MONTREAL — The National Film Board wants to be the go-to audiovisual reference for Canadian teachers in the 21st century by entering schools online.

‘We want to get the NFB brand back into the classroom,’ says Johanne St-Arnauld, director-general of distribution.

‘We have to create a site. We don’t have a choice,’ she says, adding that the project is currently in the intense planning stage.

Decades ago the NFB was the most important producer of educational films in the country; Canadian school children learned about science, nature, art and health from the board’s now-classic flicks.

But the playing field is crowded now, says St-Arnauld. ‘In the past there were fewer players. And now people don’t necessarily associate the films they watch with the NFB, they often think it’s been made somewhere else.’

And when public money flowed more freely, NFB employees would accompany the films and work with the teachers onsite.

But times have changed. The NFB now wants to have a constant presence in Canadian classrooms by creating a website specifically for teachers. The site will likely include a selection of NFB educational films and accompanying pedagogical guides, explains St-Arnauld. ‘We have lots of ideas. It is a major preoccupation for me. We want to be number one and regain ground, but in a completely different way.’

‘Teachers are overwhelmed. We want to make things as easy as possible for them. And in five years there probably won’t be DVDs anymore — everything will be delivered by streaming. We want to be ready to do that.’

But getting the NFB brand out there costs money and educational sales are not lucrative — roughly $60 per film, explains St-Arnauld. A TV sale, on the other hand could generate $5,000. ‘It is the same effort for a small amount of revenue,’ she says.

The NFB also has less resources than in the past. There is no longer an educational studio, but the institution is dedicating two to four projects per year for the educational market.