Futures of Entertainment C3 CMS MIT
Program
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All events take place in the Bartos Theater in the MIT Media Lab (building E15).

Friday, Nov. 17

9.00-9.30am Opening Remarks Henry Jenkins Video
Audio
9.30-12.00pm Television Futures Andy Hunter, Mark Warshaw, Josh Bernoff, Betsy Morgan Audio
12.00-1.30pm Lunch    
1.30-4.00pm User-Generated Content Caterina Fake, Ji Lee, Rob Tercek, Kevin Barrett Video
Audio
4.00-4.30pm Break    
4.30-7.30pm Transmedia Properties Paul Levitz, Michael Lebowitz, Alex Chisholm Video
Audio

Saturday, Nov. 18

9.00-9.30am Intro and Welcome Joshua Green Video
Audio
9.30-12.00pm Fan Cultures Diane Nelson, danah boyd, Molly Chase Video
Audio
12.00-1.30pm Lunch    
1.30-4.00pm Not the Real World Anymore John Lester, Ron Meiners, Todd Cunningham Video
Audio

Television Futures

Panelists: Andy Hunter, Mark Warshaw, Josh Bernoff, Betsy Morgan

New distribution methods, new revenue strategies and changing modes of audience engagement are transforming how television works. Off- and post-broadcast markets make 'old' television valuable as a continuing source of income and suggest new ways to reach viewers. Digital video recorders threaten the 30-second commercial but offer the possibility of more detailed information about audience members. Some television producers may reach out to consumers directly rather than going through the networks and networks are using online distribution to generate buzz about new shows before they reach the air. Creative responses to these challenges are re-writing how we understand what was once just the box in the corner.

User-Generated Content

Panelists: Caterina Fake, Ji Lee, Rob Tercek, Kevin Barrett

Media culture is becoming more participatory, rewriting the relations between media producers and consumers. New tools and distribution platforms, a changing cultural ethos, and innovative corporate approaches to user-generated content are turning viewers into active participants. Innovation may occur at the grassroots level yet influence decisions made within corporate media. Yet, are media companies ready for the grassroots creativity they are unleashing? What challenges does greater user-participation pose to both producers and audiences? What corporate policies enable or retard the growth of user-generated content?

Transmedia Properties

Panelists: Paul Levitz, Michael Lebowitz, Alex Chisholm

The cultural logic of convergence lends itself to a flow of narratives, characters, and worlds across media platforms. Moving beyond older models based on liscensed ancillary products, transmedia extensions are now seen as expanding the opportunities for storytelling, enabling new kinds of entertainment experiences, building up secondary characters or backstory. Transmedia extension may also create alternative openings for different market segments and enable more extensive contact with brands. The great potential of transmediation is to deepen audience engagement, but this requires greater awareness of the specific benefits of working within different platforms. How are media companies organizing the development of transmedia properties? How are storytellers taking advantage of the "expanded canvas" such an approach offers? How do transmedia strategies impact the new integration between brands and entertainment properties? What new expectations do transmedia properties place on consumers?

Fan Cultures

Panelists: Diane Nelson, danah boyd, Molly Chase

Once seen as marginal or niche consumers, Fan communities look more 'mainstream' than ever before. Some have argued that the practices of web 2.0 are really those of fan culture without the stigma. Courted, encouraged, engaged and acknowledged, fans are more and more frequently being recognized as trendsetters, viral marketers, and grassroots intermediaries. Fan affinity is being seized as a form of grassroots marketing, representing the bleeding edge of brand and property commitment. The sophistication of fan-created products rivals the professional products they honor, sometimes keeping defunct properties alive long after their shelf life might otherwise have expired. How is the increasing importance of fan behavior re-writing the media landscape? What kinds of accountability should media companies have to their most committed consumers? What kinds of value do fans create through their activities? What are the sources of tension that still exist between media producers, advertisers, and fans?

Not the Real World Anymore

Panelists: John Lester, Ron Meiners, Todd Cunningham

Virtual spaces are more than sites for emulating the real world. They are becoming platforms for thought experiments -- some of which involve fantasies we would not like to enact in the real world, others involve possibilities that we may want to test market before putting into practice. Much more than simulacra of Real Life or a 3D version of text-based Internet communities, online worlds represent new sites for considering questions of community and connectivity. Marked by user- creativity, online worlds balance, sometimes precariously, the rights of users with the rights of sponsoring organizations. As we move closer to the cyberpunk vision of a wholly parallel 'metaverse', questions of power, community, and property are coming to the fore.

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