The National Film Board has announced the creation of an advisory council intended to assist the board in its repositioning within different public and private industry sectors, and as signalled in its 2002-'05 strategic plan.

The council consists of nine prominent members, most of whom met for the first time in Montreal in late June. They are: Christiane Charette, TV host and producer; Richard Laferriere, chairman and CEO of film and TV production investor FRV Media; Victor Loewy, CEO of Alliance Atlantis Motion Picture Distribution Group; Rosemarie Landry, associate professor, music faculty, Universite de Montreal; Louise Maffet, executive director, Royal Canadian Geographical Society; Trina McQueen, consultant/broadcaster, and author of the recent report on English-language drama in Canada commissioned by the CRTC and Telefilm Canada; Fo Niemi, executive director, Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations; Phyllis Yaffe, CEO of Alliance Atlantis Broadcast Group; and David Zussman, president of the Public Policy Forum in Ottawa.