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Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau
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Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau
The Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau (CGMPB; French: Bureau de cinématographie du gouvernement canadien), founded as the Exhibits and Publicity Bureau, was the film production agency of the Government of Canada administered by the Department of Trade and Commerce, and intended to promote trade and industry. Created in 1918, it was the first government film production organization in the world.
Its purpose, according to the Minister of Trade and Commerce, was "advertising abroad Canada's scenic attractions, agricultural resources and industrial development," and much of its production was devoted to producing travelogues and industrial films.
It also produced early Canadian documentaries such as Lest We Forget (1935), a compilation film (using newsreel footage with staged sequences) recounting Canada's role in the First World War, written, directed, and edited by Frank Badgley, the director of the Bureau from 1927 to 1941; and The Royal Visit (1939), also co-written and edited by Badgley, which documented the 1939 royal tour of Canada by King George VI and his consort, Queen Elizabeth.
The CGMPB was created in September 1918 by an order in council as the Exhibits and Publicity Bureau.
Its first success was a bi-weekly series of short informational films called Living Canada, which began production in 1919 and was distributed theatrically throughout Canada and abroad. By 1920, the Bureau maintained the largest studio and post-production facility in Canada. On 1 April 1923, it was renamed the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau.
The Bureau was in its prime during the period of 1920 to 1931, when it had the largest and best equipped film studio in Canada and distributed its films throughout Canada and the Commonwealth, as well as in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Argentina, Chile, Japan, China, and the United States. At its peak in 1927, it had over one thousand prints circulating in the United States alone.
Into the 1930s, the Bureau began to see a decline, as its films were bland and of poor quality; it lacked a national policy, it was falling behind Associated Screen News of Canada, technologically and in terms of distribution. Underfunding and mismanagement made it difficult to invest in the arrival of sound film, and the Bureau continued to produce silent films until 1934.
By this time, government ministries began producing their own promotional films, usually using outside contractors rather than relying on the CGMPB. Most Canadian films during this decade were produced by the CGMPB or Associated Screen News, which was funded by the Canadian Pacific Railway and highly profitable in its own right. As such, concerns began to arise over the domination of American films in Canadian theatres.
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Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau
The Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau (CGMPB; French: Bureau de cinématographie du gouvernement canadien), founded as the Exhibits and Publicity Bureau, was the film production agency of the Government of Canada administered by the Department of Trade and Commerce, and intended to promote trade and industry. Created in 1918, it was the first government film production organization in the world.
Its purpose, according to the Minister of Trade and Commerce, was "advertising abroad Canada's scenic attractions, agricultural resources and industrial development," and much of its production was devoted to producing travelogues and industrial films.
It also produced early Canadian documentaries such as Lest We Forget (1935), a compilation film (using newsreel footage with staged sequences) recounting Canada's role in the First World War, written, directed, and edited by Frank Badgley, the director of the Bureau from 1927 to 1941; and The Royal Visit (1939), also co-written and edited by Badgley, which documented the 1939 royal tour of Canada by King George VI and his consort, Queen Elizabeth.
The CGMPB was created in September 1918 by an order in council as the Exhibits and Publicity Bureau.
Its first success was a bi-weekly series of short informational films called Living Canada, which began production in 1919 and was distributed theatrically throughout Canada and abroad. By 1920, the Bureau maintained the largest studio and post-production facility in Canada. On 1 April 1923, it was renamed the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau.
The Bureau was in its prime during the period of 1920 to 1931, when it had the largest and best equipped film studio in Canada and distributed its films throughout Canada and the Commonwealth, as well as in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Argentina, Chile, Japan, China, and the United States. At its peak in 1927, it had over one thousand prints circulating in the United States alone.
Into the 1930s, the Bureau began to see a decline, as its films were bland and of poor quality; it lacked a national policy, it was falling behind Associated Screen News of Canada, technologically and in terms of distribution. Underfunding and mismanagement made it difficult to invest in the arrival of sound film, and the Bureau continued to produce silent films until 1934.
By this time, government ministries began producing their own promotional films, usually using outside contractors rather than relying on the CGMPB. Most Canadian films during this decade were produced by the CGMPB or Associated Screen News, which was funded by the Canadian Pacific Railway and highly profitable in its own right. As such, concerns began to arise over the domination of American films in Canadian theatres.