It is, of course, a tweet -- and one that encapsulates a new participatory era where contributions and voices from the public are reflected in all forms of art and storytelling, film included.

One of the early adopters of emerging media was filmmaker Kevin Smith, who now has a thriving personal media empire via a popular podcast (SModcast), nearly 2 million Twitter followers and even his own iPhone app. While Smith is a standout in digital engagement, he isn't the only one experimenting with today's digital connectors: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. These four prominent directors have embraced new media tools and social networks to connect and co-create with audiences, and their projects are capturing a new kind of imagination.

1. Tim Burton

Last year, director Tim Burton embarked on his own big storytelling adventure on Twitter around a character named "Stainboy," as the "Tim Burton" exhibit opened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Bell Lightbox. Called #BurtonStory and integrating a sequential storytelling technique called Cadavre Exquis or "Exquisite Corpse" (Burton's 2005 film "Corpse Bride" was nominated for an Oscar), users submitted tweets and the best one each day was added to the story. From the 88,967 tweets submitted, 87 were selected from 2,141 users.

This open, participatory approach to storytelling gave people access to perhaps a new iconic Burton character -- from the mass-marketed "Batman" to the mass-created "Stainboy." The "Tim Burton" exhibit is currently at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art through Halloween.

2. Ron Howard

Oscar-winning director Ron Howard ("A Beautiful Mind," 2002) partnered with Canon on Project Imagin8ion, "the first user-generated photo contest in history to inspire a Hollywood short film." Shutterbugs are encouraged to submit their photos for a chance to be one of eight grand prize winners (prizes include camera equipment, a trip to the film's premiere and a meeting with Ron Howard).

Photos will be judged on how imaginative and inspiring they are in eight categories: Setting, Time, Character, Mood, Relationship, Goal, Obstacle and Unknown. The deadline has already passed for submitting photos, but you can still vote online for your favorite images among the finalists. Here's a video explaining the contest:

3. Ridley Scott

As previously discussed, Ridley Scott (director of "Gladiator" and "Blade Runner") produced a crowdsourced YouTube project titled "Life in a Day" -- a documentary that "tells the story of a single day on Earth" on July 24, 2010.

The film, directed by Oscar-winner Kevin Macdonald ("One Day in September," Best Documentary in 2000), strives to be the largest user-generated feature film ever created. The ambitious film project received more than 80,000 video submissions. National Geographic will release the movie in theaters on July 24, the one-year anniversary of "the day." And if the movie fails to entertain or attract audiences, we only have ourselves to blame (especially those who submitted videos or curated them).

4. Judd Apatow

Twitter has become an immediate, collaborative tool for many filmmakers on and off the set. To help write jokes for his speech at the Producers Guild Awards, Judd Apatow hit up his community of followers. Apatow ("Bridesmaids," 2011, "Knocked Up," 2007) included this joke from @omitofo: "Inception is really about Hollywood. Everyone's constantly trying to ruin your dreams so they can make a buck." Follow Apatow on Twitter (@JuddApatow) and tell him a joke. If you're lucky, he may just use your creation to amuse and entertain others.

Whether we collectively tell the story of a character, offer up a single joke or jointly experience a single day, all these examples point out how social media is opening doors for the public to the big screen.

What filmmaker would you want to collaborate with to share your story?

Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer, entertainment and web companies on digital and social media engagement. He dreamstreams and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter @NickMendoza.

The Two-Screen Experience

The two-screen, or so-called companion viewing experience, was recently implemented at the Academy Awards via the Oscars All Access app, which gave viewers multiple camera angles within a paid app. While laptops, smartphones and tablets are all capable of the two-screen implementation -- basically, using a device while watching additional programing -- the ideal form factor is the tablet due to its screen size and ease of interaction. The rapid emergence of tablets such as the iPad have opened up a new opportunity for studios and networks wishing to amp up DVD sales and TV ratings.

SXSW featured the "TRON: Legacy" Lounge, which allowed visitors to experience Disney's Second Screen -- a parallel universe of interactive features on an iPad in sync with the Blu-ray version of the movie (available April 5). The additional content on display included filmmaker annotations, image sliders, progression reels to show effects in a scene and more ways to immerse yourself in the movie's Grid. Learn more about it in this video:

A separate SXSW panel titled "TV + New Media = Formula for Success" featured executives from USA Network highlighted Psych Vision, a two-screen experience to promote the TV show "Psych." The app enabled viewers to check into the show, unlock exclusive video content, earn points and redeem them for show merchandise.

Telling stories in multimedia

Transmedia, or telling stories across multiple platforms and formats, is in chapter one of its journey to mass adoption. But it has quickly moved from experimental buzzword to a powerful new storytelling genre.

There were several panels focused on transmedia at SXSW, including: "Can Transmedia Save the Entertainment Industry?," "Transmedia Storytelling: Constructing Compelling Characters and Narrative Threads," and "Next Stage: Transmedia: An Interactive Exploration of the History and Future of Production in a Transmedia World."

I attended the "Unexpected Non-Fiction Storytelling" panel, which featured many creative interactive projects, including "Collapsus," this year's SXSW Interactive Award winner in the Film/TV category.

"Collapsus" is a great example of the promise of transmedia. This eco-thriller from director Tommy Pallotta (producer of "A Scanner Darkly") was developed by SubmarineChannel and is based on the documentary "Energy Transition" from Dutch broadcaster VPRO. It is a mix of animation, interactive maps and documentary, presented in three panels and requiring viewers to make informed decisions about energy production:

While a worldwide tour with PowerPoint slides may have been effective in driving awareness on global warming, "Collapsus" presents a compelling new media approach to addressing planetary issues.

The National Film Board of Canada showed several interactive projects, including "Test Tube." It deals with another global crisis -- the exponential growth of the human population (represented by bacteria) within a finite planet of resources (symbolized by the test tube). The site asks visitors what they would do with an extra minute, then environmentalist David Suzuki makes a compelling case on why we're in the final minute of existence. The concept is thought-provoking and the innovation is evident in the various tweets that are dynamically pulled into the site based on your "extra minute" entry.

Out of more than 67,000 entries, the most popular response to the minute question is "sleep" followed by "eat." (Disclosure: I entered "make coffee" for my final minute, which may not have been the best answer to save the world/test tube.)

Crowdsourcing and Collaboration

SXSW also featured award-winning crowdsourced projects and the premiere of one of the most anticipated crowdsourced video initiatives. Creators of the Emmy-winning "Star Wars Uncut" film, which is featured above, discussed how "the Force" of the crowd helped re-imagine one of the most beloved films in the galaxy. More than 1,200 contributors from 100 countries helped build the final film, elevating scenes into the film based on popularity or likes.

Annelise Pruitt, one of the project designers, called it "the largest user-directed movie" in history. She attributed its dynamic playback capability as the main reason that "Star Wars Uncut" won the 2010 Emmy for interactive media.

Another contemporary classic in the brief history of crowdsourcing is The Johnny Cash Project, a music video for "Ain't No Grave" composed of 1,370 frames built from art submissions worldwide. And there ain't no stopping the success of that project as it received another prize at SXSW, the Interactive Award in the Art category.

The YouTube project "Life in a Day," produced by Ridley Scott (Oscar-winning director of 2000's Best Picture "Gladiator," as well as "Alien" and "Gladiator"), also relied on the submissions of the collective. The project received more than 80,000 video submissions from people in 140 countries who wanted to share their personally documented story on July 24, 2010. The film made its premiere at Sundance earlier this year and was screened at SXSW last week. National Geographic Films picked up rights to the movie and will distribute it in theaters this summer.

For filmmakers looking to develop and distribute full-length features rather than a slice of a larger project, JuntoBox Films is a new collaborative film studio that merges social media with traditional film production. They plan to finance five films in 2011 with a budget range of $200,000 to $5 million each. Filmmakers are encouraged to "get junto'd" after creating a profile on the site and having their project rated by their peers in order to be considered for the film assessment phase.

"Junto" means together in Spanish. The interactive storytelling, the two-screen experiences and the collaborative initiatives showcased at SXSW reveal that projects built together and experiences shared together are worthy of the highest rewards.

Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer, entertainment and Web companies on digital and social media engagement. He dreamstreams and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter @NickMendoza.

If you can't commit to a movie marathon this weekend, the Academy, as well as media and technology companies, have created digital popcorn for snacking on the Oscar experience before Sunday.

The Academy

The Oscars and nominated movies are omnipresent in digital media and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is showing true grit with its promotional campaign. ABC, the official broadcast partner for the Oscars through 2020, created the Oscar Backstage Pass, a companion app for the telecast that offers live camera views from the red carpet, the Kodak Theatre and the Governor's Ball. Available for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, the $0.99 app (iTunes link) gives viewers directorial powers previously limited to a select few. Out of the nine camera angles offered in the Kodak Theatre, including Host Cam, Thank You Cam and Audience Cam, the most intriguing may be Control Booth Cam. When a winner's speech exceeds the time limit, this viewpoint could possibly give us the Cue Music Cam.

For those who prefer the free experience, download "The Oscars" mobile app for access to the latest news and events or try to predict the winners in all 24 categories. Currently, 23 percent of The Oscars app users think "The King's Speech" will win Best Picture, while "The Social Network" is second with 18 percent. The only runaway favorite is Natalie Portman, with 71 percent believing that she'll dance away with Best Actress.

Walk down Broadway about 20 blocks from the New York City Ballet and you'll find yourself next to an interactive display called The Oscar Experience. Fans can have their picture taken next to a virtual Oscar statuette. Some hold the statue, while others prefer to smile or cry as if they are giving an acceptance speech. The photo galleries may be viewed on the Academy's Facebook page.

Google

Google is tracking the global search trends for the Oscar nominees in an easy-to-use tool appropriately called Oscar Search Trends. The charts for all categories may be customized for the last 30 days, the last 12 months or all years. Obscure international search results include the following: "Inception" leads all searches among Visual Effects nominees with Singapore driving the volume above India, while "Inside Job" leads Documentary Feature nominees with Portugal edging out Canada in volume. "Black Swan" leads all Best Picture nominees in global search popularity. And if you know Google, they prefer "Black Swan" searches over black hat search engine optimization.

Twitter

The cinematic characters and the actors who potray them will surely be a focal point of the tweets that Oscar watchers will post on Sunday. Follow the #Oscars hashtag on Twitter to see a continuous stream of comments on all things Oscar -- the winners, the fashion, the jokes, the speeches, the surprises, the parties and the totally inappropriate or irrelevant. For a more intimate and insightful Oscar experience, follow the tweets of these Oscar nominees:

• James Franco (@jamesfranco) - Co-host of the Oscars and nominated for Best Actor ("127 Hours")

• Mark Ruffalo (@mruff221) - Nominated for Best Supporting Actor ("The Kids Are All Right")

• Helena Bonham Carter (@_HelenaBCarter_) - Nominated for Best Supporting Actress ("The King's Speech")

• Trent Reznor (@trent_reznor) - Nominated for Best Music, Original Score ("The Social Network") with Atticus Ross

AOL

You may want to believe that "The Kids Are All Right," but in kid reenactments of the Best Picture nominees, the kids are all ridiculous. Yes, ridiculously cute and cut-throat, as in "The Social Network" clip (below), or cute and cut-arm in "127 Hours."

GetGlue

While you're watching Sunday's telecast on ABC and seeing the accuracy of your picks dwindle with each category, find comfort in something that truly sticks -- such as an official Oscars sticker from GetGlue, a social network that enables entertainment check-ins. It may not be "The Social Network," but it's one of many digitally choreographed programs attempting to get movie fans glued to the Oscars.

Have you participated in any digital Oscar engagement programs or plan to watch Sunday night's show? Share your favorite digital enhancements to the show in the comments below.

Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer, entertainment and Web companies on digital and social media engagement. He dreamstreams and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter @NickMendoza.

Social Media content on MediaShift is sponsored by the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships, a program offering innovative and entrepreneurial journalists the resources of Stanford University and Silicon Valley. Learn more here.

From Pandora to Palo Alto, digital and social media grabbed movie headlines in 2010.

The year started with a box office record-breaker that captured our 3D imaginations ("Avatar") and is ending with David Fincher's fascinating look at Facebook ("The Social Network") collecting awards for film of the year (American Film Institute, Los Angeles Film Critics, National Board of Review, New York Film Critics, et al). Although, according to Facebook (Top Status Trends of the Year), the most talked about films among its members were actually "Toy Story 3" and "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse." The latter was also the most watched trailer on YouTube this year with 17 million views.

When it came to Twitter, the dream merchants of "Inception" produced a summer blockbuster and the top film-related Twitter trend this year.

As an overall trend, however, moviegoers continue to explore different platforms to experience films, from streaming and downloading to apps or social networks. As a result, they are disrupting traditional models of distribution and revenue sources (see Blockbuster Files for Bankruptcy After Online Rivals Gain, a report from Bloomberg, for example).

I asked several filmmakers and digital executives for their thoughts on the biggest trends, behavioral shifts and technology developments of 2010. Below are their responses.

Film Trends of 2010

Opening Friday Reviews
"Mobile apps and social media came into their own this year, as one of the most important ways by which moviegoers share their opinions, read reviews and decide which movies they're going to see ... Moviegoers relay their opinions to millions of other people the minute they leave the theater. Opening weekend used to forecast box office -- now, it's opening Friday." -- Steve Polsky, president and COO, Flixster, whose app is used by more than 23 million people

Multi-Platform Viewing
"Consumer demand for anytime, anywhere access to movies means it's not just about watching in theaters and on television in living rooms, but also about watching on computers and mobile devices like iPads and iPhones. This was the biggest transformation of the movie industry in 2010. Studios are realizing that they need to reach consumers on their terms and that we have an opportunity to reach more people if we embrace what consumers want. The demand for entertaining movies has never been higher; people are watching them in new ways and Hollywood continues to tell stories that captivate audiences around the world." -- Mark Greenberg, president and CEO, EPIX

Internet-connected HDTVs
"Although 3D has been the hot topic this year and received most of the press, I believe the real story was the quiet rollout of consumer HDTVs with Internet capability. Over the last year, I have been testing this exciting new delivery method and have discovered that it is a viable alternative to traditional broadcast to the home. If you understand the power of social networking and direct marketing, it becomes obvious the worldwide potential of this exciting new opportunity." -- Randall P. Dark, president and CEO, Randall Dark Productions

Streaming Content
"The greatest trend in 2010 was the growth of viewers watching movies and TV over web-enabled streaming devices. Of course, Netflix is leading the charge in streaming content, but other players will emerge in 2011 and I think digital historians will look back on 2010 as the year the streaming wars began and DVD started to assume its place alongside the cassette tape and laser disc." -- Richard Raddon, co-founder, Movieclips.com

Crowdfunding
"Continuing the trend towards the democratization of filmmaking that began when affordable cameras and editing equipment became available in the past 15 years or so, crowdfunding has opened up new avenues for film financing. IndieGoGo.com and Kickstarter.com offer a simple interface through which fans and investors can help fund film and media projects that often would not meet traditional financing requirements. This revolution enables independent artists to not only get the financial support they need to complete their projects, but also to build a fan base that can later become essential to the marketing and distribution of the project." -- Academy Award-nominated director Roko Belic, Wadi Rum Films (Happy - The Movie)

2011: Transformative Innovations?

With "The Social Network" an early favorite to win the Oscar for Best Picture, 2010 may end up being remembered as the year when our web-connected way of life finally reached a tipping point on the big scren. As Sean Parker stated in the film, "We lived in farms, then we lived in cities, and now we're gonna live on the Internet."

The release of "Tron: Legacy" furthers this theme for 2010, giving moviegoers a new digitally immersive experience, while also spurring conversation on the future of our virtual existence and networked worlds. 2011 is sure to expand upon the trends above and quite possibly introduce some transformative innovations.

Or as Kevin Flynn states, "Now, I kept dreaming...dreaming of this world I thought I'd never see. And then, one day, something happened. Something extraordinary."

*****

What do you think were the extraordinary innovations and trends of 2010? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer, entertainment and Web companies on digital and social media engagement. He dreamstreams and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter @NickMendoza.

Social Media content on MediaShift is sponsored by the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships, a program offering innovative and entrepreneurial journalists the resources of Stanford University and Silicon Valley. Learn more here.

According to the crowdfunding pitch for the film "Art Machine," a $1 donation will buy you "love and respect from the cast and crew." And if you give $1,000, you get perks like a DVD and a speaking role in the film. That's the promise from director Doug Karr and Chop Wood Carry Water Productions for anyone who supported his film, which raised more than $26,000 using Kickstarter.

Two startups, Kickstarter and IndieGoGo, have jumpstarted online crowdfunding for filmmakers. Kickstarter describes itself as "a new way to fund and follow creativity," while IndieGoGo says that it's "a collaborative way to fund ideas." A mix of the two taglines defines crowdfunding, allowing the audience to fund films with small donations.

I spoke with Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler and received feedback from IndieGoGo CEO and co-funder Slava Rubin about crowdfunding, their respective sites and how filmmakers can effectively raise funds and awareness through them.

The Crowdfunding Comparison

Strickler called Kickstarter a flexible tool and resource for filmmakers that, thanks to its integration with social networks, is "an easy way to aggregrate all the love and support that a filmmaker has in the world." Kickstarter aims to be "a place for artists to build a community" and where filmmakers "get to control what success is and talk to their audience the way they want to."

Kickstarter's supporting film role:

• A total of $6 million has been raised for film projects since April 2009
• More than a dozen filmmakers have successfully raised $40,000 (the maximum individual donation is $10,000)
• 2,500 film projects have been supported so far
• 45 percent of filmmakers successfully reach their funding goal
• What Kickstarter gets: a 5 percent, one-time fee
• Filmmakers only receive their funds if they reach the set goal

IndieGoGo calls its crowdfunding approach as "Do It With Others" (DIWO) fundraising, giving any ideathe tools and process to raise money, offer perks and keep 100 percent ownership. Rubin said that filmmakers on the site "range from Sundance award winners to college students making their first film."

IndieGoGo's supporting film role:

• Hundreds of new film projects are launched on the site each month
• One film was able to raise more than $70,000
• The "sweet spot" for films raising funds on the site is between $2,000 and $13,000
• The average funding contribution is $84
• What IndieGoGo gets: 4 percent fee if filmmakers reach their goals or a 9 percent fee if they don't
• Filmmakers are able to keep the funds even if they don't achieve their goals

Both sites have grown more than 400 percent over the past year, while Kickstarter has attracted seven times the number of unique monthly visitors as IndieGoGo. Kickstarter also has doubled site traffic in the past six months, according to Compete.com.

Perks for Pledges

Both Kickstarter and IndieGoGo give filmmakers the freedom to add incentives to encourage various levels of contributions and a larger number of funders. "With a good pitch, proactive marketing, and some cool perks, it's amazing the support the film campaigns have been getting," Rubin said.

Strickler highlighted three categories that filmmakers should consider when offering perks or rewards for participating in the funding process:

1. A token of recognition: A credit or some form of acknowledgment that the funder is part of the project
2. Physical products: DVDs or props from the film, for example
3. Creative experiences: Participatory opportunities such as watching the dailies, meeting the director, attending the premiere or even having a role in the film

For film enthusiasts interested in funding projects, the opportunity to play a pivotal role in the production and post-production processes can be a reward in itself. On the other hand, filmmaker Bill Delano will actually give you a prayer flag blessed by a guide named Karma, for a pledge of $300 to support his "Karma Walkers" film.

Karr, the writer and director for the Chop Wood Carry Water Productions film "Art Machine," used Kickstarter to raise "an eighth of the production budget" because "it seemed like the perfect mix of crowdsourcing, marketing and fundraising."

"I can't emphasize strongly enough how palpable the mix of awareness-raising tied with people helping to get the film made with even just a few dollars," he said. "It's really a fantastic way to open up the whole process."

Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer, entertainment and web companies on digital and social media engagement. He dreamstreams and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter @NickMendoza.

He has also created a new transmedia project called "Conspiracy For Good" (CFG), which describes itself as "a movie where YOU can be the hero and impact the outcome of the story for the better." Participants travel through a blurred narrative that mixes media, interactive storytelling and a learn-as-we-go collective approach to fight a greedy corporation and benefit good organizations.

CFG is being partially supported by Nokia and its Ovi mobile platform. Plus, the fictional story includes chances for players to do real good in the world. For instance, there is a collaboration with the Pearson Foundation and Room to Read, where each time an online visitor reads a book to a child, the corresponding book will be donated to five libraries set up in Zambia. Nokia and Room to Read will also fund a year of education for 50 girls in Zambia.

The first live meeting of participants in "Conspiracy For Good" occurred on July 17 in London. I connected with Kring to explore this new genre he calls "social benefit storytelling," and what its implications are for entertainment and social good.

Q&A

What is "Conspiracy For Good" (CFG) and how can people participate or experience it?

Tim Kring: The "Conspiracy For Good" is a global movement for change driven by a story, which the audience becomes a part of and every participant has the ability to impact the outcome of this story. The story will be played out on websites, mobile devices, at live meet-up events in London, and ultimately in a village in eastern Zambia where CFG will be responsible for building a library, stocking it with books and providing 50 scholarships for school girls.

This U.K.-based project of "Conspiracy For Good" is the pilot for game-changing entertainment -- narrative mythology that blurs the lines between fiction and reality, compelling the audience to become a part of the story with real world outcomes.

To get into the "Conspiracy For Good" and join in the story, simply go to the web page and watch the featured video. A recap will point you to the current activities and detail how you can get involved. And if you're in the London area, register online at the site and join us on the streets.

Anyone can follow along -- comment, contribute, share, decipher, solve, connect and collaborate at the website. The site is the global hub for all things CFG: Watch videos, follow progress and events on the blog, and make an impact and interact with the characters of the story through the main websites.

"Conspiracy For Good" is called "a social benefit experience." What does this mean and how can an entertaining story generate social benefits?

Kring: The "Conspiracy For Good" creates a new genre of entertainment which combines rich narrative, philanthropy and commerce. We call this genre "social benefit storytelling." The "Conspiracy For Good" aims to become a movement. Individuals are now being "tapped on the shoulder" and asked to join this movement to continue to make the work of the "Conspiracy For Good" a reality with global impact. By participating, members of CFG have the opportunity to affect real word change from the environment to education to the economy by applying their unique abilities, talents, networks and passion as an active part of the story.

The entire gameplay centers around causes, and direct action...on the streets in London, where participants will be involved in book drives, toy drives, cleaning the Thames, etc. By creating a secret society for good, and providing a forum for people to connect with one another, the hope is that there will be a tremendous amount of user-generated interest in new and worthy causes.

"Conspiracy For Good" says it integrates "interactive theater, mobile and alternate reality gaming (ARG), music and physical participation." Is there one component that excites you most? And will this multi-screen experience include movie theaters or television?

Kring: I am very intrigued by the mobile aspect. It has just exploded over the last few years as smartphones are reaching a wider demographic. I love the idea that a mobile phone can be both a content consumption device and a content creation device. In other words, an audience can use their mobile phone to receive story and create video and text and geo-tagging themselves. For a storyteller, this really piques my interest.

"Heroes" was a fictional story about people trying to save the world. "Conspiracy For Good" seems to be a real-life extension of this narrative. What elements and lessons from "Heroes" were applied to the development of "Conspiracy For Good"?

Kring: You are right that I came up with this idea when I saw how connected and committed the "Heroes" audience was to the underlying core message behind "Heroes" -- interconnectivity and global consciousness. So, I thought, wouldn't it be great to not just talk about "saving the world" in fiction, but to attempt to do it in the real world. In many ways this is the logical extension of what was known as the "360 Platform" that NBC.com and "Heroes" built around the show. The attempt there was to build a broad, connected universe around the show that created multiple extensions of the story that could cross all platforms.

We learned a tremendous amount doing this. One of the key things was just how motivated the audience can be to create content on its own. So in many ways, CFG takes that idea and makes it the ultimate goal -- to create a self-sustaining movement for good that ends up having real-world implications and direct action.

You just announced that Room to Read and the Pearson Foundation will be beneficiaries of the "Conspiracy For Good" experience. Will there be additional organizations and how can participants support them?

Kring: Other organizations are invited to include their missions in the "Conspiracy For Good," and participants are welcome to join those missions, too. The meeting place for missions and people is conspiracyforgood.com.

The experience includes live meet-ups in London. How will participants meeting other participants evolve the story? Will there be meet-ups in other cities?

Kring: London is the first of what we hope will be many cities around the world. When participants come together they will follow a clue trail of video drops that move the story forward. They will have to work together in teams to solve various clues in order to advance the story. They will find key props and sets and locations for the story, interacting with these and using their collective efforts to confront our bad guys and have justice prevail for our protagonist. Along the way they will interact with actors in character, creating a sense of a truly pervasive experience.

Here's a video giving the back story on "Conspiracy for Good":

Blackwell Briggs is a fictional greedy corporation in the energy industry that distributes false information. Is it inspired by any real-life company or event?

Kring: We've all become very familiar with corporate greed of all stripes. Blackwell Briggs is an attempt to draw from that sense of familiarity without necessarily conjuring up any one corporation in particular. The corporation seems to be involved in almost everything controversial. So, in many ways, they are a "catch all" for corporate greed. By showcasing a fictional, evil corporation, we also celebrate, by contrast, the admirable, real world companies that really do exist in the marketplace today.

What does success look like for "Conspiracy For Good"?

Kring: Teams in five different countries have worked together to bring an idea to life, to do something that has never been done before. Designed as a proof of concept pilot that integrates narrative, cross-platform participation and philanthropy, the measure of success is that it has been built and deployed and proves viable on a story level, a participation and community level, providing a foundation for greater expansion.

*****

Do you plan to join the Conspiracy For Good and contribute to the movement? Share your thoughts about this transmedia project in the comments below.

Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer, entertainment and web companies on digital and social media engagement. He dreamstreams and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter @NickMendoza.

Movie marketers understand the impact that reaching their desired audiences on Facebook can have on driving awareness and interest in a film. For them, the power of Facebook is its ability to quickly build a community and customer relationships, generate real-time conversation and feedback, create promotions that reach relevant users, and accelerate content-sharing across the web and mobile devices. (Also, see my previous post, Movie Apps Get Social as Studios Integrate Facebook Connect.)

According to Facebook, more than 25 billion pieces of content -- such as links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos -- are shared each month. Millions of these comments and posts are movie-related. Facebook is rocket fuel for word-of-mouth and studios are experimenting with how to best engage users in order to convert those who "Like" a movie to someone who purchases a ticket. With the arrival of the summer movie season, I decided to take a closer look at the Facebook pages for six studio movies and see which one, if any, was Buzz Lightyears ahead with Facebook engagement.

Iron Man 2 | 1,360,503 Likes
Top Tabs: Wall (landing tab) | Info | Photos | Boxes | Video
Studio: Marvel, Paramount Pictures | 28,201 Likes
Release date: May 7

Iron Man 2 has made more than $290 million at the U.S. box office, according to Box Office Mojo. More than a million people are fans of the franchise on Facebook. While the Facebook page is nothing to marvel at when it comes to creativity outside of the core Facebook tabs, there are seven international pages (Australia, Brazil, France, Italy, Mexico, Spain and the U.K.) for "Iron Man 2" which is a testament to the global interest in the superhero. The U.S. page provides the essential photos and videos, but lacks the charisma of Tony Stark or the appeal of Pepper Potts. Alternatively, the Facebook page for Stark Expo, which includes a letter from Stark about his commitment to technological wonders, is a clever mechanism to get fans engaged with an event that occurs within the film.

When more than two thousand people respond to a simple question, such as "Did you see Iron Man 2 yesterday?," a Facebook page can be a weapon of mass conversation.

Sex and The City 2 | 1,967,023 Likes
Top Tabs: Wall (landing tab) | Info | PREMIERE | Photos | Video | MORE FUN
Studio: Warner Bros | 62,308 Likes
Release date: May 27

Fittingly, the glossiest Facebook movie profile belongs to "Sex and The City 2." The "MORE FUN" tab on the page opens up a world of content, including a character quiz, an interactive trailer, a Girls Night Out planner, an iGoogle theme, a local hotspot guide and perhaps most importantly, one-click access to Carrie Bradshaw's closet.

While it's not clear how many SATC2 fans glammed up their Google page, the more than 30 official international pages reveal that the movie is a global phenomenon.

The A Team | 36,197 Likes
Top Tabs: Wall | Info | A-Team (landing tab) | Video | Photos | Discussions
Studio: 20th Century FOX
Release date: June 11

With a team member named "Face," the "The A-Team" is a natural fit on the A-list of social networking sites. While the page provides good mix of behind-the-scenes videos, character profiles and promotional news, it also should reflect the rogue nature of "The A-Team" and give fans a sense of adventure.

The page does link to a "Drive The A-Team Van" YouTube channel, where fans can drive the van in Google Earth to unlock videos. This is an innovative use of Google Earth that isn't easy to discover on the movie's Facebook page. The van is arguably the movie's most recognizable character and the opportunity to get behind the wheel of it -- even in a virtual scenario -- is a fun engagement vehicle that should be showcased on the page.

Toy Story 3 | 791,581 Likes
Top Tabs: Wall | Info | Video Game | Fan Board | Tickets (landing tab)
Studio: Disney Pixar | 1,347,406 Likes
Release date: June 18

Disney Pixar movies have an advantage when it comes to Facebook movie marketing, due to the large Facebook communities for both Disney (more than 3.5 million Likes) and Disney Pixar (more than 1 million Likes). Four "Toy Story 3" characters even have their own Facebook pages (Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Buttercup and Lotso) that have larger communities than many summer movies. Disney Pixar also recently launched its Disney Tickets Together Facebook app, so now Facebook users can buy movie tickets without leaving Facebook. The combination of multiple Facebook pages sharing content and promotions with millions of passionate fans allows the box office for Disney Pixar films to, as Woody would say, "reach for the sky."

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse | 6,154,389 Likes
Top Tabs: Wall | Info | Eclipse (landing tab) | New Moon | Discussions | Video
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Release date: June 30

Summit Entertainment is not one of the major six movie studios, but it is coming off a Best Picture Oscar for "The Hurt Locker" and big box office receipts for the "Twilight" franchise have the studio howling at the moon. "Twilight" also enjoys one of the largest audiences for any movie on Facebook thanks to the many community-created fan pages and groups dedicated to the movies and characters (e.g. Team Jacob or Team Edward).

But how effective is the Facebook page for "Eclipse" in engaging fans? Let's look at a typical day in "Eclipse" engagement. On May 12, the page shared eight pieces of content, which generated 60,000 Likes and comments. Much like the immortal characters in the movie, "Twilight" fans have an insatiable thirst for content. And for Facebook users who visit the page, the landing "Eclipse" tab does what all movie pages should do (but often don't) -- link directly to sites where tickets may be purchased online. And only a beloved franchise with ravenous fans could boldly ask viewers to organize a viewing party in their area. Twilight eclipses the rest when it comes to fan engagement and mirrors the massive built-in audience for Disney's "Toy Story" franchise.

Despicable Me | 22,822 Likes
Top Tabs: Wall | Info | Win a Minion (landing tab) | Games | Minion Mail | Ringtones
Studio: Universal Pictures | 18,736 Likes
Release date: July 9

The Minions featured in the new animated film "Despicable Me" hope to rival the popularity of Woody or Buzz Lightyear. They have their own Facebook page with more than 68,000 Likes, or three times the number of the movie's page. "We're concentrating on building two Facebook communities for the film -- one focused on the film and one on the Minion characters from the film," said Doug Neil, senior vice president of digital marketing at Universal Pictures. "We want to engage our target audience with video clips, trailers, images, games, news stories, activities, etc., that help to drive awareness and interest in the film."

Regarding content that these communities find most compelling, Neil said that, "Video content -- trailers, clips, custom animations, etc. -- drive the most engagement and response. There has a been a lot of interest in the Minion Mail cards that have been themed to holidays and milestone events."

There are varying degrees of experimentation and community-building strategies being deployed on Facebook, but if movie marketers can agree on one thing, it might be the belief that there's nothing despicable about an engaged audience of minions with a positive message to share in their personal networks.

*****

Share your favorite movie page on Facebook in the comments below.

Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer, entertainment and web companies on digital and social media engagement. He dreamstreams and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter @NickMendoza.

Leslie Feibleman, director of special programs and senior programmer for the Newport Beach Film Festival, said Twitter is similar to the film industry in that it's "dynamic, continuously emerging, and is infused with new talent, technology and ideas -- a place to discover and be discovered."

I connected with organizers, programmers and social media strategists working for the Newport Beach Film Festival (April 22-29), Phoenix Film Festival (April 8-15) and Wisconsin Film Festival (April 14-18) to gather insight into how they engage filmgoers and drive them from Twitter to theater.

Action: Inspire Interest and Attendance

"We find that followers respond well to giveaways, promotions and visuals," according to Feibleman.

Robert Aldecoa, marketing director of the Phoenix Film Festival, has used Twitter in a variety of ways to reach and expand the festival's audience.

"The largest efforts were initially geared toward announcing film screenings and directing users to the appropriate ticket page," Aldecoa said. "We tried to include a useful hyperlink in as many tweets as possible in an attempt to engage our followers beyond 140 characters. You really do have to provide consistent, useful information. It also helps to give your followers a reason to participate in your efforts -- whether it's to win some movie passes or see their name and user pic on a big-screen in the party tent. If people have a great time and talk about it, their friends wonder what they're missing and we'll see even more of their happy faces next year."

But does all the content-sharing, contests and click-through opportunities result in a higher level of attendance? According to Gregg Schwenk, CEO and executive director of the Newport Beach Film Festival, the answer is yes. "The Festival has seen a 10 to 15 percent increase in pre-festival ticket sales between 2009 and 2010 due to social media, including Twitter," he said.

Animated: Have Fun and Show Personality

Most festivals screen more than 100 films over the course of a week, so they have a lot of content to talk about and share on Twitter. Equally important to some organizers is the ability to share a smile and showcase the festival's true essence.

"Bring your sense of humor. Make it personal, not corporate. Respond," said Meg Hamel, director of the Wisconsin Film Festival. "Don't make it seem like you're only doing this only to sell tickets. Don't make it seem like you're doing this because somewhere you read that social media was the next big thing. And here in Wisconsin, people really do care what you have for breakfast, as long as it involves bacon."

Documentary: Tell the Real Story

People want to hear the true story. Hamel strives to integrate an authentic, insider approach for her followers, giving "the people reading those messages a realistic and unfiltered view of what it's like behind the scenes."

She continued:

It's helped those people interested in the Festival understand that this is an event assembled by real people who are passionate about what they do, work crazy hours to make it work, encounter unexpected obstacles and invent ways to move around them, and care deeply and authentically about the audience experience. The Wisconsin Film Festival is not an event organized to capture the attention of film industry people far away, it's homegrown specifically for the people of our state and for our friends and neighbors who want to enjoy an April weekend watching cracking-good motion pictures.

Experimental: Create and Pursue Opportunities that Add Value

For film festival organizers to transcend the expected and reach avant-garde status in social media, they understand the need to experiment with what they offer.

Kelly Strodl, a social media consultant for the Newport Beach Film Festival, provided an overview of how they plan to do this.

"We plan to utilize a number of tactics -- hyper-syndication, mainly -- on our several blogs, our Facebook fan pages, and other posts. [These include] geo-location tagging, promos, retweets of filmmaker posts, video posting to 12seconds.tv, which posts quick clips to Twitter, and posts from YouTube," she said. "We're also going to try and connect filmmakers already on Twitter in possibly a tweet-up or simply an impromptu sit-down discussion of how social media, namely Twitter and Facebook, have influenced their ways of filmmaking and promotion."

The Phoenix Film Festival recently showcased the filmgoer conversation in visually compelling ways that brought the conversation to life.

"We're doing something pretty cool right now," said Aldecoa. "There are two big screens in the festival tent and an LCD in the VIP area that display a social media feed along with our sponsor ads. Each time a user mentions @PhoenixFilmFest on Twitter or checks-in via Foursquare, it shows up for everyone in the tent to see. It's pretty neat for festival attendees to [be able to] provide instant feedback on the films they see, and the fun they have at the parties."

There's one additional film category that matches Twitter's communication style: Short. While film festival organizers and programmers are limited in characters on Twitter, they've used the service to reach reach moviegoers who may be new festival followers and attendees. For the Newport Beach Film Festival, Phoenix Film Festival, Wisconsin Film Festival and dozens more, Twitter has emerged as a valued "reel-time" communications and promotions platform.

Twitter is now playing at a festival near you. Do you have a favorite film festival on Twitter? Share it in the comments, and follow some of the festivals listed below.

21 Film Festivals to Follow:

Atlanta Film Festival
Boston Film Festival
Chicago International Film Festival
Dallas International Film Festival
Florida Film Festival
Hawaii International Film Festival
London Film Festival (British Film Institute)
Los Angeles Film Festival
New Zealand Film Festival
Newport Beach Film Festival
Philadelphia Film Festival
Phoenix Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival
Sonoma Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
Sydney Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
Vail Film Festival
Vancouver International Film Festival
Wisconsin Film Festival

Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer, entertainment and web companies on digital and social media engagement. He dreamstreams and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter @NickMendoza.

Here's a look at the favorite contenders, as determined by social media chatter.

What the Blogs Are Saying

Sysomos, a social media analytics firm, today unveiled an updated buzz chart for the 10 Best Picture nominees. The chart outlines which films captured the most attention and generated positive buzz -- two potential indicators of Oscar destiny -- on blogs over the past month. The blogosphere was measured based on share of voice (percentage of overall conversation) and sentiment (percentage of favorability).

According to Sysomos's findings, "Avatar" leads the conversation with 25.6 percent of blogger attention (share of voice), while "The Hurt Locker" was second with 18.1 percent. Based on this assessment, "Avatar" is the favorite to win Best Picture.

I asked Sysomos to apply the same blog research to three other Oscar categories: Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director. To keep the searches relevant, Sysomos narrowed the queries to include the name of the actor, actress or director and "oscar" or "oscars" and "academy awards."

According to the share of voice analysis, Jeff Bridges ("Crazy Heart"), Sandra Bullock ("The Blind Side") and James Cameron ("Avatar") look like good bets to win in their respective categories. The sentimental favorites are Colin Firth ("A Serious Man"), Carey Mulligan ("An Education") and Lee Daniels ("Precious").

Best Actor

Share of Voice Rankings:
1) Jeff Bridges (25%)
2) George Clooney (24.4%)
3) Colin Firth (18.2%)

Sentiment Rankings:
1) Colin Firth (62%)
2) George Clooney (58%)
3) Morgan Freeman (57%)

Best Actress

Share of Voice Rankings:
1) Sandra Bullock (28.2%)
2) Carey Mulligan (22.2%)
3) Meryl Streep (20.8%)

Sentiment Rankings:
1) Carey Mulligan (63%)
2) Meryl Streep (57%)
3) Gabourey Sidibe (57%)

Best Director

Share of Voice Rankings:
1) James Cameron (33.8%)
2) Kathryn Bigelow (24.9%)
3) Quentin Tarantino (16.3%)

Sentiment Rankings:
1) Lee Daniels (68%)
2) Jason Reitman (62%)
3) Quentin Tarantino (56%)

Talk of the Town on Twitter

In Hollywood, it's not always good to be the talk of the town (see the controversial news that broke about "The Hurt Locker"). On Twitter, the talk is real-time and runs the gamut from great to good to bad to downright nasty. So while a high number of Twitter mentions might signal heightened interest in a nominee's performance, it doesn't necessarily mean they're gathering support.

The nominees who have the largest share of voice on blogs over the past month were also talked about the most on Twitter. Sandra Bullock has the most Twitter mentions (8,732), followed by James Cameron (6,176) and Jeff Bridges (5,785). In addition, the sentimental favorites on Twitter reflect the same emotions of the blogosphere, as tweets around Colin Firth (second), Carey Mulligan (second) and Lee Daniels (fourth) are highly positive, yet trail the category leaders in overall quantity.

Twitter Rankings (past 30 days)

Best Actor

1) Jeff Bridges (5,785)
2) Colin Firth (1,886) - positive sentiment leader with 61%
3) George Clooney (1,706)
4) Jeremy Renner (1,239)
5) Morgan Freeman (733)

Best Actress

1) Sandra Bullock (8,732)
2) Carey Mulligan (3,839) - positive sentiment leader with 63%
3) Meryl Streep (2,494)
4) Helen Mirren (451)
5) Gabourney Sidibe (22)

Best Director

1) James Cameron (6,176)
2) Kathryn Bigelow (2,982)
3) Quentin Tarantino (1,100)
4) Lee Daniels (971) - positive sentiment leader with 69%
5) Jason Reitman (633)

Will Social Media Predict the Winners?

Now that we know the names and films dominating the discussion on blogs and Twitter, it's simply a matter of sitting back and watching the show on Sunday. Then we'll have a sense of whether our collective sentiment is also interesting science.

Update March 9, 2010: Now that Oscar statues have been distributed, let's revisit the pre-show social media buzz and see if the names called at the Kodak Theatre matched the names most frequently discussed on blogs and Twitter.

The Accurate Buzz: Best Actor and Best Actress

Jeff Bridges ("A Crazy Heart") and Sandra Bullock ("The Blind Side") led the share-of-voice category on blogs and were mentioned the most times on Twitter. Both walked away from the Academy Awards as first-time winners for their leading roles. The movie industry and the media that follow it all were bullish on Bullock and Bridges to win Oscars, and both won Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role.

Bridges edged out Clooney in share of voice by only 0.6% in the past month, but Clooney arguably has dominant share-of-mind as an actor in the mainstream media. I suspect a longer historical comparison between the two would reveal a substantial lead for Clooney on blogs and Twitter. The heightened buzz on Bridges and his lead over Clooney signaled an abnormal interest in his performance and the potential to win an Oscar.

The Inaccurate Insights: Best Picture and Best Director

The biggest box office movie of all time naturally had the greatest share of voice on blogs. However, "Avatar" did not win Best Picture and James Cameron's quest for a second win as Best Director fell short (he won for "Titanic" in 1997). "The Hurt Locker" won six Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Kathryn Bigelow, while "Avatar" captured three Oscars (Art Direction, Cinematography and Visual Effects).

To many critics and insiders, "The Hurt Locker" was expected to win due to its awards show momentum. The best predictor of Best Director continues to be the Director's Guild of America (DGA) Awards, which gave Kathryn Bigelow its highest honor this year. As the DGA notes on its website (www.dga.org), "Only six times since the DGA Award's inception in 1948 has the winner not gone on to receive the Academy Award for Best Director."

Lesson from Oscar Chatter

This leaves us with our initial question: Can social media chatter predict Oscar winners? The answer is an unequivocal "not sure." Pending further human analysis of the blog and Twitter mentions, we can't support or refute the correlation between level of buzz and likelihood of awards. Unlike the near-certainty of a DGA Award recipient going on to receive an Oscar statue, the social media chart toppers largely reflect our pop culture and peer influences.

*****

Did you find yourself mentioning the favored Oscar winners (Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock and "The Hurt Locker") on blogs and Twitter prior to the show? Do you think social media can help predict the winners? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer, entertainment and web companies on digital strategy, distribution and engagement. He dreamstreams and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter @NickMendoza.

Moviegoers in more than 100 IMAX 3-D theaters worldwide watched 16 minutes of footage from a new James Cameron movie. That same day, Ubisoft debuted a trailer for a videogame based on the film, and Mattel unveiled action figures inspired by the film's characters. A day earlier, the teaser for the very same film broke a record on Apple.com after beng streamed more than four million times on its first day.

August 21 was celebrated as "Avatar Day." Today, it should be remembered as the dawn of the most comprehensive digital marketing campaign ever developed to support a film. Below are the details of four key components of the campaign, each of which are represented by important characters and creatures within "Avatar."

The Tree of Souls: Social Media

In the film, the Na'vi believe that the Tree of Souls, a place where the souls and voices of their ancestors rest, was the heart of what connected them to each other. This is also a core idea with social networks, which are often built from relationships rooted in our past.

Social networks are frequently tapped for film marketing, and "Avatar" successfully built connections and conversation on Facebook (close to 1.3 million fans), MySpace (close to 800,000 friends) and Twitter (over 25,000 followers). According to Sysomos, a social media analytics firm, "Avatar" was the most talked about film on Twitter in January 2010. Some of those tweets resulted from a "Tweet to Listen" promo that required fans to send a message on Twitter in order to listen to music from the film. "Avatar's" social media strategy also branched out to YouTube (close to 11 million video views), Flickr (over 1 million photo views) and a TypePad blogging community (close to 4,000 members).

The Hometree: Avatar's Website

The immensity and visual richness of the Hometree on Pandora reflects what's been cultivated on the film's official website. Visitors have access to more than the standard fare of trailers, images and background materials. The website offers 14 side-scrolling square boxes that showcase many of the digital initiatives that make this movie stand out. Fans have access to the story, character bios, the music, and wallpaper downloads; but they also have opportunities to contribute content and showcase their interest in the film -- including Pandorapedia, a wiki for all things "Avatar," and the previously discussed blogging community (which includes photo caption contests and timeless topics such as "Why Are Avatar Aliens Blue?").

And just as humans destroyed the Hometree in pursuit of self-interest and wealth, the film's homepage had its own destructive moment in mid-August when fans crashed the site while trying to secure free tickets for "Avatar Day."

The Banshee: The AIR Interactive Trailer

Avatar's interactive trailer soars over previous movie trailers thanks to its integration of social media feeds, and 11 points of interaction that provide viewers with one-click access to each character. (Viewers can simply click on a character in the trailer in order to unlock additional content.) The trailer was built using the Adobe AIR platform, which gives developers flexibility. The result is that fans receive a more exciting experience, similar to that offered by Banshee jumping in the film. The trailer is a moving and frequently refreshed gateway to the film, seemingly alive and fluid the moment it begins. The trailer also includes three options to purchase tickets.

Hallelujah Mountains: Augmented Reality

In the film, the gravity-defying Hallelujah Mountains challenge perceptions, which is also what augmented reality strives to do by presenting an engaging experience that floats in front of the viewer's eyes. Mattel created "Avatar" toys that buyers could activate and "bring to life" through webcams and special product tags, while Coke Zero produced custom cans that opened up the world of Pandora at AVTR.com.

The end result is that "Avatar" is now the biggest box office movie of all time (not adjusted for inflation). The movie has eclipsed $2 billion in total ticket sales, driven largely by 3-D revenues and international interest. Cameron has once again orchestrated a cinematic milestone.

So did the digital initiatives, awareness drivers and glowing online conversation contribute to this historic success?

The goal of any theatrical movie marketing campaign is to get people to head to the theater, plunk down $10 to $15 and grab a seat for two-plus hours. On that front, the entire campaign has been an inredible success. It all started on August 21, 2009, the day that started the campaign and successfully moved millions of people to experience something new and mesmerizingly blue. Since then, moviegoers have felt compelled to tell their friends to see the film.

As millions flocked to theaters and clumsily put on their 3-D glasses, they helped bring a now-famous Na'vi phrase to life: Oel ngati kameie ("I see you").

Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer, entertainment and web companies on digital strategy, distribution and engagement. He dreamstreams and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter @NickMendoza.

1. 3D

Ahmad Ouri, CMO, Technicolor: "2010 will be a defining year for 3D in theaters, in the living room, and even on mobile. For nearly a century, Technicolor has innovated entertainment for the big screen and the small screen, and we've seen the 'big' get bigger, and the 'small' screens get smaller, with the advancements in mobile devices. In 2010, we'll see 3D film and other content infiltrate all of these visual display mediums, and 3D will no longer be confined to the multiplex."

2. Alternative Content

John Rubey, president, AEG Network Live: "Alternative content (e.g. concerts and sports in movie theaters) continues to grow in importance as traditional audiences shrink and fragment, while the alternative content grows and shows better, more predictable results."

3. Digital Production

Steve Canepa, general manager, IBM Global Media and Entertainment Industry: "2010 will be the year that Hollywood productions begin to go digital end-to-end. Starting with capturing films on location with digital cameras and scanning analog prints into digital form, the footage will move across studio lots as digital data files. This will help to streamline workflows, to shorten production cycles, to support day-in-date release windows (theatrical, DVD and potentially video-on-demand for some markets) and to provide a readily accessible archive of all the film source content."

4. Digital Living Room

Mike Saxon, senior vice president, research, Harris Interactive: "We have seen steady growth in consumer uptake of legal digital distribution outlets, including iTunes, Netflix, and Hulu. We expect this trend to continue in 2010, as Internet-connected TVs shift these services from the office to the living room."

5. DVD Rentals + On-Demand Online

Steve Swasey, VP, corporate communications, Netflix: "In 2010, the trend toward movie enjoyment via the Internet will continue to grow, but not only as you might guess. Yes, more people will instantly watch movies and TV episodes from Netflix via the Internet on the TV or their computer in 2010 -- this area grew by 100 percent in the last year. But more people also will continue to rent DVDs online in 2010 compared to 2009. Netflix will increase its U.S. postage bill to $600 million in 2010, and to $700 million in 2011, to keep pace with the increased DVD rental demand. Whether it's streaming instantly or sending DVD and blu-ray discs via the U.S. mail, Netflix will continue to increase its delivery to people who want to watch great movies."

6. Mobile Video

Frank Chindamo, president and chief creative officer, Fun Little Movies: "In 2010, everyone with a mobile phone will realize they're also holding a really cool video player, and start watching what they want to watch, when and where they want to watch it -- instead of having crappy over-hyped TV shows shoved in their faces."

7. Online Distribution

Rick Allen, CEO, SnagFilms: "Online distribution will play an increasingly important role for all films, particularly documentaries, as audiences demand convenience and accessibility, and filmmakers seek to overcome the diminished opportunities on traditional platforms. Documentarians will bring in partners such as charities and advocates to help expand awareness, as well as audience."

8. Release Window

Blair Westlake, corporate vice president, media and entertainment group, Microsoft: "As studios look for more revenue streams, a premium-priced home viewing window for movies will be commonly sandwiched between the theatrical release and the DVD release."

9. Theatrical Exhibition

Andy DiOrio, corporate communications manager, AMC Entertainment: "Our crystal ball says that we will continue to see digital deployment expand in the industry, and at least one film is sure to pleasantly surprise us and exceed our expectations at the box office."

10. Video On Demand

Jamie McCabe, executive vice president, worldwide PPV/VOD and EST (electronic sell-through), 20th Century Fox: "We will see continued growth in VOD across cable, telco and Internet delivered platforms with a significant expansion of available content and increased access to multiple screens."

Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer, entertainment and web companies on digital strategy, distribution and engagement. He blogs at The Social 7 and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter @NickMendoza.

The Purchase Brothers and DIY Filmmaking

On day two of the event, Suzanne Stefanac, director of the AFI Digital Content Lab, introduced two of the most talked-about innovators in do-it-yourself filmmaking: Ian and David Purchase, a.k.a. the Purchase Brothers. They created the low budget, but visually rich, short, "Escape from City 17." This film combined existing digital assets (videogame backgrounds from Half-Life and photos from Wikipedia) with guerilla filmmaking (on-the-fly dialogue and trespassing on a local train depot), and three months of post-production work.

Watch the Purchase Brothers' "Escape from City 17."

"We thought they were among the most important new filmmakers to hit the scene this year," said Stefanac. "What they did that set them apart was to teach themselves to meld live action cinema with a robust 3D game world. The resulting footage looks as though it cost many hundreds of thousands of dollars, perhaps even millions. But, in truth, they spent less than $500. Totally self-taught, they are among the new stars emerging from a moribund landscape."

If the Purchase Brothers represent what's possible on little or no budget, Digital Domain's visual effects work on Sony Pictures' "2012" represents the deep-pocketed end of the digital creative process. This is where large teams of specialized animators spend years creating jaw-dropping footage. Marten Larsson, CG effects animation lead at Digital Domain, demonstrated how they used a combination of open source tools and experimentation to layer, simulate and construct the apocalyptic scenes where buildings smash into each other, and cities fall into the ocean.

While Larsson wouldn't reveal how much the two-minute scene he previewed cost to create, he did mention that 100 people spent a full year to develop it. That kind of expense would be truly apocalyptic to DIY filmmakers and indie film producers.

DigiFest presenters emphasized the myriad opportunities to create content and tell stories in ways that haven't previously been done before, mainly due to technology or budget limitations. "The most exciting development on the digital tool front has to be the fact that all of the tools for conceptualizing, shooting, editing, distributing and promoting are becoming so democratized," said Stefanac. "All of these tools can reside on one modest laptop."

For Humans Only: The World of District 9

Laptops represent just one of many screens on which filmmakers and marketers are trying to engage and excite potential ticket buyers. Trigger, an entertainment and brand marketing agency, built the iPhone game and website for "2012," and they also spearheaded the digital marketing initiatives for Sony Pictures' "District 9."

At DigiFest, Jason Yim, president and executive creative director of Trigger, walked attendees through the integrated marketing campaign for the movie. This included an augmented reality component and online game, as well as blogs and Twitter profiles from different perspectives (MNU: Multi-National United and @MultiNationalU | MNU Spreads Lies and @MNU_Lies) that were written in English and in an alien language. The campaign also included a MNU mobile marketing vehicle, and the ubiquitous bus bench sign that declared, "Bus Bench For Humans Only."

"We started this campaign 18 months before the movie came out [and worked] based on the initial treatment, and before they started shooting," said Yim. "So keeping the content updated and still on message even as the actual film evolved was a challenge. I think this speaks highly of the Sony team for creating a strategy that started within the confines of Comic-Con, but could grow and broaden over the next 14 months into an international campaign."

Film Discovery and Anywhere Engagement

Discovering the next great film from self-starters like The Purchase Brothers or developing integrated, global marketing campaigns such as the one for "District 9," are ongoing challenges for digital innovators.

"With the explosion of new content hitting every size screen, we need new filters, new ways of discovering stories that make us smarter, happier, better humans," said Stefanac.

Yim draws inspiration from social media platforms and location-driven opportunities. "The iPhone, social media, GPS and augmented reality represent an evolutionary leap for digital marketing," he said. "Combined, these innovations multiply the effectiveness of marketing by providing relevancy."

He said the rapidly evolving nature of technology and online networks means marketers have to constantly adapt.

"Digital marketing has become exponentially more challenging and interesting because the tools are changing so quickly," he said. "We are constantly asked to develop on new social networks around the world, and while our mobile programmers were busy delivering six iPhone apps this year we still had to staff and start prototyping on Blackberry and Android devices."

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What do you think are the most compelling digital opportunities for filmmakers or marketers? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer, entertainment and web companies on digital strategy, distribution and engagement. He blogs at The Social 7 and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter @NickMendoza.

Digital LA, a networking organization for online entertainment, marketing, advertising and tech professionals in Los Angeles, hosted a "Movie Marketing: Online, Social, Mobile" panel on September 29 that featured several studio executives. In attendance were Doug Neil, senior vice president of digital marketing at Universal Pictures; Damon Berger, director of digital marketing for 20th Century Fox; Mark Levien, executive director of domestic digital marketing for 20th Century Fox; and Kate Neligan, director of on-demand and digital marketing at Lionsgate.

They discussed a variety of ways studios are trying to capture consumer attention and box office, including creative campaigns on social networks, engaging apps and podcasts, as well as the latest buzz-generating content and promotions. The discussions were lively -- but also off the record.

In order to share some of the insights of the panel, I connected with Doug Neil of Universal Pictures a week later to follow up and discuss what Universal has done to drive word-of-mouth online and on mobile. Here's an excerpt of our conversation.

Q&A

At the Digital LA event, you mentioned creating webisodes to support "Funny People." How successful were the webisodes in promoting the film?

"Funny People" was very well-received. We created a separate webisode series for Aziz Ansari's character, Raaaaaaaandy, and hosted it on FunnyorDie.com. Aziz helped promote it through his Twitter feed. The series provided an outlet to introduce and socialize the character prior to the movie coming out.

We also created special trailers that [writer and director] Judd Apatow shot with Adam Sandler in character as George Simmons for these make-believe movies. We made one-sheets and album covers and posted them on his character's site, George-Simmons.com. It's all because Judd Apatow had the vision, with his team, to make sure we had the materials so that we could create a website that would host the content.

The movie also had a YouTube video titled "Cute Cuddly Kittens" featuring Jonah Hill's character, Leo Koenig.

That video was really popular. People like to discover content that is truly organic. They don't like to have it thrust upon them, but at the same token, you've got to get things out there.

What are the key lessons learned from Universal's recent digital efforts?

Moviegoers want to discover fresh, original content -- whether it's a great trailer, an exclusive film clip, photos or web videos that are story extensions for a film. Humor or shock are two elements that garner attention.

Is there a digital content hierarchy when it comes to driving awareness of a movie online? Are trailers the most important?

Trailers and press/tastemaker outreach are two of the most important elements to building awareness online. However, other content such as photos, clips, games, apps, etc. are also part of the toolkit that creates awareness and drives interest.

Has feedback from moviegoers influenced the development or distribution of any digital marketing efforts or content?

We always look for ways to generate positive buzz from moviegoers via social media outlets. Word of mouth is one of the most important influences in the moviegoing decision.

What do you think is Universal's most successful digital marketing campaign to date -- whether defined by online buzz, consumer participation, box office or other metrics?

"Fast & Furious" and "Bruno" were two of the most successful campaigns this year. "Fast & Furious" had over one million Facebook fans by the time film opened. In addition, the content that was released -- trailers, photos, clips, an iPhone game -- had significant traffic. Similarly, "Bruno" built a tremendous community online -- 700,000-plus fans on Facebook, 350,000-plus friends on MySpace, 60,000 followers on Twitter -- which demonstrated the interest in the film and the character."

What's next in digital for Universal?

At the Digital LA event, there was a lot of talk about tools, especially Twitter. We're certainly looking at what that next opportunity is going to be. For our 2010 titles, we're looking at a number of different ways to best socialize those films.

**Many people point to poor reviews of "Bruno" on Twitter for hurting the film's long-term success. Do you think that's true and how can you monitor or counter that on Twitter?

We were very pleased with the opening weekend box office for "Bruno." We did not see an impact as a result of any feedback on Twitter.

Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer, entertainment and web companies on digital strategy, distribution and engagement. He blogs at The Social 7 and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter @NickMendoza.

The Mobile App Gold Rush

The surging popularity of mobile applications -- Apple's App Store has seen over 1.8 billion downloads since its launch -- is opening up new marketing opportunities and studios are taking advantage. Many have already introduced a handful of both free and paid ($0.99 to $4.99) movie apps.

"Downloadable apps are an effective means by which a studio can get promotion, because consumer attention is so scarce in today's media-filled world," said Carl Howe, the director of the Anywhere Consumer Research group at Yankee Group. "It's almost becoming expected with a big blockbuster. If a studio can get a consumer to spend half an hour or an hour with an app, it's marketing they can't really get any other way."

Howe said that Yankee Group will soon release a forecast titled "The Mobile App Gold Rush." It estimates smartphone owners will download 975 million apps in the U.S. this year. The report also estimates that four out of five apps (82 percent) in the U.S. are free downloads, which is why many free movie apps are promotional in their design and the content they offer.

For example, Paramount Digital Entertainment's "Star Trek Phaser" app offers video clips and images. Universal's "Bruno" app features soundboards, ringtones and the film's trailer. Disney's "Up" gives owners access to the story, character bios, a trailer and wallpaper, while the studio's "G-Force: Moochie Fly" includes a link to buy movie tickets.

Promotional apps are becoming a regular component of movie marketing plans, and studios are starting to integrate tools that enable sharing of app content within social networks. Howe notes that apps with social networking capabilities are valuable since they can "create a network of activists to drive box office."

Zombies Live with Facebook Connect

The mobile Web and the iPhone are getting social and the undead are among the first to bite on Facebook Connect. Last Thursday, Henri Moissinac, head of Facebook mobile, unveiled Facebook Connect for the mobile Web) and predicted that, "What we did for photo sharing, we are going to do for mobile applications." Facebook Connect allows Facebook users to share content on Websites or within apps with their Facebook friends.

Facebook Connect launched on the iPhone in March of this year, yet very few film apps offer Connect functionality. One exception, called Zombieland, was released in early August by Sony Pictures. Along with offering a virtual antidote that gamers use to heal a zombie bite, the app integrates Facebook Connect in order to enable sharing among Facebook friends. "Use the Facebook button to connect directly from the app to your Facebook status to let friends know that you have used the bite scan application," reads its instructions.

This app demonstrates how word-of-mobile marketing can be built on the "let friends know" capability of Facebook Connect. Expect to see it featured in lots of movie apps soon. This is just the first of many integrations, according to Sony.

"All Sony Pictures apps will have a social networking component by February 2010," said Kara Bilkiss, vice president of worldwide mobile games at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. "Consumers expect high-quality games and we have a real commitment to delivering that experience."

Sony is releasing a "Voltron" mobile game in December -- although the movie is still in development, Sony has the mobile rights -- as well as social-network friendly apps based on "The Karate Kid" (June 2010) and "Salt" (July 2010). Bilkiss noted that these apps will enable gamers to connect to Facebook, Twitter and potentially other sites.

Warner Bros. Digital Distribution confirmed that all of their game apps launching in Q4 of this year will include Facebook Connect functionality. Players will be able to start conversations in social networks, share game bragging rights, and motivate their peers to play.

The mobile app connectivity rush is currently in production mode, but as Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. and other studios roll out this functionality, the movie conversations and content in Facebook will come alive through word-of-mobile marketing. While studios are enthusiastic about the social networking opportunities on mobile and the iPhone, consumers will ultimately decide the impact of this kind of connectivity -- and the effect it will have on the box office.

Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer, entertainment and web companies on digital strategy, distribution and engagement. He blogs at The Social 7 and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter @NickMendoza.

At iHollywood Forum's Digital Media Summit in Los Angeles last month, editors at BusinessWeek, the Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times and The Wrap came together to discuss the coming demise of the paperboy. Specifically, they talked about the business model evolution and revenue uncertainty.

The 2009-2013 Communications Industry Forecast, released this week from Veronis Suhler Stevenson, made it explicitly clear: "No longer are newspaper and magazine subscription purchases and network prime-time viewing the norm." Bicycles and other traditional forms of transportation are no longer the preferred means of distribution.

In the face of The Ugly Truth (no relation to the Sony Pictures movie), digital media heads from Lionsgate, Miramax Films and MTV Films came to the conference to discuss the Internet and all its social revolutions. The panel discussions at Digital Media Summit confirmed what we all knew before the day started: No one has figured out the best method for monetizing the Net, but there are game-changing developments that are empowering the former audience.

The Missing Paper and Law of Unexpected Consequence

I remember the frustration people on the paper route expressed if the newspaper was missing from their front yards. If Twitter was available 23 years ago, I could have let someone know when the paper was delivered, give a reassuring tweet that I just pumped my tires and even tease the headlines. At last month's Comic-Con in San Diego, one ambitious attendee taught Miramax Films that even though their paper was missing, the law of unexpected consequence rewarded them.

The incident demonstrated to Miramax that there is value in giving up control. Content publishers and studios are starting to realize that promotion can take on a life of its own on social media and Twitter.

Crowdsourced Animation

I imagined that I'd write for the newspaper that I carried on my handlebars someday. At the age of 9, I naturally focused on the comics. While I'm not the most gifted artist, I dared to believe that I could create a comic strip worthy of publication.

In movie animation, crowdsourcing the creative process is already making headlines. Last November, Mass Animation unveiled an ambitious Wikipedia-modeled way to produce animated shorts. With support from Intel and Dell, the company invited animators worldwide to contribute to a five-minute short titled "Live Music" through its Facebook page (currently more than 56,000 fans).

"Live Music" will debut as a short that plays before the animated film "Planet 51," due out on November 20. Mass Animation is working on additional shorts and a 90-minute film as well. Landau emphasized that, "High-quality work can be created through a virtual studio." He also believes that crowdsourcing the film yields a new model of viral marketing, because "you're building your audience as you're creating the content."

Rethinking News

The most contentious discussion of the day occurred during the "Rethinking News" panel where moderator Michael Stroud asked the participants, "Can paper survive?" in the midst of all the red ink. Sharon Waxman, founder and editor-in-chief of The Wrap (and former reporter for the New York Times); Andrew Wallenstein, digital media editor of the Hollywood Reporter; and Ron Grover, L.A. bureau manager of BusinessWeek led this spirited and still unresolved dilemma.

Wallenstein: "Paper is dying, but it's not dead. I negotiate a balance between what we put in paper and online."

Waxman: "Paper is dead. Clearly we all have to find new business models."

Grover: "They said radio was dead when TV came out."

With the pending sale of BusinessWeek, Grover also quipped, "I've got nothing to lose here."

Meanwhile, Meredith Artley, managing editor for LATimes.com, enthusiastically previewed a simple-looking, efficiently designed website scheduled to launch in mid-August. When asked how the new site would make money, Artley explained, "Our sales team is working on that."

Artley highlighted that LATimes.com reached its highest web traffic in June 2009 with 155 million page views and 26 million unique visitors, largely because of Michael Jackson's death. She also noted the active social media presence of the LA Times with its Facebook profile and 170 Twitter profiles (sports columnist Bill Plaschke leads with more than 16,600 followers).

The LA Times and many other media outlets continue to extend their social media efforts in their marketing and content distribution strategies. While they're moving forward with online engagement, they're still considering the evolving role of print and legacy media, or at least its reinvention.

Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer, entertainment and web companies on digital strategy, distribution and engagement. He blogs at The Social 7 and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter @NickMendoza.