Tonight we’ll be streaming

// November 19th, 2009 // No Comments » // LA

For those attending and for those who can’t make it to the live event we’ve built a special conference dash board. There will be ways to join the discussion and share resources in addition to seeing a live stream from the event.

Conference Dashboard

Speaker Highlight: Marc Horowitz

// November 19th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // LA

Marc Horowitz is many things: a virtual cross country explorer, a comedic performance enthusiast, sheep shearer, social experimentalist, and possibly the first would-be inventor of a brick-house, diesel-truck, hybrid helicopter.

His most recent digital adventure landed him on NPR’s Weekend Edition – discussing the Los Angeles to Richmond, Virginia road trip he and friend, Peter Baldes, took via Google Maps without ever leaving their homes. Prior to that, Marc was challenged to to live 168 hours straight in a 2007 Sentra for the “Seven Days in a Sentra” national ad campaign.

And before his rise to fame with Nissan, Marc spent the better part of a entire year traveling from stranger’s home to stranger’s home for dinner, all along a route determined by a coast-to-coast signature on a US map.

Other projects include: the Talkshow247 internet broadcast, his involvement with the Center for Improved Living, The Me & You Show, the Human Video Game experiment, and well, you get the idea. Marc is a busy man, with many talents. He is currently developing both a non-scripted and scripted shows for TV and web.

Q & A:

What excites you about the future?

Global Warming. Not really. I lied. Maybe Laser Disks will make a come back?

What’s a site you couldn’t live without?

Google Maps. I know… boring… but true… and you know it. At least I didn’t just say google.

What’s something you wish you would have known before you found out the hard way?

That you can get mouth herpes from eating undercooked monk fish. It’s not a good idea to get on an onramp at 65 miles an hour. Root canals are actually REALLY painful. And Neil Young, turns out, is not that friendly in person.

Learn more about Marc on his blog – which was named by Dazed & Confused Magazine as one of the 50 Best Websites. Or follow him often hilarious updates on twitter.

DIY DAYS speakers and schedule

// November 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // LA

THANK YOU
We’re excited that you’ll be able to join us tomorrow for DIY DAYS LA. The following are a couple logistical issues to help make your experience at the event better.

LOCATION:
Downtown Independent Theater
251 S. Main Street
Los Angeles, California 90012
http://www.downtownindependent.com/events/diy-days-la

PARKING
In terms of parking there are a number of parking lots and garages
within walking distance of the theater. The closest is a parking lot
located next store.

6pm to 6:30pm Registration
6:30pm to 10:30pm Program
10:30pm to 11:30pm mixer / party with DJ

REGISTRATION
Opens at 6pm and we recommend you arrive early because we are expecting a large turnout. (If you don’t plan on attending please let us know as we’d like to make some room for others who are on the wait list.)

Another benefit to coming early is that there will be 10 slots available for “one minute” open mic sessions. Now a minute doesn’t sound like a lot but it is enough time to say “What you’re working on and what you’re looking for.” This was a very popular aspect of the last DIY DAYS event in Philadelphia and resulted in some interesting collaborations and networking opportunities. These 10 slots are available on a first come first serve basis. If there is time within the schedule we might go beyond the 10 slots.

BRING A LAPTOP
There is wifi in the space and we encourage you to bring a laptop. There will be some interesting ways for you to participate in the evening and with the speakers themselves.

AFTER PARTY / SOCIAL MIXER
Following the last session there will be an after party / social mixer. It is a cash bar and there will be some drink specials. The proceeds of the cash bar go directly to helping support the Downtown Independent Theater.

Speaker Highlight: Steve Peters

// November 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // LA

Steve Peters has been behind the scenes of some of the largest transmedia projects of the last 10 years – including recent work for the feature films Watchmen, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Dark Knight.

Creator of the ARG Gaming Network (in 2002), former Director for 42 Entertainment, and now founding partner at No Mimes Media – Steve is constantly neck deep in the art of using every tool available to build award-winning, interactive worlds around everything from big budget games to indie films.

Steve is the kind of new media professional I like the most: the kind that’s very easy to interact with online. You can follow Steve’s work and his updates via Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, BrightKite and TripIt. Steve will be joining Jan Libby on the topic of the “Art and Craft of Building ARGs”.

Q & A:

What excites you about the future?

While I don’t even pretend to know exactly what’s on the horizon technology-wise, etc., the one thing I do get excited about is the fact that I know I’m going to be working with some very cool, talented, visionary, fun people in the future, some of whom I haven’t even met, yet.

What’s a site you couldn’t live without?

Google Reader. I don’t surf the web, it all comes to me. There are definitely some social networking sites I desperately *wish* I could live without, but that’s life, I guess.

What’s something you wish you would have known before you found out the hard way?

I wish I’d have known that it’s better to trust my instincts when it comes to the stuff I know I do best, as opposed to letting myself get swayed by those who only think they know what they’re doing. A close second is the crappy AT&T mobile coverage I get at my house.

Speaker Highlight: Jan Libby

// November 17th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // LA

Anyone who’s ever heard of Lonelygirl15 knows of Jan Libby’s work – as an interactive ARG creator, she is responsible for crafting engaging experiences that take viewers / players to unexpected places.

Whether her involvement in indie games such as Sammeeeees, Wrath of Johnson, and Eldritch Errors, campaigns like Levi’s Go Forth, or her current indie developments for 36nine – Jan’s interest and expertise is in building entire worlds for an audience to not simply to enjoy, but to fully engage in.

No two storyworlds are exactly the same, and every new project requires a fresh look at the new tools available, the unique goals specific to that story, and how users need to interact to make the experience truly three dimensional. Jan will be speaking at DIY Days Los Angeles on the “Art and Craft of Building ARGs”.

Q & A:

What excites you about the future?

As a creator… creating work that can give people, that are not so tech savvy, entry into an alternate reality world. As a gamer & ARG enthusiast the next very cool rabbit hole and storyworld that’ll take me to somewhere else.

What’s a site you couldn’t live without?

Twitter. It’s a gateway and gathering spot for me personally and for my work (link: Jan’s twitter).

What’s something you wish you would have known before you found out the hard way?

That other people don’t always share all of my objectives. Knowing that now, I enter into partnerships or collaborations better prepared
for the road ahead.

Speaker Highlight: Dan Mirvish

// November 17th, 2009 // No Comments » // LA

Dan Mirvish, co-founder of the Slamdance Film Festival, will be speaking this Thursday on the subject of The Eisenstadt Experience, the fictional memoir of a campaign season. A storytelling experience that has spanned multiple mediums and even resulted in a political scandal.

A review by Jeremy Jacobs, of Politics Magazine, described the accompanying book, I Am Martin Eisenstadt: One Man’s (wildly inappropriate) Adventures with the Last Republicans, as “What Stephen Colbert is to Bill O’Reilly, Martin Eisenstadt is to countless political pundits. Hilarious…biting commentary on Washington, DC.”

Dan’s career doesn’t simply involve a highly successful film festival and a praise-worthy political satire, his feature film, Open House, completely reshaped the Oscar rules for (original) musicals. His directorial debut, Omaha, was mentored by none other than the legendary Robert Altman.

Q & A:

What excites you about the future?

The hope that Hollywood will now buy the rights to our book, and the wisdom to know that I’ll still get screwed. otherwise? flying cars and taking a cruise to the North Pole

What’s a site you couldn’t live without?

IMDB Pro (the only site I pay money for)

What’s something you wish you would have known before you found out the hard way?

That gravity and ladders don’t mix well

Follow Dan on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube – and be sure to RSVP if you’d like to see him speak at DIY Days Los Angeles.

Speaker Highlight: Jerry Paffendorf

// November 16th, 2009 // No Comments » // LA

Jerry Paffendorf has made a name for himself in taking unconventional approaches to everything from business models to social experiments. A self-proscribed artist, futurist, entrepreneur and swell guy – his work includes the Destroy Television project, the Metaverse Roadmap project, the Electric Sheep Company and Wello Horld.

Most recently Jerry has been committed full-time to a Detroit based project called LOVELAND. The idea mixes crowd sourcing – or as Jerry likes to call the project’s investors: “inchvestors”, an interactive storyline, a HQs inside the Russell Industrial Center studios, real-time video streaming mixed in with gaming, and group collaboration to build something very real and valuable on an empty lot east of Indian Village using the internet. What that “something” ends up being depends on the inchvestors who help shape and grow LOVELAND.

From the project’s about page: “Instead of shares in a company I’m offering square inches of space in Detroit and the ability to creatively contribute to the project in ways that I hope return value. It’s not a traditional proposition, but I don’t really think these are traditional times we’re in. Things are a little crazy.”

Q & A:

What excites you about the future?

More and more people being able to make a living doing what they love. Being able to create things as fast as you can imagine them. Being able to watch the whole world like a movie and track and interact with it like a game.

What’s a site you couldn’t live without?

Zombo.com (make sure your speakers are on).

What’s something you wish you would have known before you found out the hard way?

Your investors can throw you under a bus! Be transparent in any investor relationship and don’t be afraid to invite your audience into it. At the very least your audience can help save you from unfair treatment. If there are no eyes on the street, that’s when crime happens. So to speak.

Follow Jerry’s updates on his twitter account – or on the LOVELAND twitter account, he writes about his other personal adventures on 7 Billion Friends.

Speaker Highlight: Jesse Alexander

// November 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // LA

Jesse Alexander is a storyteller that has proven his worth in every medium – a writer and producer for everything from television (Lost, Alias, Heroes), to films, to video games, even comic books.

His interest in transmedia entertainment is the main focus of his personal blog, Global Couch, where the header to his site reads:

“The name Global Couch is a transmedia concept that describes a paradigm shift in the way audiences find their entertainment. The living room couch had always been the place where families shared an entertainment experience, now, it’s all the about the web. So grab a seat and pass the clicker, I mean the mouse.”

Jesse has most recently been neck deep in his labor-of-love, cross platform, post-apocalyptic, NBC miniseries: DAY ONE. Using a tightly connected network of comic books, online material, interactive gaming, apparel components, and, last but not least, a grass roots effort to draw people deeper into the mysterious story-world he has worked so hard to shape.

Q & A:

What excites you about the future?

Shooting broadcast quality video with Canon’s DSLR camera technology.

What’s a site you couldn’t live without?

Gizmodo.

What’s something you wish you would have known before you found out the hard way?

How to make an idea stick.

Follow Jesse’s updates on twitter, or watch for new behind the scene videos on his Vimeo account. RSVP today to see Jesse speak at the Downtown Independent Theater.

Speaker Highlight: Micki Krimmel

// November 13th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // LA

Micki Krimmel, also quite popularly known in wide online circles as Mickipedia, has always been ahead of the curve in both the “online world”, and it’s social implications in the real world.

Founder of the social sharing site NeighborGoods – a contributing author to WorldChanging, SXSW World, and Wired Magazine – responsible for creating and running the interactive department at Participant Productions, overseeing and building the communities around award winning films, including An Inconvenient Truth. Previously the Director of Community for Revver, recent winner of Oprah Magazine’s Woman Rule! competition for female leaders.

And of course, no introduction to Micki would be anywhere near complete without highlighting her (badass) involvement with the LA Derby Dolls – where she can often be found skating at break-your-face speeds in crowded, banked tracks – jamming her way through walls of teeth-gritting blockers.

Micki will be speaking about her personal and professional experiences with “Personas in the Digital Age” and how to build your own.

Q & A:

What excites you about the future?

The democratization of technology is empowering people to take their lives into their own hands. New media revolution is just the first part of that. Giving voice to the masses is just the beginning. Anyone can start their own business online. People can come together and create revolutions. They can break free of the consumer system by coming together and creating the lives they want for themselves. The same tools that are enabling globalization can be used to strengthen local communities and give people the means to become independent of unsustainable global systems.

What’s a site you couldn’t live without?

Twitter. I’m on it all day long, for my business and just for me. (link: @Mickipedia)

What’s something you wish you would have known before you found out the hard way?

I wish I would have known how to deal with commenters. I’ve learned now that the “OMG I love you”s are just as useless as the “you are the antichrist”s.

Speaker Highlight: Elan Lee

// November 11th, 2009 // No Comments » // LA

The genre of ARG entertainment is a fairly young one, and it’s history can’t be looked at without mentioning the first of it’s trail blazers, Elan Lee is universally acknowledged as one of the original creators of Alternate Reality Gaming. DIY Days is extremely excited to announce Lee as one of it’s featured speakers.

A core believer of the idea that if “you’re bored, then you’re doing something wrong”. His portfolio consist of interactive campaigns for X-Box, Spielberg’s A.I, Nine Inch Nails, Watchmen, The Dark Knight, and Halo II, to name a few. He has orchestrated large scale real-world adventures with radio dramas broadcasting out to thousands of pay-phones, founded (and co-founded) transmedia studios including: Forth Wall, 42 Entertainment, and EDOC Laundry all before the age of 35.

It goes without saying that Lee is as enthusiastic as he is creative – he has paved the way for interactivity in storytelling, blurring the typically solid-lines of entertainment and our real world experiences.

Q & A:

What excites you about the future?

The introduction of networked technology into entertainment is as significant as the invention of the printing press or the motion picture camera. I’m most excited to have the opportunity to define a new genre of storytelling.

What’s a site you couldn’t live without?

Has the large hadron collider destroyed the world yet? Link.

What’s something you wish you would have known before you found out the hard way?

The security guards at the Eiffel Tower take their jobs VERY seriously.

Follow Elan Lee on twitter, and be sure, if you haven’t yet, to reserve your free seat at this year’s Los Angeles DIY Days event.

Speaker Highlight: Jon Reiss

// November 10th, 2009 // No Comments » // LA

We’re less than two weeks away from the next DIY Days event in Los Angeles! Which means it’s time to start highlighting the exciting list of speakers we have lined up.

Making Variety’s top 10 list of “Digital Directors to Watch” is no easy feat – and the ambitious Jon Reiss has more than earned his place in top 10 list and the like. A critically acclaimed, three-time feature film veteran and, most recently, author of a DIY distribution book titled Think Outside the Box Office – Jon will be appropriately heading up a discussion on “DIY and why?”.

On top of Jon’s personal adventures with filmmaking, including his last film Bomb It, his expertise in hybrid solutions to every step of story telling stem heavily from his teaching position at California’s Institute for the Arts, where his class “Reel World Survival Skills” delves deep into everything you never learn in film school.

Q & A:

What excites you about the future?

Transmedia – I am so excited about creating a mulit-platform project that will live on the web, on mobile, in theaters. I’m starting to work on one in January. And The rebirth of the theatrical release that is going on around the world. The potential for global independent film events – that truly unite an audience and community.

What’s a site you couldn’t live without?

Hmmm – workbookproject.com – To be honest I could live without nearly all sites – anything I depend on there are multiple versions of and people adapt. Perhaps it is a good thing that if any one site went down, I would die.

What’s something you wish you would have known before you found out the hard way?

This list would frankly go on and on! Its kind of why I wrote the book, I wanted to help other people not repeat what I had done. My biggest problem always seems to be finding the time to promote something while I am working on it. Its hard to create that 2nd space in my brain that is outward/social focused when I am inwardly being creative. A constant struggle – and in talking to filmmakers, seems I’m not alone.

You can follow Jon’s work via his personal website or on twitter. If you’re interested in supporting his new book, join the discussion taking place on Facebook.

NEW ADDITION to the schedule:

// November 3rd, 2009 // No Comments » // news

We’re excited to announce a new addition to the evening’s schedule.

FIRESIDE: The Art and Craft of the ARG
ARGs offer an interesting extension to a storytelling experience. The real-time web and the connectedness of a variety of devices in one’s life become a jumping off point for game-play. Steve Peters (No Mimes Media) and Jan Libby (Sammeeeees, LG15, Eldritch Errors) two pratictionars and experience designers of Alternate Realtiy Games sit down for a candid conversation about the art and craft of designing, scaling and producing ARGs. Where do you start? How do you pace the experience? And how do you know if an ARG is the right extension for your storytelling process?

SPECIAL NOTE: Space is limited and we’re nearing capacity. So make sure to register soon.

DIY DAYS LA 2009

// October 11th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // LA, news

On Thursday November 19th, DIY DAYS returns to LA for an evening of talks and networking. Plus the night will end with a rooftop party. More details will be available in the coming weeks.

DIY DAYS LA is FREE but requires you to REGISTER in advance of the event. Space is limited and is on a first come first serve basis.

The following is the current program listing. There are two very special guests who we’ll be announcing in the coming weeks. And as always if you’re interested in lending a hand we’re always looking for volunteers work [@] workbookproject [dot] com. It’s the volunteers who help to make the events possible and also allow us to make them FREE.

SPEAKERS

The following speakers are confirmed for DIY DAYS LA.

Jesse Alexander (Heroes, Lost, Day One) :: Elan Lee (4th Wall Studios) :: Lance Weiler (The Last Broadcast, Head Trauma, HiM) :: Scott Macaulay (producer of Gumo, Raising Victor Vargas, editor of Filmmaker Magazine) :: Jon Reiss (Bomb it! and author of Thinking Outside the Box(office) ):: Jerry Paffendorf (artist, futurist, entrepreneur) :: Dan Mirvish (Omha the movie, Open House, The Eisenstadt Experience) :: Steve Peters (No Mimes Media) :: Jan Libby (Sammeeeees, LG15, Eldritch Errors)

***CHECK BACK we’ll be adding more speakers in the coming weeks.

ADDITIONAL SPECIAL GUESTS TO BE ANNOUNCED

FIRESIDE: THE EVOLUTION OF STORYTELLING :: JESSE ALEXANDER and ELAN LEE
As we continue our series of discussions around the evolution of storytelling we’re joined by two pioneers in the space who are extending the experiences that surrounds the stories they tell. From massive global gaming experiences to hit TV shows Jesse Alexander (Heroes, Lost, Day One) and Elan Lee (Co-Founder and Chief Designer at Fourth Wall Studios) share the art and craft of how they design and develop transmedia experiences that create rich media franchises and engage audiences in new and interesting ways.

PRACTICAL: SOCIAL MEDIA FOR STORYTELLERS :: LANCE WEILER
With the advent of new technologies, devices and the emerging real-time aspects of the web, stories can travel and build audiences in new and exciting ways. The confines of a single format are replaced with the ability to move audiences from one experience to another — from one screen or device to another. There has been a lot of hype around the concept of social media but what does it really mean for storytellers? How can you use free tools and services to tell stories, engage an audience and most importantly, extend the life of your project? Lance Weiler (The Last Broadcast, Head Trauma, HiM) walks you through the process of getting up and running, understanding how to staff, how to budget, how to engage an audience and how to set realistic goals whilst determining measurements of success.

FIRESIDE: THE ART AND CRAFT OF THE ARG :: STEVE PETERS and JAN LIBBY
ARGs offer an interesting extension to a storytelling experience. The real-time web and the connectedness of a variety of devices in one’s life become a jumping off point for game-play. Steve Peters (No Mimes Media) and Jan Libby (Sammeeeees, LG15, Eldritch Errors) two pratictionars and experience designers of Alternate Realtiy Games sit down for a candid conversation about the art and craft of designing, scaling and producing ARGs. Where do you start? How do you pace the experience? And how do you know if an ARG is the right extension for your storytelling process?

CASE STUDY: THE EISENSTADT EXPERIENCE :: DAN MIRVISH
Dan Mirvish (Omaha the movie, Open House) charts his course from short film to web series to political scandals to an eventual book deal that is now leading to the whole story being optioned and turned into a film. “I Am Martin Eisenstadt: One Man’s (wildly inappropriate) Adventures with the Last Republicans,” is a mix of political intrigue, campaign-trail escapades, and cyberspace detective work. Desperate to rise through the ranks of Washington’s media punditocracy, Eisenstadt insinuates himself into the last 30 years of American politics – from losing his virginity to Fawn Hall, to interning on the Willie Horton ad campaign, to buying Sarah Palin’s wardrobe. Mirvish shares how his work has evolved beyond a single medium and the liberation that working within one’s limitations can bring.

ROUNDTABLE: ALL ABOUT ME ::
As content creators of all kinds strive to build fan bases and cultivate audiences for their work, many are finding that their best promotional vehicle is themselves. Panelists will discuss the benefits and pitfalls of creating an online cult of personality. How to develop an online persona, issues of privacy, and extending your own persona to work by others will all be discussed by a diverse group from different content industries.

PRACTICAL: THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX(OFFICE) :: JON REISS
The world of discovery and distribution is changing by the moment. DIY and hybrid distribution is becoming the A option for many filmmakers. But how do you find the strategy that’s going to work best for you? How do you reach and engage audiences while achieving a degree of sustainability? Join Jon Reiss, award winning filmmaker and DIY distribution expert as he shares stories from the frontlines, much of which can be applied to those wishing to connect their creative efforts with an audience in meaningfully ways.

CASE STUDY: LOVELAND :: JERRY PAFFENDORF
Loveland is a collaborative art meets urban revitalization meets social ownership experiment that is attempting to sell off a million square inches of Detroit off at a $1 each. Jerry Paffendorf (artist, futurist, and entrepreneur) shares his vision for the project and how he is crowdsourcing the funding of his start-up while taking a creative approach to the design of not only the concept behind the project but also the way in which it is funded. Rooted within a hook that some might consider a novelty (million dollar homepage pops to mind), Paffendorf is embracing the playfulness of LOVELAND’s actual and virtual inches by documenting the process as if it was a natural history / storytelling project. The approach appears to be paying off as inchvestors are preparing all kinds of creative things around their plots. In the process LOVELAND could prove to be an interesting revitalization project that turns areas of Detroit and other cities into collaborative social art that is self-sustaining.