Hey all you video artists! Guggenheim and YouTube Seek Budding Video Artists for biennial exhibition

Beginning Monday anyone with access to a video camera and a computer will have an opportunity to catch the eye of a Guggenheim curator and vie for a place in a video-art exhibition in October at all of the foundation’s museums: the Solomon R. Guggenheim in New York, the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin, the Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice.

The project, called YouTube Play and conceived as a biennial event, is intended to discover innovative work from unexpected sources. It is open even to entrants who don’t consider themselves artists, and actively encourages the participation of people with little or no experience in video. “People who may not have access to the art world will have a chance to have their work recognized,” said Nancy Spector, deputy director and chief curator of the Guggenheim Foundation. “We’re looking for things we haven’t seen before.”

For YouTube the project is one in a series of experiments in tradition busting. In late 2008 it created the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, which allowed any musician to audition for a concert at Carnegie Hall conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas; the previous year it helped create the CNN/YouTube debates, giving everyone with a Web cam a chance to ask a question of a presidential candidate.

“What we’re doing is removing the middle man,” said Hunter Walk, director of product management for YouTube. “Whether it be Carnegie Hall or the Guggenheim, we’re giving people a way to see the aspirational light on the hill. And not just online but in the physical world too.”

While the company does not publicly discuss it, some of its officials say it is also hoping that collaborations with august institutions like Carnegie Hall and the Guggenheim Foundation will attract high-end advertisers.

Applicants will be able to submit their videos (only one entry per person) starting Monday, uploading them on a channel created for the initiative, also called YouTube Play (youtube.com/play). The works must have been created within the past two years and cannot be longer than 10 minutes, made for commercial use or excerpted from longer videos. The deadline for submissions is July 31.

A team of Guggenheim curators will look at all the submissions — the foundation is expecting many thousands, Ms. Spector said — and narrow them down to 200, which will be seen by a jury of nine professionals in disciplines like the visual arts, filmmaking and animation, graphic design and music. (Ms. Spector, who will be a juror herself, is putting the group together.) Although the jurors will know the names of entrants, Ms. Spector said, the makeup of the jury should be diverse enough to prevent art-world or other biases from infecting the process.

Then, in October, the jurors’ final selection of 20 videos will be on simultaneous view at all the Guggenheim museums. And the 200 that made it through the first round will be available on the YouTube Play channel.

There will be no first prizes or runners-up among the 20, Ms. Spector said, “because this is not about finding the best, but making a selection that represents the most captivating and surprising work.”

That work could come, the foundation and YouTube say, from any quarter. “Within the last few years you can get a camera and for a few hundred dollars get the tools to create Hollywood magic,” Mr. Walk said. And Hewlett-Packard, which is collaborating on the project, is not only providing hardware to all the Guggenheim museums for displaying the videos, it is also offering online tutorials on YouTube Play to teach skills like editing, animation and lighting to the video-naïve.

While Ms. Spector and YouTube say they created the project as a way of breaking down traditional art-world boundaries, some in that world question how meaningful it really is.

“Hit-and-run, no-fault encounters between curators and artists, works and the public, will never give useful shape to the art of the present nor define the viewpoint of institutions,” said Robert Storr, dean of the Yale University School of Art, the organizer of the 2007 Venice Biennale and a former senior curator at the Museum of Modern Art, in an e-mail message from Europe.

“It’s time to stop kidding ourselves,” Mr. Storr added. “The museum as revolving door for new talent is the enemy of art and of talent, not their friend — and the enemy of the public as well, since it refuses to actually serve that public but serves up art as if it was quick-to-spoil produce from a Fresh Direct warehouse.”

But those involved in the project, naturally, see it differently. “If this is all the Guggenheim did, it would be a problem,” Ms. Spector said. “There are many layers to our programming. And we can’t say at this point that this won’t spawn ongoing relationships with people we discover through this process. One can only hope that it will.”

Solid tips from Jeff Gomez: Whole new worlds: Transmedia storytelling opens licensing vistas -

"The entertainment industry at large has come to recognize that young adults and kids are consuming content voraciously, in ways not dreamt of even 10 years ago - they're looking to follow the story surrounding a given property on as many mediums as possible, be it traditional TV, films, fan sites or related products. But to make a property truly work across the various platforms out there, the entertainment concept has to be conceived as bigger than any one medium and constructed with a sense of how each grand story arc will play out across each media touchpoint. Transmedia storytelling, as it's become known, is really the art that's driving this approach.

With the recent ratification of the Transmedia Producer credit by the Producers Guild of America, the announcement of Stephen King's The Dark Tower as a concept that will run across a feature film trilogy and TV series, and Sony's relaunch of Men in Black as a global cross-platform franchise, the age of transmedia storytelling seems to have truly arrived. Aspirational worlds and immersive universes are replacing consumer loyalties to movie stars and network television. Right now, the sharpest studios are planning from earliest development to build their tentpole and youth-targeted properties so their storylines will translate to an array of traditional and new media platforms, which has the potential to significantly enhance or even fundamentally change the relationship between intellectual property creators, owners and licensees.

Traditional licensing deals between property owner and manufacturer, more often than not result in books, video game adaptations or other consumer products that somehow recapitulate an element or image from the established story. T-shirts printed with logos or movie poster art, toy replicas and comic book series that deliver badly drawn versions of a movie IP or series' beloved heroes are still all too common. However, transmedia properties are helping push this model into the next decade, arguably making consumer products and promotions integral parts of maintaining and expanding the story world that drives the IP.

Of course, transmedia properties aren't hatched overnight and require long-term planning both on the content creation and media/product rollout sides. So how can high standards of quality and consistency be maintained over an entire story world while constantly expanding it and adding new creators and content along the way? I've managed to distill the construction of a transmedia world into four key steps.

* Prepare for multi-platform by expanding the story world

* Maintain the IP with transmedia planning

* Maximize value by assembling a franchise clearinghouse

* Build brand equity by validating audience participation

Expanding the story world

It all starts with getting a clear understanding of the property at hand. Who is your hero? Who is the villain? What is this fictional universe trying to say? You need to define the recurring themes, messages and archetypes that guide the central narrative of your property and describe the vision of the original creator. Take Spider-Man, for example. At its heart, the property revolves around teen superhero Peter Parker and the guilt he harbors because he let his uncle's murderer get away. In short, it's a story about a kid looking to do good in the world to make up for his past sin. Everything related to the property should stem from this vision, which can only be maintained by:

1. Making sure that the property's essence is organically woven into its every iteration, no matter how seemingly minor (i.e. a mobile phone app, or even the description on a hangtag attached to a piece of apparel).

2. Explicitly and loyally observing the canon of the property's fictional universe in all iterations (i.e. an event that takes place in the video game is referenced as having happened by characters in the movie, etc.)."

cont.....

source: http://www.kidscreen.com/articles/magazine/20100608/transmedialicensing.html

13 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE IFP NARRATIVE LAB | The Filmmaker Magazine Blog

13 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE IFP NARRATIVE LAB

By Scott Macaulay

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

The recently concluded IFP Narrative Lab was a dense week of study and mentorship as our participating filmmakers, all with films somewhere between rough and fine cut, were given guidance about picture lock, sound design, scoring and music licensing, festival strategy, distribution deals, and DIY, self and hybrid distribution efforts. Amy Dotson and Rose Vincelli from the IFP did a fantastic job of putting the program together. Susan Stover, Jon Reiss and I were the lab leaders. In addition, an inspiring group of editors, filmmakers, producers and industry vets came in to lend their expertise.

At the end of the Lab I emailed Susan and Jon and asked them to tell me a few things they’d want to stress. Along with a couple of my own, below is that list. It’s not a summary of the week by any means. Rather, these are 13 points, some obvious and some not, that we wanted to emphasize one more time.

Understand Your Goals. Why did you make this film? To tell a personal story? To experiment artistically? To score a commercial success? To break into the industry? Some combination of the above? Understand your own reasons for making the film, and try to make sure that you are aligned with collaborators in the post, sales, distribution and marketing spheres who understand that vision and are working towards it with you.

Or… Make Sure Your Film Knows What It Is. Another way of saying the above — make sure your film knows what it is and is comfortable in its own skin. Is it a flashy commercial proposition or an intriguingly reticent festival flick? Make sure to have an understanding of the current film ecosystem and know where your film sits on the food chain, who its natural audience is, and who its potential supporters will be.

Make the Best Film You Can. A seemingly obvious point, but one that can be hard to achieve. Have you cut short your creative options because you’ve rushed to meet a festival deadline? Or, even worse, is your festival premiere your first test screening? Have you sought out the opinions of both people you trust as well as everyday viewers before locking picture? In short, it’s tough out there, and all the self-promotion in the world will be for naught if the film doesn’t impress.

Make Your Title Compelling to an Audience. Participants in the IFP Narrative Lab heard from mentors and speakers various tales of title trauma. Bland titles, confusing titles, inscrutable titles — all can hurt a film as much as a sensational title can help. And, yes, the thing about films starting with the letter A and VOD sales? It’s true.

Bring on Board a Producer of Marketing and Distribution. Preparing for self or hybrid distribution is an overwhelming prospect while you’re finishing a film. But if you don’t do it then, you’re wasting time and the resources of your crew, post house, production office, etc. Consider creating another producer position for someone whose job it is to oversee the publicity, marketing and distribution chores.

Know How Your Audience Receives Information. Will you have to reach them through the major media? Will you need a healthy paid advertising budget? Or do they congregate online? Or in Second Life? Or at live events? Do they organize themselves around meet-ups or clubs? Know where you’ll target the people you want to see your film.

Delivery is a Nightmare — Start Early. Delivering a film to a distributor is one of the toughest parts of making a movie. You’re tired, stressed, and often out of money, and the legal and technical demands can be overwhelming. Don’t wait until the last minute. Start during post-production and make sure your vendors know that they’ll need to be creating materials like an M&E mix and video masters. Also, and this is very important: make sure your contracts with talent and crew are in order. If you don’t have signed agreements with people, go back and get them before your festival premiere, not after. If you had an artistic collaborator, make sure you’ve executed a written collaboration agreement between the two of you. Ideally, this should be before production. But if you haven’t done this, iron out whatever disagreements may exist between you before festival acclaim makes it more complicated to do so.

Make Sure You Have the Time and Funds to Deliver Your Film. One speaker told a story about how he chose a distributor based on a promised release date, but then wasn’t able to deliver the film in time. Before you agree to a distribution deal, know how much delivery will cost and how long it will take. Negotiate for the longest delivery period possible; complications can easily ensue.

Know Thy Distribution Deal. When considering a distribution deal, make sure you understand all the terms on the table as well as what might be missing from your contract. Is there a minimum P&A commitment? Is there a maximum P&A spend, beyond which approvals are needed? Is your film guaranteed a certain number of markets? What sort of approvals do you have on marketing materials? Is there a VOD date? Box-office bumps? Know what’s on the page and what’s not so you aren’t surprised down the line.

Scrutinize a Distributor’s Marketing and Release Strategy. When choosing among distributors, the strength of a particular distributor’s marketing and release strategy should be strongly considered. Who has the best plan for reaching the highest number of eyeballs? Prioritize a distributor’s well-considered strategy over vague promises.

If You Have Your Own Strategy, Make Sure a Distributor Understands It. If you have been building your own marketing plan, aggregating your audience, seeding materials, then make sure your distributor will not only bless but comprehend and participate in these strategies going forward. If it’s important to you to reach a specific niche audience through grassroots marketing or targeted outreach, make sure the distributor is on board and, if necessary, is willing to bring on the appropriate additional personnel needed.

Play the Long Game. Yes, point number one is still valid — obsess over your film until it is the best it can be. But, once it’s done, understand that you have a potential career going forward no matter what the reaction is to it is. Build on your successes, learn from your mistakes, and move forward.

Don’t Become Bitter. A related point. The film business is a tough one. No matter how well you do, there’s always something more you could have gotten — better reviews, more festivals, a bigger box office gross, a cooler agent, a Guggenheim, that hot spec script for your next film. It’s easy to lose yourself in competition and bitterness. Be happy with all that you achieved, look forward to achieving even more next time around, and don’t look for comfort in negativity.

To read what some of the participants thought about the lab, here are posts by Lucy Mulloy, Victoria Mahoney, Darren Dean, Arlick Brown, and the entire Kinyaranda Crew,

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BP preliminarily agrees to $20B escrow account to handle claims

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(source: Washington Post)

"The Obama administration and BP reached an agreement Wednesday under which the company will place $20 billion in an escrow account to pay damage claims resulting from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company, whose chairman announced Wednesday that it would not pay dividends to shareholders for the rest of the year, will also contribute $100 million to a fund that supports unemployed oil workers.

Speaking to reporters in the State Dining Room of the White House, President Obama called the agreement "a good start" that will reassure "the people and small businesses I was talking to in the Gulf that BP will meet its responsibilities."

"I'm absolutely confident BP will be able to meet its obligations to the Gulf Coast and to the American people," Obama said. "BP is a strong and viable company and it is in all our interests that it remains so. This is about accountability. At the end of the day, that's what every American wants and expects."

cont.