Future of Film Podcast

Matt Workman is at the forefront of the realtime filmmaking revolution - pioneering the uptake of the technology for independent filmmakers. Following a successful career as a DP of high profile music promos and commercials, Matt developed the hugely successful Cine Tracer app/game, built for filmmakers to learn, experiment and design in realtime. Now, Matt is driving forward virtual production, combining traditional cinematography techniques with realtime graphics using Unreal Engine - and in the process making these tools and workflows accessible to directors and cinematographers worldwide. In this interview Matt takes us through his creative journey to this nexus of technology and cinematographer and why he is so passionate about democratising virtual production technology. Matt is recognised as a leader in the virtual production community, including by Epic Games CTO Kim Libreri who recently said on this show “Matt Workman is incredible”. To find out more about Matt and his prolific and inspirational output follow him on Twitter @cinedatabase. More at www.futureoffilm.live

In this episode we get the inside track on the creative and technological revolution that is Virtual Production, with the CTO of Epic Games, Kim Libreri. Kim has a long and auspicious career in the film industry, digital technology and visual effects that spans over 20 years. He has credits on more than 25 films including ‘The Matrix' trilogy and is a two-time Academy Award winner to boot! Prior to joining Epic, Kim headed up Lucasfilm’s strategy where he was responsible for the company’s Star Wars technology. Now he is driving the adoption of Unreal Engine across the Entertainment industry with the techniques and systems known as Virtual Production and in-camera visual effects - showcased so brilliantly in Disney and Lucasfilm’s 'The Mandalorian'. Kim shares his thoughts on how virtual production and Unreal Engine will redefine the creative process and how the tools can be used for projects across a wide range of budget levels. More at www.futureoffilm.live

"Franchises are a way for the creator and creative to have long term sustainability in a crowded marketplace" Diana Williams In this episode we are delighted to welcome storyteller extraordinaire Diana Williams to the show. Diana is Executive Vice President of Creative at Maddison Wells Media's 'Universe' division. Twice named on Fast Company's Top Ten Most Innovative Companies list, MWM have built their reputation in working across multiple formats including interactive, live events, television and, yes, even film! MWM Universe is devoted to developing IP and in her role, Diana is responsible for building creative content strategy, world-building, content production, and data analytics across multiple formats. In this episode we learn about Diana’s unique approach to storytelling, creative collaboration and developing IP with the potential to work on different platforms. This leads us to what Diana refers to as the ‘F word’ - franchises and she explains how this way of thinking can unlock new opportunities for independent storytellers in an increasingly competitive market. This episode was recorded as part of the free video series, Rebels of Storytelling (available at www.futureoffilm.live) and would not have been possible without the incredible support of Epic Games and Unreal Engine who are pioneering the transformation of storytelling on screen. We are also proud to partner with Creative England’s outstanding Creative Enterprise Programme. You can find out more about the Creative Enterprise Programme and the two new grant funds they have available for screen-based creative businesses at www.creativeengland.co.uk

What is the future of film marketing? This episode provides answers with an expert panel of guest speakers from film, tech and entertainment. Some of the topics we cover in the conversation include: - digital marketing strategies - developing a direct to consumer strategy - how to test your digital marketing's effectiveness and measure attribution - what we film learn from other industries such as games and retail - launching film as a digital product - the impact of Covid on film marketing This episode originates from the usheru Future of Film Marketing Series and includes the following speakers: Catherine Downes: CMO and COO of usheru Ciaran O'Herlihy, a Digital Strategist and Google Product Partnerships manager Wendy Bernfeld, Founder and Managing Director RIghts Stuff Lucy Johnston, Founder of Bread and Butter Marketing Derren Sequeira, Client Partner Entertainment Facebook Ben Johnson: Founder and CEO of Gruvi See www.futureoffilm.live for more information.

Naysun Alae-Carew is Founder and Managing Director of Blazing Griffin, the pioneering Glasgow-based entertainment company which uses a format-agnostic approach to tell stories across film, games and TV. Speaking at the 2020 Glasgow Film Festival (just before the whole world changed), Naysun shares his insights on telling stories as both films and games - and the commercial and creative process that Blazing Griffin use to do this. He also shares the powerful personal story behind the making of the zombie-musical-comedy, Anna and the Apocalypse and provides unique insight on building an entertainment company ground up for today’s multi-platform digital age. With many thanks to Glasgow Film Festival for making this episode possible. Discover more about this and other podcasts at www.futureoffilm.live

Can tech save the film industry? That's the question posed to three tech founders in this special episode of Film Disruptors, recorded live at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival. Nadira Azermai of Scriptbook, Maria Tanjala of Film Chain and usheru's Catherine Downes discuss their growing businesses and how they are bringing innovative solutions to film development, finance and distribution. This episode was produced during the 21st edition of the FilmTech Meetup Berlin, in collaboration with Filmtech Office www.filmtechoffice.com and EFM Horizon https://www.efm-berlinale.de/en/horizon/home/horizon, the European Film Market's platform focusing on the future of film business and new developments in the media and entertainment worlds Nadira Azermai Nadira Azermai is Founder of ScriptBook, a high-tech company that provides artificially intelligent screenplay analysis and box office forecasts. ScriptBook was conceived when Nadira wrote her Master’s thesis on using artificial intelligence to quantify story-parameters into a predictive model. This would enable content creators to assess their projects objectively and avoid financial failure. Nadira has been on a mission to unify art & artificial intelligence ever since. Maria Tanjala Maria's background is in film production, from line producing, budgeting to distribution. She is passionate about tech solutions that bring transparency and automation in the creative industries, creating a level playing field for creators and enterprises. Maria Tanjala founded alongside Irina Albita the FilmChain platform that collects, allocates and analyses revenues for film, TV and digital content on the blockchain, replacing the traditional collection services with transparent, real-time payments from viewers to filmmakers. In 2020 they won "Startup of the Year" at London Business Awards by Mayor of London. Catherine Downes Catherine is COO & CMO - usheru, the tech analytics company that specialises in film marketing. Catherine studied her undergraduate degree at Trinity in Business Studies and Political Science and holds a Masters in Human Rights and Criminology Justice from Queen’s University Belfast. After several years working in research in this area, she made a switch into the world of technology by joining Google in January 2008 and spent almost 7 years there, across different product groups. Her roles focused mainly on marketing, and sales partnerships. Her final role at Google saw her lead the global Google Certified Publishing Partner program which she worked on since inception and grew for almost 2 years across Europe and Asia, launching the first US partners before leaving to start usheru. Catherine co-founded usheru 5 years ago with Ollie Fegan and Andres Macias with the ultimate goal to connect film marketing to the box office, and to provide consumer insight for film distributors. Venture-backed usheru currently operates across Europe, with technology products for film distributors, national film bodies and cinemas - the company is eyeing a 2020 expansion into the US. Catherine speaks French, Spanish and Italian, and in a former life was even a snowboard instructor in Canada and an avid cycling road racer. Discover more about this and other podcasts at www.futureoffilm.live

In this episode, I am joined by immersive media expert, Michel Reilhac. In a wide ranging conversation about storytelling and media, Michel provides deep insight into the current state of VR, both artistically and commercially, and shares his optimistic vision for where it is heading. Michel is Head of Studies at the Venice Biennale College and VR competition curator for the Venice Biennale International Film Festival. Between 2002-2012, Michel was Head of Cinema & Film Acquisitions at Arte France and executive director of Arte France Cinema, co-producing around 30 international independent feature films each year. Michel is a regular speaker on XR and immersive storytelling at international events, including the Cannes International Film Festival, SXSW, Tribeca Film Festival, TEDx, CPH:DOX, Power to the Pixel, FEMIS etc. Discover more about this and other podcasts at www.futureoffilm.live

This very special episode was recorded live at the New Cinema Conference 2019 at the EYE in Amsterdam. From across film and media I am joined by experts in their field to discuss the future of cinema and its place in the wider culture and industry. My esteemed guests are: - international VOD expert and Rights Stuff Founder Wendy Bernfeld - innovator, teacher and MD of the German Producers Association Erwin Schmidt - Acclaimed storyteller (and producer of one of my favourite films in recent years THE LUNCHBOX) Anurag Kashyap - Internationally recognised pioneer of VR and curator of Venice VR Days, Michel Reilhac In this conversation we look ahead to the next 5 years and explore the challenges and opportunities for cinema over that time. Drawing upon the guest's wide ranging experience and backgrounds, we discuss the innovations that could benefit the industry and how it can prosper in the wider context of the shifts in VOD, Production, Storytelling and Immersive Media. This episode was made possible with kind support of the New Cinema Conference. Discover more about this and other podcasts at www.futureoffilm.live

Janet Brown is EVP Distribution at Gunpowder and Sky, the fast growing independent studio that is creating and distributing content across multiple formats and platforms. In this conversation from their New York offices, Janet describes how the young studio is designed ground-up for today’s shifting consumer landscape - and the new routes to market that now exist for storytellers. We also discuss the future (and recent history) of distribution as well as Janet's entrepreneurial journey at Film Buff, the company she co-founded and built that Gunpowder and Sky acquired in 2016. Discover more about this and other podcasts at www.futureoffilm.live

Yasmin Elayat is an Emmy-award winning storyteller and entrepreneur whose work pushes the boundaries of immersive narrative and participatory experiences. Yasmin began her career in computer science but, as she describes in this interview, pivoted to become a storyteller and then co-founder of the tech-production company Scatter. At Scatter, Yasmin is now pioneering the emerging language of Volumetric Filmmaking, a process that can transform 2D capture of the real world into hologram like imagery which can be viewed from any angle and is being used in immersive storytelling, documentaries and films. In 2017 Yasmin used Scatter's Volumetric filmmaking techniques to make ZERO DAYS VR which won the Emmy for Outstanding New Approach to Documentary. Discover more about this and other podcasts at www.futureoffilm.live