'Net loves comedy
Laffers high on digital media list, fest panel says
Moderated by NBC correspondent John Hockenberry, the gathering of movers and shakers joined network execs like Stuart Bloomberg, co-chairman of ABC Entertainment, and Comedy Central's Larry Divney, alongside such new media mavens as Jim Banister, exec VP Warner Bros. Online; Margaret Heffernan, president and chief operating officer, iCAST; Joe Kraus, founder and senior VP of Excite; and David Newman, president Digital Entertainment Network.
Using such words as "transformational media," "digital streaming" and "quick times," the panel painted a picture of an entertainment world changing very quickly, and those who are not onboard the cyber train will be quickly left behind.
Innocence dying
Even Eduardo Sanchez, who with "Blair Witch Project" co-director Dan Myrick used the 'Net to make their indie pic the most profitable film of 1999, said that "the innocence of the worldwide Web is beginning to die, and it's very sad for me."
But while there was much discussion about the balance of power switching back and forth between distribution and content, the consensus seemed to favor the latter. "The people in charge of supplying proprietary, replayable content are the clear winners in the last 10 months," said Leo Hindrey, chairman and CEO of GlobalCenter, Inc.
It's the people who channel content into the home with the least amount of interference who have a leg up on the competition, and it's the consumers who are the winners, added Hindrey. "The 'Net has been the most democratizing event of the last century," he said.
Branding key
But it was the selling or "branding" of content, rather than the content itself, that seemed to get the most play. In explaining their campaign to create awareness for "Blair Witch," Myrick said the filmmaking pair asked themselves how their project could plug into a mythology. "We tried to form something beyond the project itself, so that people could interact with us."
Neuman said that "Blair Witch" was the best example of "the new paradigm in action." Added Neuman: "The brilliance of what the 'Blair Witch' filmmakers did was create a brand that has applications over different mediums."
Not to be outdone, Banister piped in that content, community and commerce are to the Internet what audio and video were to television. "There are more colors to paint with," the WB exec said.
On the down side, content -- whether it's news or entertainment -- has become largely "commodified." Michael Wolf, Media columnist for New York magazine, said the "premium is not on old-fashioned reporting" but on "providing and distributing 'news' as cheaply as possible."
Ad, content blur
In the brave new world of the Internet, the lines between advertising and content are becoming more blurred than ever. "The more advertising is targeted, the more it becomes like content itself," Neuman said unapoligetically. "People are interacting with these ads, leading to 'conversion.' ('converting' a person into a buyer)."
Filmmaker James L. Brooks, looking appropriately bewildered, made the assumption that "story and character still matter," eliciting a uniform "here, here," from his co-panelists and the audience.
In support of "art," Hindrey assured that the emphasis should still be on "old-media creativity," but delivered to viewers and users with "new media tools."
Everybody seemed to agree that broadband is the way to go, as it provides a wider array of applications and a wider and faster pipeline of information. "With the advent of the advanced TV box," targeted advertising will allow the same level of ad support for quality programming," said Kraus, as a way of allaying fears that the new technology will make the networks obsolete.
"As we move away from advertising and more towards the sponsorship model, production costs will have to go down," iCAST's Heffernan warned. "As you go towards more targeted niche audiences, the capacity for diversity and range (in programming) is more possible, as opposed to mass, bland product."
