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

Lollapalooza

Situated within Chicago’s Grant Park, giving it access to 115 acres of space between Downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan, Lollapalooza was created in 1991 by Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Farrell as a farewell tour for his band. Lollapalooza (#Lollapalooza2017) is the very anticipated annual music festival featuring alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. The Box Office is just north of the Main Entrance at S. Michigan Avenue and E. Van Buren Street. Responsible for introducing and popularizing some of the big musical names, this year’s lineup will include: Little Miss Ann, Gramatik, Duckwrth, Vance Joy, Dirty Audio, Big Sean, School of Rock Allstars, The Shins, Kevin Devine, DJ Snake, The Japanese House, Rae Sremmurd, Mura Masa, Zeds Dead, Middle Kids, Chance The Rapper, Maggie Rogers, Cage The Elephant, and so many others. This year, to help keep the party going, Official 2017 Lollapalooza Aftershows and Afterparties are planned for designated music venues around Chicago. How do bands get booked for Lollapalooza? For unsigned bands, Lollapalooza works with Sonicbids in the Last Band Standing contest that lets fans pick an unsigned band to play at the festival.

Lollapalooza contains a kids/family-friendly music and activity area in its own enclosed area of Grant Park. Kidzapalooza offers parents with children programming of family-friendly music on its own stage while offering non-music activities like skateboarding demos, hip hop workshops, a music video tent and much more. A fuller accounting of activities set for Kidzapalooza include: Character Skaterboards, Collaboraction’s Strolling Summer Circus, Craft Station with Shedd Aquarium, Dome of Dance, Drum Zone, Freestyle Master Class with Peter Distefano, Kidza Merch, Kidza Theatre, lounge areas, Lifeway Foods Art Mural Wall, Music Video with Berklee College of Music, Lounge with Land of Nod, Ping Pong tables, Print a Tote, Q Brothers Hip Hop Workshop, Punk Hairdooz, Rock Star Photo Booth, Shawnimals, Salesforce’s Instrument Petting Zoo with Little Kids Rock, snow cones, Tattooz, Tag-A-Kid. There is also a Family Services section consisting of a private room where nursing and expectant mothers can go to change a baby’s diapers, breast feed or use a breast pump.

Tackling the issues behind the environment, voter participation, or medical ethics, Lollapalooza looks to register its social consciousness and outreach where it can. So it strives to be a place where music fans can learn more about how to help the world around them. It’s social arm, Lolla Cares, assembles the world’s organizations to present them to the festival fans to bring awareness of the causes they promote. Attending Lollapalooza, here are some of the organizations you can expect to encounter: Soberside, Headcount, Oxfam America, Musicares, Black Lives Matter Chicago, and others. Other worthwhile activity and event areas to take part in while participating in the Lollapalooza experience include VR oriented Cosmic Paradise presented by Toyota, Rock and Rollers skating rink, FYE Music Tent, #OMGODIVA Summer Treats Truck, Salesforce’s Instrument Petting Zoo with Little Kids Rock, and other areas not listed here as well.

Rhode Island International Film Festival

Flickers' Rhode Island International Film FestivalFlickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival in Providence will present more than 280 feature length, documentary and short films from a total of 66 countries, for screening during the six-day Festival, opening August 8, at multiple screening venues. For 2017, films have been selected from a record entry base of more than 6,000 submissions, and this year’s Festival will include 95 World and North American premieres. The Opening Night Program will salute “Flickers’ Road to the Oscars®,” ” a signature theme for the Festival. There will be a post screening Soirée with live music afterward. Aside from film screenings, the Flickers team has organized a number of events to encourage filmmakers and festival attendees to widen their knowledge of filmmaking as well as explore the host city. RIIFF is also a qualifying festival for the Live Action, Documentary and Animated Short Film through its affiliation with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

The Rhode Island Film Forum segment of the Festival is an opportunity to meet and ask questions of some significant contributors of the Rhode Island film industry set for an August 10 date. The 2017 ScriptBiz™ workshop is a day-long workshop on August 11 that explores how to hone creative and business skills. The Festival’s goal is to recognize achievement and innovation in a variety of filmmaking and storytelling disciplines while providing an opportunity to secure wider distribution. The Festival also actively supports and encourages film preservation and its restoration, thus ensuring future generations of the film medium. As stated before, RIIFF is a qualifying festival for both the Short Narrative and Documentary Short Film Academy Awards through its affiliation with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and the Canadian Screen Awards.

OrlandoiX

Battle of the Geek Bands at OrlandoiX 2017 in Winter ParkOrlandoiX in Winter Park is an annual gathering of creators in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Video Games, and Digital Entertainment, that is open to professionals and consumers alike, The OrlandoiX program agenda fuses creativity and technology to bring together creators, investors, brands, and tech enthusiasts to take part in four days of industry keynotes, speaker presentations, interactive exhibits, game-play, and networking. Focused on interactivity, OrlandoiX showcases advancements in entertainment technology, interactive media, and digital arts. OrlandoiX (#OrlandoiX17) features Industry Keynotes, speaker sessions, interactive exhibits, Game Developers Conference, Startup Series, Demo Zones, gaming tournaments, Networking Opportunities, and Entertainment. The August 17 opening party of the OrlandoiX Interactive Experience will be in downtown Orlando, and is free to the public with an RSVP made at the Facebook page. A special feature of the opening party is the Battle of Geek Bands, with bands comprised of tech industry workers taking the stage for a contested face-off.

At OrlandoiX indie creators can showcase their projects in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Video Games, and Digital Entertainment in the Indie Zone. To qualify as an indie creator, companies or project teams must have less than 8 people and less than $200,000 in annual revenues. The planned Artist Alley will assemble entertainment media, video gaming, digital arts, simulation, e-sports, education, venture capital, and hardware. Corporate Tech firms and service providers will put their products and solutions before an audience of Digital Media Executives, Game Developers, Virtual and Mixed Reality Developers, Digital Artist, Designers, Sound and Audio Engineers, Entertainment Media Students, and Creative Directors in anticipation of an enthusiastic reception for leading edge goods and services.

Keynote Speakers slated for OrlandoiX 2017 will include Jonathan Faunce, Creative Director, HTC Vive; Cordy Rierson, Director, Mixed Reality Experiences, Microsoft; John Baldecchi, CEO, Digital Riot Media; Chance Glasco, Co-Founder, Call of Duty Franchise; John Linden, President, Seismic Games; Rob Vickery, Partner, Stage Venture Partners; Cathy Hacki, VR Evangelist; Ryan Wang, Co-Founder and General Partner, Outpost Capital; Brian Cavallaro, Chief Creative Officer, MandTVR. Even more speakers are being added at the time of this writing. The expo floor will include the interactive experience from a diverse cross-section of the tech community; including health tech, AR/VR, simulations and training, web technologies, gaming, interactive media, and more. OrlandoiX has indicated that August 18-19 are Gaming Nights, but August 19-20 will have Gaming Tournaments as well as an Indie Game Village. Visitors can compete or root for those who are Games this year will include Super Smash Bros., Halo, Mario Kart, Killer Instinct, Madden 17, and FIFA. Prizes will be awarded.taking part in the gaming competitions.

Audio Engineering Society

Audio Engineering Society (#AESorg), an international organization that unites audio engineers, creative artists, scientists and students worldwide through its core mission to promote the science and practice of audio. Founded in the United States in 1948, the AES has grown to become an international organization that unites audio engineers, creative artists, scientists and students worldwide by promoting advances in audio and disseminating new knowledge and research. AES opens its AES Brasil Expo in partnership with SET (Brazilian Society of Television Engineering) with the objective of co-locating the SET Expo and AES Brasil Expo events together in 2017. The four-day event opens August 21 in Sao Paulo. The programming of the two complementing entities offers state-of-the-art technology for media, entertainment and telecommunications professionals, with conferences and seminars focused on television, cinema, satellite television, online video, live events, corporate audiovisual, lighting, digital signage, production and post-production. Normally held in May, in 2017 AES Brasil Expo is changing to August.

Among other initiatives, Brazilian Society of Television Engineering (SET) Expo looks to present and discuss the technical innovations, regulations and new products of the audiovisual market, covering the entire production chain from creation to distribution. In its role at the 2017 convention SET Expo Technology Congress and SET Expo Products and Services Fair combine to help shape an agenda through which participants discuss the management, production, transmission and distribution of multimedia electronic content and debate the current norms and regulations focusing on the current scenario and the future of telecommunications and audiovisual production in general. At the Fair, manufacturers serving the national and international market showcase their products to an audience that represents the entire product chain of the audiovisual and broadcasting areas.

In a year-round approach to keeping members abreast of latest developments, AES also serves the educational needs of its members and the audio industry at large through international technical meetings, equipment exhibitions, and a wide range of publications. It encourages and disseminates new developments through the meetings and exhibitions of pro audio equipment, and through the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, the professional archival publication of the audio industry and its and AES E-Library. International conventions, which include scientific presentations, student activities, workshops, and exhibitions, are held annually both in the Americas and Europe. Additional conferences and regional summits are held periodically throughout Latin America, Asia, Europe, and North America. Also worth noting, AES has granted full access to the AES E-Library digital library as part of the association’s benefits. Members and non-members (at cost) will be able to retrieve documents originating from the beginning of professional audio in the 1950s right up through the latest developments in network audio and space, virtual and augmented realities, streaming, and signal processing.

Edinburgh International Television Festival

International Television Festival 2017The Edinburgh International Television Festival (#edtvfest), run from the district The Exchange Edinburgh, views itself as a charitable organization with a mission to identify and nurture the next generation of talent, regardless of background. Through its charitable mission, proceeds from its sponsorships and delegate pass sales support the EITF’s talent initiatives. The initiatives spotlight and support emerging talent that builds towards a diverse future for the industry. Edinburgh is presented in part by YouTube. Importantly, the festival runs two talent schemes – The Network (formerly known as TVYP) which gives new entrants a needed first step into the TV and digital industries, and its other initiative Ones to Watch (formerly known as Fast Track) that supports artists at the early stages of their career.

Edinburgh’s MacTaggart Lecture has has come to be the centrepiece of the Festival by becoming an authoritative platform to shape the agenda in the global television industry. The 2017 MacTaggart Speaker is Jon Snow, award-winning journalist and broadcaster of Channel 4 News In the past. It has been delivered by authors, playwrights, journalists, media titans and actors, including Dennis Potter, Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner, Kevin Spacey, Armando Iannucci and Founder and CEO of Vice, Shane Smith, and is thought to be an influence in the news agenda. Other Keynotes and interviews include Nicola Sturgeon Keynote, Nick Bell in a Snapchat Keynote interview, A Baroness and a Badman: YouTube’s Humza Arshad and Dona King in Conversation, Tim Hincks and Stephen Lambert: Face To Face, Outstanding Achievement Award Interview: Russell T Davies, Alternative MacTaggart: Russell Brand.

Masterclass sessions that Edinburgh will offer include (but not limited to), Satire! What is it good for? Top of the Pods: Can you cash in on the Podcasting Boom? Black Mirror Masterclass with Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones, I’m a Producer, get the Celebrities Out of Here, Fleabag: How to Create An International Hit Comedy, Killers, Cops and Courtrooms: A True Crime Masterclass. The organizing body of Edinburgh also runs other events throughout the year, including EdTalks lectures, Q & A’s with channel heads from across the globe and topical news panels.

Long Beach Indie Film, Media, and Music Conference

The 2017 Long Beach Indie Film, Media, and Music Conference brings together scholars, educators, filmmakers, musicians, archivists, journalists, and digital media producers. Including academic and industry panels, artist showcases, concerts, parties, and more than 150 independent films, television pilots, web series, and music videos from across the globe, Long Beach Indie is the place where theory and practice come together. Conference sessions are a central event of the Long Beach Indie International Film, Media, and Music Festival. There are three primary tracks the conference sessions will follow, Career Pathways; Film, Music and Media; Business Summit and Expo. A FilmFreeway Top 100 reviewed festival, since 2014 Long Beach Indie has screened more than 500 films from 50+ countries, and attracted Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, Directors Guild of America, ALMA and NAACP Image Award winners and nominees and presenters. A winner of the Best Animated Short competition (The Dam Keeper) was nominated for a 2015 Academy Award.

LBI’s Career Pathways in Arts, Digital Media and Entertainment operates with the purpose to connect educators, parents, counselors and administrators to the knowledge, trends and individuals driving career opportunities in the creative economy. Program options for Career Pathways in Arts, Digital Media and Entertainment will be workshops, panels, and master classes, independent film screenings, music showcases, entertainment industry receptions and parties, the LBI/Step to the Mic Awards Gala (September 3), and the LBI College and Career Fair exposing diverse youth (ages 15-24) to careers in Arts, Digital Media, and Entertainment (September 2).

Further underscoring the festival reach and value as a launching pad, the films Hidden Moon (Universal Pictures), ‘The Throwaways’ (Third World Newsreel), ‘Take Me to the River’ (Abramorama), ‘Confessions of a Womanizer’ (Bosch Media), ‘Echoes’ (Anchor Bay Entertainment), and ‘Astray’ (Osiris Entertainment), comprise festival selections to gain US and worldwide distribution deals. Long Beach Indie is the brainchild of scholar, filmmaker and arts advocate Dr. Daniel E. Walker. A professor of Latin American and African American history at El Camino College and producer/director of the documentary films When Roosters Crow, Sol Brothers, and The Ten (in production), Walker is also the head of the Gospel Music History Archive at USC and the Board Chair of both the BLU Educational Foundation and the Believe Foundation.

Roundup

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, like the Facebook page at this link. India/France fusion band, Trinaad (formerly The Khayal Groove), is using crowdfunding to produce their next album. Learn more and become a supporter (with benefits). Visit their crowdfunding page here. In its August weekend opener, Sony Picture’s adaptation of Stephen King’s story, ‘The Dark Tower” (top photo) starring Matthew McConaughey, Idris Elba, and directed by Nikolaj Arcel, struggled to pass Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” for weekend honors. Next, Lollapalooza music fest, Rhode Island International Film Festival poster, OrlandoiX logo, Audio Engineering Society logo, and Edinburgh Television Fest poster. Moving into September the summer season is now in the rear-view, and the events scheduling moves into gear. The Miami Web Series Festival will be showcasing selected web series in Miami theaters, IFP Screen Forward Conference will be in NYC, AmericanaFest will be in Nashville, The Variety Entertainment and Technology Summit will be in Beverly Hills, Future of Immersive Leisure will be in Las Vegas, New York Comics and Picture-Story Symposium resumes from summer recess in NYC, Kino Expo will be in Saint Petersburg, Asia Content and Entertainment Fair is in Gwangju, Media Days Gothenburg is in Gothenburg.