May’s Global Media and Entertainment Industry Networking Events

China Theater and Cinema

China Theater and Cinema is a three day convention in Guangzhou.

The convention is being organized by Guangzhou Grandeur (Hongwei) Exhibition Services Co., Ltd. China Theater and Cinema will showcase products and services related to media and entertainment industries from exhibitors through May 11. Cinema venues have reportedly been increasing in recent years in China. With regard to the number of theater buildings, the number of new cinemas is increasing year by year. Up to the end of 2010, there have been 313 new theaters in total, while the new screens increased to 1533 at an average rate of 4.2 daily.

The Chinese film box office reached 17.073 billion in 2012, becoming the world’s second-largest movie market. In particular, the convention will focus on: cinema projection equipment, theater and cinema furniture and decoration materials, cinema services, theater and cinema lighting and sound, film production and shooting equipment. The Digital Cinema Society, a nonprofit educational cooperative dedicated to the industry’s informed integration of new technology, and Film India Directory which produces publications of the Indian Film Industry, are active partners and supporters taking part in China Theater and Cinema. Guangzhou’s China Import and Export Fair Pazhou Complex is regarded as a large modernized exhibition center in Asia with exhibition halls covering around 16.000 m2 of exhibition space.

Avengers
Marvel Studios’ latest Avengers entry, Age of Ultron, opened at the top of the North American box office displacing Universal’s Furious 7.

Streaming Media

Streaming Media is a bi-annual (and bi-coastal) conference and expo series dedicated entirely to the business, technology and content of online video. At this New York City expo (Los Angeles will be October 2015), attendees can learn from online video experts, try out new products on the expo floor, learn new skills and network with peers. Items on the agenda will include: over 100 speakers in more than 40 sessions including in-depth workshops, how-to technical sessions, case studies, panel discussions; access to companies demonstrating emerging technologies; networking with online video professionals, new media experts and colleagues. A keynote address delivered by Scott Olechowski, Co-Founder, Chief Product Officer, Plex, will look at the opportunities and challenges associated with the unbundling of content and how Plex fits in as a component for connecting the media center of the future.

The goal for Streaming Media East is to get its attendees to learn how to better use streaming media for innovative business solutions. The exhibit hall features established companies as well as streaming media startups, all offering practical advice that will help attendees to put streaming to work in their own businesses in the areas of marketing, advertising-promotion, corporate communications, education and elearning, and customer relationship management. In conference sessions running May 12-13 there are expected to be over 100 speakers in more than 35 sessions including in-depth workshops, how-to technical sessions, case studies, panel discussions, and more.

Content Delivery Summit

The Content Delivery Summit is a co-located conference to Streaming Media this year. The Content Delivery Summit is a one-day conference, developed and chaired by Dan Rayburn, that brings together carriers, telcos, ISPs, and premium content owners for a detailed look at the technology and platforms being used to deliver and accelerate web content. The Summit includes case studies on real-world deployments, demos of new technology platforms, and discussions on business models for both on-net and off-net delivery. It is tilted toward those who are designing, building and deploying CDN platforms used for delivering nearly all of the content consumed on the Internet today.

Of particular interest at Streaming Media East, a May 12 Keynote: “Twitter: The Home of What’s Happening #NOW in Streaming Media,” identifies a tweets source – from brands, consumers, media or a celebrity – and the implications to search and discover it by everyone, everywhere on Twitter. The session will further look at trends for tweeting along with favorite TV program as an integral activity to the television consumption experience which has now been enhanced by multiple video formats that are available. Marc Heedt, Twitter’s Head of Social TV Strategy, will share some of these latest trends on Twitter. From short-form video, instant replays and trending must-see TV clips, to live broadcasting with Periscope, Twitter’s role #NOW in social streaming media will be fully explored.

Music Biz

Music Business Association (Music Biz) marks its first annual event in Music City USA – Nashville – though it says it can tap into the decades of experience it’s acquired for shaping this Music Biz convention into a forum that bridges the music community through all facets of the business. Music Biz acknowledges the considerable challenges of the music industry and has formed a conference agenda to clarify the new opportunities songwriters and publishers can access in the digital era. Music Biz 2015 is planning for a Songwriters and Publishers Town Hall to be a forum for meaningful conversations that will illuminate helpful insights about monetization strategies for online video, give updates on copyright legislation, showcased companies that can help make sense of an online catalog or license a catalog faster and easier.

Special presentations planned for the three day program opening May 12 will be: Making the Most of Publishing Deals Through YouTube and How to Grow Revenue with Music in Online Video, conducted with participation from BMI, ole Digital, Harry Fox Agency, Rumblefish, SESAC, and YouTube. The Music Business Association’s event wants to give programming and meeting opportunities to an audience of songwriters, publishers, artists and managers together with the commerce and content communities. In the summit’s keynote address, Shawn Yeager, partner with music tech venture-builder, Back Porch Group, and co-founder of Endorsee, addresses how to turn a shiny object into a salable product, applying principles from Lean Startup and Evidence-Based Entrepreneurship. It all begins with a networking breakfast and ends with a closing reception. The Music Business Association (Music Biz) is a non-profit membership organization that advances and promotes music commerce.

Cannes

In existence since 1946, The Cannes International Film Festival – Le Festival International du Film de Cannes – is an annual invitation-only film festival which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from around the world. Opening film of the 2015 Festival de Cannes is Emmanuelle Bercot’s LA TETE HAUTE (Standing Tall) on May 13. Special featured sections held during the festival include the Marche du Film, the Festival’s film market, structured to help meet the needs of film attending industry professionals. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, directors, screenwriters and producers, will be the two Presidents of the Jury of the 68th Festival de Cannes. Isabella Rossellini will serve as President of the Un Certain Regard Jury.

Members of the Jury of the 68th Festival de Cannes include: Rossy de Palma (Actress – Spain), Sophie Marceau (Actress, Director – France), Sienna Miller (Actress – United Kingdom), Rokia Traore (Composer, Singer-songwriter – Mali), Guillermo del Toro (Director, Writer, Producer – Mexico), Xavier Dolan (Director, Writer, Producer, Actor – Canada), Jake Gyllenhaal (Actor – United States). Their task will be to decide among the films in Competition and select the prize winners, culminating in the Palme d’or, which will be announced on stage during the Festival Closing Ceremony on May 24. Sabine Azema will preside over the Camera d’or Jury, in charge of awarding the best first film presented in Cannes this year.

The Festival de Cannes created “Cannes Short Film” in 2011. At Cannes, short films are showcased at the Competition. After all screenings are complete the short films Jury awards a Palme d’or at the Short Film Corner, a professional area for meeting people, exchanging ideas and promoting films. “Cannes Court Metrage” unifies the Competition and Short Film Corner by highlighting the achievements and bringing the aspiring professionals together at workshops and conferences in an area set aside for this purpose at the Palais des Festivals. A spot in Cannes is important as the festival brings the press, the biggest distributors and it is where Oscar buzz begins leading up to the Academy Awards.

Casual Connect Asia

Casual Connect Asia is the place to learn more about an industry which entertains 300 million people each month. Learn all about iPhone, Social, Android, Flash, Browser MMO and Download Games. Casual Connect is produced by the Casual Games Association and is the premiere event for the casual games industry with over 5,500 professionals attending Casual Connect each year. This edition of the global convention is in Singapore. Casual Connect brings together experts in the casual gaming field to further the casual games industry with the best of networking and learning. Lectures at Casual Connect are programmed to focus on cutting edge topics in the video games space. Conference content is programmed by a set of industry advisors. On May 19 the lecture series opens with an Industry Insights: Overview followed by “Welcome to Casual Connect Asia 2015.” Then later in the afternoon, just before a scheduled coffee break, Junde Yu, Vice President, APAC, App Annie, addresses “Worldwide and Asia Mobile Gaming Trends.”

The IDEA Showcase at Casual Connect Asia consists of a cutting edge showcase display from: Signus Labs, Boomzap, Altitude Games, KiraGames, Blam! Games, all with works in development. Parties and networking events abound at Casual Connect Asia. The day before official expo opening, May 18, there will be the “Badge Pickup and Pre-Funk Party,” serving handcrafted beers. On opening day, expect the “Official Casual Connect Party” with beer, snacks and live band following the days activities. On official day two, there is another “Official Casual Connect Party” featuring complete course meal and beer/wine. On the day before convention close, expect the Indie Prize Awards that will present the year’s winners. On May 20, conference day two, Oliver Jones, Co-Founder, Moonfrog Labs, presents “Emerging Markets: How to Win Your First Billion Players.” The same day in a later lecture, Stephen Lee, Executive Director, Business Development6waves discusses “Unlocking Asia: Secrets to Launching in the East.”

On Casual Connect Asia’s final day of the conference, Rohit Sharma, Founder, POKKT, presents The India Mobile Games Market and How Game Developers in India and SEA Can Monitize their Non-paying Users through Incentivized Video Ads. The Casual Games Association is a professional international trade organization providing educational resources and community support for those involved in creating games for the mass market consumer. Mass market games are found on a wide arrangement of platforms including personal computers, video game consoles, mobile phones and handheld devices. Because of their ease of distribution, varied monetization methods and mass appeal, mass market games are distributed in a wide variety of locations including retail stores, major online portals, and speciality online retailers.

New York Festivals

After early morning and afternoon creative panel sessions, New York Festivals will welcome award winners, jury members and guests from around the globe for this day of events, May 21, recognizing global advertising work. The 2015 Competitions include the categories of: Avant-Garde, Branded Entertainment, Creative Marketing Effectiveness, Design, Package Design, Digital, Direct and Collateral, Film, Integrated, Outdoor, Print, Public and Media Relations, Public Service Announcements, Radio, Student. With entries and jury members from over 70 countries, this advertising awards competition demonstrates a proclivity with regard to its diversity of selection.

New York Festivals maintains an international network of representatives who promote the competitions in over 65 countries. These representatives are entrusted to searching out and rewarding The World’s Best Work – not only by recruiting entries but also filling the judging rosters with creatives who represent every advertising center of the world, ensuring that all work is judged without cultural bias and that each competition represents the highest degrees of craftsmanship. In collaboration with the United Nations Department of Public Information, NYF established the United Nations Awards in 1990 to honor programming and advertising that best exemplifies the aims and ideals of the United Nations.

Later in the evening, guests of the event will take part in a Gala event at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall, for a cocktail reception followed by the awards ceremony. A celebratory after-party will be held to toast all the winners of the World’s Best Advertising. NYF honors winners with parties, Un-traditional awards ceremonies and gallery-style showcases. Black-tie awards ceremonies for Film and Video and TV Broadcasting Awards are held the last week in January. The winners of NYF Innovative Advertising competition are showcased in April and the winners of the NYF Advertising in All Media competition are celebrated at the beginning of June. An awards ceremony for Radio Broadcasting is held at the end of June.

Produced By Conference LA

Produced By Conference LA will present an arrangement of speakers, sessions and workshops, networking and social events, technology demonstrations and related exhibits, to cover two complete days of programming on current and evolving trends in production, distribution, finance, marketing, branding and media strategy. Produced By… is an event for producers, by producers. Attendees have the opportunity to network with Oscar-nominated filmmakers, Emmy-winning showrunners, and the next generation of creative entrepreneurs in a planned weekend of panel discussions, group mentoring sessions, and a Friday (May 29) evening Kick-Off party hosted by Paramount Pictures. In one program feature, Produced By Conference sets up a Mentoring Roundtable, giving small groups of up to ten attendees 60 minutes to ask questions of, and seek advice from, a seasoned producer acting as a mentor of their choice. Produced By Conference is held through the Producers Guild of America’s charitable entity, the PGA Foundation. The Foundation’s core mission is to educate those who work in the producing profession.

The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the “Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events” page of The Actor’s Checklist. If you like this report and other content found on The Actor’s Checklist, do like us on our Facebook page. This month’s photo placement shows movie stills for Marvel Studios latest Avengers entry, Age of Ultron, which opened with a North American weekend box office of $187.7 million, coming in somewhat behind the original Avengers film. If the photos do not appear in this post please visit the blog page to view them. Looking ahead into the next month be aware that: Cine Gear Expo LA will be in Los Angeles, Tune In: Variety’s TV Summit will be run out of Beverly Hills, Banff World Media Festival returns to Banff-Alberta, The British Horror Film Festival will be in London, MIDEM 2015 returns to Cannes, Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is in Manchester.