able to see any of them. They have to somehow find out about the film, and then find a theater that is showing it at a time when they can go.

The First Weekend Club aims to fix the problem by enabling better communication between filmmakers, distributors and the audience.

Membership in FWC is free. As a member you will not only get information about upcoming Canadian films and where you might be able to see them, but invitations to special screenings, director's Q & A's and more. A full list of Membership benefits is available on the new site.

So, if you even think you might, sometimes like some Canadian films please consider signing up or grab a card like the one pictured above from a FWC volunteer (frequently found hanging about theaters during the TIFF) and join us for a special screening of Bruce McDonald's Hard Core Logo at the Drake September 27.