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 Technology Shifts: ITVS and the Digital Revolution By Elizabeth Meyer 
In this ever-evolving world, ITVS has provided leadership for the independent field, as new technologies avail themselves and alter media as we know it. Through vigilance, foresight and good old-fashioned opportunism, ITVS has secured footholds for independents and their programs in a vastly shifting topography. In 1995, the first digital video camcorders were introduced and within a few years, independents were taking advantage of the small size and relative ease of use of the new medium. Recognizing the changes underway, ITVS launched the DV99 funding initiative in 1999, issuing a call for proposals that utilized DV to produce innovative work on a more limited budget and turnaround time. That initiative (held again in 2000) yielded 17 shows that have since aired on PBS. Also in 1999, the FCC mandated that direct broadcast satellite (DBS) providers offer four percent of their channels to nonprofits. Seizing the opportunity for independents and public interest programming, ITVS partnered with media organization InterNews and won one of the highly prized channels. The result, WorldLink TV (later LinkTV), became the nation's first international public affairs channel offering 24-hour-a-day coverage of global issues and culture—a major foothold in the digital broadcasting sphere. In more recent years, change within the field of media has undoubtedly been accelerating. As digital technology promises new avenues of distribution for programming—via the Web, cell phones and iPods—new opportunities and challenges arise. Just as technology seems to open new doors for distribution, corporate interests find ways to close them. In this changing landscape, it is critical that independents remain competitive. Keeping a place for independents at the forefront of new broadcast technology is a priority for ITVS. In 2003, ITVS participated in the American Film Institute's Enhanced TV Workshop, which selects media projects to develop interactive television prototypes. ITVS's Independent Lens was one of two noncommercial projects selected that year. Working with a production and design team as well as the filmmakers, ITVS faced hard questions: Would the eTV Workshop team create something more than a website? What are the consequences of adding content but disrupting the flow of the program? "If we're going to help indies face the digital tide, these are the day-to-day questions ITVS will have to answer," Independent Lens Producer Lois Vossen said. "And our producers have taught us one thing: The best way to learn is to dive right in." ITVS has also acted as a guide and information source for filmmakers (now media makers) navigating the new digital terrain. Co-hosted by ITVS, the 2004 Digital Indies conference convened innovators in film, music, games, technology, art and media policy to address the question, what do media makers need to know to survive and thrive in the digital age? Conference attendees came away with a heightened sense of the challenges of digital media, and of the potentials for cross-fertilization between "old" and "new" media. At the event, ITVS and The Center for Social Media debuted the indispensable Digital Futures: A Need-to-Know Policy Guide for Independent Filmmakers. Available in print and downloadable online, the guide includes a glossary of technology terms, expert analysis of today's legal, distribution and funding landscape and a directory of digital resources for independents.
Looking to the future of broadcast technology, the entire PBS system is on the cusp of a digital conversion. In the years to come, PBS viewers will access programming via Web-streaming, video-on-demand and podcasting. ITVS stands ready to ensure that the work of independents will be accessible in this new world. "All of this is really future tense for us," Thyken added. "We don't yet know how it will all shake out, but we know that we will be players in the digital marketplace." For the future of independents and the future of public media, ITVS will continue to seize opportunities and meet the challenges of the digital age. |
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