ABOUT 'FUTURE ENTERTAINMENT'

CONTRIBUTE TO THE DISCUSSION BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE EVENT BY VISITING THE 'FUTURE ENTERTAINMENT' WIKI HERE.

PUT QUESTIONS TO KATZ KIELY & FRANK BOYD VIA EMAIL IN ADVANCE OF AND DURING THE EVENT <questions@cybersalon.org>.

Frank Boyd
Unexpected Media

As Director of the European Multimedia Labs, Frank has designed and delivered series of creative, rapid prototyping workshops for new media across the world.

As Director of Creative Development for BBC learning and Innovation he worked with producers in television, radio and new media to create new concepts fro TV, radio, broadband and iTV.

Previously he set up the Arts Technology Centre, the first independent centre in the UK dedicated to creative applications of digital technology. he was a founder member of the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Committee and is a regular jury member for the Australian Interactive Media Awards. He was organiser of the UK's Digital Media Alliance (DMA), the precursor of the Digital Content Forum, and has been advisor on new media to the UK government's Trade and Cultural ministries, the European Commission and the Council of Europe.

He is currently working with the London Development Agency to establish Creative London, a programme to encourage the growth of creative industries in the city.

Katz Kiely
Just b Productions
<www.just-b.com>

Katz Kiely is Managing Director of Just-b Productions, who were responsible for the recent b.TWEEN Festival of Future Entertainment. Highlights of the festival included a three-day cross platform development lab, interactive installations, a real-time global collaboration and a two-day International Interactive Content Conference. The conference provided a clear overview of the current state of the UK’s interactive content industry and the future strategies of major industry players from the BBC and Endemol to Microsoft.

An expert in the dynamic areas between the media industries, technology and digital creativity, Katz was responsible for the b.PLAYFUL and b.tv 2001 Convergence Conferences in Sheffield. She was also pivotal in the Shooting Live Artists commissioning scheme, a unique partnership between the Arts Council, BBC and Studio of the North. One of the 12 commissioned projects, Can U See me Now by Blast Theory/Mixed Reality Lab, won the prestigious Ars Electronica prize for innovation and was short listed for the BAFTA interactive prize. Katz has been invited to speak about the future of entertainment at industry events across the globe, including Australia and Hong Kong.

Previously, Katz was instrumental in the production of cultural events throughout Europe including a major international music/performance festival in Amsterdam (’94), a week long cross media festival in Berlin (’96) and the ground-breaking immersive multimedia event Incarceration (’97).

Katz has an MA in film production and screenwriting from the Northern Media School, serves on the advisory committee for Digital South Yorkshire and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts in 2003.

TRIGGERS FOR DISCUSSION

We really want the Cybersalon audience to contribute ideas, raise questions and respond to the issues via the online WIKI - before, during and after the event - and to bring their wireless handheld and laptop devices to the evening to contribute to the ongoing discussion.

The following statements and questions appear on the WIKI. Please use it to add your own thoiughts and ideas to the discussion.

This is without a doubt a time of great uncertainty, but this uncertainty offers great opportunities for the creative entrepreneur.

Consumers relationship with content is changing in this connected world, they have more choice and expect more quality.

Everyone can potentially produce content and theoretically everyone can publish their work on a medium with a huge global audience. Online communities are becoming increasingly important and as their importance grows, new distribution routes are evolving.

What relationship will broadcasters develop with these new audiences? Could the previously unchallenged power of gatekeepers (broadcasters, commissioners, publishers, distributors) be coming to an end?

What could new models of entertainment look like as we finally move towards true convergence?

Relevant Links

b.TWEEN
<www.btween.co.uk>