I'm being approached more and more to consult and help produce nascent documentary projects using new media technologies and alternate platforms for sharing media virally through crowdsourcing (aka, open sourcing). It's an interesting and challenging variation on the usual pre-pro discussions. The fact that these discussions are happening pre-pro is an important indicator, in and of itself, I think.
This may be the year when we see the ideas and strategies that gurus like Lance Weiler, Scott Kirsner and Woody Benson have been implementing and sharing in their respective "labs" and projects for the past several years being utilized by more and more filmmakers, now more desperate than ever to realize viable revenue streams for their artistic endeavors. In fact, the three had a lively convo this past Monday about the year in tech and entertainment and share their thoughts on what's ahead in '09. You can listen to their conference call off the podcast Weiler has posted on The Workbook Project in his TCIBR series. (Illustration courtesy of The Institute for the Future of the Book. I'm writing one now; there better be a future for them.)
The folks over at the wonderful Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) have their deadline coming up (Jan. 30) for their 2009 Producers Initiative for New Media Technologies, the third year they have been given funding to bring eight creative teams to San Francisco to participate in a residency that connects "independent producers and their socially relevant content to emerging models of storytelling and distribution," based on developing and prototyping a multi-platform project inspired by, or based on, a significant documentary project. For some samples of the kinds of projects they take on and for a good dose of just pure-D(oc) inspiration, you can click here to watch videos of last year's projects. Great stuff.
I've been working with artists for decades now, producing content in all forms of media from coffee-table art books to funky fashion photo shoots/installations with lots of taxidermy (don't ask), and everything in between, and one thing that hasn't changed is the desire to retain artistic integrity in what's presented to the world in your name. Despite, or maybe because of, all the razzle-dazzle and excitement over these new media opportunities, the impetus to stay true to that artistic vision is more important than ever. This week's report from Worldchanging highlights an article on The Canary Project, and while it's more an off-the-grid/Internet project, meaning more physically than digitally representational, I think it speaks beautifully to this artistic/social relevancy issue that crops up for many media makers that are struggling with how their work can fit into all these various scenarios right now and still maintain artistic integrity and creative heft.
I'm very interested in using this space this year to highlight and celebrate any creative out there working in nonfiction storytelling striving to implement something along these lines, so drop a line and share what you're working on. I have a small queue of stories I'll be posting about, but there's a lot of movement out there and I'd like to know all about it. Share, share.
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