This weekend is the Hide and Seek Festival in London (27-29 June) and tomorrow they start with Hide and Speak - a day of discussions on games and the future of play.

Lots of Toolsy issues being covered and, interestingly, a session considering what might be gained from not using the technology available.

Friday 27 June 2008

- The ARGs Don’t Work, 9.30am-1.00pm
There’s a major problem with the structure of alternate reality games (ARG). How do you keep your core players happy while making something that lets the casual audience in throughout the life of the project? An international panel of ARG designers meet to discuss their experiences and their visions for the future.

- And Some History for Good Measure, 2.30-3.10pm
Pervasive games explore the space where games overlap with other cultural forms. This talk looks at some of the highlights of games-plus-something-else from the last thousand years or so, from an educational arithmetic game of the Middle Ages to alternate rule sets for duelling.

- Taking the Pervasive Game Turing Test, 3.30-5.00pm
The Pervasive Game Turing Test poses this question: could I be having an equal or greater amount of fun playing this game without using technology? This issue has challenged us at Hide and Seek to consider the role of technology in every game that we make. From text messaging to Wii hacks to GPS (Global Positioning System), a panel of games and technology designers discuss the possibilities and pitfalls of going past paper and pen.

Hide and Seek is a festival of social games and playful experiences, running in London from the 27-29 June 2008.

For more information, bookings and the full programme of events visit their website.

John Tozzi’s Business Week article Indie Filmmakers Hit Their Target shows the abundance of new methods of distribution available to independent filmmakers. He details success stories of films and their creators who, rather than following traditional routes, are opting to take distribution on with the same entrepreneurial spirit they channel into their films. By maintaining their distribution rights, these filmmakers are carving new roads into advertising and distribution, while managing to draw a greater interest in their films (as opposed to the traditional methods of the past). The tools available on the internet as well as the niche communities who post, blog and communicate with each other across the web, have mustered a huge amount of support for films that ten years ago might have spent their time attracting nothing but dust, forgotten on a shelf.

Read the full article here. There’s a slideshow too!

Thanks to Peter Broderick for the link.

There’s an interesting article on Digital Journal about Cinetic Rights Management, including an interview with Janet Brown and Matt Dentler from the company. Many of you may have heard of Cinetic but CRM is a new addition to the company, focusing specifically on exploiting digital rights which means they will be able to leverage films that aren’t going to get traditional theatrical or television distribution. This is what CRM say they can offer the filmmaker/producer on their website:

• Pioneering sales negotiation and strategy
  
• Digital encoding logistics
  
• Committed grassroots marketing
  
• Collated accounting and reporting

From the article:

“We act as a conduit for these smaller films that don’t have a fighting chance to compete with blockbusters,” notes Matt Dentler, a sales agent for one-year-old CRM. Dentler knows all too well about plucky indie films — his last job was director of the well-respected South by Southwest film festival. “Big budget films dominate the market, while other films don’t have the manpower to support a $20 million marketing budget.”

So how can an indie film attract eyeballs before its release? CRM is pursuing deals with various portals, although Brown is tight-lipped about specifics. Dentler mentioned the firm will try to get word-of-mouth buzz to prominent bloggers, while also embracing online-video campaigns to release scenes, outtakes and trailers on various media. Some strategies may involve podcast interviews with directors; others may use offline screenings to help build momentum. “These aren’t new tools,” Dentler admits, “but we’ll apply them correctly to the films that best fit them.”

Brown says CRM will focus on all films where the digital rights are cleared. Back catalogue titles can be spread virally, as well, such as the 1994 classic Hoop Dreams. Dentler envisions those kinds of films garnering new audiences. “There are younger fans who have never seen Hoop Dreams so if they heard about it online, maybe they’d want to rent it somewhere,” he says.

“We bring a specialized skill set,” Brown says. “We get these films to audiences who want to see them.”

Easier said than done. CRM is trying to stay on top of social media and blogosphere trends in order to give producers a much-needed digital boost. But it has to promote films online without irritating Web surfers and give audiences something fresh and exciting. The real challenge to promote a new film comes when the public is being bombarded by billboards and trailers from the major studios, stiff-arming less expansive campaigns by smaller films.

“The easiest way to not go viral is to try going viral,” Dentler says, half-laughing. “There’s no perfect science in how to market and brand films. We’re hopeful our deals with major portals will lead to a satisfying and enjoyable experience for everyone – filmmakers, studios and movie fans.

The excellent and knowledgeable Laure Parsons has recently started a new blog on distribution in the digital age called Infinicine. It’s pretty new and shiny right now but subscribe to it to get future updates on things happening in the big wide world of digital distribution. This stuff changes so quickly - blogs like this help you stay on top of things so you can make smart distribution decisions and not glaze over when people start talking about VOD and digital rights etc.

AJ Schack gives sound advice to filmmakers navigating the festival circuit over on All These Wonderful Things. His key advice is to be strategic, respectful and not to burn any bridges:

If you get in to a festival, make yourself available to them for press. Make a contact that you can rely on (and who can rely on you). Meet your deadlines. Have a healthy dialogue about screening times and potential audiences. And treat everyone with respect.

If you don’t get in, how about sending a letter of thanks for their consideration (you’re going to make another film, right?) and how you look forward to meeting them down the road. And then move on.

Festivals, whether they pay you or give you face time with Debra Zimmerman or put you in a fancy B&B, can be your friend. More importantly, they can be your partner in reaching an audience for your film that you might otherwise miss. And yes, they can be part of an “ersatz distribution system”, particularly at a time when fewer films are being distributed.

But like all parts of your filmmaking journey, it’s up to the filmmaker to be educated and to make smart choices.

AJ links to some top doc festivals in the post which is a useful resource if you’re trying to figure out how fests differ and where you should consider submitting your film.