Some industries profit from bad times, and Telefilm Canada’s Carolle Brabant sees Canada’s film and TV industries numbering among them.

“I believe that the challenges of a poor economic environment can be tempered by emerging opportunities in the current social and technological environment — opportunities such as audience building, and ultra‐low budget production,” the Telefilm Canada executive director told the Prime Time conference in Ottawa Friday during a keynote speech.

Brabant painted a global picture of Europe in financial crisis, the United States slowly emerging from its own lengthy financial crisis, and dark economic clouds even gathering over China.

And while Canada appears to be weathering the global economic storm well, “economic restraint is a fact of life in this country as well,” she said.

But Brabant did not come to Prime Time to scaremonger, or to remind her audience that Hollywood thrives during times of adversity.

Instead, the Telefilm boss told indie producers that they can make fortunes from hard times by distributing their products on iPads and other emerging mobile devices.

“Now what could possibly be the silver lining in such a rain cloud? Well, consider this equally familiar trend. What was the most popular Christmas present this past year? A tablet computer,” she told the conference.

The iPad, Brabant pointed out, streams video via the internet on digital platforms like YouTube and Netflix.

“These new platforms, which give consumers much greater freedom of choice, represent new demand opportunities for Canadian audiovisual content,” she said.

Brabant’s business primer was a prelude to unveiling a series of new initiatives at Telefilm Canada, including a $5 million private donation fund for Canadian film, and a micro-budget film program.

“Personally, I believe that our industry is flourishing and we have much more to gain by adapting our funding model to the economic realities we face today,” she told the Prime Time conference.