June 2013 Conference Talks

June is a busy month for conferences and events. Here are a few sessions I’ll be involved with. Let me know if you’ll be attending and we’ll say hi.

National Association of Latino Independent Producers - June 7-9 at Universal Sheraton Hotel, Universal City CA

WHATEVER IT TAKES: DIY TECHNOLOGY AND THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF CONTENT CREATION (9am Saturday June 8) In the analog world, it was difficult, expensive and time consuming to make a film. In the DIY digital world, technology and ingenuity are driving tectonic shifts in content creation. From hacking a DSLR camera to coding a new app, the customization and democratization of the filmmaking process helps to cultivate new and fresh voices and empowers storytelling. The savvy, tech-driven and ingenious producer will soon dominate the multiplatform media frontier. This session will cover how the accessibility and customization of filmmaking tools and resources can enable smart content creators to future-proof their craft, save money and make compelling media.

• Ben DeJesus, NGL Media;
• Edwin Pagan, LatinHorror.com;
• Nick DeMartino, Theatrics.com;
• Ryan Koo, NoFilmSchool.com;
• Monika Navarro, Monika Navarro Productions;
• Gustavo Stebner, StebnerShow.com
• Moderator: Ben Lopez, Viento Fuego Productions

Banff World Media Festival - June 9-13, Banff, Alberta, Canada

I will be attending as Senior Advisor to the Canadian Film Centre’s IdeaBoost accelerator, part of the team helping the six companies involved with the program access the expertise attending Banff.

TV of Tomorrow Show, June 25-26 in San Francisco. 

ACCELERATING STARTUPS IN THE MEDIA BUSINESS - Business accelerators are offering startups a new way of refining their business and gaining access to networks of investors, customers and collaborators. The breakout success of broad-based technology accelerators YCombinator and TechStars have inspired scores of variations on their inspired model of a bootcamp that provides mentorship, learning, building, pitching and launching. A new crop of accelerators focus on technology in service to the media business. Find out how a roster of visionaries are working to change the world of media & technology with their own spin on the accelerator methodology.

• Ana Serrano, founder, ideaBOOST, Toronto  
• David Austin, founder, Turner/Warner Media Camp
• Jigar Metha, Matter Ventures
• Mike La Salle, partner at Shamrock Capital Advisors
• Corey Ford, founder, Matter Ventures
• Nick DeMartino, moderator

PLATFORMS AND SERVICES FOR TRANSMEDIA EXPERIENCES - The panel explores how the transmedia ecosystem will impact our conception of television programming and advertising/monetization going forward. Issues we expect to be addressed include: 1) The implications of the transformation of the audience from mere viewers to, as it were, citizens of a storyworld, for whom a program is not something that is viewed on a screen within a half-hour or hour-long timeslot, but something that is immersive and available around the clock. 2) The extent to which new storytelling platforms and services promise to increase engagement by actually allowing the audience to become co-creators of the programming experience--how do programming creators remain in control while ceding ground to the creativity of their audience? 3) The implications of the fact that these new story worlds are no longer confined to the TV in the living room--how will mobile technologies and services such as geolocation and location-based social networks allow transmedia programming to extend beyond the home--and perhaps even beyond the screen--into the real world? 4) The ways in which marketing and advertising will have to adapt to take into account a new type of audience that is not only immersed in a storyworld but, in some cases, is helping create that storyworld, and that has that storyworld potentially available to them around the clock and everywhere they go.

• Nick DeMartino, Senior Advisor, Theatrics
• Jeff Gomez, President and CEO, Starlight Runner
• Robert Pratten, CEO, Transmedia Storyteller (Conducttr)
• John P. Roberts, SVP of Digital Media and Commercial Affairs, Endemol USA
• Craig Singer, CEO, Hopskoch
• Lori Schwartz, Managing Partner, StoryTech (moderator)