X|Media|Lab: Film X-tended

Media Heavyweights flocked into the Australian Center for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne today for X|Media|Lab’s Pro-Day Conference, Film X-tended. With X|Media|Lab events being held all over the world, this one explored what “digital can bring to a feature film, with a focus on ‘transmedia’: the use of digital platforms to extend narrative and build interactive content around a linear property.” Such content includes everything from novels to website to our favourite, games.The speaker lineup was impressive and every last ticket had been sold.

Behind the lectern was:

• Nathan Mayfield
  Nathan is the CCO and Co-founder of Hoodlum, “an award winning company that specializes in producing high quality entertainment content for multiple platforms.” Responsible for a number of Transmedia and Viral Marketing projects including for Lost, Flash Forward, Spooks, and currently Slide.
• Suzanne Stefanac
  Suzanne is a Media & Technology Strategist, and is the former Director of the American Film Institute’s Digital Content Lab in Los Angeles. With a journalistic career spanning from 1982 to 1994 she has written about all things digital for Wired, Macworld, New York Times, and Rolling Stone, amongst others.
• Dibakar Bannerjee
  Dibakar is a Multiple Award Winning Film Director from Mumbai, India. His latest film, Love Sex aur Dhoka (LSD), was the first digital feature film in India. He spoke on his decision to film on digital, and how the workflow differed from the general celluloid filming process.
• Josh Shore
  Josh is an American Filmmaker who’s career kicked off in 2000 by founding Guerrilla News Network (GNN). Recently he launched Illuminated, a feature film franchise utilizing several assets of the Transmedia paradigm.
• Jeff Gomez
  Jeff is the President and CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment, an animation and live-action feature film production company and leading creator of highly successful fictional worlds. A leading expert in Transmedia, Jeff and Starlight Runner have worked on such blockbuster universes as Pirates of the Caribbean, Prince of Persia, Tron, Halo, Transformers, and James Cameron’s Avatar. Presenting a riveting Masterclass into Transmedia, Jeff drew from his childhood ambitions and experiences, as well as current day case studies including some of entertainments biggest blockbuster names.
• Lisa Gray
  Lisa is Head of Content at The Feds, in Sydney. Working on the development of interactive initatives Lisa has been involved in projects for ABC’s The Gruen Transfer,Wildspace, and a number of others.
• Christy Dena
  Christy is the director of Universe Creation 101, specializing in the design and production of Trans/Cross-Media Projects. Clients have included Nokia, ABC, andAFTRS.
• Morgan Jaffit
  Morgan is one of Australia’s leading Game Developers, shipping millions of units across every major platform. He has worked with such names as Relic, Ubisoft, Pandemic, Electronic Arts and more.
• Jarod Green
  Jarod is the director of Radical Love, in Sydney. One of his most notable achievements is being the brainchild behind Beached Az, and developing it into a viable and marketable strategy. He has also collaborated on digital media concepts for brands including 20th Century Fox, Coca Cola, Mattel and Sega.
• James Franklin
  James is the Founder and Director of Pixeco, a digital design studio dedicated to providing design and digital tools to filmmakers. With placements around the world Pixeco has built a set of digital tools that filmmakers can use to define, find and engage audiences to create additional revenue.
• Gavin McGarry
  Gavin is the President of Jumpwire Media in New York. He has been working in the media sector for over 15 years including positions at major television networks and advertising agencies; working with major networks including NBC, Discovery, CTV, and Global television.

As stated by Ruth Harley, CEO of Screen Australia:

Collaboration between skilled people with different expertise is key to ensuring Australian projects make full use of digital opportunities to get their screen content to audiences.

A brilliant opportunity for networking and meeting potential collaborators, X|Media|Lab offers so much more than what I’ve been able to briefly share here. However with quite a pricetag to attend it’s difficult to warrant it unless you’re definitely looking to get into the industry. With a broad range of skills being utilized in Transmedia and Cross-Media Solutions ranging from game development to fantasy mythology development, mobile apps, websites and television/film; therein lies the opportunities for a potential job in an industry you may not have considered or an avenue you may not of heard of.

For more information check out http://www.xmedialab.com.