Video from The Conversation @ Columbia

We shot the three main panels at the March edition of The Conversation, held at Columbia University. (The audio is a bit rough at points, due to some mics onstage that were cranked up a bit too high.) Thanks go to Emily Branham, director of the forthcoming doc "BeBe," for doing the shooting (and the audio issues weren't her fault, I should say!)

> Tiffany Shlain's Opening Remarks:

ConvoNYC - Tiffany Shlain's Opening Remarks from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

> Ira Deutchman's Opening Remarks:

ConvoNYC - Ira Deutchman's Opening Remarks from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

> Panel: What I've Learned About Attracting an Audience Through Social Media (in three parts, with Arin Crumley, Jason Spingarn-Koff, Ryan Werner, Sandi DuBowski, Nina Paley, and Ian Schafer...moderated by me)

ConvoNYC - Attracting Audiences Through Social Media - Part 1 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

ConvoNYC - Attracting Audiences Through Social Media - Part 2 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

ConvoNYC - Attracting Audiences Through Social Media - Part 3 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

> Digital Distribution: Addressing the Big Questions (in three parts, with Cory McAbee, Richard Lorber, Steve Savage, Hunter Weeks, and Thomas Woodrow...moderated by Peter Broderick)

ConvoNYC - Digital Distribution - Part 1 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

ConvoNYC - Digital Distribution - Part 2 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

ConvoNYC - Digital Distribution - Part 3 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

> Stories Elsewhere: Making Media in New Ways (in three parts, with Asi Burak, Gita Pullapilly, Fred Seibert, and Lance Weiler...moderated by Wendy Levy):

ConvoNYC - Stories Elsewhere - Part 1 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

ConvoNYC - Stories Elsewhere - Part 2 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

ConvoNYC - Stories Everywhere - Part 3 of 3 from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

The Conversation 2010: Post-Game Notes & Analysis

Thanks to everyone who made The Conversation @ Columbia happen last Saturday — after I'd moderated my opening panel on building an audience, I mostly felt like I was free to goof off and just eavesdrop on other sessions, workshops, and lunch groups.

We're posting all of the links, notes, tweets, and other material from the event over here, on The Conversation's official blog.

Open to your thoughts on what we should talk about next time, and where we should hold it. (Last time was UC/Berkeley in October 2008.)

Convo NYC Sold Out ... But We're Looking for a Shooter

I'm both happy and a bit sorry to say that the New York edition of The Conversation, March 27th at Columbia University, is now sold out. (I've already gotten a handful of e-mails from people asking how they can get in...)

But ... we are looking for a one- or two-person crew to shoot the three main panels of the day and help us share them after the event (likely on Vimeo or a similar site). You'll get a comp pass to the entire day, which will let you participate in the lunch discussions and afternoon workshops. Get in touch with me if you're interested.

Update: We found someone great. Thanks for the responses!

Announcing The Conversation 2010, in New York: On Social Media, Digital Distribution, and the Future of Film

I'm excited that we're finally announcing the date, place, and a few of the early speakers for the next edition of The Conversation, a gathering we first held in the Bay Area back in 2008.

It'll be held Saturday, March 27th at Columbia University (thanks to the support of faculty member Ira Deutchman and event manager Daisy Nam there.) Those of us on The Conversation's advisory board are working to rope in some amazing speakers and sponsors, and ensure that this East Coast event will be every bit as good (better?) as the West Coast version, which brought together a phenomenal group of pioneering filmmakers, storytellers, designers, and technologists.

Registration is now open and there is a steep discount if you sign up before February 14th.

We are also soliciting your ideas for speakers, topics, and workshops you might want to run at the event, using our fancy-schmancy wiki.

And we'd love your help spreading the word.

Among the topics we plan to address:

> Adventures in Digital Distribution: What Has Worked, What Hasn't, and How the Market is Evolving

> Social Media: Where the Rubber Meets the Road -- Using Digital Tools To Sell Tickets, DVDs, and Downloads, and Get Audiences Engaged with Your Cause

> Stories Elsewhere: Telling Stories and Engaging With Viewers in New Media, Forms & Formats

> Beyond Facebook: Social Media Sites and Services That Can Benefit Filmmakers

> Site Design and SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

> Creating Internet-Native Content

> Crowdfunding Strategies and Successes

Video interview with Ian Calderon of the Sundance Institute

Here's an interview I shot in 2009 with Ian Calderon, who since 1981 has been the chief digital guy for the Sundance Institute and Film Festival.

In the 17-minute video, filmed at DCTV in Manhattan, Ian and I talk a bit about the challenges and opportunities indie filmmakers face in the digital world.... how 3-D releases might impact the world of independent film...Twitter (of course)...and how difficult it is becoming to break through the marketplace noise, whether you are submitting a film to Sundance or uploading a video to YouTube.

New Directions for Independent Cinema: Ian Calderon from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

This video first appeared last week on Anne Thompson's excellent blog, Thompson on Hollywood. Anne's post alluded to a 2010 edition of The Conversation in New York, which is happening on March 27th. More soon...

Events for 2010: Canada, UK, NYC

I'm excited about four upcoming events, all of which involve travel to fun places and the opportunity to hang out with some leading-edge film, video, and TV folk...

In January, I'll be doing two workshops in Halifax and Montreal with Telefilm Canada. Both are called "Multiplatform, Multi-Success," and they're part of the Telefilm Canada initiative "From Cinemas to Cell Phones." (Participation in both of those requires an application.)

Also in January, on the 27th, I'll be doing a free workshop in Liverpool on "Building Audiences and Generating Revenue in the Digital Age." This is part of the Visionary Sessions series put on by Northwest Vision and Media. After my talk, the great Krishna Stott is running a related workshop. If you know folks in Liverpool/Manchester, let them know about it.

Then on March 14th at SXSW, I'll be running a session with filmmaker Gary Hustwit on "Fans, Friends & Followers: Creating Your Own Cult (of the Non-Apocalyptic Variety.)"

And we're starting to plan a NYC edition of The Conversation, likely at Columbia, in the March/April timeframe...more on that soon.

Tinch on 2009

Roger Erik Tinch of CineVegas has a great post today on 'Distribution & Consumption in 2009.'

Here's a salient tidbit:

Short form content is online king

Duh, right? Then why are companies still trying to push for feature film distribution through widgets and the like? Who wants to watch a two hour movie on a 2-inch by 2-inch size player? Go to what’s this year’s success story, Hulu, and see what the top 20 viewed videos are. Most are between 10 - 20 minutes with a smattering of 44 minute episodes. The first feature film doesn’t show up until #27 with the THE FIFTH ELEMENT. The fact that a big Hollywood film on a popular video site that’s being shown for free can’t even break into the top 20 reveals a lot about our viewing habits.

Insights from THE CONVERSATION

I was not a copious note-taker at The Conversation last Friday and Saturday... too busy trying to keep the show running on time, and making sure our speakers were ready to go.

There's lots of video, photos, and blog coverage on the event's official blog. (The photo at right is from our lunchtime "picnic blanket" sessions, when participants could pick a topic and bring together a lunch group around a picnic blanket. Shot by JD Lasica.)

Here are some things that made such an impression on me that I had to jot them down:

- John Batter from DreamWorks Animation showed some 3-D material from the upcoming 'Monsters vs. Aliens,' and also some remastered material from 'Kung Fu Panda.' Starting next March, everything the studio releases will be available in 3-D. "Current 2-D movies are the visual equivalent of the vinyl era," he said (referring to 33 RPM records, that lost technology.) Within five years, he predicted, we'll have 3-D displays in our living rooms.

- Gregg and Evan Spiridellis from JibJab Media said that they'd tried to figure out a way for advertising to support their creative endeavors -- and given up (at least for now.) The average hit video on YouTube attracts about 3.7 million views. At a $20 CPM (cost per thousand advertising impressions), that produces $74,000 in revenue, they said. Not enough to support their studio. (And their videos have generally attracted more than 5 million views each.) Instead, they're focusing on both advertising and a subscription service, where subscribers pay $13.99 per year to be able to send digital cards and messages that integrate pictures of them and their friends. (Personalized, funny e-cards, basically.) The Spiridellis brothers refer to it as "content that's highly relevant to really small groups of people." They let people interact with their content (13 million, so far, have uploaded images of their heads), and help them be funny to their friends.

- John Gaeta, the visual effects designer who brought you 'The Matrix' and 'Speed Racer,' suggested that before very long, movies and games will deliver exactly the same level of visual fidelity. Some viewers might prefer the interactive gaming experience, and some might prefer the "sit back and watch" narrative experience. And some, Gaeta suggested, might choose to jump back and forth between the two experiences through portals and trap doors... watching the narrative for a while, then choosing to participate at some crucial juncture.

- Reed Hastings, founder and CEO of Netflix, participated in a great on-stage interview with filmmaker (and Conversation co-host) Tiffany Shlain. He mentioned that 'Crash' is the #1 most-rented DVD in the service's history. He said that the TV is turning into a Web browser, capable of displaying any content that can be published online. He suggested that a remote like the one that comes with the Nintendo Wii might be what we use to navigate this new world. Generating audience demand for your content is the new problem -- not producing or distributing it. Most provocatively, Hastings said that "the 90-minute-plus chunk of time is on the decline, as far as social relevance." Are we all still talking about films, and suggesting that our friends go see them -- or are we talking about the latest viral video we've seen? (I totally believe that people who insist on continuing to make only 90-minute features are missing the biggest opportunities of our era.)

- Jim Sommers of ITVS said that his organization is interested in funding new kinds of digital storytelling, and he pointed us to the Electric Shadows initiative for some early examples.

- The independent film producer Ted Hope proposed that filmmakers need to be think about creating material for their Web sites to pique viewer's interest before their film's festival debut.... and more material to bridge the gap between the debut and the theatrical release...and still more between the theatrical release and the DVD... and yet more after the DVD, to keep DVD (and digital) sales humming. To me, it sounds like the film is just one component of a story that you start telling before your first festival showing... and continue to build on and embroider even after you've released the DVD and digital download. The "movie release date" becomes just one milestone in this conversation between you and your audience. Some people who participate in the conversation may never actually buy a ticket or a download... while others may become so engaged that they buy everything you offer, and help market your movie to everyone they know.

- I think it was Dean Valentine, CEO of Comedy.com and a big-shot former TV exec, who said that there is "no law that TV shows are 22 minutes, and come out from September to April." We're living in an age of content democratization, where anyone (not just the networks) has an opportunity to produce great content, in new forms and formats, that connects with an audience. But that content better be cheap (at least at first, before it proves its worth): Valentine said that a typical video produced by Comedy.com has a budget of about $2500.

- YouTube's George Strompolos proposed that characters from your movie (whether narrative or a doc) ought to be stars of videos on YouTube. Most successful YouTube series, he said, are driven by larger-than-life characters. That extra content, he said, should be part of your marketing campaign.

- Tiffany Shlain said that with her short film 'The Tribe,' she spent $130,000 on production and $130,000 on marketing and distribution. "Distribution spending should be half of the budget," she said. What good is making a movie if no one sees it, and you can't earn back your expenditures?

- Ken Eklund, a developer of alternate reality games like "World Without Oil," said, "The culture war between movies and games is over... and movies lost." That provoked some good discussion and debate.

- On that same panel, Peggy Weil, a filmmaker and game developer, asked, "How do you author when there is no authority? How do you direct when the viewer is the camera?" Both those things are challenges for people who come to the world of gaming with an auteur's mind-set.

- Wendy Levy, moderator of that panel, said, "We are the people formerly known as the audience." That struck me in a big way. She also quoted Clay Shirky... observing that we are living in a world of "publish first, filter later."

- Christopher Allen talked about the idea of turning movies into comic books and graphic novels, using simple software like Comic Life (which can put still photos from your movie into a comic book format, and allow you to write the captions.) Another option is hiring an artist on Craigslist and doing a print-on-demand book through something like Cafe Press, Lulu, or CreateSpace.

- Ken Eklund said he is obsessed with Uniqlock. Now I see why. It got me thinking about the possibilities for telling a story through widgets that might be installed on viewers' Web sites, and serve up a new story segment, or introduce a new character, every day/week/randomly.

- Philip Hodgetts showed off a demo of The Assistant Editor, new software he has created to do an intelligent, automated "first pass" edit.

There were so many sessions that I missed on Saturday... Peter Broderick's distribution workshop had people pouring out the doorway, and I heard great things about the Demo Session, which presented four new technologies, from 3-D home displays to green screen to motion capture. (The full event schedule is here.)

I wish I had taken more notes...

Thanks to everyone who supported the event the first time out! Feel free to post any ideas for future editions of The Conversation here...

This Week's Travels

I left on Tuesday for LA and SF, from Boston. Since then, I've visited folks at the Walt Disney Company, JibJab Media, Google, and Pixar. I head to Netflix on Monday.

I've been giving talks to promote the book, and interviewing people as well.

Also, The Conversation began yesterday at the Pacific Film Archive theater, so that has been keeping me busy. (I helped organize it, along with folks like Tiffany Shlain, Ken Goldberg, Lance Weiler, Shayne Gilbert, Alyssa Stern, etc. etc.)

All of which is to say: I have a *lot* of stuff to blog. But not until tomorrow...

But if you want to hear about the book for the low, low price of $15 (includes pizza and beverages), come to the Hillside Club in Berkeley on Sunday at 6 PM (or tell your friends.) The talk presents the complete technological history of Hollywood in 40 minutes. Then we do Q&A and you tell me what I left out.

;)

Tiffany Shlain on Self-Distribution & The Conversation

FreshDV just posted a podcast with filmmaker Tiffany Shlain, who is part of the team putting on The Conversation later this month in the Bay Area. She talks about the event, and also her own approach to self-distribution with 'The Tribe' and her current project, 'Connected: A Declaration of Interdependence.' (Video preview below...)

Lots more multimedia about 'Inventing the Movies'

This was a big week for stuff related to Inventing the Movies showing up online...including:

• Video interview with David Tamés of Kino-Eye.com.
  
• Podcast with Susan Heilman of the Museum of Science in Boston, where I'll be giving a talk on November 12th.
  
• A review of the book by software entrepreneur Doug Levin, founder of Black Duck Software
  
• Interview with Andy Plesser of Blip.tv, which talks both about the book and The Conversation, a conference I'm involved with that takes place October 17th and 18th in the SF Bay Area. (Embedded below.)
  

The Conversation: Schedule and Participant List Are Up

We've just published the detailed schedule for The Conversation, a gathering taking place next month at the Pacific Film Archive theater in Berkeley. It's a mix of sessions that we're programming and a few sessions that the participants will take charge of. We've been soliciting ideas for talks for a few months now, and working them into the agenda. The door is still open, too...

Also up is a list of the some of the folks who've signed up to be there.

And an ad for the event (at right) appears in this week's national edition of Variety.

Hope to see you there...

Talking 'bout THE CONVERSATION

In Boston last Friday, Lance Weiler and I met briefly to do some planning for 'The Conversation' this coming October.

We also sat down in front of the built-in Webcam in my MacBook to talk a bit about our hopes and dreams for the event -- and the reason we're putting it together.

The cinematography and sound are crude, to put it nicely. But I think you'll get the gist that we're trying to do something experimental and unconference-like...something that will bring together a really interesting bunch of innovators this fall. (That's me on the left, Lance on the right.)

Announcing 'The Conversation'

I'm very excited to post the first news about 'The Conversation,' a gathering that has been in the works for seven or eight months now. It takes place October 17th and 18th in the San Francisco Bay Area, at the wonderful Pacific Film Archive theater on the edge of the UC/Berkeley campus.

The basic idea is simple: let's get together a really interesting group of people to talk about new technologies and the entertainment industry. Games. Digital cinema and digital distribution. Set-top boxes and mobile phones. Online financing and fundraising. Building audiences in the digital world. And any other topic that you feel is important.

We've already invited a great group of "conversation leaders" to talk about the world from their perspective. The goal is to avoid PowerPoint overload, long speeches, and a passive audience sitting there responding to e-mails. We're aiming for discussion, debate, and sharing ideas and experiences.

We want your help, in suggesting other topics that ought to get covered, and other people (perhaps you, or someone you know?) who'd be ideal to cover them. Feel free to post comments here or use the event's wiki. (The latter method is better, and not too complicated.)

We have room in the theater for 222 people, and we're doing our best to keep prices low. While most conferences about digital media and the future of the entertainment industry tend to cost $1000 or $2000 bucks or more, the price for a pass to be part of The Conversation is $99 (beware: that price will rise to a stratospheric $149 as the date gets closer.)

I'm hoping you can make it; I have a hunch it'll be a lot of fun, and it's certainly taking place at an important moment in the transformation of business and art and process of creating entertainment.

And if you can't make it, we're hoping it'll be copiously blogged, and possibly podcast, too.

(Thanks to the Berkeley Center for New Media and Variety for jumping on board as our first two sponsors!)