- Mobile Media, App, Game, and Banking Industry Innovators Headline Inaugural Social Change Summit -
With WIRED Magazine as Presenting Sponsor, top mobile innovators and entertainment professionals will convene for The Hollywood Hill's two-day Hollywood summit to discuss the social change opportunities being created by innovators in Mobile Media, Mobile Apps, Mobile Games, and Mobile Banking. Official Website: http://mobile.hhill.org
Hollywood -- September 9, 2008 -- The Hollywood Hill - the entertainment industry's largest nonprofit social change membership organization - has announced the roster of speakers for BigBrainBoy's Mobile Media Summit - North America's first conference covering the upcoming explosion of mobile apps, games, media, and banking for social change - which is being held at Cinespace in Hollywood, California, September 12-13, 2008.
Opening Night Cocktail Reception at the Hollywood Hills home of film producer Ari Arad, Executive Producer, Iron Man.
Phil Libin, CEO, Evernote; John Nahm, CEO, Phonevite; Igor Jablokov, CEO, Yap; Dr. Subhi Quraishi, Co-Founder, ZMQ Software; Jackie Danicki, Marketing Director, Qik; Brandon Lucas, Business Development, MySpace Mobile; Parie Markowitz, Partnership, Marketing & Product Manager, Mobile, MTV; Mike Malone, Mobile Developer, Pownce; Michael Bergen, Business Development, Games, Nokia; Chris Swain, Co-Director, EA Game Innovation Lab, USC; Jonathan Donner, Technology for Emerging Markets Group, Microsoft Research India; Sean DeWitt, Mobile Program Manager, Grameen Technology Center; Nathan Eagle, Research Scientist, MIT Design Laboratory, are some of the industry innovators who will discuss ways in which mobile tools can encourage and leverage new and innovative ideas, products and services to help the world's citizens shape a positive future.
With Apple, Google, Microsoft & Nokia now opening their mobile software platforms to third party developers, an explosion of new mobile applications, games, media, and banking tools is creating an unprecedented opportunity for global social change. Companies like Qik are enabling citizen journalists to broadcast live video feeds from their mobile phones, and remote farmers in Kenya are using mobile banking to sell goods and receive loans via SMS.
"This is a landmark event - the first time a social change conference is exploring the opportunities coming out of the synergies between mobile apps, games, media, and banking. Mobile phones represent the largest distribution platform in the world - ten million new mobile subscribers are added each month in India alone, with over 3 billion users worldwide - half the world's population," said Lawrence Bender, Film Producer of An Inconvenient Truth.
"Soon it will be technically possible to connect over 70% of the world's population - that connectivity provides the greatest opportunity in human history for real-time social movements that can positively shape the future of the human race."
SPONSORS
WIRED Magazine is the Presenting Sponsor, Qik is the Keynote Sponsor, AMD is the Mobile Games4Change Sponsor, Phonevite is an Exhibitor Sponsor and Yahoo is The Hollywood Hill Conference Sponsor. MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Don Julio Tequila and St. Supery Vineyard are Product Sponsors.
10 EXCITING CONVERSATIONS THAT WILL TAKE PLACE
1. Jason Tanz, Senior Editor from Wired Magazine, will be leading discussions with MySpace, MTV, and Qik on their plans for mobile media.
2. Peter Duke, gaming specialist and veteran of Steven Spielberg's GameWorks and Richard Branson's Virgin will be leading the discussion on mobile games with Nokia, ZMQ, EA, and ShuffleBrain.
3. Enjoy a kick-ass cocktail reception at the home of Film Producer Ari Arad. Come have some Don Julio shots, practice live streaming from your phone in Ari's Qik-enabled screening room, and mingle on one of his tree-top patios with some new friends.
4. Dr. Subhi Quraishi is flying in from India to give a presentation on the mobile games he's developing to tackle HIV and Climate Change, and Prenatal Care in the developing world. Check out this Wall Street Journal coverage from September 1st: http://www.livemint.com/2008/09/01010654/For-women-in-villages-prenata.html
5. Follow Gary Oldman's creative process as he shoots the music video "Red Rover" for Jewish Hip Hop Band Chutzpah by catching the Advance Screening of short film TAKE FLIGHT, the directing debut of actress Juliet Landau.
6. Karl Hedrick and Raja Sengupta - the two heads of the Center for Collaborative Control of Unmanned Vehicles (C3UV) at UC Berkeley - are flying in from San Francisco to give a presentation on the iPhone software they developed to control legions of robots for disaster relief or squadrons of surveillance drones for the military.
7. Don't miss the Premiere of SURFING AT 32°F, a new music video for Eskimohunter shot by Guardian journalist Mike Hodgkinson entirely on Nokia mobile phones.
8. One of the leaders in "artificial artificial intelligence" from MIT Design Lab - Nathan Eagle - is flying in to present the system he developed enabling the 2 billion mobile phone subscribers living in the developing world to earn small amounts of money by completing short, SMS-based tasks.
9. See the demonstration by Jackie Danicki of Qik on how to shoot live video from your cell phone and stream it over the Internet - a technology that's about to flip investigative journalism on its head.
10. Learn how to send a text message by just talking into your phone courtesy of Yap and their new voice recognition technology. Learn how to record an audio clip and send it to thousands of mobile phones instantaneously via SMS technology developed by Phonevite.
In addition to the panels and presentations, the summit will also feature a mobile film premiere and advance screening.
FILM PREMIERE - SURFING AT 32°F
The Premiere of SURFING AT 32°F will take place on Friday, September 12th, at 4:00pm. Directed by journalist Mike Hodgkinson, and shot entirely on Nokia mobile phones, Surfing at 32°F is a music video for Eskimohunter. The premiere will be followed by Q&A with director Mike Hodgkinson.
Film Blurb: The music video for "Surfing at 32ºF" (by Eskimohunter) is the latest Nokia Nseries video project from writer and director, Mike Hodgkinson. It was created entirely on cell phone devices. In 2006 Mike shot and directed the video for "Oceans" by Rob Dickinson (former singer from U.K. rock band, Catherine Wheel). "Oceans" was a landmark in mobile, guerilla film-making – it was the first music video shot on a Nokia N93 device; the first ever cell-phone video to incorporate CGI special effects; and the first cell phone music video featuring underwater and aerial footage.
"I turned a perspex kitchen tub upside down, and by holding the N93 in the air pocket I was able to shoot some really sharp underwater sequences," says Mike. "To get the aerial shots, I attached an N93 to a bunch of helium balloons – you just couldn't do that with a conventional camera: it would be too heavy."
With "Surfing at 32ºF" Mike continues to open up the possibilities of no-budget, mobile film-making by putting Nokia's N93, N93i and N95 devices through their paces via more groundbreaking techniques. He used a 100-foot monorail made from fishing line for overhead/tracking shots, as well as color filters adapted from chocolate wrappers.
"I experimented with conventional photographic filters but found that the candy wrapper versions gave me better results," says Mike. "The small imperfections in the wrappers caught the light and flared-out the sun, which looks stunning."
With "Surfing at 32ºF", Mike hopes to inspire other mobile film-makers to explore fresh possibilities, and highlights the potential for great cell-phone cinematography. "I really enjoyed working Eskimohunter, a great L.A. band that has made a habit of striking out in creative, multimedia directions," says Mike.
Eskimohunter was formed by Los Angeles-based artist Jason71 in 2002, and retains a strong cult following on the West Coast. By bringing additional lighting and visual projection equipment to every show, Eskimohunter intentionally blurs the lines between media. The band's blissful sound draws on stacked harmonies, symphonic electronics and layered, fuzzy pop. "Surfing at 32ºF" appears on the Musical Snowglobe Machine E.P. Jason71 is currently working on a new conceptual multimedia Eskimohunter release, featuring guest musicians Ulrich Schnauss and Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Brad Laner.
ADVANCE SCREENING - TAKE FLIGHT
An Advance Screening of TAKE FLIGHT will take place on Saturday, September 13th at 3:15pm. Directed by Juliet Landau, Take Flight is a short documentary exploring actor/director Gary Oldman's creative process as he uses Nokia cellphones to shoot the music video "Red Rover" for the Jewish Hip Hop band Chutzpah. Take Flight is Juliet's directing debut. The screening will be followed by Q&A with Director Juliet Landau and Director of Photography Deverill Weekes.
Film Blurb: Gary Oldman directed a music video (Red Rover) for the Jewish Hip Hop band Chutzpah. The video was shot on Nokia cellphones. What started out solely as a behind the scenes “making of,” turned into a film about Gary’s creative process. Much of the film is told from Gary’s POV as he operates one of the “cell-cams.” We see the genesis of his ideas and then his precision in carrying them out. Watching Gary work in this way truly celebrates the spirit of Independent, no-budget filmmaking, where innovation and talent reign. Ultimately achieving a seamless creative flow, his playful, childlike freedom of expression and exploration take flight.
Take Flight website: http://julietlandautakeflight.com
PANELS and PRESENTATIONS
BigBrainBoy's Mobile Media Summit is designed to identify how we can use these new mobile techologies to revolutionize the world. Through a combination of morning panels and afternoon presentations, we'll be exploring mobile applications, media, games, banking. Niche topics will include content distribution, live video broadcasting, biometric security, location-based technologies, and innovative revenue models.
The Hollywood Hill is hosting this event to bring its Hollywood members of film, television and music professionals together with the mobile industry's leading innovators for an exchange of knowledge and ideas on how best to use these technologies to shape the future, and to showcase new mobile products just hitting the market.
Friday Panels & Presentations
• Mobile Applications
• Mobile Media
Saturday Panels & Presentations
• Mobile Games4Change
• Mobile Banking
Speakers/Panelists include:
• Amy Jo Kim | Principle | ShuffleBrain
• Chris Swain | Co-Director | EA Game Innovation Lab
• Eduardo Sciammarella | CEO | Protohaus
• Igor Jablokov | CEO | Yap
• Jason Tanz | Senior Editor | WIRED Magazine
• Brandon Lucas | Business Development | MySpace Mobile
• Jackie Danicki | Marketing Director | Qik
• John Nahm | CEO | Phonevite
• Jonathan Donner | Researcher | Technology for Emerging Markets Group, Microsoft Research India
• Karl Hedrick | Principal Investigator | C3UV
• Loretta Michaels | Partner | HMS Wireless
• Martin Hecko | Product Manager | Adobe
• Michael Bergen | Business Development, Games | Nokia
• Mike Malone | Mobile Developer | Pounce
• Nathan Eagle | MIT Design Lab
• Parie Markowitz | Partnership, Marketing & Product Manager, Mobile | MTV
• Phil Libin | CEO | Evernote
• Peter Duke | CEO | dukeMedia
• Raja Sengupta | Associate Professor | C3UV
• Sean DeWitt | Program Manager | Grameen Technology Center
• Dr. Subhi Quraishi | CEO | ZMQ Software India
For further information on The Hollywood Hill or BigBrainBoy's Mobile Media Summit, please visit www.hhill.org and http://mobile.hhill.org and or email contact@hhill.org