Saw Video Association

Name

Saw Video Association

Legal name

Digital Arts Resource Centre

Website

https://digitalartsresourcecentre.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Media Arts Resource Centre Services

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Production (512110)

SIC

Services-Allied To Motion Picture Production (7819)

akta.pro primary industry

Production Equipment & Technical Services (Camera/Lighting/Grip, Virtual Production) (MPAAAMAH)

Keywords

• Artist-run media arts
• Equipment rentals
• Facility bookings
• Media arts workshops
• Artist residencies

Headquarters

HQ city

Ottawa

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Tiered membership model providing access to equipment rentals, facility bookings, workshops, and grant programs. Membership tiers include Essentials and Extended Access levels.
2. Government and Foundation Grants: Funding from government bodies and foundations including Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Trillium Foundation, and Hnatyshyn Foundation.
3. Donations: Monthly donor program ('DARC Stars') and one-time donations to support organizational resilience and continuing programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Saw Video Association, operating as the Digital Arts Resource Centre (DARC), is a not-for-profit, artist-run media art centre in Ottawa that provides affordable access to professional production equipment (cameras, audio, lighting, grip), production and post-production facilities (recording studio, edit suite, soundstage, microcinema, co-working space), educational workshops, grant programs, and artist residencies to independent media artists.

Product overview

Digital Arts Resource Centre (DARC), formerly SAW Video, is a not-for-profit artist-run media art centre offering a comprehensive ecosystem of services for media artists. The organization provides equipment rentals (cameras, audio, lighting), facility rentals (Recording Studio, Digital Edit Suite, SOUNDSTAGE, Microcinema, Loop Co-Working Space), educational workshops (Intro to Filmmaking, Video Editing in DaVinci Resolve, Cinematography), grant programs (Media Art Production Fund), residency programs (Expanded Practice Residency, Indigenous Residency), and annual events (RESOLUTION screening, LED Exhibition). The AMS Member Portal serves as the digital hub for accessing these services. DARC operates as a single unified organization with tiered membership tiers, not a platform-plus-modules architecture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Equipment Rentals

Quantifiable outcome

• DARC's Digi60 program produced Bytowne, a short film that screened at Festival du Film de l'Outaouais, Kino Gatineau, and won Runner-Up at Ottawa Youth Film Festival before being acquired by TFO
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and major.

• REEL CANADAminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 March 2026Collaborated for National Canadian Film Day 2026 to present films including ENDLESS COOKIE by Seth and Peter Scriver.
• Visual AIDSmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025DARC and Qu'ART partnered with Visual AIDS for Day With(out) Art 2025, presenting the program 'Meet Us Where We're At' featuring six commissioned videos by international artists.
• MAX OttawaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Community partner supporting the Day With(out) Art 2025 event, bringing harm reduction and HIV awareness programming.
• Hnatyshyn FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2024Partnership to present the DARC Indigenous Residency Program, a one-month intensive on-site artist residency for mid-career Indigenous artists.
• Qu'ARTmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partner for LGBTQ+ programming including the annual Big Gay Screening.
• National Capital Scriptwriting InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Intro to Screenwriting workshop, guiding emerging writers through short film script creation.
• Digi60 Filmmakers' FestivalmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDARC supports the Digi60 competition by offering workshop room access for editing and hosting related programming.
• DAÏMÔNminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner for bilingual underwater field recording workshop using hydrophones.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Direct peers

• Winnipeg Film Group: Manitoba's artist-run centre for independent filmmakers offering equipment access, production facilities, training, and exhibition — same Canadian artist-run model with comparable service portfolio to DARC.
• Main Film: Montreal artist-run media art cooperative providing equipment access, training, and post-production facilities to independent filmmakers in Quebec — same co-operative/artist-run DNA as DARC, serving francophone independent media artists.
• Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Society: Vancouver-based artist-run centre providing equipment rental, facilities, and programming to independent filmmakers — direct peer in another major Canadian market with comparable membership and facility model.
• Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative (AFCOOP): Halifax-based filmmaker cooperative providing equipment rentals, workshops, and production support to independent Atlantic Canadian filmmakers — direct peer as another Canadian artist-run centre with the same membership-driven model.
• Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT): Toronto-based artist-run centre offering equipment rentals, production facilities, workshops, and post-production services to independent filmmakers — directly comparable to DARC's mandate, membership model, and service stack, just in a larger market.
• Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers (CSIF): Calgary artist-run centre offering equipment access, workshops, and exhibition programming to independent media artists — directly comparable in mandate, scale, and Canadian regional artist-run centre model.

Others

• Visual AIDS: New York-based arts organization using visual media to fight AIDS and support HIV+ artists; DARC partnered with Visual AIDS for Day With(out) Art 2025 — adjacent organization enabling similar equity-driven media arts programming rather than a direct competitor.
• Reel Canada: Canadian non-profit that promotes Canadian film and runs educational programming; DARC partnered with REEL CANADA for National Canadian Film Day 2026 — adjacent cultural/education organization complementing DARC's mission rather than competing for facility rentals.

Broad incumbents

• National Film Board of Canada (NFB): Federal Crown corporation producing and distributing Canadian audiovisual content; broad incumbent that supports many of the same independent artists DARC serves but operates at national scale with production funding rather than facility-access model.

Regional players

• Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival: Toronto-based 2SLGBTQ+ film organization that presents queer cinema and runs artist programs — comparable in supporting marginalized media artists and partnering with DARC on co-presentations, though focused on exhibition/festival rather than equipment access.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/darcmediaarts
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@DigitalArtsResourceCentre
• Facebookfacebook.com/digitalartsresourcecentre
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/digitalartsresourcecentre
• Instagraminstagram.com/digitalartsresourcecentre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Saw Video Association