There are two
distinct elements to the digital revoluton. The first is in the the creation of
content and the second is in distribution. The first has been a huge enabler,
making it cheaper and easier than previously to make quality films. But the
second is one of the biggest threats the industry has ever seen.
There are more
films being made each year than ever before. Supply and demand suggests that
the value of those films will be decreased by the wealth of content available
to distributors (and audiences) and the fact that it is so easy now to pirate
that material has left the film community in a seemingly constant state of
worry in recent times. Movies are in trouble.
Enter Digital
Biscuit, a timely annual event presented by the Screen Director’s Guild of
Ireland featuring equipment workshops, panel discussions and inspiring talks
with creators like Chris Nee (Angela Anaconda, Blues Clues, Deadliest Catch), David
Yates (Harry Potter), Jim Sheridan (In The Name of The Father) and Richard
Baneham (Avator). Alongside the seminars was a Kinoplay area, a room that
allowed attendees to get hands-on with the latest digital equipment.
Sometimes these
kinds of events can descend into so-called experts lazily telling the audience
things they already know and generally despairing for a doomed industry while
uncovincingly arguing that there will always be a market for content.
Thankfully, Digital Biscuit, by contrast, was refreshingly energetic and all of
the speakers had at least a couple of relevant nuggets that those in attendance
could take away from it.
Deftly hosted by
celebrated director Dearbhla Walsh, the day benefited from the fact that each
presentation was restricted to 30-minutes with each speaker essentially invited
to offer the ‘greatest hits’ of their experiences with digital filmmaking and
distribution.
The event
launched with a Thursday night screeening of Side By Side, a film about the
science, art and impact of digital cinema before settling into the main event
on Friday morning with a series of short seminars. Over the course of the day
I, for one, picked up a lot of new information.
The point was
made by Neil Leydon from the International Digital Services Centre that with
video content in all its forms moving online, huge new opportunities are
created and that Ireland, much like
we did in financial services, can create a similar ecosystem for large
companies to deliver media content to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
To do that, it’s
important to understand the changing landscape and Phillipe Brodeur of AerTV
gave a quite fascinating overview of the digital world. Amongst his most
interesting observations was that, despite the overriding feeling that
everything is moving online, most people still watch TV when it’s broadcast, so
in our rush to panic about the online world we mustn’t forget the large
audience still watching on television.
He contends that
content makers, pipe owners and screen makers have the greatest opportunity in
the digital age. They are all necessary parts of the process and middlemen
might well be squeezed out. That perhaps explains Netflix beginning to create
their own shows.
Brodeur went on
to point out, that 70-85%of data traffic to mobile phones will be video by
2017. Anyone creating video content needs to be thinking about what form that
will take. Former Apple worker and all around digital genius Anton Nelson
confirmed that we’re going mobile. And to prove his point, he reported that Intel
is winding down the division that manufactures motherboards within the next
three years.
The Online
Distribution Panel, hosted by the dashing Patrick O’Neill of the IFB extolled
the future virtues of VOD as a money-making platform and antidote to piracy. But,
said the experts, it will only work if you have an audience. A short called Sea
Wall by a pair of unknowns did much better online than a Guardian-backed Terry
Gilliam short film because the filmmakers engaged their audience. One of the
biggest changes we face is that the digital universe is a two way conversation.
For more see
www.digitalbiscuit.ie
