Over the years, SXSW has grown in popularity and magnitude to the point where it’s sometimes a challenge to navigate the event–literally and figuratively. SXSW 2012 was no exception and the Interactive portion has earned the reputation of being a great launchpad for new products.
One highlight was a startup named Highlight that provides location-based discovery of people around you based on common interests. While Highlight’s reviews were mixed (some wondered if there really needed to be an app to virtually “tap people on the shoulder” and start a conversation), there was no denying that it was one of the few startups that had people buzzing. There were so many startups vying for attention, however, that many felt that the success Twitter enjoyed at SXSW would be difficult, if not impossible, to ever recreate.
Startups aside, there was a variety of great panels that ran the gamut in terms of technology and digital trends. I was honored to host a panel with my DDB colleagues titled “Credit vs. Collaboration: Addressing the Organizational Divide.” The format–“Core Conversation”–is relatively new and I served as a guide curating the discussion and interjecting my thoughts and opinions. It was a nice break from the standard presentation or panel style.
We not only had representation from various agencies and agency disciplines (creative directors, designers, technologists) but also had a handful of client-side marketing leads in the conversation. It was interesting to observe how digital communication is fundamentally changing the game for so many radically different organizations yet many patterns persist.
For organizations that are still evolving their digital prowess, one such example is the “specialist vs. generalist” syndrome under which most “digital” people exist. The digital specialists bear the burden of translating, teaching and creating other bridges to their respective disciplines whereas the generalists must awaken to the reality that this “specialized” knowledge will soon be “mainstream requirements” for the jobs of the future.
Conversely for digital-centric organizations, the need for collaboration is more of an inter-organizational challenge between them and external partners (as opposed to individuals collaborating internally). For these specialist organizations, the common challenge was how to effectively manage their deliverables against a broader workflow that’s still struggling to understand (and value) exactly what’s involved in doing what they do.
There was general agreement that creators and artists need to be given credit for their work. It was brought up that some organizations choose to embrace a team-centric philosophy through which individual recognition and accolades are deprecated whereas others are still struggling with getting everyone on board with a team-based directive. The challenge is especially sensitive for the ad/communications agency as there’s a legacy of “idea ownership” that needs to be addressed.
The undercurrent evident at SXSW was that everyone needs to improve their collaboration and idea management, however the tools and software are still fairly “1.0” when it comes to doing so. Maybe next year’s SXSW could serve as a launchpad for a startup that can effectively tackle the job.
(Azher Ahmed is SVP, director of digital operations, DDB Chicago.)
L.A. Location Lensing Declines In 2024 Despite Uptick In 4th Quarter
FilmLA, partner film office for the City and County of Los Angeles and other local jurisdictions, has issued an update regarding regional filming activity. Overall production in Greater Los Angeles increased 6.2 percent from October through December 2024 to 5,860 Shoot Days (SD) according to FilmLA’s latest report. Most production types tracked by FilmLA achieved gains in the fourth quarter, except for reality TV, which instead logged its ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline.
The lift across all remaining categories came too late to rescue 2024 from the combined effects of runaway production, industry contraction and slower-than-hoped-for post- strike recovery. With just 23,480 SD filmed on-location in L.A. in 2024, overall annual production finished the year 5.6 percent below the prior year. That made 2024 the second least productive year observed by FilmLA; only 2020, disrupted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, saw lower levels of filming in area communities.
The continuing decline of reality TV production in Los Angeles was among the most disappointing developments of 2024. Down 45.7 percent for the fourth quarter (to 774 SD), the category also finished the year down 45.9 percent (to 3,905 SD), which placed
it 43.1 percent below its five-year category average.
The two brightest spots in FilmLA’s latest report appeared in the feature film and television drama categories. Feature film production increased 82.4 percent in the fourth quarter to 589 SD, a gain analysts attribute to independent film activity. The
California Film & Television Tax Credit Program also played a part, driving 19.2 percent of quarterly category activity. Overall, annual Feature production was up 18.8 percent in 2024, though the... Read More