The Conversation

JibJab Interview: Making & Monetizing Web Content

2010-03-17T11:08:00.001-07:00

NewTeeVee just posted this video interview I shot with JibJab co-founders Gregg and Evan Spiridellis, who were at The Conversation in 2008. We shot it in their nifty green screen studio, in Venice, Calif.

It's a nice warm-up to some of the topics we'll be discussing at The Conversation 2010, which happens next Saturday at Columbia University...

We've just added a number of great lunch discussions and workshops to the agenda, so check it out. We're expecting the event will sell out sometime this weekend.

Finally: A Date, Place, and Some Early Speakers for The Conversation 2010, in New York

2010-02-05T12:55:00.001-08:00

I'm excited that we're finally announcing the date, location, 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. (If you were at the inaugural Conversation, you may have already gotten an e-mail about this next one.)

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 recruit some amazing speakers and sponsors, and ensure that this East Coast event will be inspiring, invigorating, and most of all -- useful.

We'd love your help spreading the word. If you happen to tweet about it, you can use the hash tag #convoNYC.

Registration is now open and there is a steep discount if you sign up before February 14th, when the price goes up $25.

We are also soliciting your ideas for speakers, topics, and workshops you might want to run at the event, on the conference's wiki.

Confirmed speakers, moderators, and workshop leaders include:

Peter Broderick talks with Scott Kirsner about the future of indie film distribution

2010-01-19T17:02:00.001-08:00

Distribution consultant Peter Broderick was one of the most popular speakers at The Conversation 2008.

A few months later, at the Sundance Film Festival, he sat down with Scott Kirsner, editor of the blog CinemaTech, for this interview.

The Future of Indie Film Distribution: Peter Broderick from Scott Kirsner on Vimeo.

Future Conversations

2009-01-05T08:34:00.001-08:00

There's been some talk in the last month about organizing more CONVERSATIONs this year.

One thought is a series of online events that would include video interviews with forward thinkers, along with the chance for you to ask them questions and float ideas of your own... live. The advantage here is that you'd be able to hear from one person in great detail, and we'd have plenty of time for questions.

Another is to do another "real world" event, possibly in New York, building upon last October's gathering in Berkeley. The upside to these live events is the chance to make new connections and get face time with speakers and other participants.

(And the two ideas aren't mutually exclusive.)

We're very open to hearing your ideas about speakers you'd like to hear from, topics you'd like to see covered, and anything else...

More photos from The Conversation 2008

2009-01-05T08:29:00.001-08:00

Alyssa Stern, the logistical genius behind The Conversation, recently uploaded some more photos from the event. (The one here is Mike Shiley at one of the Saturday afternoon workshop sessions.)

SF360.org Pic from The Conversation

2008-10-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

Anna-Mae Chin from the San Francisco Film Society was one of the people who helped us get the word out about The Conversation.... and she just posted this snapshot of me, Lance Weiler, and Tiffany Shlain.

Thanks, Anna-Mae!

LECTURE: Redefining Digital Content Distribution

2008-10-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

A lot of people missed my lecture on Saturday about license-based digital content distribution, so Scott suggested I post a link to it here. Please read it at your convenience and let me hear your thoughts:

Redefining Digital Content Distribution, or Why Apple is About To Get Its Ass Kicked

You can email me directly or through Facebook.

Notes from The Conversation on CinemaTech

2008-10-23T08:11:00.001-07:00

I posted some not-very-copious notes from the event on CinemaTech...mostly quotes, data points, and predictions that struck me as so good I couldn't not write them down. But it's far from a comprehensive run-down of everything smart that got said...

Tiffany Shlain at The Conversation. Clip 1

2008-10-22T21:17:00.000-07:00

Here is the first of a series of clips from an interview I did with Tiffany Shlain. In it, I ask her about the biggest challenges facing independent filmmakers today.

Larry Jordan
HDFilmtools.com

Videocast from The Conversation

2008-10-21T10:32:00.001-07:00

Lance Weiler, one of the co-hosts of the event, broadcast much of it live from his Nokia cell phone, via Kyte. You can see that footage archived here...

Blog Coverage

2008-10-21T10:24:00.000-07:00

Dutch Rall posted some thoughts on the event.

Roger Erik Tinch of CineVegas had some notes on the opening session with John Batter and the session on 'New Forms of Storytelling.'

Larry Jordan blogged a bit of Friday's proceedings.

Pics from The Conversation

2008-10-20T09:02:00.001-07:00

JD Lasica has posted a great set of photos from the event, featuring the JibJab Brothers, Reed Hastings (that's him at right), Tiffany Shlain, Slava Rubin, Chris Thilk, and a number of other participants.

JD's blog, which focuses on social media, is here.

What Independent Movies Need to Learn from Graphic Novels

2008-10-19T11:00:00.001-07:00

Christopher Allen of Skotos (an interactive storytelling/gaming studio) gave a great 10-minute talk yesterday in the "Open Ideas Forum" session... and he has posted the slides on SlideShare.

One interesting idea was that filmmakers should be making comic books and graphic novels related to their movies -- either to sell or for promotional/marketing purposes.

What Independent Movies Need To Learn From Graphic Novels

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: novels graphic)

Woody Benson Video Interview

2008-10-19T10:56:00.000-07:00

Chris Albrecht from NewTeeVee was at the event, and he posted this video interview with Woody Benson, one of The Conversation's advisors (and a panelist on the 'New Rules of Finance and Funding' panel on Friday.)

Just click Woody's nose to play it...

Shameless plug

2008-10-19T02:20:00.000-07:00

Great to meet everyone, and have some great conversations this weekend. I can't help but use this opportunity for a shameless plug for a talented kid... check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjj0G0EKEHk

Open Forum Sessions

2008-10-18T10:54:00.003-07:00

We just added all the Open Forum Sessions to the schedule... check them out here.

Tweets and Flickr Pics from The Conversation

2008-10-18T05:26:00.000-07:00

Interesting way to track the tweets and Flickr photos from The Conversation, posted by people like Bill Holsinger-Robinson from Spout, Ingrid Kopp from Shooting People, Christopher Allen, and Roger Erik Tinch from CineVegas.

Some polls for Saturday

2008-10-18T05:22:00.000-07:00

Here are links to some of the polls we'll be using on Saturday... you can vote on the Web (as well as via cell phone).

- How I'm Feeling About the Future

- Questions for Dean Valentine and Ted Hope

- What Kinds of Games Do You Play?

Photos from TheConvo 2008

2008-10-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

All of the photos taken by Christopher Allen at the conference are uploaded automatically by EyeFi from his digital camera directly to Flickr. Once approved they are all placed in the theconvo 2008 set

Event Schedule for Mobile Phone Viewing

2008-10-16T06:57:00.001-07:00

We just posted a schedule that's suitable for viewing on mobile phones with Web access...

It's at http://www.tinyurl.com/theconvo.

Questions?

2008-10-11T08:11:00.001-07:00

If you have questions about the event, please post them below as a comment... we'll answer as quickly as possible. (Click "E-mail follow-up comments..." if you'd like to be notified when we reply.)

Recapping DIY Days, Future of Digital Distribution, and Looking Ahead to The Conversation

2008-10-10T07:03:00.000-07:00

Lance Weiler and I had a chat earlier this week in which we recapped the DIY Days Boston event, talked about the two "Future of Digital Distribution" events organized in LA and SF by ITVS and the Paley Center for Media, and looked ahead to The Conversation, on October 17th and 18th.

Here's the MP3.

From SF360: Let's Talk About the Future of Cinema

2008-10-09T17:43:00.000-07:00

Wrote a short piece this week for the blog SF360, published by the San Francisco Film Society (which has been a huge supporter of The Conversation).

Here's the opening:

What Are We Gonna Talk About?

2008-10-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

Tiffany and I sat down in San Francisco yesterday to talk about our hopes and expectations for The Conversation. This is as much for participants as it is for folks who are thinking about coming.

MP3 file is here.

Ted Hope Will Join The Conversation

2008-10-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

Legendary indie film producer Ted Hope is going to join us on Saturday morning as part of our opening "fireside chat." I'm looking forward to that...

Worth reading before you hear Ted speak is this transcript of a talk he gave last month at Film Independent's Filmmaker Forum in Los Angeles.

A snippet:

This is where we are right now: on the verge of a TRULY FREE FILM CULTURE, one that is driven by both the creators and the audiences, pulled down by the audience and not pushed onto them by those that control the apparatus and the supply. We now have the power and the tool for something different, but will we fight to preserve the Internet, the tool that offers us our new freedom? Can we banish the the dream of golden distribution deals, and move away from asking others to distribute and market it for us? Can we accept that being a filmmaker means taking responsibility for your films, the primary responsibility, all the way through the process? That is independence and that is freedom.