Cross-platform (2008)
Sheffield Doc/Fest is renowned for leading the way in addressing issues around cross platform delivery and interactive documentary production.
In 2008, we presented DigiDocs 360, a series of panels and masterclasses addressing the challenges of embracing the cross platform world with speakers from the UK and around the globe.
The Cross Platform Pitching Competitions, hosted by Crossover UK, and the National Film Board of Canada, offered a prize of £10,000 in development investment.
Filmmakers, Digital Artists, Games Designers and more took part in the 2008 Doc/Fest DigiDocs 360 investigations.
Previous DigiDocs speaker Patrick Crowe has said:
"Heather Croall and her gang have created one of the best networking events I’ve ever experienced. The Sheffield Internastional Documentary Festival has proved to be the most excellent way for us to make connections with industry players from around the world in a really fun and informal environment. I’ve met people here who I will certainly continue to collaborate with for years to come. In very practical terms, Sheffield has brought Xenophile Media a great BBC project, two excellent new employees and even a fiancé for my business partner!"
Patrick Crowe, Executive Producer, Xenophile Media. Toronto Canada
Cross Platform Pitch Competitions
Networks are starting to invest more in cross platform content and expecting multiplatform delivery in projects. What sorts of projects are the new digitally-minded commissioners looking for? Come along and hear the panel give an insight to their thinking as they respond to pitches from producers who have developed original ideas fro cross-platform documentary projects at the recent Crossover lab ... as well as the projects selected by the National Film Board of Canada for their Cross Media Challenge for innovative, interactive, socially engaged content around an environmental theme. £15,000 was awarded in this pitching session across the two competitions.
DigiDocs 360: Digital Commissioners - Funding for New Platforms
Indies are increasingly being asked for 360-degree commissions that can play out across a number of media platforms and maximise audience engagement and interaction. What are the commissioners looking for, how are they supporting this major shift and what additional resources are being made available to factual content producers to innovate cross-platform?
DigiDocs 360: Docs and ARGs
An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions. Players interact directly with characters in the game, and often work together with a community to analyse the story and coordinate real-life and online activities. ARGs are growing in popularity, with new forms emerging and an increasing amount of experimentation with new models and subgenres. This session focuses on what ARGs offer the world of documentary and what documentary makers can bring to the world of ARGs.
DigiDocs 360: Games For Social Change
The field of games aimed at social change is young and ripe with opportunity, and several recent announcements of corporate/public-sector partnerships to develop such games are further fuelling hopes for its success. However, production costs can be really high and there are few examples of killer applications to date. Can games really make a difference? Is there a significant enough audience for this? What are the opportunities for documentary makers?
DigiDocs 360: Non-linear Storytelling - Show 'n' Tell
Traditional documentary forces complex stories to be in a linear form but new non-linear technologies allow the opportunity to weave multiple media together to tell a more comprehensive story. This session is an inspiring showcase of leading factual projects which have best exploited new platform non-linear opportunities. The showcase has been chosen and is presented by leading commissioners and practitioners.
My Tube Your Face
Recent reports suggest the British internet TV market could generate revenues of £1.78bn by 2011. With increasingly faster internet connections, social networking sites are exploiting the market with popular shows such as Kate Modern and The Gap Year. So with numbers of people using social networking sites exploding around the world, what are some examples of filmmakers using them to get to new audiences, and how can documentary exploit this market?
DigiDocs 360 speakers at Doc/Fest 2008 include:
Matt Adams - Blast Theory
Marvin Belle - Directors Notes
Simon Bennett - Rolling Sound & Roll 7
Frank Boyd - Unexpected Media
Nick Cohen - BBC
Juan Carlos Pineiro Escoriaza - Pure West
Adam Gee - Channel 4
Jon Gisby - Channel 4
Marc Goodchild - BBC
Jason Hall - Screen West Midlands
Dan'l Hewitt - Bebo
Brian Hill - Century Films
Dan Hon - Six To Start
Jonathan Kingsbury - NESTA
Rob McLaughlin - National Film Board of Canada
Paula Le Dieu
Wendy Levy - Bay Area Video Coalition
Matt Locke - Channel 4
Mikkel Lucas Overby - Serious Games Interactive
Margaret Robertson - Lookspring
Gavin Rowe - Big Balls Films
Andra Sheffer - Bell Broadcast & New Media fund
Suzanne Seggerman - Games For Change
David Squire - DESQ
Richard Thomson - Endemol Digital Media
Tony Walsh - Phantom Compass
Femke Wolting - Submarine
DigiDocs 360 speakers previously at Doc/Fest include: