Introducing ITVS’s 2011 Digital Survey

By Matthew Meschery

The following is an excerpt from the executive summary of the 2011 ITVS Digital Survey. The findings, which are available for download below, offer new trends on the digital media environment with a particular focus on independent producers.

Who put the audience in charge? Technology, demographic shifts, and a globalized economy have all shaped a 21st century media ecosystem where power has shifted away from traditional broadcasters and gatekeepers. It’s a shift that’s revolutionized where, how, and why people use media. And content makers and distributors are playing catch-up, trying to figure out ways to reach viewers, make money, and break through the deafening noise of the marketplace.
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Tags: business models, digital distribution, Digitial, matthew meschery, new media, revenue, Social Media, technology

Public Media Invests in Games for Change

By Matthew Meschery

The ITVS-funded Garbage Dreams Game was recognized at this year’s eight annual Games for Change Festival in New York City. Matthew Meschery heads up ITVS’ digital initiatives and participated in one of the festival’s panel, entitled “Public Media and Games.”

So, what does public media have to do with games? Well, with the exception of PBS Kids, there are few examples to date of games being produced within public media. However, that may be about to change. During our panel, representatives from both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities announced changes to their classification guidelines to accept proposals for games. I was happy to report that at ITVS we are currently funding several gaming projects that are companion elements to ITVS-funded documentary films. Although these represent small steps, perhaps this is the beginning of a move within public media to embrace games for general audiences, beyond the excellent content that PBS develops for children.
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Tags: digital, games, games for change, garbage dreams game, matthew meschery, New York City, world without oil

Independent Producers Get Hooked Up Digitally

Producers and filmmakers convened in Boston last month for the annual CPB/PBS Producers Workshop. The program, started 10 years ago by veteran WGBH producer Judith Vecchione, has trained more than 190 producers from some 40 states, and ITVS has participated in every class since the beginning. ITVS’ Senior Programming Manager, Richard Saiz, spent an entire day giving feedback to producers at the workshop. Matthew Meschery, Director of Digital Initiatives at ITVS, was also on hand. He co-facilitated a workshop on new-media and filed this report.

From the Producers Workshop in Boston

This was the first time I had attended the Producers Workshop in any capacity and it was also the first year they designated an entire class on the broad subject of new media. I was thankful for being invited and thankful that the Workshop’s Director, Judith Vecchione, WGBH, and CPB recognized new media as an integral part of a producer’s training in working with public television. Oh yes, and I was thankful for the air conditioning in the WGBH building (I had forgotten just how humid New England can be in the summer).

The session was co-facilitated by myself, Dave Peth, interactive producer at WGBH and Dan Sonnet, interactive producer for PBS. We decided to structure the first part of the session as an overview, covering a wide range of topics from trends in trans-media storytelling, to social media (a formal debate of the pros and cons of Facebook and Twitter), to digital distribution, to games (you’d be surprised how much documentary producers know about digital games). We then spent the latter half of our three-hour session discussing some new media projects that the producers were working on. Projects ranged from a role-playing game to an episodic web series, to a user-generated content campaign. It was exciting to have producers share their ideas with us and their peers so openly and accept honest and constructive feedback considering this is a relatively new discipline for all of us.

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Tags: boston, CPB, digitial media, documentary, judith vecchione, matthew meschery, PBS, producers workshiop, wgbh