Author Archives: Michael Korican

About Michael Korican

A long-time media artist, Michael’s filmmaking stretches back to 1978. Michael graduated from York University film school with Special Honours, winning the Famous Players Scholarship in his final year. The Rolling Stone Book of Rock Video called Michael's first feature 'Recorded: Live!' "the first film about rock video". Michael served on the board of L.I.F.T. when he lived in Toronto during the eighties and managed the Bloor Cinema for Tom and Jerry. He has been prolific over his past eight years in Victoria, having made over thirty-five shorts, won numerous awards, produced two works for BravoFACT! and received development funding for 'Begbie’s Ghost' through the CIFVF and BC Film.

Festivals for Web Series

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Once upon a time, one way to attract attention to your independent film was to exhibit it on the festival circuit.

The idea was that appreciative audiences would prove your film’s worth to distributors who would then pay you to buy your film.

Fast forward to today. There are thousands of films being made each year. Sundance receives over 12,000 submissions and can show only 185.

Okay. So let’s make a web series instead.

We still face the same problems: how to attract an audience and how to get paid.

Enter festivals exclusively for web series.

The excellent CMF Trends has just published a listing of 45 festivals for web series.

“Given the perpetually increasing offer of quality productions, ‘discoverability’ remains one of the main challenges that webseries creators face. What can creators do to make sure their projects stand out from the competition? Among the options that are available to them, they may enter their work in national and international competitions.”

This list includes:

  • 12 in Canada
  • 14 in the United States
  • 13 in Europe
  • 3 in Asia and Oceania
  • 3 in Latin America

The big winner seems to be Montreal with six!

My take: how do you show a web series at a festival? Binge watch all ten webisodes?

See 1984 on Tuesday, because it’s 4/4/2017

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The United States of Cinema is coordinating a mass screening of George Orwell’s 1984 in almost 200 art cinemas in five countries on Tuesday, April 4, 2017.

“Orwell’s portrait of a government that manufactures their own facts, demands total obedience, and demonizes foreign enemies, has never been timelier. The endeavor encourages theaters to take a stand for our most basic values: freedom of speech, respect for our fellow human beings, and the simple truth that there are no such things as ‘alternative facts.’ By doing what they do best – showing a movie – the goal is that cinemas can initiate a much-needed community conversation at a time when the existence of facts, and basic human rights are under attack. Through nationwide participation and strength in numbers, these screenings are intended to galvanize people at the crossroads of cinema and community, and bring us together to foster communication and resistance against current efforts to undermine the most basic tenets of our society.”

The date is significant because April 4 is the day Winston Smith, played by John Hurt, decides to begin his illegal diary.

The five Canadian venues are:

My take: I admire using film to spark thought and conversation. ‘1984‘ is not going away anytime soon. It’s back on best-seller lists. And it’s coming to Broadway in June. Orwell’s 1949 book is more timely than ever and getting the multi-media treatment.

Webseries format matures

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Alexandre Pierrin writes in CMF Trends that “Webseries Emerge From the Shadows“.

He points to more web platforms betting on webseries and pouring serious money into their production.

The motivation seems to be capturing mobile viewers with time to kill.

“Millennials are without a doubt the largest consumers of web-based videos. They represent a prime target for television channels seeking to rejuvenate their audiences as well as for major corporations in search of new customers. The Media Technology Monitor estimates that, during the fall of 2016, 80% of Canadians aged 15 to 34 used their smartphone to watch online videos. It’s actually smartphones, and not PCs or tablets, that represent the most commonly used devices by these young adults to view videos on the web.”

One takeaway is that “the 10 x 10-minute format already seems to have become the norm”.

Here’s a list of 2016’s best webseries. Glad to see Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee on it.

My take: certainly, making a series of 10-minute shorts on a shoestring and uploading them to Youtube requires a good idea and a lot of gumption to get it all done. Harder still is attracting an audience to watch. That’s why I’m slightly sceptical about webseries. (For instance, I saw The Guild on Netflix.) But if you do make it online, be wary of bad deals on TV. By the way, my son was making his webseries, Fast Forward Cooking, five years ago.

Nostalgic sound used as performance enhancer

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Ian Burrell, writing in The Independent, reports that The Times’ newsroom is set to ring with the sounds of typewriters once more.

“To the surprise of Times journalists, a tall speaker on a stand has been erected in the newsroom to pump out typewriter sounds, to increase energy levels and help reporters to hit deadlines. The audio begins with the gentle patter of a single typewriter and slowly builds to a crescendo, with the keys of ranks of machines hammering down as the paper’s print edition is due to go to press.”

He also references Hanx Writer, an iOS app that turns your iPhone or iPad into a metaphysical typewriter, complete with sounds.

My take: Really? I will admit to liking the analogue machines I once used but that was only until the keys jammed or — oops — a typo! And then you had to find an envelope and — gasp — a postage stamp. Sometimes digital is better. But creating a soundscape of typewriters to prompt journalists to work faster seems highly manipulative.

Netflix lunch boxes coming soon

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Bloomberg Technology recently published Netflix Plans New Toys, Merchandise Based on Hit TV Shows, by Lucas Shaw.

The article links to a Netflix job posting that seeks “someone to take on the responsibility of creating an end-to-end strategy and executional plan for merchandising and promotion of the Netflix brand and/or content.”

The emphasis seems to be squarely on promotion rather than profit:

“We are pursuing consumer products and associated promotion because we believe it will drive meaningful show awareness/buzz with more tangible, curated ways to interact with our most popular content. We want licensed merchandise to help promote our titles so they become part of the zeitgeist for longer periods of time. Last but not least, merchandising and promotion will be used as a marketing tactic to capture member demand and delight our member community.”

Netflix has already beta-tested merchandising with it’s hit show Stranger Things. You can buy 46 Stranger Things items, from Hawkins High School iron-on patches to jewellery to t-shirts.

Shaw concludes with a nice quote from Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos:

“We don’t want to make any shows to sell toys. What’s really important is there’s a marketing component that comes with toys. Kids carrying the backpack sells the show.”

My take: back in the day, this was called merchandising. It’s still that but the goal is now becoming more about marketing. The next level, of course, is transmedia, in which the story continues on in the real world, in this case, via stuff. Think comics and board games, for instance. Secret decoder rings?

Seed and Spark wants Canadian features, series

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Seed&Spark, the indie crowdfunding and streaming platform, believes independent films require the seed of an idea and the sparks of human and capital investments to bring them to life. Based in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, they’ve recently turned their gaze north, to Canada.

Caitlin Gold, Acquisitions & Programming, explains:

“I’m most interested in acquiring features and series with at least one season completed. ALL filmmakers are welcome on our platform as long as they can demonstrate how their project is inclusive, and representative of the diverse world we live in. We are particularly interested in working with female filmmakers, people of colour, minorities, the LGBTQ community, etc. ALL stories matter. Later this year, filmmakers in Canada will be able to crowdfund with us as well.”

I asked Emily Best, Seed&Spark Founder and CEO, how their expanded focus on Canada came about. She replies:

“The credit belongs to ‘Storypreneur’ Annelise Larson. I met her a few years ago at the Vancouver International Film Festival where we were both tasked with guiding filmmakers to good distribution outcomes and we discovered we share a brain about building audiences. She is working on helping me open Seed&Spark’s crowdfunding platform to Canadian filmmakers and in the meantime, we’re programming a channel of Canadian films together.”

I followed up with Annelise Larson for the full scoop:

“When I first heard of Seed&Spark I was a fan of the concept, a crowdfunding platform for filmmakers by filmmakers. In my work as a digital strategist and teacher for media storytellers I instantly recognized the potential, but was disappointed it was only available in the U.S. Emily and I had an online acquaintance for a couple of years and then met in person at VIFF in the fall of 2015 when we sat on a panel about digital marketing and distribution. We realized pretty quickly we were brain twins, finishing each other’s sentences and nodding in vigorous agreement when the other was speaking. Early last year when Seed&Spark launched their streaming platform to compliment their crowdfunding platform, I knew this was something Canada needed more than ever. Emily and I both share a passion for supporting filmmakers and independent, diverse voices. We believe in the digital opportunity to help them have sustainable creative careers and want to support that whenever we can. Seed&Spark is such a fantastic, empowering model, and recently supercharged this by incorporating a dashboard interface that gives its filmmakers access to audience data that is a little mind blowing. Canadian filmmakers and storytellers need Seed&Spark. We thought a great way to begin would be to get Canadian content for the streaming platform in time for National Canadian Film Day on April 19, 2017. This day promises to be the biggest film festival in the world ever with hundreds of screenings across the country as well as online. Seed&Spark hopes to be part of that story, supporting Canada in its celebration of its 150th birthday. I hope it is just the beginning of the Canadian Seed&Spark story.”

My take: If I had a Canadian feature or web series, I’d jump all over this. It promises to be a great introduction to the Seed&Spark community, with the potential to become a funding source in the future. This is some of the best news to come out of America lately.

Report signals big changes coming to culture in Canada

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The Department of Canadian Heritage has just released a report titled ‘What We Heard Across Canada: Canadian Culture in a Digital World’.

The 52-page PDF organizes the feedback into eight themes:

  1. Showcasing Canada’s cultural sector
  2. Reasserting the role of Canadian creators in the digital age
  3. Defining Canadian cultural content and Canadian cultural creators
  4. Adapting current funding models to a constantly changing cultural landscape
  5. Finding new sources of public funding is required, but where should these funds come from?
  6. Modernizing Canada’s legislative framework and national cultural institutions
  7. Clarifying the role of Canada’s public broadcaster
  8. Collaborating to take up the challenges ahead

According to the media release:

“Minister Joly and the Department of Canadian Heritage will continue to work together with the goal of launching Canada’s new policy toolkit for creative industries in 2017. This will mark Canada’s new direction as the country kicks off its next 150 years.”

My take: changes are coming! Maybe before July 1, 2017. With a huge portfolio and ramifications for many companies and jobs, Minister Joly must realize that change is often difficult. Will we see new programs added to the status quo, or wholesale change?

CMF Trends 2017: the Content Value Chain

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The Canada Media Fund‘s CMF Trends has published its latest Trend Report: The Digital Puzzle: Piecing Back Together the Content Value Chain.

This 21 page PDF is packed with up-to-date statistics and asks germane questions such as:

“How has the new audiovisual value chain been reconfigured?
Which players are best positioned to make the most of it?
In an era of overabundance, what types of content stand out?”

One of the telling charts is Advertising Spending which shows that internet advertising is up 500% in the last 10 years versus TV advertising which remains flat — and that internet advertising surpassed TV advertising in 2013. Moreover, Google and Facebook are expected to command 73% of each additional digital ad dollar over the next three years.

Other strong trends:

  • An online environment dominated by a handful of platforms controlled by big players seems to have evolved, resulting in what some call a ‘discovery oligopoly’ that controls each stage of the consumer journey: access, discovery and consumption.
  • At the global level, consumer demand has crystallized around three categories of content: drama series, youth programming, and live content.
  • Diversity is a winning business model. Focusing on cultural diversity and gender equality means reaching a wider audience, promoting the development of technologies for all, and, ultimately, generating greater profits.
  • Silicon Valley and Hollywood are no longer the only ones
    calling the shots. New hubs are emerging elsewhere, especially in the Asia-Pacific region (APAC), and China, in particular, which has become an increasingly important player in technological development, investment, and coproduction.

Two interesting quotes:

“As viewers gain more control of their programming grids, the owners of non-essential and non-live content are at significant [risk]. Either you are live and large… or dead. — MoffattNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson, 2016″

“But one thing is certain: content will be at the center of where the industry goes from here. And those who own and control the content will help steer the direction. — The Boston Consulting Group, The Value of Content, 2016″

My take: definitley worth the read. In many ways, this is the mediascape I began wondering about a dozen years ago. Currently, my media consumptions looks like this, in no particular order: live TV news and events, live TV sports, a handful of ‘real time’ TV series on the East Coast feed (so three hours earlier on the West Coast), a Chromecast TV app for The Daily Show, iTunes Internet Radio, Netflix for movies, foreign TV series and Chelsea, Crackle for Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Twitter, Flipboard, and Periscope apps, plus Paper.li, On Screen Manitoba News and other web sites for type content, quite often via Google. Oh, and The Weather Network! How about you?

Tripod innovator Manfrotto dies

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Lino Manfrotto, inventor of the eponymous line of photo video gear, has died at age 80.

Lino Manfrotto (right) and his business partner Gilberto Battocchio (left) in 1976. Photo via Manfrotto US.

PetaPixel describes his journey:

“Manfrotto started his career in photography as a photojournalist for a couple of local newspapers in his hometown. In the late 1960s, Manfrotto began designing his own stands, booms, and telescopic rods in his garage. After partnering with mechanical engineer Gilberto Battocchio, Manfrotto launched his first tripod in 1974.”

My take: I did not know that Manfrotto was a person! Thank you, Lino, for channeling your frustration with poor equipment into wonderful, quality gear for all of us. I stand for you!

Gender Parity Coming to Canada Soon!

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The Canadian Media Producers Association recently released a study of gender inequality in Canada’s media industries titled “Women & Leadership: A Study of Gender Parity and Diversity in Canada’s Screen Industries”.

The 62-page report spans the globe and is number-heavy. It concludes with a call for a six-pronged approach to gender parity:

  1. Disclosure & Research
  2. Financial Incentives
  3. Conscious Inclusion Initiatives
  4. Skills Training
  5. Confront the Portrayal Issue
  6. Diversity within Gender

Specifically, in terms of financial incentives:

“Many of the senior women interviewed pointed to levering ‘financial purse strings’ as the only effective and immediate means to change. The two leading suggestions identified are: 1. introduction of 50/50 allocation in all public funds as between female-led and male-led projects; 2. introduction of incentives for both producers and broadcasters such as top-up funding or a bonus tax credit for female-led projects.”

Proving it can be done in Canada, the report releases figures on BravoFACT‘s move to gender parity in 2015:

“Most importantly, the results of this initiative clearly demonstrate how setting firm targets can have an immediate impact on social change. In this instance, one year after setting parity as a firm goal, the percentage of female producers and directors of projects funded rose to 59% and 49% respectively.”

My take: this can’t happen soon enough for me. Maybe we can solve the wage gap at the same time.