My next trip will be to the Whistler Film Festival, BC, Canada. Wohoo! I’ve been invited to participate in their Forum, which “is an industry conference organized to address issues of concern to the film, digital media and television production industry in Western Canada”. This year they “are embracing the changing landscape of content creation by exploring new technological developments, trends and opportunities”. There are lots of exciting guests, including Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters etc), Neil Blomkamp, Hugo Weaving, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Colin Firth, Tom Ford, Atom Egoyen, Jason Reitman, and many others! Specifically, I’ll be participating in the Whistler Summit:
The Whistler Summit is a lively debate that brings together key international leaders and visionaries from various aspects of the entertainment industry to identify future trends and issues affecting the global entertainment industry. Delegates will have a chance to engage with Summit speakers in this session designed to probe, debunk and predict the state of the film, television and digital media industries.
Moderator: Valerie Creighton, President, Canadian Television Fund
Panelists
Christy Dena, Director, Universe Creation 101 Ltd.
Dr. Greg Zeschuk, President & General Manager of BioWare & Vice President of Electronic Arts
Tony Safford, EVP Worldwide Acquistions, 20th Century Fox
Jonathan Simkin, Founder, Simkin Artist Management
Daniel Cross, President, Co-founder, Eye Steel Film
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That is sure to be a great conversation! Can’t wait! Also, I’ll be a part of the Whistler Film Festival Pitch Fest West , which is “going multi-platform”:
Drawing on innovation in technology and the changing landscape for content creation, this year’s Pitch Fest West will showcase film, TV and digital media producers who are in search of the knowledge, relationships and financing strategies required to successfully develop and exhibit their content across several platforms
Lots of fun to be had in the snowfields, so if you’ll be there make sure you come and say hi at the Whistler Film Festival!
 As I outlined in a previous post, I was fortunate to be invited back to be a part of Power to the Pixel, London Film Festival 2009. The videos and slides are now online and so here is a selection of ones I’m sure you’ll enjoy/get something out of. 🙂
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Take Back What Has Always Been Yours – Ted Hope, Producer & Co-Founder, This is that corporation
I wanted to note too, that not all projects have to have a strong globally-targeted online component. Some can have an online component that is local. For instance, some projects are created so they can be sold in different territories, and some are designed to be local only once. But many projects are designed with little thought about the online, and global experience. It is important to consider the online and global strategy in the design on cross-media projects.
The Evolution of Storytelling – Lance Weiler, Filmmaker and Story Architect
A few years ago I was fotunate to be invited to participate in De Montfort University’s online Masters in Creative Writing and New Media programme. It was created by Sue Thomas and Kate Pullinger, and had wonderful aims:
The degree was designed for writers interested in experimenting with new formats and was informed by contemporary thinking on transliteracy, meaning the ability to read, write and interpret across a range of media from orality through print and film to networked environments. Creative Writing, indeed the very nature of text itself, is changing. No longer bound by print, there are many opportunities for writers to experiment with new kinds of media, different voices and experimental platforms, both independently and in collaboration with other writers or other fields and disciplines. Not only is writing evolving, but writers themselves are developing broader expectations and aspirations. Novelists are learning about the potential of hypertext and multimedia to change the ways in which a story can be told. Journalists are finding that blogs and wikis are radically affecting their relationships with their readers. Community artists are discovering powerful collaborative narratives. And the commercial world is finding new and creative ways to interact with its employees and customers in the fast-growing attention economy of the internet.
While digital media have altered the way we disseminate and gather information, readers – both online and offline – still hunger for compelling narratives. As readers, we want to be told stories; we want complex and interesting ideas and characters; we want vivid pictures in our heads. As writers we want to communicate. We need good stories well-told, whatever our choice of delivery platform. The MA in Creative Writing and New Media gave students an opportunity to focus on developing work at the cutting edge of the new technologies and provided new ways of thinking about narrative.
The course enabled postgraduate students to study and practice with a rich range of theorists and practitioners from around the world. What I loved about this course is that it focused on practice — how is new media and cross/transmedia writing different — and how they invited lecturers and mentors from around the globe to assist their students. Because the guests were from all around the globe, the guests did not fly in (that would of been a prohibitive budget for any course). Instead, we participated from wherever we were in the planet, by providing online resources for the students, and using Skype and forums to discuss. Look at the guests who participated:
The course has finished now, but what is wonderful is that an archive of all the Guest Lectures given during the four years of the online MA in Creative Writing and New Media are now online for all! It was put together by CWNM graduate and digital artist Christine Wilks, and the “resource will be of value to practitioners, students and academics with an interest in transliteracy, digital fiction, digital art, e-poetry, and cross-media”. Yes!
Now, the team are also continuing their work on ‘Transliteracy’. The Transliteracy Research Group (TRG), is a research-focussed think-tank and creative laboratory.
Transliteracy is currently defined as the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks. The Transliteracy Research Group coordinates theoretical and practice-based research into transliterate materials and behaviours.
The first Transliteracy Conference will take place at Leicester’s new Phoenix Square Digital Media Centre on Tuesday 9 February 2010. This one-day event offers an opportunity for academics, artists, business people and practitioners to share discoveries, ideas, and creative works that amplify and augment transliteracy research. Themes to be explored include:
transliteracy and libraries
transliteracy and the artsÂ
transliteracy in educationÂ
transliteracy in communicationsÂ
transliteracy in the workplaceÂ
transliteracy and transdisciplinarity
transliteracy in action – examples of transliterate works, like digital fiction, networked arts projects, or library resources.
The Call for Presentations invites 250 word abstracts. Presentations should be 10-15 minutes in duration, and can be used to show work or deliver a short paper. Deadline for Abstracts:Â 1 December 2009
My next trip will be to the Whistler Film Festival, BC, Canada. Wohoo! I’ve been invited to participate in their Forum, which “is an industry conference organized to address issues of concern to the film, digital media and television production industry in Western Canada”. This year they “are embracing the changing landscape of content creation by exploring new technological developments, trends and opportunities”. There are lots of exciting guests, including Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters etc), Neil Blomkamp, Hugo Weaving, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Colin Firth, Tom Ford, Atom Egoyen, Jason Reitman, and many others! Specifically, I’ll be participating in the Whistler Summit:
 As I outlined in a 
A few years ago I was fotunate to be invited to participate in De Montfort University’s online Masters in Creative Writing and New Media programme. It was created by