With three Canadian films currently in theatres (Monsieur Lazhar, A Dangerous Method and Cafe de flore), two in the running for an Oscar (Lazhar and Canadian co-pro In Darkness) and Toronto-born actor Christopher Plummer earning prize after prize, Canadian film talent is making headlines all over the world.

So the time has never been better to take advantage of that high profile with a with a marketing campaign for the upcoming Genies, say executives from the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (ACCT).

The organization is tomorrow launching a national ad campaign promoting the March broadcast of the Genies with a spot running in Cineplex and Landmark theatres across Canada.

With creative by Endeavour Marketing, the ad, made in English and French, features clips from Canadian films released in 2011 pieced together around the concept of generating love for Canadian cinema.

“We wanted to reach out to more people because the broadcast will have familiar faces on it and we are trying to reach a larger audience. We got lucky with a vintage year for Canadian films,” explains Helga Stephenson, interim CEO, Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. “[The spot] breaks some of the normal thinking patterns around Canadian film because we made it sexy and warm.”

Launching last Friday in theatres, the ads run until the March 8 broadcast of the Genie Awards at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Targeting every Canadian, Suzan Ayscough, interim director of communications, marketing  and development at the ACCT, says the spot will also run online on the Genie Awards site as well as on the CBC leading up to the broadcast.

From Media in Canada