Can Digital Game Publishing Show Us The Way?
It’s widely acknowledged that indie film distribution is undergoing a sea change. With such evolution afoot, great deals get harder to find -- if you can find one at all -- and many filmmakers are scrambling to adapt to a new Do-It-(All)–Yourself economy, or settling for giving up all their rights for an old-school deal and just hoping for the best.
Meanwhile across the aisle, another kind of digital creative industry thrives with success: indie video games. Even tiny little indie projects can make it in the world of video games, thanks to the full-service ethic of its Publishers. Acting more like record labels or book publishers than traditional movie distributors, these all-in-one digital partners offer indie game developers support, distribution and marketing/awareness strategy, consolidated under one roof.
What can these indie rockstars teach us about distributing and promoting digital content that the film world hasn’t caught onto yet?
Presenters
Adam Klaff
Dir of Business Dev
VHX
Adam Klaff runs business development for VHX, a digital distribution platform that enables filmmakers to sell their work directly from their own websites. Previously, he was Vice President for Scott Rudin Productions. He holds a B.A. in History from The George Washington University and lives in New York City.
Mike Morasky
Audio Dir & Composer & Rep
Valve Software/Steam
Morasky's life and career sounds a lot like one of the post-modern audio collages he is so fond of creating. Teenage guitar player in a bar band in Montana; award-winning experimental composer in Tokyo; audio hardware programmer in Silicon Valley; underground art rocker touring the world; 3D animator and director for television; electronic audio collage artist in France and Japan; visual fx artist on The Lord of the Rings and Matrix trilogies; AI animation instructor at an art college. These days, Mike is doing some combination of all these things at Valve.
Mike Wilson
Partner & Funslinger
Devolver Digital Films
Mike Wilson is 20-year veteran of the computer and video game industry with executive positions at id Software, Ion Storm, Gathering of Developers (aka GodGames), and Gamecock Media Group, now a founding partner of Devolver Digital and Devolver Digital Films, announced at SXSW 2013. He and his partners pride themselves on helping indies find their way to global audiences, while always allowing creative control and IP ownership to reside with the creators.
Stephanie Tinsley Schopp
Principal
Tinsley PR
Stephanie Tinsley Schopp has been at the forefront of digital entertainment engagement hoisting indie and AAA games into the spotlight for almost a decade. As principal of boutique PR firm Tinsley PR, she’s led communication outreach and engagement campaigns for dozens of publishers and titles from the industry’s best publishers of interactive entertainment.
Will Turnbull
VP of Business Dev
Humble Bundle
Will Turnbull is the VP of Business Development at Humble Bundle, a digital distribution platform that bundles awesome cross-platform games, movies, music and books. Humble Bundle puts the power directly in the hands of the consumers, offering them fully-featured titles at prices they set themselves. Consumers pay what they want, and decide how to allocate their money between developers, charity and a humble tip. Thanks to the generous contributions of bundle buyers, Humble Bundle has raised more than $30 million for charity to date.
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