20.07.2021 | Explorer Konferenz + Explorer Impuls 2021
How digitalisation is turning everything upside down, how it is shaking up the production industry and changing film funding; what role streaming services and TV stations are taking on and how public broadcasters are reinventing themselves in the transformation process: the second Explorer Konferenz will deal with these topics as well as questions of innovative technology and diversity. The second edition will take place as part of the Filmfest Hamburg on 8 October. The Explorer Impuls on 7 September will provide an initial outlook.
After a successful start in 2019 and a break in 2020 due to coronavirus, the second Explorer Konferenz, a joint event organised by the producers' association, MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and Filmfest Hamburg, will welcome numerous guests from the German and European production industry to the Hanseatic city - live in the Cinemaxx cinema at Dammtor and virtually via stream. The agenda of the approximately half-day programme includes topics such as diversification as a business strategy, virtual and lean production, EU regulatory projects as well as producing for streaming services and the extent to which public broadcasters are also realigning themselves in the course of the transformation.
"In terms of content, we are once again focusing on all matters relating to producing, producing for streaming, cinema and TV, thus continuing the first Explorer Konferenz. In terms of structure, however, we are also building on what we introduced two years ago," explains Erwin M. Schmidt, organiser and CEO of the producers' association: "We will not indulge in large panel events, but offer many short, crisp slots with subjective, personal perspectives and voices, which together create a multi-layered panopticon. We believe that this format best reflects the dynamic upheaval in the production market. It has become clear over the last two years that the transformation processes have accelerated enormously due to coronavirus: "We can now recognise changes that may not have been so evident at the first Explorer Konferenz in 2019. It was already clear that streaming platforms were creating considerable momentum in the market, but it has only recently become increasingly apparent that traditional TV broadcasters (both public and private broadcasters) are actively shaping the digital transformation of the industry."
In contrast to the cinema market, which has tended to stagnate in importance for some years now, the TV market is experiencing enormous growth. "Basically, it is becoming increasingly clear that online marketing is already the first preference for public broadcasters and that media libraries play an important role well before and well after broadcasting." With regard to the producers' revenue share in this further distribution of content by the broadcasters, it is now important that independent Executive Producers proactively help to shape this change and not just adapt to the framework conditions that are determined and set by others.
Speakers already announced are: Maja Cappello (EU Audiovisual Observatory, Strasbourg), Alexandra Lebret (European Producers Club, Paris), Christoph Fey (Copyright Lawyer, Berlin), Stephen Robert Morse (Executive Producer, London), Tomas Eskilson (Film i Väst, Trollhättan), Raymond van der Kaaij (Producer, Revolver, Amsterdam), Malika Rabahallah (MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein), Marlene Slot (Executive Producer, Viking Film, Amsterdam), Andrea Giannone (Filmarket Hub, Barcelona), Maximilian Leo (augenschein Filmproduktion, Cologne) and many more.
The production industry must come to terms with the process and consequences of digitalisation. This requires a willingness to learn, to be open and to see change as an opportunity. "'Lean' plays a role as a philosophy of product development, especially in the software industry, where new products are designed in a permanent iteration process and on the basis of user feedback. Before such new software developments are launched on the market, they are tested with users and the needs and ideas of the users are incorporated into this process," explains Schmidt. "At the conference, we will be looking at the extent to which these approaches can also be utilised for the media industry." Another focus will be on the topic of diversity. Diverse ecosystems in nature are more resilient than systems that lack diversity. "The more different players there are, the more resilient the system is." Schmidt also sees an analogy for the media industry in these laws of nature. Here, too, a diversity of players serves to strengthen the common market. The more diverse the offering, the better the audience feels served. On the other hand, a reduction in the industry to just a limited number of production companies would result in a narrowing of the range of films on offer and would therefore not be able to meet the needs of the film audience.
Certainly also accelerated by coronavirus, the technical innovation of virtual production is gaining momentum in Germany, as it has already been used on a large scale in Hollywood, for example in the Star Wars series "The Mandalorian". Virtual production opens up an interface between game technologies and feature film production, allowing elaborate outdoor sets to be created as virtual backgrounds on LED screens in studio conditions, for example. "We are observing this trend very closely; it is part of the profound digital upheaval, virtual production brings a number of advantages, not least an ecological one, as studio shoots can reduce the amount of travelling. Above all, however, completely different stories can be told, the realisation of which would not be possible without virtual production in the medium and small budget sizes," explains Schmidt.
"The Explorer Impuls is an online offshoot of the conference, in the one-hour format we look at a case study in depth and in a lively exchange with the participants, it's like a conversation between interested parties". On 7 September (11:00 - 12:00), the Impulse series will continue with the Dutch production "The Occupant", Executive Producer Raymond van der Kaaij and Director Hugo Keijzer will give an insight into the production of their sci-fi thriller, for which they received the Epic Mega Grant from Epic Games.
Participation in Explorer Impuls is free of charge; registration atwww.explorer-konferenz.de/impuls
On the occasion of the Explorer Impuls, tickets for the conference can be purchased at the reduced "Special Bird" rate (-50%) on 10 August and 7 September (only on these 2 days!). www.explorer-konferenz.de/2021
