Executive Director’s Message
It is difficult to put into words how excited we are to have completed construction on Niagara’s new state of the art digital interactive media generator facility. With the Grand Opening on Friday June 25, 2010, we have officially opened the facility’s doors for business and we look forward to the many digital interactive media projects that will be created within the facility by our tenants, technology partners, stakeholders, and new businesses alike.
The last eight months have truly been remarkable, and it is an experience that will remain with me always. It all started as a vision, and to see the vision take shape over these past months has been an incredibly rewarding experience. What started as a concept is now a reality, and the digital interactive media sector in Niagara is going to greatly benefit from having such a remarkable facility.
The completed facility has been branded the Generator at one. The phrase at one suitably describes the facility’s address, but the meaning is much deeper than that. at one stands for the convenience of having these cutting edge technologies along with the creative and technological expertise of our tenants and technology partners, all available at one location. The different technologies that we have equipped the facility with are designed for seamless workflow, enabling any to all aspects of digital interactive media projects to be completed at one location, at one St. Paul. Please check out our new website at www.thegeneratoratone.com to gain a better understanding of the incredible facility in downtown St. Catharines.
The expanded facility has given us the opportunity to include new tenants at our downtown location. We are pleased to have 211 INTERACTIVE, Brock University and Niagara College joining us. The addition of these organizations as tenants is further testament to how the Generator at one will strengthen the digital interactive media cluster in the Region, and we are very excited about our new partnerships. Over the next few months, we will be accepting applications for fall tenancy and look forward to hearing about new ideas in the interactive media field from members of the community. If you have any questions about the new facility, or how you can become involved in Niagara’s interactive cluster, feel free to contact me directly at
jchesebrough@ngen-niagara.com.
Jeff Chesebrough
Executive Director, nGen
A Special Thank You to Dr. Rosemary Hale
Dr. Rosemary Hale was recently awarded the key to the city from St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan as she is retiring from her position as Dean of Humanities at Brock University. After moving to the Region in 2000, Dr. Hale has accomplished more in her ten years in Niagara than what is expected in a lifetime.
Rosemary has long been acclaimed as the force behind the revitalization of Downtown St. Catharines, and the accreditation is well deserved. She was a constant lobbyer for government funding for the new downtown Centre for the Arts, a project that will undoubtedly beautify the downtown core and transform it into a cultural marvel.
Rosemary Hale’s vision for a brighter Niagara is the reason for nGen’s existence. She had the foresight to recognize that Niagara needed to expand into a ‘knowledge based economy’ to counteract the industrial and manufacturing closures in the Region. Without her dedication to strengthening Niagara's digital interactive media sector, nGen would not be around today. We will truly see the tremendous effects of Rosemary’s dedication, passion, and commitment to the Region in the years to come, as we at nGen have recently finished construction on our state of the art facility to further grow the digital interactive media cluster, and the downtown Centre for the Arts will be finished construction in 2015.
Rosemary Hale will be stepping down from the nGen Board of Directors, and making way for the incoming Dean of Humanities Dr. Douglas Kneale. We welcome Dr. Kneale to the nGen Board of Directors, and look forward to working with him in the future. We express our sincere gratitude to Rosemary for her tremendous efforts and commitment to the Niagara Region and to nGen. Without her tireless efforts, the initiative to build a digital interactive media cluster in the Region would have never become a reality.
nGen Launches new Microsite for the Generator at one
Learn more about our expanded facility by taking a virtual tour at http://www.thegeneratoratone.com/. The new site offers a glimpse into the completed facility, and outlines all of the technologies and services that are available at the Generator at one. Be sure to check out the site, and gain a better understanding of what makes this revolutionary facility so unique.
Technology Partners
nGen is pleased to introduce Fourgrounds Media, Furi Enterprises, and morro images as Technology Partners for the new facility the Generator at one. These partners played an integral role in the planning and developing stages of the Generator at one. As Technology Partners, these companies will manage the different technologies within the Generator at one by providing technical expertise and creative assistance. The Technology Partners comprise of the expanded facility’s four technical leads; Adrian Thiessen and Kristen Nater of Fourgrounds Media, Tobias Wiegand of morro images, and Thomas Madej of Furi Enterprises.
Project Updates - 1812: Interactive Niagara
nGen’s “1812 Niagara” project team is thrilled to have its soft launch underway for the iPhone heritage tour and game based on the War of 1812. The iPhone application uses simulations, role playing and strategy to provide its users with an opportunity to immerse themselves in the historic facts of this conflict which helped shape Canadian history.
1812 Niagara’s development was led by Kevin Kee, Brock University’s Canada Research Chair in Digital Humanities and Associate Professor, and was based on research conducted by Dr. Kee and students in his “Simulating History” lab. “
This completed heritage tour and game is the culmination of the hard work and efforts of many, including the research lab group (which was comprised of graduate students, as well as undergraduates in Brock’s Interactive Arts and Science Program), along with a very strong collaboration with nGen. We are thrilled to have the soft launch underway, and the application should be available on the iTunes store within days,” says Kevin Kee. “We know that people who use this application will thoroughly enjoy its combination of information and fun, and it will really provide for a great interactive tourism experience.”
1812 Niagara is currently in development to expand to include Queenston. Kee was excited about the possibilities of further expansion of the application, and will be analyzing the possibility of expansion to different platforms (i.e. Blackberry, Android), as well as to other locations of historical significance in the Niagara Region. For instance, did you know that ‘The Battle of Lundy’s Lane’ in present day Niagara Falls was one of the deadliest battles on Canadian soil?
Kevin Kee explains that “Niagara has such an incredible history just waiting to be discovered. This game is going to bring the past to life and make learning interesting and enjoyable for everyone.” Anyone interested in the iPhone application should look for it in the iTunes store within the next two weeks.
Tenancy
nGen is currently accepting applications for tenancy. Applicants must be entrepreneurs in the field of interactive media. Those interested may contact nGen’s Executive Director, Jeff Chesebrough -jchesebrough@ngen-niagara.com.
Tenant Updates
FURI Enterprises
Furi Enterprises is very pleased with the new state of the art datacentre at the Generator at one, which they designed and developed as the datacentre Technical Lead. This new centre provides an incredible boost to the IT sector in Niagara, and greatly increases the amount of core business services that Furi Enterprises will provide. With the new facility, Furi will be able to provide cloud computing, internet services and data storage services to the local businesses in the Niagara Region.
Furi has just launched the new website promoting the Generator at one and encourages you to visit it. They are pleased to have the soft launch underway for the iPhone application “1812 Niagara Interactive” which Furi created the software for. The application should be available on the iTunes store within the next two weeks.
Furi is extremely excited about exploring the business development prospects of the datacentre, and will continue to work on other initiatives and projects that they will be pushing forward with in the imminent future.
furi.ca
Fourgrounds Media Inc.
There have been a ton of changes at Fourgrounds lately! Fourgrounds has a new website and a new look, and has recently moved into their new offices and studios in the Generator at one. Fourgrounds was also proud to play an integral role as Technical Leads in the planning and implementation of the state of the art nGen powered facility.
As far as content creation is going, Fourgrounds has been hard at work, not only offering video services for new clients like Bayer Inc, Target Marketing, TEDX, M&M Meats, and The Bold New Brock Campaign, but they have also been generating content on a local grassroots level. In the executive producer capacity Fourgrounds has been pairing up with local independent filmmakers and artists to help bring their visions to life. The company is also now entering production phases on a few internal productions utilizing the new facility, and are raising capital for their first independent feature film.
The launch of the successful “You’re No Pro” social media campaign is just the tip of the iceberg as far as our interactive creation goes; Fourgrounds is still working hard on local IPTV and already using the newest in HTML5 technology in all of their work.
Fourgrounds Media Inc. is working hard to offer the absolute best video production experience in the Niagara Region and beyond for any video, interactive and motion picture need big or small. Fourgrounds’ presence in the Generator has skyrocketed its growth, and their team and technology are raising the bar on a daily basis.
www.fourgrounds.com
morro images Inc.
morro images is shocked that it is already ‘Half Time’ for the year! If 2010 keeps going this way for morro images, they are very optimistic that it will indeed be a very successful year.
One of morro images’ greatest achievements was the Grand Opening of the Generator at one which has been a tremendous cooperative effort by many people involved. To see the brand new high-tech facility up and running is a great payoff for the hundreds and hundreds of volunteer hours invested by nGen, FURI, Fourgrounds Media and morro images. Please visit www.thegeneratoratone.com for further info.
morro images also finished several On-Air graphics for Brock University's BROCKTV, created two high-resolution renderings for a local St. Catharines Artist and is currently working on the first 3D print project. Furthermore morro images is preparing two in-house co-productions for a full feature film and TV / game project.
To stay in touch and always get the latest breaking news from morro images in Canada and Germany, become a fan at facebook.com or follow us on twitter.com. We are looking forward to a very exciting and successful second half of the year 2010 for all of us.
www.morroimages.com
nGen Welcomes Three New Tenants:
211 INTERACTIVE
211 INTERACTIVE develops marketing strategies, creates beautiful, usable websites, and produces and integrates rich media content including video and motion graphics. The agency also provides creative and technical consulting services. Founder/Director Jeff Hardy has worked in the creative and technology industry since 1994 and has a strong background in design, video editing and Internet technology. "I'm really pleased to be part of such an exciting initiative,” says Hardy, “especially one that will help to promote Niagara as a world-class interactive centre."
www.211interactive.com
Brock University – Centre for Digital Humanities
The Interactive Arts and Science (IASC) Program at Brock University provides students with the chance to study and work in various areas that combine digital media and interactivity such as social media, 3-D online environments and video games, just to name a few. In the Fall of 2010, the IASC program will be offering a course at nGen on advanced digital media, where students will be introduced to the cutting edge technology in the new facility.
brocku.ca/iasc/
Niagara College – School of Media Studies
Niagara College’s School of Media Studies will open the doors to a new centre, interactive Niagara College (iNC). The centre will be operated in conjunction with the Research and Innovation Division of Niagara College. The objective of iNC, is to expand the depth of resources available to local companies, increase the presence of media companies in Niagara and educate the next generation of media professionals.
www.niagaracollege.ca
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