iSPOT’s lead story this week reports on the September 24 opening day of The IAB’s (Interactive Advertising Bureau’s) MIXX Conference & Expo featuring revelatory information about the advances of digital media. We report on two of sessions that demonstrated how content is moving to new platforms, including mobile, and how virtual worlds like Second Life will provide marketing opportunties.
One comes away from the conference with an eery sensation that the world is changing. It’s Web 3.0 now, with the web morphing beyond the computer, and virtual worlds replacing the everyday reality we thought our lives were based on.
And where does this leave video advertising? Of course there were discussions at the conference about it, too, with general perceptions of its growing popularity amidst concerns about the way it is priced and the formats it runs in. Of course these are the problems video advertising had from the get go. Will they still apply in the virtual world?
Please continue to send us news from your companies and information about great broadband video ads. And if you’re a Second Life avatar, we’d like to hear about the virtual work you’re doing.
Ken Liebeskind, iSPOT Senior Editor, kliebeskind@shootonline.com, 203-227-1699, ext.17 www.shootonline.com/go/ispot
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More