IABM, the international trade association for suppliers of broadcast and media technology, announced the outline program for its Annual International Business Conference and Awards event, which takes place on December 1-2 2016 at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel, Heathrow, London.
This year’s conference includes several innovations, key among which is the integration of end-users. The conference, running under the banner ‘Transformation and Collaboration’, reflects the tipping point the broadcast and media industry is at right now as new technologies, changing viewer habits and new delivery mechanisms have come together to fundamentally redefine the entire media ecosystem across supply, production and delivery. The conference aims to equip delegates with the knowledge, business tools and relationships to keep ahead of the market and succeed.
IABM’s recently announced partnership with the AIB is bringing end-users into the heart of the conference alongside broadcast and media technology suppliers, enabling the latter to better understand the business imperatives and technology needs of their customers.
The conference opens on the morning of Thursday, Dec. 1, with two concurrent masterclasses–a new development for this year. The first is an AIB Technology Masterclass and the second covers sales and marketing in the digital age. More details of these masterclasses will be released over the coming weeks.
The afternoon of Dec. 1, and morning of Dec. 2 are given over to plenary sessions which look at key aspects of how to succeed as the ground continues to shift under the industry’s feet as disruption continues to fundamentally change the industry. End-user requirements are at the heart of this, and conference sessions will include presentations from luminaries such as Corey Bridges of LifeMap Solutions and Burning Bridges (and previously VP marketing at the Cameron|Pace Group), Martyn Suker, ITV head of production innovation, and Christina Mixon of Mixon Digital, experts in audience engagement on digital platforms.
The dinner and awards presentation take place in the evening of Dec. 1, providing another excellent networking opportunity for delegates.
“This year we have expanded the conference to bring end-users into the conversation and added some valuable new streams too,” said Conference co-chair, John Ive, IABM’s director of technology and strategic insight. “To help achieve this, I’ve brought in Saleha Williams, executive producer, Clarity Ctreative, as my co-chair and executive producer, whose vast experience of delivering high-value conferences in our industry has been enormously helpful in defining the new shape for this flagship event as well as engaging influential speakers.
“Our aim for the conference is to give delegates a 360° view of the fundamental changes that are taking place right now in the media industry and equip them with the knowledge, support, leadership and services they need to do business in this time of unprecedented change. Add that to the unique, high-level networking opportunities this event offers with peers and end-users, and it adds up to a ‘must attend’ opportunity for our members,” Ive concluded.
Delegates can review the conference program and book places via the IABM website here.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More