Film and Media Arts - Professional Associations

Alberta Media Arts Alliance Society's (AMAAS) history dates back to 1988 when the society was established to encourage new media arts in the province and create a platform from which artists could communicate. Through the partnership of various organizations, the society is an advocate for the media arts community and organizes various events designed to stimulate interest and awareness of the industry. Membership has grown over the years to include organizations such as the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers, EMMedia, New University Television Society, Herland Festival, Quickdraw Animation Society, the Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta, Boreal Electroacoustic Music Society and the Medicine Hat Film Festival. AMAAS helps to connect these groups, creating a cohesive community geared towards promoting the media arts.

Professional development opportunities, annual conferences, forums and an annual tour are examples of events organized by the AMAAS. A non-profit organization, AMAAS acts as a representative of media arts centres in Alberta to the community and all forms of government. Services such as on-line forums allow artists to communicate ideas and share information. The AMAAS hosts on-line forums pertaining to independent film, digital video and animation. Annual conferences are held in various Alberta locations and provide information for artists in the form of presentations, guest speakers and workshops.

Conferences organized by the AMAAS provide a venue from which artists can network and learn about different aspects of the industry. At the 2003 conference in Medicine Hat, a presentation entitled, 'Marketing- A Key to Your Success', featured ideas on how to market new media products and services. 'Prairie Tales' is a provincial film-touring program originally organized by Bill Evans of Edmonton's Metro Cinema in the fall of 1998. A joint effort between Metro Cinema and AMAAS, the festival showcases independent Alberta films. Selections for the tour are often films from the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers (CSIF), Quickdraw Animation Society and other Alberta film societies. In the past, the tour has been divided into two sections; 'The Land' is a grouping of films and videos which meld ideologies with the Alberta landscape while 'Fictional Realities' looks at the intermingling of identity and physical or imagined spaces.