CARMEL LANDY

30.09 2008

Carmel has over 10 years experience in digital media and held senior positions at MTV International, BBC Worldwide, Thomson Travel Group and TeliaSonera. She has worked at the forefront of the commercial digital sector on an international basis, from the advent of online advertising in the late 90’s at the BBC, to the recent development of mass-market mobile content distribution for MTV International. Carmel has extensive knowledge of the UK and European media market from agencies and blue chip clients to broadcasters, production companies, record labels and mobile networks for content development and distribution. Carmel’s skills and experience cover the set-up and development of start-up teams in high-growth, emerging sectors including the development and account management of multi-million pound advertising, distribution and content licensing agreements.

Carmel is responsible for managing the development and growth of Expanding Universe as a leading company in the social entertainment sector. She is responsible for driving revenues from key clients, as well as developing relationships with key partners from the media and production sectors.

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RICHARD MORRIS

30.09 2008

Richard Morris is Director of Video & TV at Player X Ltd. He was formerly Senior Executive of Development and Production for New Line Cinema and Fine Line Features Europe. Richard was later appointed Executive Digital Consultant to the UK Film Council where he devised the largest Digital Distribution Programme in Europe and oversaw the world’s first online distribution of a feature film. In 2004 Richard headed up the new video division for Monstermob Group which was subsequently purchased by Zed. In 2005 Richard was taken on by Player X to set up a video and TV department. Player X now distributes video and mobile TV channels to over 47 operators worldwide. The company also won best video service provider ME Awards 2007. Richard is a member of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for the European Commission’s Media Pilots programme. He co-wrote the Motion Picture Digital Distribution Strategy for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) spearheading the UK’s digital film distribution initiative.

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MANUEL CRISTOBAL

21.09 2008

Advanced Directing Diploma at ARTTS International in UK, followed Law studies at the Complutense University in Madrid and Film studies in different private schools in Spain. Manuel has received grants from the Nipkow Programme in Berlin, the MPAA internship programme and the European Film Academy as a European talent 2000. In 2007 he was selected as one of 60 personalities of the Cannes Film Festival and in 2008 he was the Spanish ‘Producer On The Move’ chosen by European Film Promotion.

He was coordinator of the Media Business School, manager of AGAPI (Galician Producer Association) and producer of several short films shot on 35mm. From 1999 until 2005 he was the Executive Producer of Dygra Films which produced the CGI animation feature films The Living Forest (the first European CGI film) and Midsummer Dream. Manuel was responsible for development, financing, marketing, distribution, business affairs and was awarded two Goyas.

In January 2005 he joined Zinkia as Head of Development & Distribution working on the animation series Pocoyo (52×11) and Shuriken School (26×26).

In September 2006 he created the Galicia-based company Perro Verde Films which produced the animated feature Going Nuts (the first film in the world made with peanuts and the first day and date release in Spain), the features Spleen with Luis Tosar and Nora Tschirner, Los muertos van deprisa with Neus Asensi and the CGI feature film Missing Lynx, which was co-produced with Kandor Graphics and Antonio Banderas. Manuel is currently developing Fish of Bitterness based on the acclaimed novel by Fernando Aramburu and the animation series The Extras (13×26). Perro Verde Films is a partner in 6 Sales, a Madrid-based sales agency specialising in animation features, and owns the production companies Tigernut and Pevox based in Murcia and Madrid respectively.

Manuel also consults on new technologies and has worked for Uruguay, Xunta de Galicia and the Regional Government of Murcia. He is Vice President of New Technologies and is a Member of the Board of FAPAE (Federation of Spanish Audiovisual Producers), Secretary of the Board of Cartoons (European Association of Animation Producers), Vice President of AEPA (Spanish Association of Animation Producers), Member of the European Film Academy and the Spanish Film Academy, Founding Member of the Academia Galega do Audiovisual and has been a Masters lecturer in Audiovisual Management and Production at La Coruña University since 1999.

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18.09 2008

Project Forum Launch

Power to the Pixel’s Project Forum launched The Pixel Pitch, a ground-breaking new marketplace for cross-media stories – stories that can span film, tv, online, mobile, gaming – which takes place at Power to the Pixel’s 2009 London Film Festival event. The best new UK and international projects will be introduced to financiers, distributors, tech cos., press and promoters in a day of pitches in front of an open audience and one-to-one business meetings.

The launch saw four leading independent filmmakers present cutting-edge projects that gave a flavour of those to be selected at The Pixel Pitch.

Projects presented at the Launch:

BREATHE by YOMI AYENI (UK)
AS THE DUST SETTLES by ARIN CRUMLEY (US)
DARK FIBRE by JAMIE KING (UK)
HIM by LANCE WEILER (US)

These filmmakers are taking advantage of the growth of new tools, platforms, services and devices to develop new ways of telling stories. These projects extend the opportunities to reach and interact with wider audiences and to build new partnerships with financiers, promoters and distributors.

The current marketplace can no longer profitably service the vast majority of independent and specialist films. Consumers are interacting with media in new ways and with ever-changing devices and services.

The Pixel Pitch will be the first film market that finds new solutions for the future of storytelling, financing and distribution of independent films.

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CHRISTY DENA

15.09 2008

Christy Dena is a cross-media specialist who works as a narrative and game design consultant, educator and researcher. She has worked as an adviser, MC, presenter, judge and mentor for the Australian Literature Board’s Story of the Future initiative and mentored at the Laboratory of Advanced Media Production at the Australia Film, Television and Radio School ; Booranga Writers Centre and De Montfort University’s MA in Creative Writing and New Media.

She gave a keynote at the First International Conference on Cross-Media Interaction Design in Sweden and for the past few years she has been giving presentations on the design of cross-media projects to companies and organisations such as Nokia Finland; Australia Council for the Arts; Film Australia; Centre for Screen Business; Australian Film, Television and Radio School; Australian Broadcasting Corporation; ACT Filmmakers Network; Film and Television Institute; Brisbane Chapter of the International Game
Developers Association and the Web Standards Group. Christy MC’ed ‘Extended Entertainment Experiences’ for the Australian Film, Television & Radio School and ‘Writing the Story of the Future’ events across Australia for the Australian Literature Board. Panels include (remote participation) at DIYDays for the From Here to Awesome Discovery & Distribution Festival; ‘Cyber-Born Film’ panel at Destination Film Festival’;
‘Second Life & Beyond: Virtual Communities and Making Media in a Digital World’ at the Revelations Film Festival; ‘What Happened to New Media Art?’, Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment; ‘While
You Weren’t Watching’, Mitchell Communications DVD launch. Christy has taught digital games, pervasive games, alternate reality games, cross-media, hypertext fiction, blog fiction, bot fiction, mobile fiction design and theory to institutions in UK, The Netherlands and across Australia.

Christy is an active member of the International Game Developers Association Alternate Reality Game Special Interest Group (IGDA ARG SIG) and co-founded www.ARGology.org. She has created numerous miniARGs for the Australian Film, Television and Radio School and consulted on the narrative and game design of ARGs for clients such as Wieden + Kennedy; Pemberton Films and Tall Storez. Other consulting clients include
the Australian Literature Board, Killer Bald Men, dLux Media Arts and Instinct Entertainment on contemporary storytelling, mobile content, virtual world art, multi-platform art, marketing and distribution.

For years she wrote about new media writing at www.WriterResponseTheory.org and ran a popular blog about
cross-media at www.Cross-MediaEntertainment.com. Christy writes on multi-platform and new media arts for the Workbook Project and RealTime Arts.

She has judged new media arts competitions and grants on virtual worlds art, mobile phone art and contemporary storytelling for the Australia Council for the Arts and Australian Network for Art and Technology and was on the Board of dLux Media Arts.

In the early 1990’s Christy completed her degree in Visual and Performing Arts at Monash University, directed the first multi-media theatre production at Monash University and wrote and performed comedy at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival as across Australia for ‘Suspended’ and Wanton Women Productions. In the mid-1990s, Christy worked in Australia’s first fully digital production studio, producing websites and digital effects for TVCs and TV series (Uncle Toby’s; Omo; Billabong; Crown Casino; Tattslotto;
Video Ezy; Telstra; Goodyear; Reuters Indonesia; Mars; McCain; Myer; Kangaroo Palace; Ocean Girl); presented her own TV segment and acted in TVCs, TV shows and short films.

Christy has been interviewed numerous times on ABC Radio, TV and assorted newspapers and magazines. Oh, and in her spare time she is completing her PhD on the changes to entertainment and art in the multi-platform context at the School of Letters, Art and Media, University of Sydney. Her bio site is at www.ChristyDena.com and her design-oriented blog and podcast is at www.UniverseCreation101.com.

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FABIO LIMA

14.09 2008

Fabio Lima is considered an authority on media convergence issues, speaking at many academic seminars and international business forums, and serving as digital distribution professor at FGV´s executive course on cinema. Founder and creator of RAIN Network, Fabio held the post of Chief Operating Officer, where he led a team of 100 people in the digital technology revolution throughout Brazil and around the world. He oversees the company´s global expansion, business development and innovation efforts and established a digital theatre network of 200 art house screens in Brazil and 40 screens throughout the US. Prior to RAIN Network, Fabio served as a streaming video consultant for Microsoft Digital Media (Latin America), LabOne of Grupo Abril, pioneer of web video and music systems in Brazil, Terra and SportsJa. For five years he was an advertising copywriter, Owner and Creative Director of Simplle Quatro. He received his Bachelor´s Degree in Radio and TV from the Methodist University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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C CAY WESNIGK

14.09 2008

C. Cay Wesnigk studied visual communication at the University of Arts in Hamburg. In 1987 he founded C. Cay Wesnigk Filmproduktion. Since then he has written, directed and produced several feature films, commercials and documentaries. These have all been shown on television, some have also been distributed in cinemas and in the video home market. Most of Wesnigk’s films have been shown and some have received awards in festivals worldwide. You can find a list of his films and more information on his work as a filmmaker on his site.

In 1995/96 Wesnigk worked freelance with an advertising agency specialising in new media and the Internet. As creative director he was responsible for the development and production of internet and multimedia presentations. In 2000, together with 120 other producers, directors and authors he founded OnlineFILM AG as a public company to use digital technologies for the distribution of audiovisual content. He has worked as CEO of OnlineFILM since then. He is also Vice President of AG DOK, Germany’s largest community of independent producers (800 members) and is Chairman of the board of VG Bild-Kunst, a German collecting agency for creative Artists and Producers of films.

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TIFFANY SHLAIN

02.09 2008

Honoured by Newsweek as one of the “Women Shaping the 21st Century,” Tiffany Shlain is a filmmaker, founder of The Webby Awards and co-founder of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Her films have been selected at over 100 film festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, and Rotterdam, have won 20 awards including Audience and Grand Jury Prizes and translated into 8 languages. Tiffany’s films are a fusion of documentary and narrative and are known for their whimsical yet provocative approach unravelling complicated subjects like politics, cultural identity, technology and science. Her films include Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness about reproductive rights in America and The Tribe, an exploration of American Jewish identity through the history of the Barbie doll and the first documentary to become the Number One most downloaded short film on iTunes. As a director for both theatre and film, she has worked with Harrison Ford, Peter Coyote and Alan Cumming and was selected as an Artist-in-Residence at the Headland Centre for the Arts. Tiffany’s films and discussion programmes have been used in many diverse settings to spark dialogue about social issues. She has been singled out by The New York Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Sundance for her cutting-edge work using documentaries and internet distribution in unique ways to engage audiences.

A sought-after speaker known for her visual presentations, she lectures worldwide on filmmaking and the Internet’s influence on society. Invitations include MIT, Apple theatres in New York City and San Francisco, The Idea Festival, Fortune 500 companies and The Sydney Opera House.

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