Friday, February 16-----The Berlinale Keynotes , a new information initiative launched this year by the Berlin Film Festival organization, got off to a successful start. Over 300 distinguished international industry representatives, invited by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the Berlin International Film Festival, came together to watch the new event format at the Ritz-Carlton, Berlin. The first edition focused on the future of the film industry in the digital age, in terms of technology, content and economy. Minister of State for Culture Bernd Neumann, Medienboard Managing Director Petra Müller and Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick opened the event.

Dieter Kosslik

The presentations were truly enlightening. Warren N. Lieberfarb, the "father of the DVD", who ushered in the medium's breakthrough as President of Warner Home Video, spoke about the strategies movie studios are pursuing in today's digital world. Stefan Lechère, Strategic Partnership Development Manager, Google (France), and Jamie Kantrowitz, Senior VP Marketing and Content at MySpace.com, whose Web sites boast over 140 million users worldwide, presented innovative content of today’s most successful websites and the emergence of communities and user-generated content. Georg Backer, Online and Infrastructure Manager Lionhead Studios (UK), and Guillaume de Fondaumière, COO/CFO of Quantic Dream, producer of the interactive computer games "Fahrenheit" and "Heavy Rain", illustrated how cinema and the virtual realities of computer games are converging.

To conclude the event Mitch Kanner, CEO 2 Degrees Ventures, USA, chaired a round table discussion including Geoff Sutton, General Manager MSN Europe, UK, David P. Kelly (The European Co-Production Office), Denzyl Feigelson (Artists without a Label) and Warren N. Lieberfarb on the current state-of-the art in an industry that is in a state of continual flux. The Keynotes were moderated by Gundolf S. Freyermuth, PhD, professor for comparative media studies at the ifs Internationale Filmschule in Cologne.

The Berlinale Keynotes are a concerted initiative of Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the Berlin International Film Festival, in cooperation with Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg (Medienwoche) and media.net berlinbrandenburg. Video streams of the Berlinale Keynotes are available at www.medienboard.de/berlinalekeynotes.

Sandy Mandelberger, Berlin Online Dailies Editor