Future of Film Podcast

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

Adam Myhill is Creative Director for Unity's Media & Entertainment Innovation Group. In this episode, Adam addresses how realtime technology is transforming the filmmaking process and some of huge opportunities - and challenges - that this brings about. A former photographer and DP, Adam explains how he has used this experience to build new virtual cinematography tools that give filmmakers significantly more control and creative options. We also discuss the future of film and media and Adam provides some powerful advice for emerging filmmakers. If you enjoyed this episode, do check out [Future of Film] Summit, London 26/11/19 https://www.futureoffilm.live Adam Myhill has spent two decades in film and video game worlds, working as a Director of Photography and CG supervisor at Electronic Arts and Blackbird Interactive. Using his experience on multiple titles and as a film DP on a number of feature-length movies, Myhill created a ground-breaking Emmy award-winning procedural cinematic and in-game camera system called Cinemachine, which is used in games and films. Adam also designed CineCast, a cinematography system for esports and any 3D content which begs the question “How do you film something when you don’t know what’s going to happen next?” He also holds a number of technology patents around virtual cameras and procedural cinematography. Discover more about this and other podcasts at www.futureoffilm.live

My guest today is Neon's VP of Marketing, MIke WInton. Neon of course is one of the hottest distribution companies around, known for their astute acquisitions and eye catching marketing. And they have caught the eye in recent years not just with their cool campaigns (which Mike masterminds). At a time when the challenges faced by independent distribution have been well documented, Neon have achieved notable box office success with titles like THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS, APOLLO 11. In this episode, Mike discusses Neon’s strategy and how distributors - and storytellers - can cut through in the wake of streaming and the increasingly polarised theatrical market This interview is part of the BAM Disruptors series recorded recently at the Bogotá Audiovisual Market (or BAM) which takes place there in July. BAM is the essential event for anyone serious about engaging with the Latin American market in film or tv and this episode would not have been possible without them. You can find out more about BAM at bogotamarket.com Discover more about this and other podcasts at www.futureoffilm.live

Brian Newman is founder of Sub-genre, the leading consultancy on connecting brands and filmmakers with audiences. A hugely respected veteran of the US Independent Film industry, Brian was previously CEO of the Tribeca Film Institute and serves on the advisory board of the Camden International Film Festival. In this episode, we discuss brand funding and discover how Brian is working with major brands like Patagonia and Stripe to successfully invest in feature films. We also talk about how filmmakers can succeed in the age of super abundance and how to get noticed in the Attention Economy - and Brian reveals the most common mistake he sees being made by filmmakers. This episode was recorded live at this year's Bogotá Audiovisual Market www.bogotamarket.com. Discover more about this and other podcasts at www.futureoffilm.live

Liam Young is a speculative architect who operates in the spaces between design, fiction and futures. He is cofounder of Tomorrows Thoughts Today, an urban futures think tank, exploring the local and global implications of new technologies and Unknown Fields, a nomadic research studio that travels on expeditions to chronicle these emerging conditions as they occur on the ground. He has been acclaimed in both mainstream and architectural media, including the BBC, NBC, Wired, Guardian, Time Magazine and New Scientist, is a BAFTA nominated producer and his work has been collected by institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum and MAAS in Sydney. He has published several books including the recent Machine Landscapes: Architectures of the Post Anthropocene and has taught internationally at the Architectural Association, Princeton University and now runs the ground breaking MA in Fiction and Entertainment at Sci Arc in Los Angles. Liam's narrative approach sits between documentary and fiction as he focuses on projects that aim to reveal the invisible connections and systems that make the modern world work. Liam now manages his time between exploring distant landscapes and prototyping the future worlds he extrapolates from them. This episode was recorded live at the 2019 Bogota AudioVisual Market (BAM). For more information on BAM www.bogotamarket.com and for Film Disruptors: www.futureoffilm.live

Recorded live at the recent Bogotá Audio Visual Market (BAM), this conversation explores the future of production with Netflix and Annapurna Pictures with Jennie Yamaki and Kwame Parker of Netflix and VP of Annapurna, Stephen Wolf. From how Netflix plan their productions to the latest on Annapurna’s strategy, this episode also covers the future of storytelling - from AI to interactive - as well as some powerful advice for emerging storytellers. We also hear from Kwame about his experience exec-producing the 2019 Academy Award Best Picture Winner, Green Book. KWAME PARKER: Over the course of two decades, Kwame Parker has successfully developed a career working with the top talent in the film industry on numerous critically acclaimed projects, his acumen as an executive producer was recognized when GREEN BOOK won the Best Film in the most recent edition of the Academy Awards. JENNIE YAMAKI: is a production executive with experience in companies and projects ranging from new media to film, and is currently the manager of physical production for Netflix's independent and original films. STEPHEN WOLF is the Vice President of Annapurna Pictures and the head of the Production Finance department. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Bogota Audio Visual Market (BAM), which takes place in Bogotá in July. For more information see www.bogotamarket.com