Quality Content, Consumer Awareness Keys To Marketing "Opportunity Of A Lifetime"
Theatrical, Sports, Games, Events, Mobile Driving Interest; Challenges, Including Glasses, Identified at Event Presented in Association with Variety
LOS ANGELES & MILFORD, Conn. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — September 22, 2010 — 3D entertainment, though still an embryonic industry, is poised for explosive growth said a cross-section of speakers at the recent third annual 3D Entertainment Summit™ presented by Unicomm, LLC and The Bob Dowling Group in association with Variety.
3D represents the "opportunity of a lifetime" said DreamWorks Animation SKG CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg in his keynote address which kicked off the two-day conference held September 15-16, 2010 at the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City, CA. Other keynote and featured speakers at the sold out conference included writer/director M. Night Shyamalan, Chris Cookson, President of Sony Pictures Technologies, John Rubey, President, AEG Network LIVE, David Bishop, President, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Bryan Burns, ESPN's Vice President, Strategic Business Planning and Development and Michael Lewis, Chairman and CEO of RealD.
With over 800 registered attendees, including hundreds of executives representing every major Hollywood studio, scores of writer/directors, industry analysts, financial analysts, dozens of major press and consumer electronics and technology executives, the annual 3D Entertainment Summit™ has quickly become the most important 3D business event in the world. The conference was moderated by Bob Dowling, former editor-in-chief and publisher of The Hollywood Reporter for nearly two decades, and featured opening remarks from Variety's President Neil Stiles and Unicomm CEO John Golicz.
"With six of 2010's top 10 grossing movies—Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland, Shrek Forever After, How to Train Your Dragon, Despicable Me, and Clash of the Titans—the promise of 3D is being quickly realized," said Dowling. "Identifying, analyzing and predicting the drivers of that interest, across a range of media platforms, is what the 3D Entertainment Summit is all about."
Compelling, granular market research which suggests explosive 3D growth was presented to the conference by Screen Digest's Sr. Analyst, Film and Cinema, Charlotte Jones and by Michael Cai, VP of Research at Interpret LLC, who reported that, remarkably, consumer interest in home 3D had nearly doubled from the first to the third quarters of 2010.
"With the 3D business on the cusp of dramatic growth," said John Golicz, CEO of event organizer Unicomm, "we are pleased and proud that the 3D Entertainment Summit has become the go-to event for industry leaders looking to capitalize on the emerging stereoscopic landscape."
The need for quality, compelling content and greater consumer education were seen by many speakers and attendees as lynchpins to successfully growing the 3D business. What content will drive consumers to 3D adoption was a key focus of the conference with film, sports and gaming leading the list. Industry standardization, particularly for 3D glasses, was cited as a current challenge, but one which in the short term was likely to be addressed by technological advancements.
In addition to keynote addresses and panels, the Summit, which was covered live throughout by top business broadcast media, featured a state-of-the-art 3D Entertainment Lounge™ where leading edge entertainment companies showcased everything from 3D display cell phones, the latest 3D TV’s and video games to a thirty-foot Dome presentation system.
The highly interactive, discussion-driven environment of the Summit allows entertainment professionals the opportunity to gain practical insight into 3D technology, market considerations, adoption rates, creative and production strategies, and talent and licensing issues to gain a better sense of how 3D relates to their future.
Day 1 Panel Sessions:
- The Drivers in Creative: 3D Content & Creative Story Telling; The Post AVATAR generation
- The Drivers in Convergence: Creative Theory and 2D-3D Monetization
- The Drivers in Theatrical: The State of the 3D Exhibition Business
- The Drivers in Advertising: Advertising the Next Dimension: The Mad Men of 3D
- The Drivers in 3D Gaming & Content: 3D Games Capitalize on Hollywood Success
- The Drivers in Sports: The Impact and Challenges of Live Sports Broadcast in 3D
Day 2 Panel Sessions (presented in association with DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group):
- Home 3D: Aligning the Messages
- Home 3D: Blu-ray Experience
- Home 3D: Driving 3D @ Retail
- Drivers in the International Marketplace: A Candid Look at the Global 3D Landscape
- The Drivers in 3D Gaming & Hardware: A look at How 3D Games Will Drive Consumers to Upgrade to 3D, TVs and Gadgets
- The Drivers in 3D Mobile Technology: 3D Content on the Move
