Without question, the dominating theme at this year’s Banff World Media Festival was the arrival of Netflix in Canada and what it means for Canadian independent producers and distributors. Debated off and on throughout the Festival’s schedule, the issue arrived in the spotlight on Wednesday, in a keynote Q&A between Netflix’s chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, and host Scott Cuthbertson, broadcasting and content analyst, TD Newcrest.

Here are a selection of highlights from Sarandos’ and Cuthertson’s exchange on the NextMedia stage, and below, Playback catches up with Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) president and CEO Norm Bolen for his take on the matter following the presentation. Throughout the Festival, Bolen was a vocal proponent of Netflix contributing to the production of Canadian content in the same manner as the BDUs.

Netflix keynote highlights

Norm Bolen, CMPA