Michael Donovan speaks softly. After a day of enthusiastic speeches from entrepreneurs and vigorous networking sessions at the Startup Empire conference last week, you don’t expect to hear a soft tone.

The DHX Media chairman even has a microphone, but still, in the Park Lane Theatre No. 4, it’s hard to hear him speak—yet the audience is captivated.

Twelve years ago, Donovan founded DHX Media in Halifax. It is now the fourth-largest animation company in the world, worth $1.5 billion with 18 offices around the world. on Monday, the company reported its profits for the fiscal year to June 30 had risen 150 percent to $19.5 million while revenues rose 127 percent to $264 million.

Jevon MacDonald, who was interviewing Donovan, mentioned that media companies still view DHX as an up-and-comer, despite its success. MacDonald is no stranger to success: he sold his software company GoInstant, which allows people to surf the internet together, to Salesforce.com for a reported $70 million-plis in 2012.

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Donovan said that he and his team always had the right attitude—it didn’t matter that they had the disadvantage of remaining in Halifax, where there was virtually no market and no money. They did, however, have talent, and they took their talented team to the market—Los Angeles—and to the money—around the world.

“One can succeed at anything—just decide,” Donovan said. “Very few people decide.”

And Donovan did: he won an Academy Award for producing the 2002 documentary “Bowling for Columbine” and was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Screenplay for his 2007 adaptation of Roméo Dallaire’s autobiography, “Shake Hands with the Devil.”

Donovan continues to innovate with DHX. In 2004, he realized that streaming was the future of the movie and television industries. However, Wall Street bankers and media advisers all said that wasn’t true because content on the internet will always be free.

Donovan loves that streaming services allows for a greater connection between the creatives and the audience, who now have a larger say in the shows and movies studio heads produce.

With streaming, there’s more competition for shows because production companies can choose to run their show on a network or on a streaming service.

The future of retail lies in show business’ hands. With the ability to stream, Donovan argues that brands will disappear and will be replaced with content that relates to the buyer.

 “A change in technology changed economics,” Donovan said, “and [led to] a changed consumer.”