If it happens on the Internet, chances are it happened in LA first. Like it
or hate it, LA is the digital coast and the hub of where so much content and
film entertainment originates. Now in its second year, the Digital Coast
2000 was held in Los Angeles on September 12- 14. Over the three days there
were some high calibre panellists discussing topics such as TV and web
convergence, the impact of the internet on feature films, intellectual
property copyright issues, online distribution, the current animation
renaissance and a number of "fireside chats" with prominent CEO’s.
The main focus was on convergence and content. Anyone involved in producing
content for television or cinema ought to be more than aware of the changes
taking place with the Internet.
"Content" is such a buzzword when people talk of the Internet but the
reality is hardly anyone is making money out of content on the Internet,
except of course for the porn sites. Everyone is rushing to establish
content sites to attract an audience to their site. Investors and
"netrepreneurs" are realising now that copying the print model, i.e.
providing content and selling advertising, does not work well on the
internet. Banner ads on sites are a waste of time with only fractional hit
rates. People who wish to supply content on the web have had to re-examine
their business model; audiences are not prepared to pay for content. Why
should they when they can get it for free on another site? Obviously enough,
no one had the all the answers as to what is a successful business model for
a content provider. If Stephen Spielberg’s content company Pop.Com can
manage to go out of business before its launch and with a host of other
major content providers downsizing and closing down then I can only assume
that at the moment it’s a very difficult road to go down. With everything
changing so rapidly and goalposts constantly shifting, it really is a
business where one year is like ten years of a "normal" industry.
Many content providers felt that they might generate their revenues from
their sites through micro payments. At present it is not worth using a
credit card for less than $10 or so, micro payments is where the credit card
holder agrees to pay, for instance, $0.0001 for every page they view and
when this reaches $10, it is only then deducted from the credit card.
Also discussed was the failure of so many "Dot Coms". Many of the very
successful web based companies were saying how they are "professional
service companies" and don’t want to be referred to as a "Dot Com". Perhaps
it’s a way of distancing themselves from the current climate on the stock
market where companies that have bricks and clicks are more favourable than
clicks alone.
Almost all the panellists spoke of their commitment to Wireless (WAP). In
2002 it is believed that there will be more people with internet
connectivity using Wap phones than with desktop modems, so there were a lot
of people enthusing about Wap. Personally, I feel WAP is hugely overrated
and I don’t get very excited looking at teletext, never mind looking at a
slower, smaller teletext in black and white.
For me, I was particularly interested in the discussion of the so called
"Animation Renaissance". Unfortunately, this session turned out to be
nothing more than a showcase of the leading animation content providers
showing off their websites, much of what I had seen before and was already
accessible on the net. The "Animation Renaissance" they referred to boils
down to a single piece of software – Macromedia’s Flash, and the
distribution opportunities for animation afforded by the internet. Because
animation is easy to compress, it is suited perfectly for the internet, much
more so than live action. Flash allows animators to create tiny file sizes
which stream very quickly while maintaining high production values. You can
even output Flash at full broadcast quality from a piece of software that
costs little more than a couple of hundred dollars. Unlike traditional
animation where you have animators, assistant animators, clean up artists,
scan and paint etc, Flash allows animators to bypass most of these
processes. Flash does have a number of limitations but by drawing directly
into computer independent animators working on an average PC can now produce
high quality short films that would have been cost prohibitive only a few
years ago. Thankfully the Irish Film Board have already recognised the
enormous potential in Flash and launched the forward thinking IrishFlash
awards in association with Atom Films.
Some of the funniest and more outrageous animations can be seen on sites
such as CampChaos,
Icebox, AtomFilms and Mondomedia. All of these sites have
excellent animation series, they also have some very crude, rude and
hilarious animation series like The God and Devil Show, Rock n’ Sock m’
Rabbis and just launched on Icebox, Jesus and his brothers, an animation
about Jesus and his 3 lesser known brothers. (Methinks that RTE would not be
too interested in screening most of what is on the these sites even though
the hit rates on popular cartoons are in the hundreds of thousands) However,
excellent as these sites are, they all exist because they have substantial
VC funding. I fail to see where they will make their money long or short
term and whether syndication and licensing of these animation series will
cover the substantial investment given to them (obviously somebody with very
deep pockets knows something I don’t).
Some broadcasters are paying attention to these sites, Icebox have licensed
their animation series Starship Regulars which will be produced as a live
action series. Atom Films are also bringing their hugely popular Angry Kid
from the computer screen to the tv screen. The internet opens enormous
opportunities to producers and in my mind it is obvious to approach a
broadcaster with a great idea and an existing online audience rather than
just a great idea. Mind you it will be harder to differentiate between
watching online programmes and terrestrial broadcasting soon enough.
The final discussion of the conference was with Hillary Rosen, the CEO of
the Recording Industry Association of America (or Hillary "I hate Napster"
Rosen). While I disagreed with most of what she had to say, it was quite
interesting hearing her point of view on Napster and the court case brought
against them. However, whether its music or film, there are many copyright
problems with exhibition and distribution of work on the Internet. This is a
huge can of worms and because we are at such an early stage of the Internet
there are no real enforceable regulations regarding copyright, which is
quite scary but is also the beauty of the internet as well – no rules.
It was an interesting few days but simple things like a delegate list or
pigeonholes would have made a big difference for people wishing to network
at the event. Each session was quite informal with no speaker notes, which
left many of the sessions as good or as bad as the person chairing them. The
fact that there were no notes or tapes was a problem as there were sessions
going on in two theatres at the same time, so often you had to miss
something you wanted to go to. Overall though many of the speakers had their
fingers on the pulse and were very articulate. On paper (sorry, on their
website) the event looked like it would be massively informative on new
developments but ultimately I found it to be a disappointment.
At the end of Digital Coast 2000, I was none the wiser. It certainly put a
good perspective on things and really made me think that the Internet is
like the early days of the Wild West. And when people talk of content,
everyone is prospecting, but I couldn’t help but feel that the people
selling the shovels and pans to the prospectors seem to be the only ones
making any real cash. All and all, an interesting 3 days of discussion and
chat but I won’t be rushing back next year.
- Cathal Gaffney Brownbag
Films