Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: Mandela, in reply to Lilith __,
It’d be sad if the Mandela memorial thread turned into a dirty catfight.
Indeed. SE my entreaty as the end of the original post.
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Hard News: Mandela, in reply to Kracklite,
I deeply and sincerely respect the nature of PA (and people with whom I’ve had deep disagreements such as your self and Craig – indeed, I respect you all the more because of your honesty), but I despise attempts to pervert it as that professional liar has done. I won’t be so nasty with anyone else, but Uriah Hoot is not to be trusted, ever.
Can I ask that you let it go now? It's a lovely day, it's nearly Christmas and I don't really want to be monitoring discussions.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Punk rock and…, in reply to Geoff Lealand,
Sure is. Any chance of removing it?
Removing it FROM YOUR HEAD now that you've heard it, you mean?
Not a chance. BWAHAHAHAHA.
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I'm actually really excited about working to improve my language skills and get comfortable in the korero. It's a challenge in the best sense of the word.
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This just in:
Innovative new projects to excite and engage online audiences
13 December 2013
Fresh support from NZ On Air’s Digital Media Fund will bring six innovative projects to online audiences.
The latest funding round saw 61 applications to the Kickstart fund for transmedia projects and 54 applications for webseries. The applications were seeking a total investment of more than $20 million.
“The applications for the Digital Media Fund, the only such fund in New Zealand, just keep getting better. This is clearly an area of growing demand, and where local content creators are thinking outside the square. We love the collaborations and innovations we are seeing in these digital projects,” said NZ On Air Chief Executive Jane Wrightson.
Among the projects funded this round is Sign Ninja, a web-based interactive game for children to access and learn New Zealand sign language, which will receive $122,000.
“We congratulate Deaf Aotearoa on coming up with this excellent idea to help children learn sign in a fun way. The project demonstrates the new possibilities the digital world opens up,” said Ms Wrightson.
The second Kickstart project is Road Trip, an interactive docu-drama based on a road trip throughout New Zealand which will uncover New Zealand stories as suggested by audiences. Road Trip will receive $300,000.
Four webseries will receive up to $100,000 each. Yeti is a comedy based on an outrageous, popular stage play. High Road 2 is a comedy about a burnt out rockstar DJ-ing a radio station in a caravan at Piha, which has already found a strong online following with its first series.
Flat 3 will bring audiences a new series of this popular comedy, which follows the daily lives of three young Kiwi-Chinese women flatmates in Auckland. Outward Bound is a comedy webseries based on the renowned outdoor experience at Anakiwa.
Funding detailsRoad Trip – interactive docu-drama, KHF Media, $300,000
Sign Ninja – web-based interactive game, Deaf Aotearoa, $122,000
Yeti -comedy webseries, Semi-Professional, $100,000
Flat3 Series 3 -comedy webseries, Flat3 Productions, $100,000
High Road Series 2 – comedy webseries, Tomorrowland, $100,000
Outward Bound – comedy webseries, Longline Productions, $100,000I see Ant Timpson has made some good points on Facebook about joining the dots – webseries don’t just get audiences by right. They need marketing.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Punk rock and…, in reply to bob daktari,
the latest Nicolas Jaar mix is dominating my attention right now – once again he creates a soundscape of found, borrowed and pre-recorded sounds that pay homage/tribute to John Lennon… its fab
Wow.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Punk rock and…, in reply to bob daktari,
and for the festive, the techno dads christmas mix:
I love Techno Dads.
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Speaker: Levelling the Playing Field, in reply to Campbell Walker,
This is important. My experience is that New Zealand's cinema culture is very thin and very conservative, compared to, say, our music community. Our greatest strength is in technical ingenuity, but as a culture we lack the slightest sophistication around different possibilities of how films can be made.
Made and shown. I chaired a discussion at the Big Screen Symposium earlier this year under the title 'Who Gives a Damn About New Zealand Film' and that was quite enlightening for me. It's not enough to just try and get local films a cinematic release, because that sometimes just results in the trauma of the miserable cinematic failure of films that haven't had a chance to create a buzz, or which were basically never going to work in a multiplex environment.
Are there other ways to engage people, other screens, other forms of film or video that work better in the current environment? How do you get people excited about New Zealand film in the way that they are New Zealand music? How can you present the heritage of New Zealand film? Could you fill a venue for a night to watch Sleeping Dogs, or The Quiet Earth? Could you make it a party for people?
Your comparison with music is well-made. And one thing that's happened with the changes in that sector is that form has changed along with format.Singles are important again. Albums that used to tediously fill a 70-minute CD have come back to the more natural-seeming length of a vinyl record. New revenue streams are emerging.
Also, it seems clear to me that the success of Mount Zion was partly related to its use of music, which brought in an audience that might not otherwise venture to a small, local film.
On the other hand, you have Roseanne Liang, two feature films under her belt, currently having the time of her life making Flat 3 in five-minute chunks. I dunno, are there potential solutions emerging in other territories?
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Speaker: Levelling the Playing Field, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
I guess if a programme gets 0.5% of the US audience, it will bring in similar money to one that gets 50% of the NZ audience. So HBO can afford to fund things that are a lot more niche than TVNZ can?
HBO is in a different position in that it's a pay channel -- it's niche by design. I gather they took on the Conchords as part of a strategy to bring in younger viewers/subscribers, and Brett and Jemaine delivered handsomely. Although most Americans never saw the show, things like 'Business Time' spread into popular culture.
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John Barnett, writing in the Herald, lists the benefits of attracting offshore screen production but proposes a key change to the LBSPG scheme:
But the Government could take a leaf out of the Australian/German/Canadian incentive schemes, where a portion of the incentive is only available to an actual locally domiciled producer.
This creates local IP, and it also pushes local producers into the front line and turns them into sales people for New Zealand, not as price takers, but with a real tool in their kitbags.
That producer comes to the negotiating table with the strength of being the conduit through which the rebate funding flows.
This is a very strong hand and it means IP remains in New Zealand with that New Zealand domiciled producer. Once upon a time it may have been folly to suggest this, but given the reputation of our leading producers' the ability to bring money (the Rebate) in exchange for a piece of the profit, is not unrealistic.