App To The Future
With mobile apps on the rise, Metro Screen is presenting a one-day seminar investigating the future of this technology with a host of industry experts.
NSW Screen educator, Metro Screen, is set to host an upcoming seminar on the future of app technology, with industry experts converging to offer an insight for businesses and individuals on how to keep up in an app world.
‘Metro Apps Lab', to take place in Surry Hills on Thursday 5th July, will feature panels and presentations from leading pioneers in the field, and focus on the creative and promotional processes involved for businesses. Special guests include executives from Google, PayPal and the ABC, to name a few.
Given Metro Screen's reputation as a screen industry training body, primarily involved with vocational courses, the seminar is an interesting diversion into new territory. However, seminar Chair and CEO of Digital Nation, Claudia Sagripanti, affirms that, as far as the industry goes, it is simply another medium in which to deliver content to an audience. Content is king and media companies, she says, need to see it as "part of a bigger view on helping their business performance; taking a bigger view of mobile apps."
The ubiquity of apps cannot be overstated, penetrating all corners of the everyday. With over 600,000 apps available on the App store, and approximately 25 billion apps downloaded to date, it seems apps are the way of the future, though businesses are still only just realising the potential the new platform has to offer.
"There's been some research released in the last couple of weeks about mobile advertising spend, that ten percent of the global audience spend their time on mobiles, and yet mobile only attracts one percent of the advertising spend, so there's a real disconnect," Sagripanti notes.
Not just commercially, but conceptually it seems that apps are paving the way for a new process of providing media content to the audience. One of the seminar's panel discussions will focus on structuring storytelling on the mobile device, and extending and embellishing the experience beyond the viewing arena.
"It's really developing the content up front and thinking, ‘How can I best present that content? How can I shoot it differently? How can I cut it differently?'" Sagripanti explains. "The benefit of doing that is to get longevity, to get a bigger audience, or a different audience than you would have from just a normal film release."
The way we consume doesn't stop changing there, as apps provide an expanding platform for a communal viewing experience. The advent of apps such as Fango has facilitated an era of social viewing, where the audience can interact and discuss content at greater length, and in real time.
"The social media aspect of, ‘Did you see this happen; what do you think about it; what do you think of the filmmaker?' is really generating a discussion that happens in conjunction, but separate, to the TV show or the film," she says excitedly.
The media landscape is certainly evolving, and the seminar will aim to keep companies and individuals at the forefront of this change.
‘Metro Apps Lab' Seminar will take place at The Auditorium, Surry Hills, on Thursday, 5th July, from 9am to 5pm. For more information, and to book a seat, head here.
