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NEWS DUFRESNE CHANGES THE GAME “A LOT of people came for the game and stayed for the subject,” said David Dufresne, director of the multi-awardwinning interactive documentary game Fort McMoney, at the Transmedia And Storytelling In Documentary conference. Using real people and information sources, the game allows users to explore the environmental and social issues involved with the controversial practice of extracting oil from tar sands in a northern Canadian town. “A lot of people from all over the world came to debate and vote, and maybe if we did a classical movie they wouldn’t have done that,” Dufresne said. “It’s important to use the web to change storytelling.” Fort McMoney was developed with funding from ARTE France and Canada’s National Film Board (NFB). It was the NFB’s first public-private and first international partnership in the interactive space, said Monique Simard, now of Canada’s Societe de developpement des entreprises culturelles, who oversaw the project for the NFB. “Tackling this issue from a digital perspective was exciting for me. Of course there was a risk there, as a public body,” she said. “When you see the project you will see how balanced it is.” When pressed on the business model, the participants said the game was not generating revenue; however, a traditional documentary of the game’s story was now being made.
Fort McMoney director David Dufresne
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Mexico honoured in Cannes as media exports see growth
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N PREPARATION for Mexico’s stint as the Country Of Honour at MIPCOM in October, ProMexico, the trade and investment arm of the Mexican Ministry of the Economy, hosted the opening night party for MIPDoc on Saturday night. The event featured a 10-piece mariachi band and a welcome speech by Alejandro Delgado, ProMexico’s chief of the grants division and institutional relations. “Mexico’s turn as the Country Of Honour will see Cannes dressed as a Mexican town, but on a professional level we hope to build awareness among Mexican producers about the importance of attending events such as MIPCOM,” Delgado said. Pointing to the fact that the number of Mexican companies attending MIPTV had risen dramatically since last year, Delgado said the country was “already making progress in this area”. “At MIPTV 2013 there were 11 Mexican companies, and this year that figure has tripled, with 29 companies on the Mexican
pavilion, plus several of the larger companies with their own stands. And currently we estimate that there will be around 50 companies at MIPCOM,” Delgado added. Another priority, said Delgado, was to make the international TV community aware of the depth, quality and richness of Mexican programming, storytelling and creativity. “We are strong across every genre, from documentaries and drama to animation, through to post-production, plus we have sound stages and production facilities that are the equal of anything in Los Angeles and Canada. But most importantly we have the right products for any and every market around the world,” he added. Mexico currently produces 100,000 hours of television programming per year, which has been sold to 100 countries and translated into 30 languages. The result is that the country’s media industry exports, which are growing at 8.3% per year, account for 3% of country’s total GDP.
ProMexico’s Alejandro Delgado speaking at the MIPDoc opening night party
Standing out from the VOD crowd “I’M PROUD to say we’re the number-one seller of lesbian dramas,” said Andy Green, COO of crowdfunding video-on-demand platform Distrify, at the Crowdfunding Meets Distribution conference. “Even one or two years ago iTunes didn’t have a lesbian and gay category, whereas there’s a huge industry completely under represented in the traditional world,” said Green, whose message to documentary-makers was clear – find a niche audience that’s underserved by traditional platforms and you’ll prosper. Pointing out the importance of quality product, Green added: “Generally speaking, the big sellers on Distrify are films that would be worthy of a broadcast
Andy Green, Distrify
sale. We can’t simply replace 100 years of industry skills and experience with technology.” Nic Wistreich of the UK’s Netri-
bution urged producers to use the highly detailed data that VOD crowdfunding provides. Speaking in the session VOD For Success: How To Make The Right Deals, he said: “It’s less about the money, more about demonstrating you can communicate with an audience.” Greg Moyer’s new company, Blue Chalk Media, produces highquality VOD for editorial and branded-content clients, including the New York Times and The Weather Channel. He believes the current lack of documentary on the big VOD platforms won’t last. “There will be successful documentaries that no longer find space on networks that will find it on VOD,” he said. “And they will be agenda-setting.”