Digital Hollywood Content Summit: Initial Observations

So, in case I haven't mentioned it, I'm at Digital Hollywood's Content Summit this week in Santa Monica. This is exciting a) because I love learning about how technology has impacted the entertainment sphere and b) because this is the first conference in a while that doesn't feature the term "good for the Jews" anywhere in the program.

Here are some initial "shorts," just perfect for you short-attention-spanners for whom a 5-minute YouTube video seems too long:

• Jewish conference: "What? Food again?" / Hollywood conference: "Where's the bar?" (There was no food anywhere that I saw during this conference. Tomorrow, I bring sandwiches. And sell them.)
• One thing that Jewish conferences and Hollywood conferences seem to agree on? Sarah Lefton and G-dcast are awesome. Sarah pitched G-dcast to a panel of Hollywood tastemakers and content producers...and they liked it.
• There was some debate over whether, when it comes to viral video, it's better to be first than be best. Thoughts?
• Saw Justine Bateman within ten minutes of my arrival. She was already surrounded, so I chickened out of talking to her. 
• Several people predicted that online space would totally take over the entertainment world in the next five years. Others thought it already was taking over the entertainment industry, but that the money models aren't really set yet - we have to figure out when doing our projects what people are willing to pay for in order to monetize the product. I know my money models aren't set yet. :)
• In "We Live in Public," the film's subject - Josh Harris - made a ton of money in the dot com boom, and engaged in experiments regarding living in public, having every moment of their lives taped. He's alternately hailed as a visionary, an artist, and a genius (often all by himself), but the truth is that he's accurately foreseen the trends that today's internet users embrace: self-exposure, the need for community approval, connection to people without really connecting to them.
• Harris admitted after the screening that he had never experienced real "intimate love," despite the fact that one of his experiments was him and his girlfriend - or as he referred to her, his "fake girlfriend" - living together and being taped in every moment. And the moment when it all clicked that intimate love had evaded him? When he watched "The Truman Show," and saw Truman's wife in their wedding picture, with her fingers crossed behind her back. 

There's much more to say on this film and the issues it brought up, but that'll have to be tomorrow. Writer's Boot Camp starts early in the am...

Good night, Hollywood. 

Comments

[Ari]

I originally read this post yesterday, and then I had a dream where Justine Bateman made a cameo. That would be freakishly random except I then remembered your post. Not sure why it lodged in my mind, though. Weird.

[Esther]

Freakishly random. Or, my blog posts are designed to come into people's dreams and make them think of 80s TV stars. I'm pretty sure it's the second one. :)