Getting It Out There | A Success!
Feels great being able to successfully organise the seminar event yesterday morning. Everyone worked great with their assigned duties and collaborated well with the group.
We set up the venue around 9:30 as planned. Steven and Toni were filming the seminar; Jessica, Lorraine and Cyndy were in charged of staging and ushering the guests; Soong Fee operated the video presentations from MUFF, Madman and Sharmill Films including the introductory video created by Joe; John and Connie were the event photographers, assisting on staging, ushering, and presenting with Selwyn as well; Keshanee was the host and Danica was assisting in welcoming the guests and ensuring that the seminar event and the team were organised.
We had an amazing line up of guest speakers. Everyone addressed their own areas of interests and expertise really well. The seminar event was a mixture of very informative discussions on distribution, the guest speakers’ personal career experiences and their advice for us, soon to be media graduates. The guest speakers also talked about the importance of networking in the media industry and making most of our time in applying for internships or work attachments. Not only that they engaged us with their personal stories and experiences, they also engaged with other guests in the panel. They exchanged really interesting conversations with each other. And watching the guest speakers feeling at ease with sharing their opinions made the seminar less formal, more relaxed and comfortable.
Really great having Richard, Chris, Natalie, Bronwen and Michael on the seminar. Great work from the team for inviting such fantastic guest speakers and organising the event for media industries 2. We’ve received some great feedback from mi2 and happy to hear that they found the seminar engaging.
Again, a big Thank You to:
Richard Wolstencroft
Director of MUFF Melbourne Underground Film Festival
http://www.muff.com.au/
Chris Lintos
Producer, Music Biz
Natalie Miller
Executive Director of Sharmill Films
http://www.sharmillfilms.com.au/
Bronwen Morey and Michael Cicirko
Madman Entertainment
http://www.madman.com.au/actions/channel.do?method=view
Special Thanks to:
Lisa, Geoff, Robbie and Rachel
RMIT Media Techs
Media Industries 2 ’09 Class
-= A job well done ‘distfuture‘ team! 😉 =-
the day before…
So we’ve planned something that we might want to present after the seminar…thought of a simple idea to show everyone. Some knew this was going to be all rushed and a big possibility that we would end up not doing it for many reasons. So what happened? Yes, we ended up not doing it. 😉 It was a great idea though and could be fun. But then again, we had such a short time to do it and we had to weigh if it’s going to be really worth doing as in if it’s going to really matter. But it was good collaboration…open communication and a few arguments…good arguments though. 😉
The seminar is going to be really exciting and we’re really hoping that our audience is anticipating the same way and that they’ll be engaged with it.
Go Alpha team! Or rather ‘distfuture’ team! lol
rough seminar structure
We discussed about the rough structure of the seminar event on Friday. Obviously, we can’t really anticipate what’s going to happen during the event but we thought it’ll be good to have something as a guide to check on our running time.
9:30 | Call time/Radio Theatre 9.1.24
9:30 – 10:30 | Set up (Camera, Computer Pres., Staging, Ushering the guests, Catering etc.)
10:30 | Guests coming in, Meet & Greet
11 | Seminar starts
- Keshanee: Brief intro to distfuture team “Getting it out there”
- Play video ads 1 and 2
- Guests introduction starting off with: 1. Bronwen and Michael from Madman 2. Chris Lintos 3. Natalie 4. Richard
- They can introduce their showreels as well if they have something prepared
- Afterward, we can start with interview questions to Richard
- Then the discussion flows from there…1. Exhibition 2. DVD 3. Online…
Around 12 | Final questions from the audience
12:15 | Wrap up / Conclusion
Seminar Guest Speakers
Richard Wolstencroft a.k.a Richard Masters
> Independent Filmmaker
> Director of Melbourne Underground Film Festival [MUFF], which showcases ‘uncut, uncensored, and cutting edge Independent Cinema’
> http://www.muff.com.au/
Natalie Miller
> Executive Director of Sharmill Films ‘specializing in European, often foreign language films’
> ‘First independent woman distributor in Australia and co-founder of Cinema Nova’
> ‘Passionate about cinema and the business of film’ ‘A pioneer of Australian Art house Cinema and visionary distributor
> http://www.sharmillfilms.com.au/
Chris Lintos
> Music Biz
> Producer
> Working on a feature film with a distribution deal with Collingwood team
> Opened a venue for film screenings in Coburg
Michael Cicirko and Bronwen Morey
> From Madman Entertainment, “Australia’s leading distributor of Anime, Independent film, Asian Cinema, Bollywood, Action Sports and other special interest genres.”
> http://www.madman.com.au/actions/channel.do?method=view
Great work from distfuture team!
| meeting
People who have contacted the guests should think about some personal questions to ask them during the seminar…such as asking them about starting out, or previous experiences to bring out important points in their career and our topic.
For example:
- Job role/experiences etc
- How would an independent content producer approach Madman?
- What is the advantage of straight to DVD as compared to Theatrical release?
We also thought about thinking more general questions:
- Can you see online taking over traditional distribution methods?
- Will traditional distribution companies cease to exist?
- Will the middle man (companies like Mad Men etc) be cut out?
- Where do you see your sector progressing in the immediate future?
- How does distribution affect content creation?
- What are you looking for in content?
- How does the Australian industry differ from other overseas/international industries?
- How do media graduates get involved in distribution?
- Which is the most profitable form of distribution?
Improvised questions are definitely welcome to encourage more questions/participation from our audience.
Program Schedule:
- Everyone should arrive at 9:30 am to set up.
- Audience and guests arrive at 10:30
- Seminar starts at 11 am and roughly finishes at 12:30 (might give a half hour after that for other students to chat a bit with our guests or something)
Things to do:
I will send an email to the steering committee tomorrow morning informing them about the no. of confirmed guests we have so far and that we are still waiting for more confirmation early next week
So far…
- Richard W. (MUFF)
- Michael C. (Madman)
- Bronwen M. (Madman)
- A person from Nova (c/o John – yet to confirm)*
- Steven’s friend*
- Julian from Eidolon “Joe Manifesto” (c/o Joe – yet to confirm)*
*Need their profiles/bio
- Misc. and other equipment from school
BUDGET
- Token of appreciation
- Catering
group participation
Contribution and Collaboration
Since we started forming groups from week 2, everyone managed to collaborate well with each member and share the same enthusiasm in planning and organising our seminar event. The collaborative process so far is great as everyone is keen in getting contacts from people in the industry. Everyone knows what needs to be done and the roles that each of us is assigned with during preparation and the seminar proper. Although there were some minor issues that we have encountered at this stage, things are running smoothly and as planned because of our open communication. It’s easier when the group is keeping up-to-date with everyone else so there are no confusions or problems. We are all aiming to deliver the seminar event well and the group is participating really well in making this happen.
Proactive Learning
Each member in the group has taken their responsibility especially in sending invitations to potential guest speakers. Initially, it seemed difficult to get everyone assigned into specific roles and get things organised within such a big group. But with everyone’s co-operation and active participation, we know who needs to be doing what.
Participation
The group still finds time to meet up and talk through our progress. Our facebook group, blog, and emails are really useful to get in contact with everyone as not all of us can attend the meetings at times.
Connections and Intersections
It might be too early to say but the group is working really well together. No big issues or problems. There are frustrations, yes, but these are part of the whole collaborative process. This is where we learn how to do things better and make the collaboration work. It’s not always easy to invite people and everyone makes allowances for it. But we are positive that we are able to organise the seminar event properly.
Links |
- Mad Man website: http://www.madman.com.au/actions/channel.do?method=view
- Melbourne Underground Film Festival [MUFF]: http://www.muff.com.au/
wk 6 progress
So far, we’ve only got two contacts from Mad Man. We must set up a ‘strict’ deadline by next week. Our seminar’s fast approaching. (*pressure) But all will be good because we have the best group ever. We trust everyone’s pushing it to get people to come in.
Timeline
Thursday, 3/9/2009 | Group Meeting
- Finalize our guests list
- Organise Catering for the seminar
- Budget allocation for our ‘token’ for the guest speakers
- Finalize the overall organisation of the seminar including staging, presentation (intro videos) etc.
- Interview questions
Email to be sent out to MI2 steering committee and students list + flyers C/O Danica
About
This is the ‘distfuture’ group blog for Media Industries 2 2009 at RMIT University, which documents the collaborative process of conducting a seminar on Distribution of content through DVDs, Exhibitions and Web/Online.
distfuture 