AQM - L'Association québécoise des marionnettistes

What AQM - L'Association québécoise des marionnettistes does

AQM - L'Association québécoise des marionnettistes is a nonprofit professional association founded in 1981 and headquartered at 30 avenue Saint-Just, Montreal, within the Maison internationale des arts de la marionnette (MIAM). It serves as the central representative body for Quebec's puppeteers, performing artists, theatre companies, and adjacent cultural workers (designers, technicians, educators, administrators), and acts as Quebec's designated section (Centre UNIMA-Canada) of UNIMA, the international puppetry federation. The association operates as a member-governed nonprofit funded through membership dues, government cultural grants, and training program fees, with no investor ownership, no public listing, and revenue figures not publicly disclosed.

The association's product and service portfolio centers on (1) two directories — the Répertoire des membres (member directory searchable by specialty and region) and the Répertoire des spectacles (performance catalog for presenters/diffuseurs); (2) an annual continuing-education program (Formations continues) covering manipulation, fabrication, video production, object theatre, and shadow theatre, delivered through Compétence culture's Intervention-Compétences framework by masters from Quebec, France, Germany, England, and other countries; (3) La revue Marionnettes, a specialized scholarly-professional journal; (4) the MarionNET.ca portal aggregating member resources and training history; (5) the MIAM cultural venue operated jointly with Casteliers; (6) the Fonds Passerelle grant program subsidizing member training; and (7) a comprehensive province-wide events calendar. Distribution is multi-channel: a self-serve website (marionnettes.quebec), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, a monthly email newsletter, and the MarionNET.ca portal.

The underlying technology stack is conventional web publishing infrastructure (a WordPress-based website based on URL structure and site assets), with no proprietary software products, APIs, SDKs, or machine-learning components. The association does not operate a SaaS or paid software business, has no mobile apps, and earns revenue almost exclusively through traditional nonprofit mechanisms: membership fees, event/training registration, grant funding, and partnership income. Its go-to-market is community-oriented and regional, focused entirely on the Quebec territory, with international reach limited to UNIMA federation cooperation and inbound artist hosting rather than commercial export.

Name

AQM - L'Association québécoise des marionnettistes

Legal name

Association québécoise des marionnettistes

Website

https://aqm.ca

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

AQM is a Quebec nonprofit professional association founded in 1981 that serves as the central representative body for the province's puppeteers, performers, theatre companies, and cultural workers, operating from the Maison internationale des arts de la marionnette (MIAM) in Montreal as Quebec's section of UNIMA-Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Montréal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

AQM is a nonprofit professional association that brings together puppeteers and puppetry organizations across Quebec, providing membership services, continuing education training, networking, a member directory, a performance directory, a specialized journal, and operating the Maison internationale des arts de la marionnette (MIAM) cultural venue. It serves as the Quebec section of UNIMA-Canada, connecting local practitioners to international puppetry networks.

Product overview

AQM operates as a unified association offering a portfolio of interconnected services for Quebec's puppetry community. The core offerings include MarionNET.ca (the central online portal), member and performance directories (Répertoire des membres and Répertoire des spectacles), and an annual continuing education program (Formations continues). Supporting services include La revue Marionnettes (a specialized journal), the Maison internationale des arts de la marionnette (a physical venue in Montreal), and the Fonds Passerelle (a funding grant program). An event calendar aggregates performances, trainings, and activities across the Quebec puppetry sector.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UNIMA-CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAQM serves as the Quebec section (Centre UNIMA-Canada) of UNIMA (Union Internationale de la Marionnette), the international puppetry organization. This partnership connects Quebec puppeteers to the global puppetry community. AQM offers special pricing for UNIMA-Canada members and participates in international solidarity initiatives through UNIMA's Commission for Cooperation.
• CastelierscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCasteliers co-founded the Maison internationale des arts de la marionnette (MIAM) with AQM. Casteliers is a puppetry organization that also produces events listed on AQM's calendar. The partnership represents a foundational collaboration for the development of puppetry infrastructure in Montreal and Quebec.
• Compétence culturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThrough Compétence culture's Intervention-Compétences program, AQM provides puppetry training delivered by masters from Quebec, France, Germany, England, and elsewhere. This partnership enables professional development opportunities for Quebec puppeteers that would otherwise be inaccessible.
• MarionNET.caminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAQM supports MarionNET.ca as a dedicated portal for puppetry arts, featuring member resources, historical training records, and community content. The portal extends AQM's reach into digital resources for the puppetry community.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild: UK-based membership organization for puppeteers offering training, festivals, and member services — a direct international peer to AQM in scope and function.
• Puppeteers of America: US national membership association for puppeteers, providing member directories, an annual festival, publications, and professional development — a near-structural analog to AQM at the US national level.
• Casteliers: Montréal-based puppetry organization that co-founded MIAM with AQM and produces the Casteliers festival. Directly comparable as a Quebec puppetry-focused organization offering overlapping services such as festival programming, performance promotion, and international exchanges.

Broad incumbents

• UNIMA (Union Internationale de la Marionnette): International umbrella federation for puppetry of which AQM is the Quebec section (Centre UNIMA-Canada). Operates globally with national centers in many countries, coordinating international congresses, commissions, and solidarity programs analogous to AQM's local activities.

Regional players

• UNIMA-France: French national section of UNIMA serving French puppeteers. Comparable in mission and offering (training, festivals, directory, advocacy) but operating primarily in France rather than Quebec.
• Théâtre Aux Éclats (and similar Quebec puppet companies): Quebec-based puppetry companies and small producing organizations that overlap with AQM's membership and benefit from its services; comparable as participants in the same regional puppetry ecosystem AQM supports.

Others

• Compétence culture: Quebec cultural-sector workforce development organization that funds and delivers AQM's professional training via the Intervention-Compétences program. Comparable as a peer cultural-sector intermediary operating in Quebec.
• Canadian Association of Theatre Companies (or equivalent national performing-arts bodies): Other Canadian performing-arts membership and advocacy organizations that share AQM's nonprofit, member-funded, training-and-advocacy model, useful as structural comparables for governance and funding benchmarks.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCOKm5f9IVox_e-FezPR4ltA
• Facebookfacebook.com/AQM-Association-qu%C3%A9b%C3%A9coise-des-marionnettistes-175003799226012
• Instagraminstagram.com/aqmarionnettistes
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/l-association-qu-b-coise-des-marionnettistes

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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