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In 1938, the Government of Canada invited John Grierson to study the state of the government's film production. Up to that date, the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau had been the major Canadian film producer. The results of Grierson's report were included in the National Film Act of 1939, which led to the establishment of the National Film Commission, which was renamed as the National Film Board.
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Created propaganda in support of the Second World War. In 1940, with Canada at war, the NFB launched its Canada Carries On series of morale boosting theatrical shorts
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Screenwriter Jacques Bobet was hired in 1947 and worked to strengthen the French Unit and retain French talent, and was appointed producer of French versions in 1951.
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In 1956, the NFB's headquarters was relocated from Ottawa to Montreal, improving the NFB's reputation in French Canada and making the NFB more attractive to French-speaking filmmakers.
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In 1964, a separate French production branch was finally established, with Bobet as one of its four initial executive producers
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In 1966, the French language Animation Studio was created, led by René Jodoin.
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With the creation of the Canadian Film Development Corporation in 1967 ( now known as Telefilm Canada). The Canadian Film Development Corporation would become responsible for promoting the development of the film industry. 1967 also saw the creation of Challenge for Change, a community media project that would develop the use of film and video as a tool for initiating social change
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In the early 1970s, the NFB began a process of decentralization, opening film production centres in cities across Canada.
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During the early 1980s, the National Film Board produced a series of vignettes, some of which aired on CBC and other Canadian broadcasters as interstitial programs. The vignettes became popular because of their cultural depiction of Canada, and because they represented its changing state.
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In 1996, the NFB operating budget was cut by 32%, forcing it to lay off staff and to close its film laboratory, sound stage (now privatized) and other departments.
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In 2006, the NFB marked the 65th anniversary of NFB animation with an international retrospective of restored Norman McLaren classics and the launch of the DVD box set, Norman McLaren – The Master's Edition. The NFB budget has since been cut again. The six-storey John Grierson Building at its Montreal headquarters has been unused for several years – with HQ staff now based solely in its adjacent Norman McLaren Building.
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In October 2009, the NFB released a free app for Apple's iPhone that would allow users to watch thousands of NFB films directly on their cell phones.
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In 2010, the NFB released an iPad version of their app that streams NFB films, many in high definition
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In March 2012, the NFB's funding was cut 10%, to be phased in over a three-year period, as part of the 2012 Canadian federal budget. The NFB eliminated 73 full and part-time positions
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Beginning May 2, 2014, the NFB's 75th anniversary was marked by such events as the release of a series of commemorative stamps by Canada Post, and an NFB documentary about the film board's early years, entitled Shameless Propaganda.
