m:brane Opening Industry Conference March 12th 2024 in Malmö:

Igniting New Perspectives: Reshaping Media Creation

Curated by Creative Director Annette Brejner

The Opening Industry Conference presents you with a rich array of sessions, each curated to deliver insight, inspiration, and practical tools.

We’re surrounded by an abundance of digital content that impacts the entire media ecosystem, from content and storytelling to means of production, promotion, distribution…and more. Where’s this leading us? How might we best integrate fresh perspectives?  Leverage new opportunities? And how to get onboard while moving at speed? It’s an exhilarating journey and we’re committed to contributing in meaningful ways.

We’re convening a vibrant group of international experts and thought leaders on March 12th 2024…and you’re invited. Come join us for what promises to be a wealth of compelling discussions among global creatives, producers, financiers, distributors, sales agents and other industry insiders.

Whether you’re looking to explore diverse development opportunities, invigorate your thinking, or just network at a high level, this conference promises to energize and empower participants to plot their own unique course in the changing digital media landscape.

The entity of the conference program is part of mL/ m:brane Learning

Welcome by Managing Director Lennart Ström and moderator Mark Shayler.

Speaker: Mark Shayler, UK

In the spirit of shaking things up, we start with a trick question: If you want to change the world; is it better to think big, or think small?  Moderator Mark Shayler has quite literally written the book on disruption and is passionate about turning these kinds of questions inside-out. As a strategist and business consultant for multi-national companies, he’ll share principles from his practice for thinking differently, and how you can integrate the approach into your own projects and beyond. Buckle up.

Speakers: Nina Diamond, US & Maïté Labat, FR

We continue to witness epic changes in the digital landscape and media sector. As real and virtual worlds collide and blur, the implications are far-reaching. For our OPENING SESSION, we’ve invited two international thought leaders, Nina Diamond and Maïté Labat, to interpret this liminal space and share their insights as veteran digital media producers and strategists. Nina Diamond and Maïté Labat have workshopped together at various occasions. Here they are bringing global perspectives informed by prior work at some of the world’s leading art museums, cultural institutions and industries including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre museum, and the Palace Versailles, and we have invited them to focus on personal reflections and hopes for the future. What opportunities might emerging tech offer for the challenges facing pluralism in a complex world?  Are there new prospects for storytelling, whether in linear narratives, immersive experiences, documentaries, game worlds or graphic novels?  How might digital media be a constructive element in reimaging ourselves and our planet?  We’ll welcome your questions and ideas, so please jump into the Q & A following their conversation

Speaker: Sönke Kirchhof, DE

First we introduce you to the classic story of “Peter and the Wolf”, but this time told in VR. Producer Sönke Kirchhof, Founder and CEO, INVR.SPACE will take us behind-the-scenes of the production and share key takeaways. During the coffee break you can have a look at this work-in-progress for yourself, on the Oculus Quest provided.

Shorter break with light refreshments, to keep your blood sugar at bay.

Speakers: Elisabeth Wenk & Christina Maria Schollerer, DE

Our day continues with our second case-study. For half a century, the GOLDEN SPARROW has been Germany’s leading festival for audiovisual children’s content. In addition to films and TV content, the GOLDEN SPARROW today presents the best German-speaking digital storytelling works for children. Elisabeth Wenk and Christina Maria Schollerer, the Head of Festival and the Head of the Digital Competition respectively, give an insight into their work with these quality-driven digital storytelling projects, their target groups and creators, and with the festival’s jury, consisting solely of children.

If you’re seeking guidance for professional project development under the always changing perspectives, we’ve got you covered.

Hosts: Matias K. Seidler & Christian Villum, DK

AI-speaker: Flora Fikzioni

The audience is now invited to peek into both their own and the media industry’s potential future through an engaging, interactive AI-driven simulation scenario unfolding on stage. Here, you are invited to make choices about the captivating storyline as it unfolds. Alongside the rest of the audience, you will steer your very own industry insider, the fictional character Flora Fikzioni. She is a young Nordic producer tasked with using artificial intelligence to advance her career. Flora has been granted exceptional access to the yet-to-be-released ChatGPT 5 for two days, allowing her to boost her career and uniquely create a project with the help of future artificial intelligence.
As AI presents Flora with a series of opportunities and dilemmas, participants will guide her in resolving them using a set of response options created on the spot and presented by generative AI. The hosts of this interactive role-play are the designers Matias K. Seidler, KHORA, and Christian Villum of Spraengfarlig ApS who custom-built this AI tool for m:brane.  They will introduce you to its varied capabilities and guide you as the story unfolds. Delegates are invited to continue discussing Flora’s journey and the broader debates surrounding AI during the networking coffee break that follows.
This initiative is supported by Region Skåne.

A little longer break with sandwiches and beverages, to keep you hydrated and in a continuos vivid mood.

Speaker: Simon Jon Andreasen introduced by Elin Algreen-Petersen

After hearing case studies and test-driving new tools, you may now be curious how to apply what you’ve learned to a project of your own – regardless in which part of the industry you work.

Come leverage the artistic research of a seasoned multi-media director to understand how a story can be developed across media and platforms. Join Simon Jon Andreasen, PhD of Norway’s Game School in this MASTERCLASS in “The Star Method – Understand World Building for Five Platforms.” He’ll start out by walking the audience through the method he invented. Next he’ll lead you in crafting your own original story-world in a ten-minute speed workshop that’s been designed especially for m:brane. This fast-paced workshop will provide you with both inspiration and practical skills for the future.  The star method is developed in collaboration with the Cross Media School of Children’s Fiction, who’s Head Elin Algreen-Petersen will introduce us to the master class.

Speakers: Emilie Blézat & David Dusa, SE

We’ll close the day in the same open spirit of curiosity and dialogue that distinguish the entire conference. Join us for a final presentation from a company that has already embraced some of the tools and ideas we have presented on this stage. We welcome Emilie Blézat, the CEO, Producer & IP Creator behind Dark Riviera– The IP Boutique, whose company breaks the mold on traditional platform-centric thinking. Discover how it cultivates a cohesive brand across various platforms in this DEEP DIVE discussion with her collaborator, the IP Creator, Writer/Director David Dusa. Together they’ll unpack their innovative business model and creation process that reach distinct and diverse target audiences, including that elusive demographic: youth.

Closing statement by moderator Mark Shayler.

After a full day of inspiring questions, ideas and discovery, all the m:brane delegates will stroll over to Malmö’s Konsthall, one of Europe’s largest exhibition halls for contemporary art, and continue the conversation at the Opening Networking Cocktail co-hosted by INVR.SPACE GmbH, DE at restaurant SMAK.

Cheers and Skål!