Brighton’s Latest TV at the Connected conference

Leading industry figures are coming to the Connected TV conference in Brighton as part of the Digital Festival.
Frank le Duc reports

YouTube, the BBC and Latest TV are all sending speakers to a conference in Brighton on Wednesday 4 September as part of the month-long Digital Festival. The Connected TV conference is all about the convergence of the traditional TV format with other multimedia platforms such as the internet, mobile and games.

It’s very much about business. In fact the organisers said: “This one-day conference will be a practical guide to making money and reaching new audiences within Connected TV and will see some of the industry’s most creative forward thinkers and leaders in this field.”

The event is due to be hosted by former Channel 4 and BBC digital expert Matt Locke, the founder and director of Storythings, a company that explores how we tell stories in the digital age. He has become something of an expert in audiences and audience behaviour too. He will introduce speakers from Future Media at the BBC, YouTube, Thinkbox, The Project Factory, Brilliant Noise, Relentless Software, Brandwatch and Latest TV.

The conference, at Komedia in Gardner Street, Brighton, has been organised by Wired Sussex, which supports the digital industry across the county. It said: “Whether you’re a TV producer, an app, games or web developer, a coder, an animator, a content creator, marketer, strategic planner or project manager, this event is for you.

• If you make games, find out how to design games for a multiplatform audience
• If you are an app developer, discover the possibilities for developing new markets via TV
• If you are a TV producer or you work in TV, then understand how integrating digital can widen
your audience
• If you are a web developer then see what’s already been achieved by fusing digital and TV
• If you are a content creator then understand the ‘second screen’ dialogue that takes place as a result of TV
• If you work in marketing, come and learn audience insights from case studies of recent successful multiplatform projects.

“Our speakers will inspire and educate with case studies and discussions on some of the most innovative projects to have recently hit the Connected TV scene, giving attendees practical skills and tangible knowledge to apply to every day business as well as future ideas.”

Angi Mariani, from Latest TV, is one of the speakers. She plans to talk about content and the quality of programmes on local TV channels. She said: “Latest TV coming is to Channel 8 in Brighton in spring 2014. The main point is that content is king. Content will always be king, whatever platform it is shown on, and that is because people are drawn to stories, great stories.

“Kevin Spacey said as much in his now famous MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival last week where he defended the creatives who have made traditional TV great. Great ideas create the money for the channel to thrive, that has always been the way since Charlie Chaplin’s day.

“With Latest TV, creatives, whether they are working in the TV industry or not, will be able to approach us, discuss their ideas and ways for us to show their programmes. Bill Smith’s mantra is ‘You make it, we show it’, which really means the demise of the traditional commissioner-led model of TV which puts up barriers between creative ideas and getting TV shown to everyone. Quality will still come to the top, it’s just that it won’t have such an arduous process to get shown now.”

Latest TV is also actively involved in making its own programmes such as Mister Crime with Peter James, the renowned crime writer, investigating crime stories from around the world. Also Crafty Beggars with presenters Julie Peasgood and Wendy Turner putting competition into crafts. They also have programmes in development on footballers’ lives and global diseases. These programmes will be shown alongside a core programming strand of news, sport, what’s on, music, fashion and business from across the city.

The BIG Connected TV Brighton Conference, 9.30am to 7.30pm, Wednesday 4 September at Komedia, Gardner Street, Brighton. Tickets cost £20 plus VAT, with a 50 per cent discount for Wired Sussex Members. Available from
www.wiredsussex.com/events/TheBigConnectedTVBrightonConference/