Don't bury Pop.com or DreamWorks' future Internet endeavors just yet.
The first day of the WorldCom U.S. Comedy Arts Festival Tech Summit in Aspen, Colo., featured DreamWorks co-topper Jeffrey Katzenberg giving a highly upbeat perspective about technology's contribution to showbiz. "Pop.com won't be back next year, but I won't say ever. It will be back," he declared. "In the wake of Pop.com, we realized that people on the Internet don't want stories. Sure, the medium brought fresh young talent; however, right now all we know is that the Internet is a communication device. Beyond that, its horizons are unclear."
During a panel discussion, Katzenberg was confident that new media would arise for artistic expression. He also opined that Hollywood's ventures in cyberbiz were logical: Over the course of history, new technologies such as radio and the printing press always were used from a creative point of view.
Katzenberg pointed out that emerging technologies such as digital filmmaking, with its economical means of film production, have lowered the barriers to entry for emerging talent.
Although its site never launched, Pop.com's content, including animated dream sequences for Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard, can be viewed at
Countingdown.com.
The summit comprises four panels, two that place Thursday and two more skedded for Friday.
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