New media in old urban areas, the emergence and evolution of Toronto's multimedia cluster

grantor: University of TorontoThe Toronto region has emerged as Canada's predominant centre of multimedia activity, an (a major centre within North America. This thesis presents an empirical analysis of Toronto's multimedia industry carried out through the development of an industry database, an electronic survey of 311 multimedia firms in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and a series of nearly 80 interviews with multimedia firm principals, industry leaders, government representatives, and with representatives of related industries. A database of 418 multimedia firms in the Province of Ontario shows that 62 percent of the province's multimedia firms are located in the Greater Toronto Area; 61 percent of these firms are located in the central areas of the (former) Metropolitan Toronto. Survey results indicate that firms comprising the Toronto area multimedia industry are relatively young and small, and focus mainly on the development of customized, interactive multimedia products using a combination of media and platforms, catering to several different markets. Interviews with industry representatives further detail the industry's emergence and the atmosphere in which it operates. Interview data focuses on: the linkages between multimedia and related sectors including arts, computing, finance, media and communications; the significance of location when working in multimedia; the key role played by local demand in stimulating the industry's early development and the changing relative importance of local versus export markets; the significance of local suppliers and the labour market in supporting the industry's growth; innovative business practices that characterize interfirm relationships and enable firms of all sizes to participate in the industry; and the role of public policy, public institutions, and private forms of associational action and associative behaviour in nurturing the sector's rise to prominence. At the global scale, multimedia production is reviewed with respect to the industry's emergence in Asia/Australia, Europe and North America, with special emphasis on the experience of multimedia industries in San Francisco and New York. The revelation of similarities and differences between Toronto's multimedia industry and other prominent international multimedia industries, helps to place the local industry in the context of a global hierarchy of multimedia production.Ph.D