Digital Media at the Crossroads

12:30 p.m.

Registration (to register, go to: www.digitalmediaatthecrossroads.com)

2:00 p.m.

Welcome and Introduction: Carolyne Sumner, Executive Director, DM@X, Assistant Professor and Cross-Cultural Programming Advisor at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Music

A special thank you to Peter Grant: Don McLean, Professor Emeritus, Former Dean, Faculty of Music, UofT, Co-Founder DM@X

2:15 p.m.

Nordicity Presentation

A report on emerging global trends affecting creators in the audiovisual and music industries with a perspective on why reframing an understanding of audience could enable Canadian creators to leverage their IP and thrive in today’s competitive global marketplace

Speakers: Nicole Matiation, Sector Lead AV Production, Nordicity

3:15 p.m.

Strategies to Address Challenges to Cultural Sovereignty

Canada's cultural sovereignty is at risk on several fronts:

• the advent of AI has brought many dilemmas, both creative and economic, for Canada's creators
• decades of consistent and steady public policy development in the AV and music sectors are undergoing seismic legislative, regulatory and legal upheavals and challenges with no clear outcomes
• trade politics are threatening to upend Canada's capacity to act in any coherent and meaningful way

The conference will receive a deep briefing on each of these areas from noted experts:

Where We Stand with AI in the Creative Industries and who owns Tilly Norwood
Speaker: Stephen Stohn, Chancellor, Trent University

Where the Online Streaming Act Stands with the Government, the Regulator and the Courts
Speaker: Erin Finlay, Partner: Stohn Hay Cafazzo Heim Finlay LLP

Preventing Canada/US Politics and Trade Arrangements from Cutting Canadian Culture off at the Knees
Speaker: Howard Law, MediaPolicy.ca

Q&A together with a moderated discussion

4:15 p.m.

Refreshment Break

4:30 p.m.

Next Voices #1: Introduction by Lisa de Wilde CM, Bell Media Professor, Schulich School of Business: Arts, Media and Entertainment

Social Finance as a Catalyst for Arts, Culture and Media

Speakers:
Shubhita Aggarwal
Budhaditya Mukhuty

5:00 p.m.

Panel Presented by the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto
Canadian Music Today: Policy, Artificial Intelligence, and Decision-Making

Now that music industry organizations have begun to set standards, major music companies are settling lawsuits, courts are ruling about IP/fair dealing, and music-value champions have set out calls-to-action, there are sufficient specifics to move beyond the general speculation, anxiety, and assumptions that have often surrounded discussions of music and Artificial Intelligence. This session will incorporate observations about policy and decision-making.

Speakers:
Margaret McGuffin, CEO, Music Publishers Canada
Adam Fainman, Founder, Moonlite Labs

Moderator: Catherine Moore, Adjunct Professor, University of Toronto Faculty of Music

DM@X thanks Avery Brzobohaty, Rey Duff (University of Toronto Music Library) and Devon Stolz (U of T Robarts Library) for creating the thought-provoking materials about music, ethics, and AI that are on display in the Walter Hall lobby. DM@X attendees are encouraged to join in the conversation that these materials have begun.

5:45 p.m.

Networking Reception

At the conclusion of the first day of the DM@X conference, a networking reception will be held on the main level of the Faculty of Music.

8:15 a.m.

Breakfast

9:00 a.m.

Panel on Supporting Equity Deserving Groups (Sally Lee)
Case Study: To Kill A Tiger: One Canadian Doc's Journey from the Festival Circuit to the Oscars to Netflix

Panel on the journey to get the Oscar-nominated Canadian documentary To Kill A Tiger funded, made, distributed, marketed, etc. The discussion will touch on aspects of the Canadian sector that posed challenges to the filmmakers as storytellers from a racialized diasporic community. Such systemic barriers point to the film's incredible success as a case of "in spite of," rather than "because of." At the same time, the filmmakers were also able to tap into opportunities outside mainstream systems in ways that could be instructive as potential models to be explored.

Speakers:
Nisha Pahuja, Director, To Kill A Tiger
Julian Carrington, Executive Director, DOC

Moderator: Sally Lee, Non-profit Sector Executive, Community Builder

Q&A

9:45 a.m.

Next Voices #2: The Transformative Power of FAST: Saviour of Broadcast News

Speakers:
Steve Ilkiw
Marlene Murphy

10:00 a.m.

Panel Presented by the Faculty of Information and Media Studies University of Western Ontario
Covering Canada/US Relations

Canada/US relations have never been off the agenda. In this moment, however, they shape life in forceful, uneven and un-predictable ways. We see and feel their effects in culture, security, defense, business, trade, the environment, Parliament Hill, and everyday politics. This panel will deal with multi-platform news coverage of Canada/US relations in the present—the risks but also the collaborations and possibilities and the role of news organizations and audiences in sustaining coverage and accountability.

Speakers:
Angela Murphy, Foreign Desk Editor at the Globe & Mail
Mark Rendell, Economics Reporter at the Globe & Mail

Moderator: Lisa Henderson, Professor & Recent Past Dean, Faculty of Information & Media Studies, Western University

10:45 a.m.

Refreshment Break

11:00 a.m.

Panel Presented by OCAD University (Sara Diamond)
The Rise of Vertical Formats, Short Form & the Creator Economy

(See Panel Note at the Foot of the Program)

Short form content of all types is a powerful tool to drive discovery and is a source of audience data. Vertical content in an increasingly unique form of content creation and presentation.

• What is vertical drama and why does it matter?
• What other forms of short form are we seeing in market or emerging (sports, factual, reality)?
• Where are these located (e.g. dedicated streamers, online platforms, complementary content) and do these differ as revenue models?
• Where does AI fit into the production process?
• Where does vertical drama/shortform drama/short form fit within the emerging Canadian regulatory regime?
• Who supports shortform production in Canada? Is it brands? Streamers? Funds?

Speakers:
Moyra Rodger, Founder & CEO, Vancouver, Magnify Digital,
Steph Tablizo, Toronto, freelance short and long-form producer & director, member of Short Drama Alliance
Stephanie Wilson Chapin, Strategic Partner Lead, News, Sports, TV & Film, YouTube Canada
Tim Zhou, CEO, Toronto, Union Film Group
Dan Fill, President and Co-Founder Dark Slope

Moderator: Dr. Sara Diamond, OCAD University Research Chair

Panel discussion and Q&A

12:00 p.m.

Networking Break and Buffet Luncheon (provided)

Registrants will be assigned randomly to tables in breakout rooms. Facilitators at each table will animate the discussion and seek views on a variety of policy questions.

1:30 p.m.

Panel on Indigenous Broadcasting Issues (Stephanie Willsey)
Stories That Don't Burn Brightly Enough: Journalism and Media Reporting in First Nations

This panel will explore the historic underreporting in Indigenous nations, particularly remote communities. Why mainstream outlets parachute in and out, and how Indigenous-led media can fill the gaps with context, resilience, and continuity. Why underreporting continues, but how its changing.

Speakers:
Donna Sound, CTV National News and Indigenous Circle Reporter
Gabby McMann, Journalist & Lecturer on Indigenous Reporting

Q&A

2:15 p.m.

Panel on Online Harms

The panel will review current thinking on how best to approach online harms (eg. bullying, incitements to violence and terrorism, self-harm inducements, disinformation, etc.). It will consider three different methodologies: legislation to outlaw certain kinds of content (like Canada's Bill C-63), digital literacy training, and bans (like Australia's for children under 16). The panel will discuss the various approaches and debate their merits.

Speakers: TBD

Moderator: Richard Stursberg, School of Hard Knocks

3:00 p.m.

Next Voices #3: Could a Centralized Ticketing & Discovery Platform Strengthen Toronto's Arts Scene?

Speakers:
Avneesh Mehta
Parmeet Bhatia

3:15 p.m.

Refreshment Break

3:30 p.m.

Panel Presented by the Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University (Lorena Escandon)
The Algorithmic Editor: The Future of Discovery

The decentralization of broadcasting programming and the almost unfiltered access to global content have brought challenges and opportunities to the Canadian content landscape. Regional and national policies are starting to sprout in different places to protect local productions and cultural relevance. This still leaves open the question of how audiences find that work. Within the context of media and platform regulation, this panel aims to address the challenges of how audiences can reach and discover content.

Speakers:
Dr. Afsoon Soudi - Media analytics and responsible machine learning
Dr. Ope Akanbi - Privacy, media regulation, labour and technology and the political economy of digital media

Q&A

4:15 p.m.

Presentation by the Black Screen Office
From Statements to Systems: A Practical Framework for Confronting Anti-Black Racism in Canada's Cultural Sector

Canada's cultural institutions have spent years talking about equity, yet Black creatives across screen, music, and the broader cultural industries continue to face entrenched systemic barriers. Drawing on two years of national consultations with 149 creatives and community partners, the Black Screen Office’s Anti-Black Racism Policy Framework offers a concrete, sector-adaptable roadmap for change. This session highlights the core insights: what organizations must shift in their hiring, leadership, authorship, decision-making, and accountability structures; why previous efforts stalled; and how to move beyond symbolic gestures toward sustained, measurable progress. Attendees will leave with a clear sense of how this Framework can be applied within their own institutions to build systems that genuinely support Black talent and rebuild trust.

Speakers:
Joan Jenkinson, Co-Founder and CEO of the Black Screen Office
Natasha Morris, Business Manager, Research and Action Centre, Black Screen Office

Q&A

4:45 p.m.

Closing Wrap-up: Carolyne Sumner

5:00 p.m.

Termination of Program

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DM@X Steering Committee & Management

Doug Barrett, Committee Chair, Adjunct Professor, Schulich School of Business
Ope Akanbi, Associate Professor, Joint Graduate Program in Communication and Culture, TMU
Grant Buchanan, Counsel, McCarthy Tetrault LLP, President, IIC Canadian Chapter
Julian Carrington, Executive Director, Documentary Organization of Canada
Lisa de Wilde, Bell Media Professor, Schulich School of Business
Sara Diamond, Research Chair and President Emerita, OCAD University
Lorena Escandon, Program Director, Master of Digital Media, The Creative School, TMU
Peter Grant, Communications Lawyer, DM@X Chair Emeritus
Lisa Henderson, Professor and Dean (2019-25), Faculty of Information & Media Studies, UWO
Jean LaRose, President, Dadan Sivunivut, Former CEO of APTN
Sally Lee, Non-profit Sector Executive, Community Builder
Mary Elizabeth Luka, Acting Chair & Associate Professor, Dept. of Arts, Culture & Media, U of T
Trina McQueen, Co-Director, Arts Media & Entertainment MBA, Schulich School of Business
Catherine Moore, Adjunct Professor, University of Toronto Faculty of Music
David Nostbakken, President/CEO, The McLuhan Foundation
Ken Rogers, Academic Director, Arts, Media & Entertainment MBA, Schulich School of Business
Richard Stursberg, School of Hard Knocks
Stephen Stohn, Chancellor, Trent U, Founding Partner, Stohn Hay Cafazzo Heim Finlay LLP
Stephanie Willsey, Lawyer and advocate on Indigenous Legal Matters, McCarthy Tetrault LLP

Carolyne Sumner, Executive Director, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Music, U of T
Palomi Goradia, Marketing Coordinator, MBA Student (2026), Schulich School of Business
William Wen, Web Master

 

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