Short ride in a fast machine

Games based on film licenses have been an important part of the videogame industry since the beginning of professional game development. Historically, games were seen as an easy way to generate extra revenue for the film industry. There are strong indications that both industries are now starting to collaborate in different ways. Moderated by Bruno Felix (director of Submarine), this panel will discuss the following topics: the market for European film games; the emergence of indy and arthouse games; and the opportunities for creative collaboration between film and game professionals. Panel guests are:

• Ian Verchere Creator and and producer of over 30 games, including the million-plus selling SSX Tricky, Beavis and Butt-head for MTV, the Jackass game and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In 1998, he brought action star Jackie Chan to the video game world, signing him to an exclusive worldwide deal. Recently, he co-wrote Mom's Cookies, a screenplay with Douglas Coupland that was bought by Disney,
• Alexis Nolent A writer/producer in the sweet old times of 2-D adventure games, he is now in charge of the World Wide Story Design Department at Ubisoft. Alongside the writers, he works on defining the storyline, universe and characters of most Ubisoft games. As such, he's been working on Splinter Cell, Rainbow 6, Ghost Recon, EndWar, Prince Of Persia, King Kong, XIII, and more,
• Jay Bennett A producer, director, and writer of cross-platform interactive entertainment. His work at Xenophile Media includes video director for the Fallen Alternate Reality Game (2007 Primetime Emmy Award) for Disney and ABC Family. He was also as a producer on the Int. Emmy Award winning ReGenesis Extended Reality Game. Currently, Jay is directing a project for Sympatico/MSN and is producing an interactive project for the BBC.

Hot Spot is a network set up to exchange experiences and stimulate new ideas for TV makers from Dutch public TV networks. In the face of a fading Second Life hype, Hot Spot #003 will explore the many possibilities and as-of-yet unfulfilled promises of virtual worlds. Hot Spot guest curators Martijn de Waal (writer/researcher) and Femke Wolting (director of Submarine) will discuss the latest developments with three key note speakers:

• Douglas Gayeton Director of My Second Life: The Diaries of Molotov Alva. Gayeton wrote and directed, together with William Gibson, Johnny Mnemonic, the first interactive CD-ROM based movie, for Sony Imagesoft. Gayeton has also created and designed virtual worlds and social networks for such clients as AOL, MSN, Vivendi MTV, and Napster.
• Tim Guest Wrote a book about his experiences in virtual worlds 'Second Lives'. He wrote a column about videogame culture for renowned video game magazine Edge. Tim is now working with with River Run Red - The Immersive Spaces Company, working to develop virtual worlds as a new channel to engage in communities, reach consumers and build brand experiences.
• Chris Carella Creative Director at The Electric Sheep Company. Previously, Carella produced MTV's Virtual Laguna Beach, Showtime's The L Word in Second Life and various machinima films. Chris teaches a course in applications of Virtual Worlds at Teacher's College, Columbia University.

It's good to be early. The doors are open from 19.30.

The world premiere of Douglas Gayeton's much-discussed documentary shot entirely in Second Life. The film tells the story of a man named Molotov Alva, who disappeared from his California home. Recently, a series of video dispatches by a Traveler of the same name have appeared within the popular online world Second Life...
With an introduction by Emile Fallaux and Douglas Gayeton.
www.molotovalva.com

With Minimovies, SubmarineChannel explores a new narrative and visual style of filmmaking. The project shows that the documentary format is flexible and capable of re-inventing itself in the emerging distribution channels like online video channels, iPod and mobile phone. Short Ride will show the first five Minimovies on the platforms they were created for.
www.minimovies.org

• Room 2017 by Rob Smits. How a hopeless failure turns into a nerve-wrecking story.
• Crass: There is No Authority but Yourself by Alexander Oey. A filmic portrait of the last Punk stronghold.
• Wild Scenes by Akram Zadiq. A film about people working in the Pashtu movie industry.
• Dream City by Tomas Kaan. A portrait of visitors to the theme park in Duhok, a city in Northern Iraq.
• Safety First by Robert Oey. An exploration of the indirect effects of 9-11 on our lives.

A showcase of unique indy and alternative games that have been released over the last decade for the Nintendo, Sony, Sega, and Microsoft game platforms. Experimental and sophisticated aswell as commercially viable, these games push the envelope in fascinating and dazzling new visual directions and challenge traditional game conventions. You can watch our expert gamers as they get the best out of these games or play along if you dare.

When it comes to music promos, high production values don't count for much anymore. Today, it's all about a good idea. Original, low budget promos can attract millions of viewers on YouTube. As a result, a new generation of music video directors has emerged. A prequal to SubmarineChannel's upcoming online program, Pause 2 showcases the best of today's music video culture in three one-hour compilation programs, that will be repeated throughout the evening:

• Koichiro Tsujikawa (at 20.20 and 00.00) - A compilation of the work of this uber-creative director from Japan who is mostly known in the West for his promos for Cornelius. (Curated by Hybrid),
• Pleix (at 21.20 and 01.00) - A collection of post-modern and surreal music videos by this extraordinary Parisian collective of artists and musicians,
• Nederclips (at 19.30 and 23.10) - Dutch music videos have artistically matured (in cooperation with Stedelijk Museum 's-Hertogenbosch).

A true web pioneer, Han Hoogerbrugge singlehandedly pushed the boundaries of interactive animation to new heights with his online series Modern Living/Neurotica, HOTEL and NAILS. But Hoogerbrugge's body of work also includes music videos, commercials and installations. You can read all about it in the upcoming Hoogerbrugge monograph, designed by Simon Davies, which is due out early 2008. A sneak preview of the book and DVD with Hoogerbrugge and Davies.
www.hoogerbrugge.com

An original, fifties retro-style animation series produced by Submarine aimed at children of all ages. Kika & Bob is about the adventures of a not too clever firefighter - Bob - and a bright girl - Kika - who travel the world trying to get home in time to save Kika's kitten Tiger. Kika & Bob is a linear TV series as well as a series made for an interactive TV set top box.
Presented by Vincent Bal, who directed the series with Colette Bothof.

A compilation program with a selection of the best contemporary title sequences made by design companies such as Imaginary Forces (US), VooDooDog (UK), Hotel (NL), and others, including a selection of the best works by the godfather of contemporary title sequence design Kyle Cooper from Prologue (US). Additionally, there will be a presentation by title designer Danny Yount, art director at Prologue, in the Royal Foyer at 22.30.
submarinechannel.com/titlesequences

Kinooga.com founder Max Keiser and A Swarm of Angels creator Matt Hanson present their Cinema 2.0 projects and discuss the crowdsourcing of film production with Bruno Felix (Submarine).

• Max Keiser (Inventor and former CEO of the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX), a virtual stock exchange for films and stars. Max rocked Hollywood with his HSX concept and he remains the godfather of "prediction markets". He is the founder of KarmaBanque (a non-profit activist site), an independent producer and a financial correspondent for major TV networks in Europe. Max' latest project Kinooga.com promises to set the standard for user-generated television and film production.
  www.maxkeiser.com
• Matt Hanson (A film futurist, writer and filmmaker who has created a series of projects which explore cinema's future, including: the pioneering film festival OneDotZero, book projects such as The End of Celluloid and Motion Blur. Matt will present his open source movie project ASOA, that aims to make a one million pound film with a global community and then give it away to one million people).
  aswarmofangels.com

The surprise feature at Short Ride in a Fast Machine 2007 is Falkenberg Farewell, a haunting coming-of-age film by debut filmmaker Jesper Ganslandt. With no formal film training and with the help of four friends, Jesper made a personal, semi-autobiographical film that has had critics and audiences raving over its purity, honesty, and originality. The perfectfilm for our mini-festival.
More info and a trailer at SubmarineChannel

A 50 minute compilation program that will immerse you in game experiences that next generation game platforms have to offer. States of Immersion is a powerful, magical and uncompromising blend of the most spectacular official game trailers. Not for the faint at heart.

Danny Yount, creative director at the Malibu-based design company Prologue Films will present his latest projects. Danny created memorable title sequences for films such as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Reaping. At 21.10 we will show a selection of the very best contemporary title sequence designs, including 12 title sequences by Prologue founder Kyle Cooper.
www.submarinechannel.com/titlesequences

Want to explore the ever-expanding vlogosphere but don't know where to start? Michael Schaap, aka MacDocMan, has been scanning every nook and cranny on the Internet to uncover the very best video blogs, which he presents and contextualizes on the United Vloggers website. Michael shows us what the fuss is all about.
www.unitedvloggers.com

Bloot (Naked) is a contemporary, animated documentary series by Mischa Kamp. Children between the ages of 10 and 13 tell us their funny and personal stories about the changes that are going on in their bodies. The stories were shot on digital video and then animated using the rotoscope technique. The film has been selected for many film festivals around the world and won several Awards, like the Award for Best Educational, Scientific or Industrial Film at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
www.submarine.nl

Gary Hustwit's film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them. Interviewees in Helvetica include some of the most illustrious and innovative names in the design world, including Erik Spiekermann, Wim Crouwel, Neville Brody, David Carson, Paula Scher, Jonathan Hoefler, Experimental Jetset, and many many more.
www.helveticafilm.com

We're closing off this all-in-one jam-packed evening with an international bang. At midnight, the giant stage of the beautiful Main Theater will be transformed into a throbbing dancefloor for the Short Ride party, bar included, with music and visuals to blow your socks off.

Line-up
Phil Peoples (DJ, MC, Kiss Escort, Alliance Social, Papaya)
Stef van Es (Gitarist Anouk, Gea Russell & Company)
Pablo van Wetten aka Victor Repo (VJ, Bordello Roses)
Aaron Israel (Wallpaper, The Vizibles, Funk'd Up London)
Dimitri Madimin (Illustrations, Kiss and more)

• Rockstar Dim Browski
  A.k.a. Dimitri Madimin is a DJ/artist who is involved in a wide variety of projects. There is his collective, K.I.S.S. Escort - well known for their eccentric live shows; the conceptual agency 'I Love Kiss' of which he is the creative director; and several art projects an iniatives. We love Dimitri's customized club experiences that incorporate music, visuals and performance. That's why we've given him a free hand to fill in the second part of the Short Ride party featuring a special guest. Expect the unexpected.
  www.myspace.com/rockstardimbrowski