New campaign promotes Canadians ‘politely kicking ass’ in movies, TV and games

Made / Nous has kicked off a new campaign to promote the Canadian talent working in the entertainment industry.

The organization, which is supported by the likes of the Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada, has put up a charming billboard in Hollywood saying “Politely Kicking Ass. (Sorry.)”

Canadians have been running the show for a while now. It’s time we own it. #MADEBETTER pic.twitter.com/hpwzN5Umzy

— MADE | NOUS (@made_nous) February 13, 2023

Another Hollywood billboard, meanwhile, promotes four acclaimed Canadian directors: Bécancour, Québec’s Denis Villeneuve (Dune), Toronto’s Sarah Polley (Women Talking), Kapuskasing, Ontario’s James Cameron (Avatar: The Way of Water) and Toronto’s Domee Shi (Turning Red). Dune was nominated for Best Picture at last year’s Oscars, while Women Talking and The Way of Water are up for the top honour at this year’s show, and Turning Red is a Best Animated Feature nominee.

“Need direction? Look north,” reads the ad.

Why they invented the expression “money shot”. @made_nous @realsarahpolley @JimCameron #DomeeShi #DenisVilleneuve #MADEBetter pic.twitter.com/AnhukMk8Vj

— TouchwoodPR (@TouchwoodPR) February 13, 2023

At home, Made / Nous is also running an ad that spotlights Canadians in the entertainment space.

“Made funny, made relatable, made historic — Canadian stories are just #MadeBetter,” writes Made / Nous in a tweet.

Made funny, made relatable, made historic — Canadian stories are just #MadeBetter. pic.twitter.com/pU14GffBrg

— MADE | NOUS (@made_nous) February 8, 2023

In the bit, we see the hit Canadian comedy series Schitt’s Creek, Letterkenny and Sort Of; popular movies like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (starring Mississauga’s Simu Liu) and Free Guy (starring Vancouver’s Ryan Reynolds and directed by Montreal’s Shawn Levy) and Mississauga’s Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Never Have I Ever) talking about the “impact Canadians can have on the entire world.”

The ad also mentions a few milestones that Canadians have recently helped set:

• First female to direct a Pixar movie (Domee Shi on Turning Red)
• First Muslim superhero (Markham, Ontario’s Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel in Ms. Marvel)
• First project from all-Indigenous creators (Kahnawake, Quebec’s Devery Jacobs Toronto’s D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai and Paulina Alexis are three of the four leads of Reservation Dogs)

And on the gaming front, we see a cinematic from Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, a massive video game from one of the largest developers in the world, Ubisoft Montreal. Given that this is only a 30-second ad, it makes sense that games are only briefly touched on. Still, it’s worth noting that Canada is the third-largest producer of games in the world, with the national games sector bringing in $5.5 billion to our GDP annually.

Besides Assassin’s Creed, some of the most prominent games made here include Mass Effect (BioWare Edmonton), FIFA (EA Vancouver), Far Cry (Ubisoft Montreal and Toronto), Cuphead (Oakville, Ontario’s Studio MDHR), Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Eidos Montreal) and PGA Tour 2K23 (Lunenberg, Nova Scotia’s HB Studios).

What are some of your favourite Canadian-made projects? Let us know in the comments.

Image credit: 20th Century Studios