#FOFILM/Future of Film/From The Twitterverse

09Dec09

Tu 12/8
FUTURE OF FILM
Sheraton Delfina, Santa Monica
www.lafilmconference.com

Paula Wagner, Chestnut Ridge Productions
We have led technology and we have been led by technology.  Let’s make movies not scripts.  We need a more collabarative environment in entertainment.  Movie business model to increasingly work more on spec: from writers to directors to actors… Less upfront cash.  If creatives get paid from ‘successful results,’ the accounting needs to detoxify. Real costs have been artificial for some time.  People who figure out the monetization of new media will be stars.  There is too much content choice.  New world: RED camera, Redbox, red ink…  ± 80% DVD carveouts = sequels and big budgets.  How do you make movies more engaging – two-way cinema?  An agent’s job is not to just get the client some jobs. An agent’s job is to advise the client.  This is not the time to come into the film business to get rich quick.

Darcy Antonellis, WB, Chris Carey, Paramount, Ed Leonard, Dreamworks Future of Film is in the democratization of the creation and distribution process. The Hollywood walls will come down.  Warner Brothers CTO is a big proponent on innovating with cloud computing:  Do you have to be sad for you to say goodbye?  Static problem solving: that world is gone…removing the middle between technology and art. Fx heavy films, event films have strong marketing potential.  Talking about content locker access / own, rent, stream, etc – in the cloud.  If the content becomes readily avaliable, will distribution no longer be (the other) king?  Actors pop in 3d, become more than we want to know.  3D panels are a true game changer. The whole darn experience is about to be reinvented.  3D and holograms are not sci-fi, it’s reality now, will change entertainment experiences forever.  Processing power dramatically increasing next few yrs + transforming film production techniques.  Search, recommendation & social media are the new opportunities for the future of film.  Widgetizing of the Internet on the TV screen will be a game changer.

Rick Nicita, Morgan Creek, Lisa Schwartz, IFC, Oren Peli, Paranormal Activity
Oren – We went over budget.  Made film with $15,000, currently billing $120mm.  A middle film is a $50mm bet.  Marketing strategy:  CYA.

Jonathan Barzilay, FLO TV, Frank Chindamo, Fun Little Movies, Shashi Fernanda, Saffron, Daniel Tibbets, GoTV Networks, Ned Sherman, Digital Media Wire
GoTV content team produces 600-800 original short-form episodes per month. Biggest problem in film finance today? Not the credit crunch, it’s the utter lack of domestic distribution for non-blockbusters.  FLO TV: Our kids programming, live sports and news events most successful on mobile.  QED’s Bill Block on paying talent: We need to reward today’s performance, not yesterday’s, and have a transparent back end.

Screening of Avatar 3D in Panasonic Truck

Mark Horak, Warner Home Video, Jamie McCabe, 20c Fox, John Rubey, AEG, Simon Swart, Fox Home Entertainment, Blair Westlake, Microsoft Warner Home Video: Blu-ray made up 14% of our packaged disc sales on Black Friday. It was 9% leading up to it. Fox VOD is up over 100%.  Avatar is gonna break new ground. Succeeds in piercing screen. Consumers have clearly embraced 3-D.  Key benefit of day-and-date video and dvd release is maximizing marketing spend. Microsoft has roughly 85 employees to deal with digital piracy.

Sandra Aistars, Time Warner, Claudia Ceniceros, CSMG, Sibyl Goldman, Y!, David Straus, Withoutabox, Ken Rutkowski, KenRadio  Take ownership of your audience & use that to grow your distribution.  EST and VOD will continue to grow. 2010 is when we actually begin to see a market for 3D.  Independent filmmakers will find new audience and new mode of distribution online.  Next Year:  we will find a way to monetize effectively.  High-quality content + right environment + data = high CPM.

David White, SAG, Jay Cohen, Gersh, Ruth Fisher, Gibson, Lindsay Connor, Manatt..
SAG – With the emerging business and distribution models, we need to figure out how we ensure a pool of talent.  My hope is that we get back to the grand bargain that we had: Looking out longterm for the health of the industry.  With each one of these deals, we are incrementally pushing forward the future of the industry.  It’s better for the industry if we are all talking to each other early and more often.  Manatt – One of the most unusual effects of having Wall Street money come into Hollywood has been increased transparency.  Future: We’ll see an odd combination of consolidation and fragmentation at the same time. Foreign investment will increase next year.  Gersh – We go directly to advertisers who used to sponsor shows. Now they spend the same money, but they own show. Day-and-date will be more prominent on the independent side.  Gibson – We are gonna see a lot more deals with combining of assets.

*UK govt can assist w/co-pros, partnering, & finance to develop intl strategy.

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Tags: 20c Fox, AEG, Avatar 3D, Blair Westlake, Chestnut Ridge Productions, Chris Carey, Claudia Ceniceros, CSMG, Daniel Tibbets, Darcy Antonellis, David Straus, David White, Digital Media Wire, Dreamworks, Ed Leonard, FLO TV, Fox Home Entertainment, Frank Chindamo, Fun Little Movies, Future of FIlm, Gersh, Gibson, GoTV Networks, IFC, Jamie McCabe, Jay Cohen, John Rubey, Jonathan Barzilay, Ken Rutkowski, KenRadio, Lindsay Connor, Lisa Schwartz, Manatt, Mark Horak, Microsoft, Morgan Creek, Ned Sherman, Oren Peli, Panasonic, Paramount, Paranormal Activity, Rick Nicita, Ruth Fisher, Saffron, SAG, Sandra Aistars, Shashi Fernanda, Sibyl Goldman, Simon Swart, Time Warner, Warner Home Video, WB, Withoutabox, Y!