BIRMINGHAM PROGRAMME SCHEDULE

14^th October 2009, Novotel Birmingham Centre, 70 Broad St, Birmingham B1 2HT

POWER TO THE PIXEL’S CROSS-MEDIA FILM FORUM

At The Times BFI  53rd London Film Festival

In Association With the West Midlands Producers Forum

supported by Screen WM

08.45 – 09.25 REGISTRATION & COFFEE

09.25 – 09.45

WELCOME & INTRODUCTION

DAN LAWSON, Head of Production, Development and Inward Investment, Screen West Midlands, and NATASHA CARLISH, independent producer

09:45 – 10:30

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION

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, Cross-Media Specialist and Strategist

11:00 – 11:15

BREAK

LIVE - PANEL

THE FUTURE OF ENTERTAINMENT

11:15 – 12.15

As audiences discover and engage with film and media across a rapidly expanding array of platforms and devices, release strategies for independent film are evolving.  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 the film and extend the storytelling experience.  Leading digital innovators Slava Rubin and Rachel Mordecai discuss their vision of the future of film in a digital world.

DAN LAWSON: MODERATOR

SLAVA RUBIN, Co-Founder, IndieGoGo

RACHEL MORDECAI, Producer and Digital Content Strategist

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

LIVE SESSION

14:10 – 15:00

Show Me the Money

Do you need to raise money for your next film? Are you a filmmaker trying to make sense of all the tools on the Internet or what "Film 2.0" really means? Are you interested in any of the topics below? 

•    Online Fundraising 

•    Audience Building

•    DIWO (Do-It-With-Others) Filmmaking 

•    Online Viral Campaigns 

•    Self-Distribution 

Slava Rubin discuss the trends, the tools and the companies pioneering DIWO (Do-It-With-Others) Funding and Filmmaking.  President Obama raised over $1,000,000 a day online in sub-$1,000 contributions during his campaign.  Every day new filmmakers are converting new supporters by targeting their audiences online for action.  Isn't it time you got some of the money?

SLAVA RUBIN, Co-Founder, IndieGoGo

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, Story Architect and Digital Innovator

BREAK

15:30 – 15:50

LIVE SESSION

15:50 – 16:40

FLATTERING A BRAND & DIVERSIFYING IN MEDIA: CREATING BRANDED CONTENT WITH CROSS-MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES

Is Branded Entertainment simply product placement and tag lines in scripts? Are we just overcomplicating, overindulging the advert?  This session will explore the different elements of Branded Entertainment creation.  Whether creating content with an awareness of its branding opportunity or working directly for a brand’s brief, creatives have a new territory and method of madness to explore.   Branded Content is the land where fans are the target market, not where they’re sold out to.  Knowing how to diversify the opportunities of digital space and classic formula narrative to encompass a brand’s message is a key to success in today’s media landscape.  This session will answer how content producers can best make themselves available to the almighty brand £.

RACHEL MORDECAI, Producer and Digital Content Strategist

16:40 – 17:15

THE CROSS-MEDIA BUSINESS MODEL: 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

LIVE SESSION

17:15 – 18:00

AUDIENCE TAKES CONTROL

An opportunity for the audience to ask questions to the speakers.

www.powertothepixel.com

BIOGRAPHIES

RACHEL MORDECAI, Producer and Digital Content Strategist

Writer, Producer, Creative Director, Digital Content Strategist and pop culture encyclopedia known for wit, quirk, slapstick and heart in original, innovative, mainstreamed packaging.  Mordecai is a modern mind with classic influences creating programmes, platforms, destinations and even a channel across the media landscape that exists today to tell captivating stories, breakthrough stereotypes and unapologetically entertain.  Most notably having worked and developed projects across MTV Networks (MTV, VH1, The-N, Noggin, Nickelodeon), Brad Grey TV, MySpaceTV, Fallon, Frengo Mobile and MTV Overdrive.

Mordecai is a go to for pop culture innovations, scripted addictions, multi-platform mindfucks, thinking outside the box yet staying in the lines, and – bottom line – making it work.  She works consistently as a versatile team leader supportive of both collective and individual excellence on reality/factual series, scripted programming, live television productions and new media in corporate atmospheres and DIY space.  Frequently consulting and brainstorming on ways of digital anarchy with brand consciousness in this new media world.

Recent history has had Mordecai writing for Orange’s “I Am” campaign (Fallon), creating The Skater Girl Project for The N (MTVN) in America – negotiating deals with the top Skateboarding Companies in the world and writing I Love Chieftown for MySpace TV.  At present she serves as creator/writer/producer on Andee & Cooper an Endemol Digital Studios series, Creative Director of Celebrity High (US and UK) and dons a hat of Digital Strategy Consultant, Brand Strategist and Creative floating around the top ad agencies in the UK.

Her website is www.madebymordecai.com

SLAVA RUBIN, Co-Founder, IndieGoGo

Slava Rubin (@GoGoSlava) co-founded IndieGoGo to help independent filmmakers overcome their fundraising challenges. Focused on creating ‘filmocracy’, Slava frequently speaks at conferences and writes on the disruptive technologies impacting the media industry, from finance to distribution. Recent speaking engagements include Sundance, Berlin, SXSW, London, Whistler, & Internet Week NY. Recent projects include producing the short, The Wonder of See-saws. Slava also served as an Advisor to the IFP Film Week and Film Labs.

Prior to IndieGoGo, Slava was a strategy consultant working on projects from start-up go-to-market strategies to corporate execution plans. He offers expertise in audience building, marketing, and DIWO (Do-It-With-Others). Beyond his passion for film, Slava started Music Against Myeloma, an annual charity event raising funds and awareness to fight this rare form of cancer.

His website is www.indiegogo.com