TORONTO – Leaders in content creation from across the film, TV, interactive digital, music, book and magazine publishing industries, angel investors, media buyers and technology experts are coming together on January 18th to discuss the digital feature. The all-day Digital Dialogue conference is presented by the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) and takes place at the Arcadian Court, 401 Bay St., 8th floor in Toronto. The conference features a keynote from Kaan Yigit, a partner with Toronto-based Solutions Research Group and four panels including:
Generation C: The Connected Consumer
Mobile devices and iPod technology have created a virtual water cooler. Viewers want to critique TV shows in real-time or instantly post images of themselves on Facebook while attending a music concert. Gen-C isn’t defined by birth year. It refers to an emerging digital lifestyle in which consumers, who are demanding to be heard and engaged, are reshaping how content is produced and distributed. Marshall McLuhan once wrote that the medium is the message, but today the reverse is increasingly true: the message is the medium. As audiences continue to tune-in by leveraging multiple screens, they are becoming part of the story itself. The socializing entertainment trend is inspiring innovative programming and gutsy social media strategies.
Of Innovation and Collaboration: How Digital Disruption is Driving Strategic Partnerships
Business alliances are evolving. Whether it’s opportunistic or symbiotic, the sectors are cross-pollinating. Music labels are teaming up with gaming companies, filmmakers are partnering with health and education agencies, brands are working directly with content creators, and talent agencies are partnering with distribution channels. This panel will explore how companies — run by industry leaders who started their careers in traditional media — are trying to innovate, implement, iterate and generate new revenues that go beyond traditional licensing models.
The Digital Dilemma: New Pathways to Monetization … the Story Continues
Traditional business models continue to erode as an expanding number of media channels allow consumers to pick where and how they view entertainment today. Today’s content providers, which include video, audio, text, animation and games, can all be accessed through the web or mobile. That’s the good news. The bad news is that this trend has led to increased competition for ad-sponsorship, and a rise in the pay wall or digital subscription models. Technology providers, who in the past focused on managing and measuring content, are adding new monetization tools to help media companies finance new projects or monetize existing content. This panel will explore: What are the hottest emerging business models for paid content, and how traditional content providers are tackling disruption in their own industries.
Get Ready, Get Set, Accelerate
Canada is becoming a start-up nation. Incubation hubs and acceleration centers are multiplying, and angel investors have found their wings. What began as a software cluster in Waterloo, and a gaming hotbed in Montreal, is evolving into a broad digital media ecosystem that spans the publishing, film, television and music sectors. This panel looks at some of the cutting-edge start-ups pushing the entertainment boundaries by tapping into new technologies and attracting a new breed of investor: the venture capitalist.
