Digital Hollywood, which recently concluded at the Skirball Center in Brentwood, offered a sneak preview of what our digital future will look like. Augmented reality and virtual reality are still the talk of the town, as they have been for several years now.
I tried on some goggles and earphones at the Hear360 booth. As I turned slowly in a circles, I could “see,” in 3D, several musicians forming circle around me. One was playing drums, another saxophone, another trombone, another guitar, etc. When I was facing one musician and stepped a bit closer, the clarity of that musician’s sound was amazing.
In addition to music, think of how this could open up the worlds of documentary making, online gaming, virtual travel and movie viewing on one’s device.
At Digital Hollywood, there are lots of filmmakers, financiers and attorneys. There is a “let’s make a deal” quality in the air. Brian MacMahon, who runs Expert DOJO in Santa Monica, told people looking for funding to remember at all times that “investors invest in you.” Every communication, every chance meeting, every email, your body language, your voice – people are sizing you up at all times, said MacMahon.
Crowdfunding, barely on anyone’s radar a few years ago, is now a headliner topic, as is anything having to do with promoting media projects via social media. It goes even deeper than this. There were panels that explored the neuroscience of influence. Why do some messages work better than others? Why we do “hear” certain influencers more readily than others? And how will artificial intelligence impact us in the future? Layer in some robotics, stir in a few drones, drop in a little bitcoin and then spice things up with a new streaming video service or two, and very quickly, your head begins to spin.
The conference, produced by Victor Harwood, is held at the Skirball every May and October. It’s an opportunity to quickly connect with others working on interesting projects.
