Johanna's blog from Realscreen: Wednesday 3 February

by jbolhoven on 03-Feb-10 16:34

Wednesday 3 February

People braved the snow to attend the UK networking event held at the Henley Park Hotel. Approx. 70 people came along and the companies enjoyed an informal networking opportunity with US poduction companies, Cineflix, PBS International, C4i, and Silverdocs, among others. We were event treated to a couple of show tunes from Steve Humphries [Testimony Films] on the piano.



Tuesday was the busiest day in the UK meeting room which saw meetings with Wall to Wall, Animal Planet, BBC Worldwide and ITV Studios Global Entertainment. Overall companies have been very positive about the Summit with many considering a return visit next year. Check back later for more detailed feedback from the delegates.......



Today’s workshops include ‘21st Century Factual’, ‘Everything you always wanted to know from a Commissioning Editor but were afraid to ask’, and ‘Integrated Budgets, Schedules, Cash Flows and Actuals for Reality and Doc TV’.

Johanna's blog from Realscreen: Tuesday 2 February

by jbolhoven on 03-Feb-10 16:24

Tuesday 2 February
The Summit has kicked off to a great start and the 12th edition looks set to be the biggest in its history, with more speakers and registered delegates than ever before.

The  had a steady flow of traffic throughout the day as companies dipped in and out between workshop sessions (the most useful being reported as ‘Speed Pitching’ and ’30 minutes with....’) and their own one-to-one meetings.  Among those visiting the delegation on Monday were Animal Planet, National Geographic and Discovery, to name but a few.

As with previous summits, activity takes place in the ‘conference centre’ basement of the Renaissance Washington Hotel, although many one-to-one meeting s are conducted in the hotel lobby/bar/starbucks. The hosted meeting rooms (including ours) can be found on the first floor and on the ground is the delegate lounge, conference halls and exhibitors corridor. Companies enjoyed a further networking opportunity at the Opening Party and this sci-fi geek was delighted to spot Joe Pantoliano, aka Cypher in The Matrix, in the crowd.



Tuesday starts with a Keynote Interview with Abbie Raven, President & CEO of A&E Television Networks followed by more ‘speed pitching’ sessions, ‘Ethics in Non-Fiction Filmmaking’, ‘Producing Programming for the Global Market’, ‘Bringing in the Brands’, ‘3DTV’ and of course the UK networking event.  RSVP’s stand at 95 and include representatives from Nat Geo, Silverdocs, Cineflix, ITV Studios Global Entertainment, Science Channel, TVF International and Discovery.

Johanna's blog from Realscreen, Washington DC

by jbolhoven on 01-Feb-10 13:07

Sunday 31 January

The UK has landed...literally! When we arrived in Washington DC we were greeted with 4-inches of snow, but they’re not scared of the white stuff over here, the plane landed, applied the emergency brake and we came to an instant halt!

The weather doesn’t seem to have deterred delegates and the hotel has already started to fill up with companies keen to take advantage of early registration and meet key contacts at the pre-Summit welcome drinks, sponsored by the Discovery Channel. Over 1,300 delegates are expected to attend this year’s event and one delegate was even heard to say that the Summit has become more important than MIP  for factual and documentary producer - this is where you need to be!
We spent some time setting up the UK meeting room (room 12-14 on level two - come and say 'hello' if you are attending) which the UK delegation companies can use throughout the 3-day Summit. They are also represented in the January/February edition of the Realscreen magazine [with a full page ad], and feature on all associated signage and literature as one of the official delegations.

The Summit is set to be jam packed with sessions and one-to-one meetings. Day One (Monday 1 February) includes workshops on ‘Music and Media Licensing – Hitting the Right Notes’, ‘American Archives’, ‘Ask the Expert – Producers Legal Counsel’, ‘International Coproduction – Making it Work’ and ‘Speed Pitching’, to name but a few, and culminates in the Opening Night Party, sponsored by the History Channel.
Check back for regular updates as the week progresses...