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FEATURE FOCUS W


n THE INDUSTRY ONLINE n CROWD-FUNDING n MARKETINGTHEARTIST


hat a difference a decade makes. At the height of dotcom euphoria, all manner of overfunded start- ups made grandiose claims about


transforming the operational backbone of Hol- lywood and shaking up the industrial founda- tions of global cinema. Creative Planet, for one, had visions of a vertically integrated web com- munity of media professionals that mimicked the traditional studio system — but without all the physical baggage. InternetStudios sought nothing less than to re-invent the financing, sales and distribution ecosystem with a digital marketplace for film and TV rights. Both compa- nies flamed out. Some 12 years later and web technology is


only now starting to catch up with such disrup- tive thinking. Some of those same ideas have gained currency again, albeit couched in more modest language and with rather more concrete ambitions that come tied to identifiable industry needs. Screen spotlights 16 business-to-business web


companies in the following pages, but to that list could be added any number of others.


Evolution, not revolution There are still hurdles. Proprietary data systems, for example still have difficulty talking to one another; and broadband access, as anyone on the festival circuit can attest, is by no means as uni- versal or as free as all those cloud-based, always- on visions might suggest. Nonetheless, at every point along the film-making process and distri- bution food-chain, old ways are being rendered obsolete. “Looking back five years, we underestimated


the complacency of film and TV buyers and therefore overestimated their readiness for an efficient online B2B marketplace for audiovisual content,” says Mediapeers’ co-chief Moritz Vieh- weger. “Meanwhile our attitude changed from revolution to evolution, as we support the mar- ket participants to interact more efficiently rather than change the rules of the game.” “I don’t see Cinando’s core audience, film pro-


duction and indie distribution, eager for dra- matic changes in their ways to conduct business,” says the Cannes Marché du Film’s executive director, Jerome Paillard. “While developing a service such as Cinando, we’re always straddling that borderline between thinking in advance what could be useful for the industry and listen- ing to their comments. They can express needs but we can’t really expect them to describe what should be done.” Like it or not, the industry has been thrust


into the digital age through the magnetic force of social media, smartphones and web-search dependency. “The hopes we all had from a decade ago are


now being realised in more concrete ways, pri- marily due to the lower cost of technology and because we are all now connected and more empowered by technology,” says Ian Hierons, who is spearheading a nascent film music mar- ketplace, Score Revolution. “Five years ago, our primary challenge was


creating a product that didn’t intimidate less technically proficient users,” recalls Baseline’s Kevin Wyatt. “Now the challenge is keeping


n 28 Screen International at the Berlinale February 10, 2012


The future in site


Advances in technology may transform the way the industry does business, as a new generation of websites tries to lure producers, distributors, sales companies, financiers and film-makers online. But can an industry built on personal contacts and face-to-face time change that much? Colin Brown reports


pace with an ever more sophisticated user base.” An informal poll of executives, conducted


appropriately enough through LinkedIn, found only one, a French-based producer, who contin- ues to shun the web completely in favour of information provided the old-fashioned way by partners and distributors. The rest drew on a combination of sites, with Cinando, IMDb, Baseline’s Studio System and Festival Scope repeatedly mentioned as useful, even invaluable. While these new B2B web services introduce


much-needed layers of efficiency, simplicity and even transparency to the movie business, no-one talks any more of supplanting the status quo. Eventival’s Tomas Prasek says he is “driven by the desire to help change the film festival indus- try from within”.


Industry knowledge Jason Kassin, whose budding RightsTrade plat- form comes closest to achieving what proved beyond the reach of InternetStudios, uses simi- larly circumspect language. “The world of film


licensing and distribution is a highly complex business model that requires software solutions built from years of industry knowledge.” With RightsTrade “we want to provide business effi- ciency enhancements and leading-edge technol- ogy within the existing industry structure — as opposed to disruption for disruption’s sake”. Even Slated, a newcomer that aims to flatten


the landscape for independent film financing by replicating some of the systems that have worked in other industries, recognises the behavioural codes that govern movie deal-making. “Most film business is conducted offline, over


the phone, at festivals and via e-mail,” says Slat- ed’s CEO Duncan Cork. “There is a lot of ineffi- ciency and cost associated with doing business this way. Technology can improve that process, but it’s not exactly disruptive. “We have to remember the film industry is


built on relationships. It’s about who you know and who you can trust. To create real disruption through technology, the industry needs to use it with people they know and trust. It starts there.”


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