Home USA Media April 2017 Calendar of Global Media and Showbiz Industry Social Networking Events

April 2017 Calendar of Global Media and Showbiz Industry Social Networking Events

French Quarter Festival in New Orleans (Photo: Zack Smith)

French Quarter Festivals

The 34th Annual French Quarter Festival will highlight New Orleans signature music, food, and culture in the historic neighborhood. The annual free performance showcase of Louisiana music will take place April 6-9. Festival-goers can expect over 60 New Orleans’ restaurants at ‘The World’s Largest Jazz Brunch,’ music from over 1,700 world-class, local musicians, and over a dozen special events.

French Quarter Festival’s Opening Night Gala will feature music by Ella and Louis Tribute Band, tastings by Antoine’s and other festival favorites, an open bar courtesy of Abita Brewing Company and Republic Beverages. Tony Green and Gypsy Jazz will perform at the Patron Party, which is scheduled to happen right before the Gala begins.

A partial listing of scheduled special events will include, French Quarter Festival (#FrenchQuarterFestival) and NOLA Jitterbugs present free dance lessons, Whitney Bank Film Festival at French Quarter Festival with Cinema on the Bayou, Pirates Alley Juried Art Show, Let Them Talk: Conversations on Louisiana Music, Children’s Museum Activities, and Fun at the Hermann-Grima House, Opera at Dusk, and more. Most, if not all, of these special events, will be free to the public.

French Quarter Festival (Zack Smith Photography)
French Quarter Festival in New Orleans (Photo: Zack Smith)

In 2017, the main Jack Daniel’s Stage, will experience an expansion as well as be moved from Bourbon Street to JAX Brewery. With entertainment on all four days of the festival, audiences can take in the likes of artists that include: Otra, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns, King James & The Special Men, Soul Rebels, and Corey Henry’s Treme Funktet. There are 23 stages throughout the French Quarter to celebrate local music and represent every genre from traditional and contemporary jazz to R&B, New Orleans funk, brass bands, folk, gospel, Latin, Zydeco, classical, cabaret, and international.

French Quarter Festivals, Inc. (FQFI) annually produces three festivals: French Quarter Festival, Satchmo SummerFest, and Christmas New Orleans Style. FQFI is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the Vieux Carré and the City of New Orleans through high quality special events and activities that showcase the culture and heritage of this unique city, contribute to the economic well-being of the community, and instill increased pride in the people of New Orleans.

At FQFI festival, New Orleans’ restaurants, create the food and beverage offerings known as “The World’s Largest Jazz Brunch” in Jackson Square, the Louisiana State Museum’s Old U.S. Mint, and Woldenberg Riverfront Park during festival weekend; Satchmo SummerFest hosts New Orleans restaurants, known as “Red Bean Alley,” with Louis Armstrong-inspired dishes and great local cuisine. Louisiana restaurants are invited to participate in these festivals.

Coachella

Out in the Inland Empire’s Coachella Valley, in the Colorado Desert (about 125 miles east of Los Angeles), Coachella, the anticipated annual music event is held over two consecutive three-day weekends in April (beginning April 14) and features many genres of music including alternative rock, indie, and electronic music, as well as large sculptural art and installations on display. Coachella showcases popular and established musical artists, as well as emerging artists and reunited groups. The main stages are Coachella Stage, Outdoor Theatre, Gobi Tent, Mojave Tent, Yuma Stage and the Sahara Tent. The event has several stages/tents set-up throughout the (camping) grounds, each playing live music continuously.

Coachella also features installation art and sculptures. Many of the art pieces are interactive and are stimulative to interact with for attendees walking throughout the Polo grounds. Getting booked for Coachella is handled by the festival management, Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Live. In addition to agent pitches and artists discovered online, the lineup is taken from acts booked by Goldenvoice for their other 1,800 shows each year. A very partial listing of some of the expected performers will include: Lady Gaga, Hans Zimmer, Chicano Batman, Allah-Las, Martin Garrix, Hannah Wants, Warpaint, New Order, Mitski, the Belleville Three, Banks & Steelz, Kendrick Lamar, Diamante Electrica, SNBRN, Grace Mitchell, Galantis, DJ Snake, Bishop Briggs, Honey Dijon, Radiohead. A full listing of artists can be found at this webpage.

Coachella Music & Art Festival runs over two weekends

Coachella (#Coachella) is organized by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Live. Coachella showcases popular and established musical artists, as well as emerging artists and reunited groups. In addition to agent pitches and artists discovered online, lineups can be selected from acts booked by Goldenvoice by analyzing ticketing figures for their other 1,800 venues and festival shows each year.

Coachella is obviously well regarded for its music, but what else is there to do beyond an onslaught of bands and performers?

Each year, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival commissions a number of original, large-scale, site-specific art installations to be displayed throughout the festival and campgrounds. Selections range from established artists to up-and-coming artists. Placement of the works has become one of the defining aspects of the Coachella experience beyond the musical performances.

Featured 2017 artists and their artworks will include: Chiaozza Garden by Chiaozza, Crown Ether by Olalekan Jeyifous, Is This What Brings Things Into Focus? by Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan, Lamp Beside The Golden Door by Gustavo Prado. There will be returning favorite art installations as well, including Balloon Chain, Big Bear, Do Lab, and Raices Cultura.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is committed to efforts that contribute to the betterment of the Coachella Valley. That, in part, means there will be interactive events the visiting public can be part of, or witness, to further these goals. Most notably there will be an Energy Playground to charge mobile devices and recall “childhood days.”

The Polar Bear Dating Game will award a lucky camper with a tour of the main venue, and art installations, (2) “guest” backstage passes, a goodnight ice cream and dancing with the polar bear. Picking up bottles, cans, and cups found on the Coachella grounds and returned to The Recycling Store can earn points toward Coachella sweatshirts, posters, Ferris Wheel tickets, VIP upgrades and other swag. Access to Recyclosaurus Rex to feed bottles and cans into.

Participation by applying artists in the TRASHed Coachella exhibition (closed for this year) demonstrating art through recyclable objects (#TRASHedCoachella2017). The Saving Nature Claw Machine, located within the Global Inheritance area, will have Animal experts on hand to answer questions on endangered species across the globe and allow participants to earn points which to redeem for Coachella experiences and merchandise.

Tribeca Film Festival

Lower Manhattan’s annual Tribeca Film Festival (#Tribeca2017) is a wide-ranging event that brings the international film community and the general public together to experience independent, socially-minded cinema. Here’s how major festival sections break down. There is Tribeca N.O.W. Showcase, the Gala, Tribeca Talks, Virtual Arcade, Storyscapes, Spotlight Documentary, Tribeca Talks: Master Class, Spotlight Narrative, Viewpoints, Shorts Program, U.S. Narrative Competition, Midnight, Tribeca N.O.W. Special Screenings, Retrospective Special Screenings, Shorts, Tribeca Talks: Storytellers, Documentary Competition, Special Screenings, Awards Screenings, Tribeca TV, Tribeca Talks: Director’s Series, International Narrative Competition. Film categories will include Narratives, Documentaries, Features, Shorts, and Short Programs.

Tribeca Film Festival’s opening night Gala screening, ‘Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives,’ a documentary profile of the legendary music man from first-time filmmaker Chris Perkel, opens the festival. ‘The Godfather’ and ‘The Godfather: Part II,’ the closing Gala, will be celebrated with a 45th-anniversary conversation with Director Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, and Robert De Niro.

TFF will flaunt its Tribeca N.O.W. (New Online Work) section that it uses to present fresh industry talent as well as original forms of storytelling. The N.O.W. Showcase curates a selection of ten independent, online creators’ latest work that will be shown at world premiere screenings before being made available online at TribecaFilm.com. In addition, a slate of N.O.W. Special Screenings will be followed by dynamic conversations with creators, talent, and special guests. And the private Creators Market pays it forward, bringing together online storytellers looking to pitch new projects with a curated group of industry leaders interested in engaging up-and-coming online talent. This year’s N.O.W. Special Screenings features Awake, A Dream From Standing Rock, capturing the story of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s peaceful resistance against the North Dakota Pipeline.

‘The Sword of Baahubali’ in Storyscapes Projects

In this year’s Tribeca Immersive program, presented by AT&T, Storyscapes and Virtual Arcade exhibitions will run concurrently throughout the Festival at the Tribeca Festival Hub. The Storyscapes and Virtual Arcade exhibits will feature a diverse array of projects that are rooted in the documentary, narrative, and music. Storyscapes, which celebrates its fifth year this spring, was created in 2013 to bridge filmmaking, technology, and storytelling. The Virtual Arcade, which debuted at the 2016 Festival, returns with a range of experiences from animated epics to post-apocalyptic landscapes. Established VR creators and studios debuting new pieces include Marshmallow Laser Feast, Gabo Arora, Baobab Studios, Oculus Story Studios, Penrose Studios, and Within. The storyscapes juried showcase will continue to present new trends and innovative work across mediums that integrate various forms of audience participation with six VR and interactive installations focusing on emotion and the human experience. Both Storyscapes and Virtual Arcade open to the public on April 21.

With more than just a commitment to music, film, and digital immersive storytelling, Tribeca Film Festival will also host Tribeca Games events. The day-long event offers aspiring game designers, veteran industry professionals, and game craft enthusiasts an opportunity to explore creative approaches to building characters, art, design, music, and stories. This year, in lieu of hosting a Street Fair which was the norm for 15 years, TFF will offer more free films for families, including a new Tribeca/ESPN Family Film event with free screenings and sports activities at BMCC on the first weekend of the Festival. TFF Rush tickets will be offered when advanced tickets for a screening or event are no longer available. TFF’s Rush tickets function as a standby line that will form at the venue approximately 45 minutes prior to scheduled start time. Admittance is based on availability and will begin roughly 10 minutes prior to program start time. Beyond the Festival, Tribeca Film Institute prepares fledgling media makers through hands-on training, exposure, funding, and resources to undertake socially relevant films.

2017 NAB Show

In Las Vegas, the 2017 NAB Show will have a significant embrace of the new digital ecosystem of media, entertainment, and technology, where behavior and business have merged to redefine content, workflow and revenue streams. Although wide ranging in breadth, the convention will have focus areas of film, mobile, advertising, gaming, television, radio, live events, sound, social media, VR/AR, video. Running April 22-27, there are featured attractions and pavilions: Aerial Robotics and Drone, Connected Media IP, Virtual and Augmented Reality. And there are exhibitor categories: Connected Media, Distribution/Delivery, Online Video. New this year at NAB (#NABShow) is The M.E.T. Effect, Connected Car Hackathon, Facebook Live Video Solutions Pavilion, NextGen TV Hub, Global TV Tech Day, Google Talks, Sports Media and Entertainment, and more. Co-located events at this year’s NAB Show will include, 4K 4Charity Fun Run, Ad Innovation Lab, Avid Connect 2017, BEA Festival of Media Arts, Career Day at NAB, #GALSNGEAR, IABM Industry Breakfast, Innovation Series Breakfast focusing on television, and New York Festivals International TV and Film Awards.

This year’s convention carries a special theme, The M.E.T. Effect, a concept that embraces setting the stage for immersive experiences. Live performance events are amplified by cameras, audio, video display, lighting and special effects to make the event dramatic and memorable. Exhibitor categories for this segment of NAB include Connected Media (Authentication, Connected/Hybrid TV, Connected/Mobile TV Apps, Content Discovery Solutions, Home Gateway/Connected Home, OTT/Interactive TV Apps, Second-Screen TV, Set Top Boxes, Social TV Solutions), Distribution/Delivery (Media Sales Solutions, Broadband Connectivity, Content Delivery Network, Digital Cinema, Mobile TV, Mobile Video Distribution Tech, Online Video Platforms, Streaming/Webcasting, Video on Demand), Online Video exemplified by YouTube, Vimeo and such.

NAB 2017 in Las Vegas

Though NAB is a wide-ranging show, M.E.T. Effect at NAB will also have Spotlight Sessions. Making the Most of OTT is one planned session to examine technology and business models for broadcasters to use their current workflows to make the most of OTT (Over The Top), offering increased value for the consumer and advertiser, and increasing revenue and decreasing churn. Low-Latency OTT Delivery with CMAF chunks and HTTP/1.1 Chunked Transfer Encoding will bring up an emerging standard called CMAF (Common Media Application Format) that offers features for low latency and will be supported by the two mainstreaming standards HLS and DASH. This session will look at CMAF and how it’s used in combination with HTTP/1.1 to provide an end-to-end latency of five seconds, in search of improvements over previous low-latency setups. Then, A 360 Degree View of VR and Live Streaming brings the case for Virtual Reality and 360-degree video present implementation through Daniel Pisarski, a seasoned live video expert, examining the organizations embracing VR, 360 degree and live video. He will share case studies showing companies on the leading edge to blend traditional broadcast, online media and VR to engage with audiences and share best practices for adding new technology to your broadcast strategy.

Radio Asia 2017

In Bangkok, RadioAsia2017 will explore the major aspects of this year’s selected theme, ‘Creating Radio with Passion: Looking into the World of Radio.’ From April 26-28, conference speakers will address how these aspects will add to the efficacy of the radio industry in the years to come. Additionally, the Radio Asia Conference will run concurrently with the ABU Song Festival. This fifth ABU Radio Song Festival is a musical showcase that recognizes the musical diversity of nations within the region (Asia, Australia, and the Pacific) and uncovering the best original and unsigned musicians. Showcased entrants are determined by an international selection committee and the selected artists perform at the Gala Event in conjunction with the RadioAsia 2016 Conference. The Industry Keynote address will be delivered by Ms Joan Warner, CEO, Commercial Radio Australia and Vice- Chair World DMB Forum, titled: “Radio Scenario in Thailand – Near Term Developments.”

Radio Asia Conference begins with two Masterclasses, Putting Passion in Production Facilitator: Beyond Broadcasting, exploring the emotional connection with your audience, and Write Well… Make Money: Secrets of success in Radio Sales and Copywriting Facilitators, that will be shaped as a guide to discover what the client really wants from their radio advertising and how to deliver it by writing great ad copy. Other conference titles that will be explored include: Beyond Radio: Programing with Passion, Radio Streaming and Podcasting: How are Broadcasters Making use of Internet Platforms, True information: Positioning Radio as Social Media of First Choice, Storytelling on Radio, Festivals in Europe and Asia: Promoting Culture, and other topics as well.

Radio Asia organizer, Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union provides rights-free content acquisition for developing countries, organizes seminars, workshops and training courses and offers annual ABU Prizes for radio and television programs. The ABU runs a wide range of activities, including the daily Asiavision satellite TV news exchange, co-production and program exchanges and technical, programming, legal and management consultancy services, as well as industry conferences and international frequency planning and coordination.

Apart from a screening festival, the HotDocs conference and festival in Toronto runs 11 days and spans a range of learning and career advancement activities to satisfy the objectives of its attendees. Expect hands-on workshops on recent technologies to keynote addresses from industry practitioners offering a comprehensive overview of the art and business of documentary. An April 27 Opening Night Screening of ‘Bee Nation,’ is attached to a traditional cocktail reception and After Party the same evening. The first Doc up for screening in the festival calendar is the World Premiere ‘This Cold Life,’ set in Longyearbyen, the only settlement in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, directed by Darren Mann.

HotDocs

HotDocs (#HotDocs17) festival and conference will feature the following activity areas: Conference Sessions, Close Up With … , Doc Summit, Hot Docs Workshops, Kickstart, Micro-Meetings. Of particular interest to emerging and mid-career doc-makers, the Kickstart program will be a half-day series on May 3 covering topics, “My First Doc,” “Don’t Make Your Doc Alone,” and “The Big Short.” And the Micro-Meetings sessions will attempt to offer industry intelligence from broadcasters, funders and those on the leading edge of industry applicable technology.

The slated Hot Docs Workshops will include areas of interest, financing and distribution contracts, a Festival Strategy Lab, Strategic Partnerships in International Co-Productions session, strategies mitigating the risks of photojournalists and documentary filmmakers becoming targeted by sophisticated threat actors, Visual Research 101 and the world of rights and permissions, licensing terms, public domain and the art of negotiating a reduced cost for the materials essential to bringing your documentary to the screen.

This year, Hot Docs is partnering with imagineNATIVE to focus on Indigenous stories and storytellers at this year’s conference. Inspired by Screen Australia’s Pathways and Protocols: A Filmmaker’s Guide to Working with Indigenous People, Culture and Concepts, the imagineNATIVE will highlight it’s own protocols and guidance for working with Indigenous stories and storytellers from the Canadian region. imagineNATIVE will hold a conversation around issues with representatives from different parts of the Canadian documentary industry. The goal for the session is to offer industry members a framework when working with Indigenous stories and storytellers and successes by organizations, programs, films and filmmakers having success collaborating with Indigenous people to tell their stories.

A selection of approximately 200 documentaries from Canada and around the world will be presented to Toronto audiences and international delegates. Hot Docs will also mount a full roster of conference sessions and market events and services for documentary practitioners, including the renowned Hot Docs Forum, Hot Docs Deal Maker and The Doc Shop. In partnership with Blue Ice Group, Hot Docs owns and operates the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, a century-old landmark located in Toronto’s Annex neighborhood.

The Hot Docs Forum will facilitate pitching to a market of over 200 decision makers during the festival. Hot Docs and BravoACT will give 6 Canadian filmmaking teams the chance to pitch a short documentary project. Hot Docs Deal Maker connects one-on-one seekers with distributors, buyers and funders at those meetings. Distribution Rendezvous will be networking oriented to help make connections and build relationships to get projects sold.The Doc Shop will allow a film project to be seen by hundreds of industry buyers, distributors and programmers at the festival and online all year.

More Events

The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the “Calendar of Global Media and Showbiz Industry Social Networking Events” page. If you like this report and other content found on The Actor’s Checklist, please consider liking the Facebook page at this link. This month’s photo placement shows (starting from top of page) French Quarter Festival, Coachella 2017, ‘The Sword of Baahubali’ featured in TFF’s Immersive Virtual Arcade, the annual NAB convention in Las Vegas. Moving into May in the global calendar of events, here are important dates to be mindful of. The AMP Capital ART BALL comes to Perth, Chicago Underground Film Festival will be in Chicago, Cannes International Film Festival rolls out its Red Carpet in Cannes, Festival of Media Global will be in Rome, The TV and Radio Fiar – Kiev is in Kiev, Streaming Media East is in New York City, Variety’s Entertainment and Technology Summit comes to New York City, The Nordic Media Festival will be in Bergen, ANGA COM 2017 will convene at the Cologne Fairgrounds.

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