I am delighted to be able to run these public seminars which are off the back of, and feature all of the mentors for the previous 1 week residential lab. The speakers are top of their field (international folk are completely over their jetlag – these things are important!) but I think what makes the seminar unique, is that immediately following a week of practical and intensive workshopping, the talks are extremely practical and realistic. Most of the people who came to the same seminar in Melbourne last year indicated that it was the best of its kind. Being central Sydney and in the rather unique ‘parliamentary layout’ of the SMC, it will be a highlight of the multi platform calendar this year.

Full release from Screen Australia(also we will likely have a short very practical talk too from Firelight on their recent multi platform works)

Screen Australia and StoryLabs will present world-class film campaign designers and experiential storytelling experts in a one-off, full-day public seminar in Sydney on Monday 3 December. Film 3.0 | Making Multi-platform Movies will showcase insights, case studies and practical guidance on producing multi-platform extensions for feature films; turning them from one-off views into an exploratory, expanded ‘storyworld’ spread across mediums, platforms and devices. Attendance is strongly recommended for film and digital industry professionals.

The seminar will be led by 10 of the industry’s leading experts who have worked across properties including King Kong, Game of Thrones, The Bourne Legacy, Terminator Salvation, Magnolia, Titanic, Pandemic, Salt, True Blood, Gangs of New York, Pirates of the Caribbean, Storm Surfers 3D, Lostand many more.

Speakers include renowned pioneer Lance Weiler (US), named by WIREDmagazine as ‘one of the 25 people helping to reinvent entertainment and change the face of Hollywood’; Brian Cain (US), Creative Director of GMD Studios and film ARG pioneer; the ‘Father of Cross-platform’ Brian Seth Hurst (US); Forbes global ‘Top 50 Social Media Influencer’ and Marketingmagazine’s ‘Head of Social Media Industry’ Laurel Papworth (Aus); and Hoodlum’s multi-award winning Nathan Mayfield (Aus).

Taking a feature film narrative across multiple media platforms enables creative productions to connect with a wider, more involved audience and be more commercially viable. Developing a single story idea across devices, channels and communities requires an intensive creative process, knowledge of the landscape and complex production management. This one-day seminar, chaired by interactive TV pioneer Gary Hayes (Aus), cuts through the noise to focus on the core aspects of making feature films more social, game-like and spreadable, by exploring audience intelligence, story architecture, new marketing, evolved business models, community building, creative technology and user interaction design, to help practitioners take their idea from page to screen.

• Lance Weiler (US) is a storyteller, entrepreneur and thought leader, and creator of some of the world’s most original cinematic transmedia projects, including Head Trauma and Pandemic, which was selected for the Sundance Film Festival’s New Frontiers. He will discuss story architecture in relation to his current interactive work surrounding a special David Cronenberg (The Fly, Scanners, Existenz) project produced in conjunction with Canadian Film Centre and Toronto International Film Festival.
• Brian Cain (US) is a leading creative director who will discuss marketing as storytelling using case studies of Terminator Salvation,Game of Thrones, True Blood and key involvement in earlier ground-breaking ARG works such as Blair Witch and Art of the Heist.
• Nathan Mayfield (Australia), Chief Creative Officer at Emmy®-winning agency Hoodlum, will discuss the business of extending film through examining his work on The Bourne Legacy and Salt.
• Matt Costello (US) is a games, film and novel writer with who has worked on extensions, including King Kong, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Bad Boys 2, and consulted on Titanic. He will explore the relationship between game and film, and finding the most appropriate game play categories.
• Laurel Papworth (Australia), CEO of Community Crew and named by Forbes as one of the global Top 50 Social Media Influencers has set up and managed online communities including Big Brother, Junior Masterchef, Sony, Universal Pictures, Event Cinemas and large multiplayer game properties. She will case study some of her work to demonstrate how to manage film communities, going beyond ephemeral viral or promotion, to how to create loyal film communities.
• Brian Seth Hurst (US) is known as ‘the father of cross-platform’. He’ll case study his work with high profile talent and brands, such as with Heroes creator Tim Kring, to discuss building storyworlds, and sustaining them by engaging the conversation between filmmaker and audience.
• Gunther Sonnenfeld (US), who has taken his vast experience of marketing major films such as Magnolia and Gangs of New York into the multi-platform arena, will discuss data-driven storytelling; understanding archetypes and online behaviour in order to find your audience.
• Mike Cowap (Australia), an Investment Manager with Screen Australia with a focus on multi-platform and interactive production, will discuss how to finance extensions to feature films.
• Gary Hayes (Australia) is the founder of StoryLabs and Senior Producer and Product Development Manager at ABC TV Multi-Platform creating new formats and dual screen, social TV experiences. He will chair the event and provide context by presenting popular examples of multi-platform feature film, and close by discussing best practice in the practical aspects of cross-media production.

Speakers for the seminar will also be mentors for the second Digital Ignition Multi-platform Clinic facilitated by StoryLabs, part of Screen Australia’s Multi-platform Program, which will support eight selected feature film teams developing production-ready, multi-platform strategies through a workshop being held 26–30 November.

Film 3.0 | Making Multi-platform Movies will be held on Monday 3 December 2012 at the SMC Conference and Function Centre in Sydney.

Tickets are $50, and are available at:
multiplatform-movies.eventbrite.com.au
Media Enquiries
Teri Calder T: 02 8113 5833; M: 0408 440 995
teri.calder@screenaustralia.gov.au