Conference 14 Oct
Power to the Pixel: The Cross-Media Film Forum
at The Times BFI London Film Festival
14 – 15 October 2009
The world’s leading digital pioneers, international financiers, distributors, promoters and creators who are developing new business models and creative opportunities came together for a day of
- keynotes
- presentations
- case studies
- roundtable discussions
As audiences access and interact with media in increasingly different ways, how does this create opportunities for films to be seen in new places and in new formats? Who are the new platforms and services working with cross-media releases? What are the new film and cross-media finance models? These topics and more were explored through the course of the day.
This was a sell out event.
Programme Schedule
CONFERENCE at NFT1, BFI Southbank
08.45 – 09.30
REGISTRATION, TEA & COFFEE
09.30 – 09.45
WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
LIZ ROSENTHAL, Director, Power to the Pixel
09:45 – 10:30 KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
TAKE BACK WHAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN YOURS – OWNING THE FIVE PILLARS OF STORYTELLING
The first 100 years of cinema were defined by the limits and gates imposed on artists by the commercial apparatus. We can now expand both our creative endeavours and our narratives beyond just content and the production process and embrace discovery, promotion and presentation. Audiences’ conflicting desires to be directed to, and to participate with, couldn’t be satisfied as the business made it a one way exchange. Now the walls are collapsing but artists had better leap in quick if they don’t want to surrender the turf.
TED HOPE, Award-winning Producer, This is that corporation
10:30 – 11:00
WHAT DID THEY DO? LESSONS LEARNED IN CROSS-MEDIA
Despite the fact that cross-media is still emerging, there have been a number of experiments, successes and failures over the past few years. In this talk, Christy Dena will share some lessons learned from cross-media projects in film, television, gaming and marketing in a way that will help guide your project. While there is so much yet to explore, and the area will certainly continue to evolve, you can lean on the ground-breaking efforts of those who have ventured before you.
CHRISTY DENA, Director, Universe Creation 101
11:00 – 11:15
BREAK
11:15 – 12:15
RELEASING FILMS ACROSS PLATFORMS: THE NEW DISTRIBUTORS
Presentations and roundtable discussion
As audiences discover and engage with films across a rapidly expanding array of platforms and devices, release strategies for independent film are evolving. Looking at a variety of innovative case studies including Rage and April Showers, speakers will demonstrate a variety of models and lessons learned from making films available across multiple platforms, ‘sites and devices to simultaneous release strategies, special events and digital word-of-mouth campaigns.
Moderator: MICHAEL GUBBINS, Media & Film Consultant and Journalist
SCILLA ANDREEN, Founder & CEO, IndieFlix
EFE CAKAREL, Founder & CEO, The Auteurs
KAROL MARTESKO-FENSTER, General Manager & Publisher, Film Division Babelgum
12:15 – 12:45
HOW TO BE ‘BETTER THAN FREE’
The Internet is a super-distribution machine that allows copies of digital media to flow in an almost frictionless way. As the wealth and survival of traditional media businesses are built on selling precious copies, the free flow of free copies is undermining the established order. If reproductions of media are free, how can we keep on financing films and how can we find value in the media we create and sell?
BRIAN NEWMAN, Consultant and Former President, Tribeca Film Institute
12:45 – 13:45
LUNCH BREAK
13:45 – 14:10
DISTRIBUTION CASE STUDY: THE AGE OF STUPID – A GLOBAL RELEASE CAMPAIGN
The Age of Stupid team reveal how they created a global phenomenon around their film and campaign about climate change. With a mission to engage with 250 million viewers and no marketing budget, the team set out to use an array of digital tools to fund their film and spread the word. Hear the latest from their September release beamed to over 45 countries and 600 screens and their revolutionary new distribution tool, Indie Screenings.
FRANNY ARMSTRONG, Filmmaker
LIZZIE GILLETT, Producer
14:10 – 14:35
A ‘FREE’ DISTRIBUTION CASE STUDY: SITA SINGS THE BLUES
If it’s free, how do you make money? Seven months after the Copyleft release of her animated musical feature Sita Sings the Blues, Nina Paley presents the second round of hard data from the project. The more the audience freely shares the film, the more they purchase DVDs, theatre admissions and merchandise. See the ££ numbers that prove it.
NINA PALEY, Filmmaker
14:35 – 15:00
BRANDS AND PARTNERSHIPS: RAISING MONEY AND INCREASING REACH
Hunter Weeks, director and producer of three American independent feature films, 10 Mph, 10 Yards and Ride the Divide, will present an overview of how he has incorporated significant American brands and partners into all aspects of making films – from pre-production to distribution. He’ll also explore how brands and partners can give a significant boost to your digital and cross-media objectives utilising their platforms, channels and huge built-in audiences.
HUNTER WEEKS, Filmmaker
15:00 – 15:30
THE EVOLUTION OF STORYTELLING
Technology is impacting the art and craft of storytelling. As the industry shifts and audiences move from passive to active collaborators, how does the art of storytelling change? How does one develop stories and characters that can travel across screens and devices? What will emerge as new formats and how will they be funded and distributed? Lance Weiler, director of The Last Broadcast and Head Trauma, details the story architecture that he employs to build story worlds around his film, TV and gaming projects.
LANCE WEILER, Filmmaker and Story Architect
15:30 – 15:40
BREAK
15:40 – 16:40
EXTENDING THE EXPERIENCE: THE NEW STORYTELLERS
Presentations and roundtable discussion
What kind of experience does today’s film audience want and what can be done with existing technologies?
Interactive tools, emails, text and voicemail, mobile apps and geo-locational services can connect an audience to characters. Live events and alternate reality games can bring the audience into the world of a film and extend the storytelling experience. The more filmmakers can extend their vision into the world of the audience, the more rooted the audience becomes in the experience of the film.
But how do you know how much to give them? Mystery will bring people into your world, but for your cross-media audience, there is an implicit promise of a clear correlation between how much that audience gives – of their time, of their own interactions and emails and phone calls, their trips to places where they are promised live experiences – and how much they get back. You must dazzle them with innovate storytelling techniques but you also need to reward them with meaningful emotional content and layers of reveal.
Leading story architects of some of the world’s most successful extended story experiences – The Dark Knight, The Truth About Marika and Xi – demonstrate how to bring a fictional world into the lives of the audience.
Moderator: CHRISTY DENA, Director, Universe Creation 101
MARTIN ELRICSSON, Producer & Creative Director, The company P
STEVE PETERS, Experience Designer & Partner, No Mimes Media
DAVID VARELA, Producer, nDreams
16:40 – 17:15
CROSS-MEDIA BUSINESS MODELS: FINANCING BEYOND THE BIG SCREEN
Is cross-media storytelling the future of the film business?
Extending stories across multiple platforms not only helps build an engaged fan base but also extends the potential of new revenue generating possibilities. As traditional financing dries up, how can producers leverage new types of cross-media partners to expand the value of their properties?
Leading cross-media producers and digital innovators, Peter Cowley and Ben Grass explain how, with up-to-the-minute case studies of brand new projects Shadowline and Circle of 8.
PETER COWLEY, Managing Director of Digital Media, Endemol UK
BEN GRASS, Managing Director, Pure Grass Films
17.15 – 17.45
AUDIENCE TAKES CONTROL
An opportunity for the audience to ask questions to the speakers.
Moderator: LIZ ROSENTHAL, Director, Power to the Pixel
PETER COWLEY, Managing Director of Digital Media, Endemol UK
BEN GRASS, Managing Director, Pure Grass Films
TED HOPE, Award-winning Producer, This is that corporation
KAROL MARTESKO-FENSTER, General Manager & Publisher, Film Division Babelgum
LANCE WEILER, Filmmaker, Story Architect and Digital Innovator
17.45 – 17:50
CLOSING REMARKS
18.00 – 21.00
POWER TO THE PIXEL DRINKS PARTY and THE LAUNCH OF BREATHE at The Movieum