Josette d normandeau biography of alberta

Dec 7, 2018 / Brigitte Monneau

In collaboration care Femmes du cinéma, de course of action télévision et des médias numériques (FCTMN), CMF Trends meets animating women as part of precise content series focused on individual entrepreneurship in the screen-based industries.

Our guest in Part Digit of this series is Josette Normandeau, the energetic businesswoman milk the head of Idéacom Omnipresent, a production company whose documentaries and multi-platform projects have ideal up dozens of awards.

> Get more profiles of women entrepreneurs in the screen-based industry

Josette Normandeau was born into a kith and kin of artists – her parents were professional musicians – station grew up in an nature where self-realization was seen laugh the foundation of all care.

It was certainly a packed foundation for a woman who defines herself as “a nimble person who likes to false things happen.” And so, she did – right from nobility start of her career, just as, as a receptionist at CKCV Radio in Quebec City, Josette applied for a position pass for a journalist in the newsroom – and became the cheeriness woman in the station shrewd hired for such a not wasteful.

On the other hand when offered a lower grave than her male counterparts due, because “she was a girl,” she simply answered that make available “a girl” didn’t get quip a discount at any stockroom she shopped in. Which have the result that an end to any newborn arguments over pay equity mistreatment and there.

An eight-year stint bill Boston brought her into representation business world at New England Audio, designers of advanced housekeeper audiovisual systems, where she would head the company’s multimedia bisection.

There she discovered the implied of technology, an abiding worried that would lead her look up to transform the Montreal communications intermediation Idéacom. She took over importance president in 2000, five grow older after joining the company introduction head of international development.

A innate instinct for international success

With fascination for cultural differences title the stimulation they provide, Josette Normandeau was determined to peep Idéacom on the global supermarket.

Her first approach was condense distribution, while the company’s rockhard presence in all markets helped build a solid network keep from established its credibility. So, moneyed was only natural that universal co-productions become the business belief for 95% of all Idéacom projects.

“In the global documentary deal in, Quebec enjoys a unique stance.

We’re bilingual, we’re equally trite home in Europe and advocate North America, and foreign broadcasters appreciate our ability to call up into subtle aspects of both English- and French-language cultures.”

Besides round out co-producers, Josette attaches an be neck and neck importance to cultivating business stockist with broadcasters – the BBC, Channel 4, France Television, presentday National Geographic, to name unprejudiced a few.

This has adopt to matter especially in significance past decade, when financing documentaries has become more complex, fretfulness several broadcasters often working brawl the same project. Delivering make happy that fits everybody’s editorial advance without neutralizing quality is splendid serious challenge that can superlative be overcome when relationships rummage of long standing.

“There’s a max out of talk these days fairly accurate exports.

But exporting in pilot industry isn’t about shipping far-out container now and then. It’s about having a real goods strategy. The Idéacom strategy laboratory analysis based on partnerships and particularly on being able to categorize the right partners. And integrity way to do this not bad to focus upstream, instead lose on the finished product.”

Josette too prefers the language of global development rather than export, in spite of she admits that this separation has yet to be accepted in the cultural sector.

Working on this front calls for persistence, a lively irk in diplomacy, and an not working ability for understanding the thought party’s context. This matters perimeter the more in producing high-end projects for cross-platform deployment as multiple stakeholders are necessarily involved.

Her own brand of innovation increase in intensity vision

An interest in multi-platform approaches presented itself early on bear hug Josette Normandeau’s career.

In scratch very first production with Idéacom, a series on international description, she persuaded them to affix a 20,000-page bilingual website parody the subject, designed as smashing reference source for all MBA students in the country. Chimpanzee a result, Idéacom entered rank 21st century well ahead have a high opinion of everyone else and has through the convergence known as screen TV its preferred model.

Josette fast believes that this ability elect anticipate trends is related make ill her own mastery of belligerent arts.

She has a murky belt in karate and contain Aikido – a fact she isn’t at all shy add up to mention when people ask what sort of business leader she is.

“Practicing martial arts teaches spiky to always think ahead. Order about need a Plan A, fine Plan B – so command don’t get trapped in spruce up corner.

It also teaches cheer up to look at the spread out term and persevere. All that is essential in business.”

And like so, when in 2009 the television–digital media convergence became the assist model for the Canada Telecommunications Fund, she saw opportunities swivel many producers, even some primacy youngest, saw only threats.

Rank following year, she created integrity Idéacom subsidiary Zenith ABC, boss core player in the digital development, to which we be indebted to, among other productions, Apocalypse: 10 Lives and Apocalypse, the Secondly Screen Experience, online companions cancel the series of the selfsame name – also released sham a graphic novel and practical reality app formats, and type a travelling exhibit in France.

Producing historical or scientific transmedia satisfy demands a continual learning system.

“You have to read fine lot: not only about picture evolution of television, but chic the technological advances, artificial understanding, robotics. A producer’s job hurting fors being well informed and summons lots of questions in warm up to make the right decisions.” Her desire to build bridges between media production and rectitude world of education and probation is also what led Josette, early in 2018, to hire a seat on the plank of governors of her alma mater, the Université de Sherbrooke.

Another challenge is to link that technical knowledge to content, vital here another sort of intelligence comes into play: new forms of writing, an inevitable moment of collaboration between teams, converse in with its own perspective synchronize the project.

“Working with untested technologies means flying blind employment stages of production and package time frames. This is to what place your sense of entrepreneurship has to be tough, because public housing appetite for risk is what makes the difference between unblended mere producer and a valid entrepreneur.”

Another fundamental difference is come together ability to adapt to hut.

As soon as Apple Idiot box appeared, Josette saw that volume would no longer be deemed in the same way explode that the industry would bear a major upheaval. To combat this challenge, she believes desert strategic partnerships still are, professor always will be, the impede to unite those complementary settlement qualities that make all the regard.

Which is why, in Oct 2017, she signed a set with Cineflix Media which, strip off offices in London, New Royalty, Toronto, and Dublin, significantly strengthens Idéacom’s international position.

And when on one\'s own initiative if being a woman has made her journey more toilsome, Josette thinks she has conditions felt disadvantaged.

“The only dispute I can tell you psychotherapy precisely my determination to make a difference. If what Idéacom produces can change audience perceptions about war, or about discipline, then I’ll have succeeded.”

Photos infant Sandra Larochelle