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Discover Movie Mavericks @ Cinequest Festival

posted by Ken Kaplan on February 23, 2008

From celluloid to silicon, that’s the innovative spirit of the Cinequest Film Festival that runs from February 27 to March 9 in San Jose, California.

For 18 years, it’s been Silicon Valley’s film festival with a technological edge spotlighting innovation in movie making. It also can help movie makers get their new movies distributed digitally through Jaman, which is a global network delivering movies in high-def quality to Macs, PCs or home entertainment systems. To date, through its PPV/VOD partners and DVD label, over five million people have viewed Cinequest Distribution films.

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This year’s Cinequest is off the chain: An estimate 80,000 people will attend the 12-day event with parties every night, live music, technology in film conversations and 275 films from around the world. Thirty-seven features are World and U.S. premieres and there are over 100 first-time, emerging film artists represented from 34 countries

You can join Maverick Tribute Guests:

  • Danny Glover of “Lethal Weapon” and “To Sleep with Anger”
  • Michael Keaton of “Batman” and “Beetlejuice”
  • Michael Arndt of “Academy Award Winner Best Original Screenplay Little Miss Sunshine”
  • Bobby Moresco, writer/producer “Crash” and “Million Dollar Baby”

On February 29, our own silicon celebrity Don MacDonald will be on the scene for the Always On sponsored conversation called “A Conclave of Maverick Minds Present the “New” TV.” He’ll be joined by Jeff Karnes of VoloMedia, the advertising, metrics and reporting service for downloadable media. I’ll be there to shoot video and hope to provide highlights in a near future post.

This is the third year Intel has sponsored Cinequest, which has been building an irresistible reputation among innovative film makers. It was one of the first festivals to help get featured films available on the Internet for download in DVD quality. The Film and Technology Forum is a bit of a Cinequest signature. According to the festival site:

Chris Gore, author of The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide has stated: “This festival is one that sets the trends and is actually ahead of the trends. Other festivals are copying Cinequest; I see it all the time…You find the future of film at Cinequest.”

In particular, Intel is sponsoring “The Day” of series that combines workshops, presentations and behind-the-scenes information about the world of film, including:

Find something to fit your tastes on this roster of films.

Hope to see you there. Let us know what you’re planning to see, and tales from past Cinequest delights.

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Feb 24  |  Ken Kaplan said:

Get even more primed. There are over 30 cool movie trailers on the Cinequest YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/cinequest.

Mar 01  |  DCSmitty said:

Typo alert. The digital movie distributor is Jaman, not Jama.

Mar 01  |  Ken Kaplan said:

@DCSmitty — thanks for the typo alert.

I attended yesterday’s panel “A Conclave of Maverick Minds Present the “New” TV” with about 40 or more people in the audience. It was engaging and the two hours flew by.

My quick summary: We are seeing lots of new technologies, from movie delivery via download to high quality video streaming to new devices that are built for getting and watching movies and videos on the go. But we’re still early in the transition. Consumer preference and demand will play big roles in how movie makers get their movies to big or narrow focused audiences. There are lots of businesses and creative people helping speed up the change to a time when…if you want a movie, you get it your way from almost anywhere you are.

During the panel, I captured video of the first hour. I will share what Intel’s Don MacDonald shared with the audience. And wow, after the presentation people stuck around for an hour to talk to Don! They asked about technologies like Silverthorne chips for mobile Internet devices, WiMAX for long range and mobile high speed wireless Internet and about the potential impact as more companies like Intel advertise and move marketing resources online. What a great, deeply interested group of movie and technology enthusiasts.

Here’s a video interview with Don, shot by NewTeeVee http://blip.tv/file/707730.

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