National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and alternative dramas. In total, the NFB has produced over 13,000 productions since its inception, which have won over 5,000 awards. The NFB reports to the Parliament of Canada through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. It has bilingual production programs and branches in English and French, including multicultural-related documentaries. The Exhibits and Publicity Bureau was founded on 19 September 1918, and was reorganized into the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau in 1923. The organization's budget stagnated and declined during the Great Depression. Frank Badgley, who served as the bureau's director from 1927 to 1941, stated that the bureau needed to transition to sound films or else it would lose its access to theatrical releases, but the organization did not gain the equipment until 1934, and by then it had lost its theatrical distributors. Badgley was able to get a 16 mm film facility for the bureau in 1931. The bureau was reorganized into the National Film Board of Canada on 11 June 1941, following John Grierson's recommendation. Ross McLean was working as the secretary to High Commissioner Vincent Massey when he met Grierson, and asked for Grierson to come to Canada to aide in the governmental film policy. Grierson made a report on the Canadian film industry in 1938, and the National Film Act, which he drafted, was passed on 2 May 1939 causing the creation of the NFB. The position of Film Commissioner was left vacant for months, as Ned Corbett declined the appointment, until Grierson, who proposed Badgley and Walter Turnbull for the position, accepted the position for six months in October 1939, but served until 1945. Grierson selected McLean to work as assistant commissioner and Stuart Legg to oversee the productions.
