Get ready for The Cross-Media Forum, 11-14 October!

By Rosie Lavan

As Power to the Pixel prepares for its fifth annual Cross-Media Forum in association with the BFI Film Festival next month, some of the leading figures in international cross-media who will be coming to London to participate share their thoughts on the event and what it means for this most diverse and fluid of creative industries.

Jeff Gomez, founder and CEO of New York-based Starlight Runner, will deliver the keynote address at the Conference.  Gomez leads the field in global transmedia: he is the man and the mind behind the global franchises that brought the worlds of Pirates of the Caribbean, Tron, Avatar and Halo, among others, to life for millions of fans.

In this exclusive keynote – his first in London – Gomez will be offering his definition of transmedia storytelling developed and grounded in a career that has bound creativity and commercial success together. He will also look at the way transmedia techniques are shaping thinking in Hollywood and on Madison Avenue, and offer advice to delegates on how to build storyworlds around their own brands and messages. While Gomez has worked extensively in the world of blockbusters and big business – other clients include Coca-Cola and Mattel – he will also look to the future for multi-platform properties developed by independent producers of more modest means.

“How exciting to be able to address London for the very first time at Power to the Pixel, at this unprecedented moment in the history of transmedia storytelling,” Gomez says. “I get to say ‘hello’ and ‘look how far we’ve come’ to the best and brightest. Most importantly, together we get to build upon and celebrate notions of co-creation, collaboration and the realisation of new creative visions – all of which have never been more needed in the world.”

Other speakers on the bill will bring wide-ranging expertise and experience developed, adapted and honed to suit the unique demands and challenges of cross-media properties. Paddy Adams, director of strategy at Manning Gottlieb OMD, the global media communications agency, will be looking at the ever-expanding common ground which advertising and storytelling share.

“In my 12 years working with brands’ communications strategies I’ve become increasingly interested in how brands tell stories across multiple touch-points and in multiple contexts,” he explains. “If they get it right, there is a bigger opportunity than ever to make their communications meaningful, engaging and entertaining.”

The Forum is an exchange place for ideas and experience from people working in sectors which touch on all aspects of cross-media creation, financing and distribution, and it is this mix that Adams is looking forward to. “From an advertising perspective it’s a great opportunity to hear a different point of view about creating content and to talk to people who are pushing the boundaries of storytelling,” he says.

Tickets start at only £40 and are available to buy here.