Some of the Speakers for Promax Europe 2008

Tuesday 8th April

ROOM 1 - GRAN SALO GAUDI

9.05- 10.00
THE SECRET LIFE OF THE SIMPSONS - THE STORIES THEY DIDN'T WANT YOU TO HEAR

“Emmy-winning writer Mike Reiss takes us through his 19 years on THE SIMPSONS in a funny, fast-paced hour. He details his dealings with network censors and celebrity guests, and talks about how the show is perceived (and misunderstood!) around the world.He'll also share the secrets of what makes THE SIMPSONS succeed where hundreds of other series fail.The speech is punctuated with rare video clips from THE SIMPSONS, and Reiss' original creations THE CRITIC and the award-winning QUEER DUCK”.

Mike Reiss Interview

Queer Duck: The Gayest Place on Earth


11.30 - 12.30

THE END OF POST PRODUCTION

Mill founder Pat Joseph and VFX supervisor Jordi Bares take us behind the scenes on the multiple award-winning Sony 'Balls' and Coke Superbowl hit 'It's Mine' to illustrate how, in a cluttered and noisy media world, CGI is at the heart of some of the best ideas.

Playstation – Mountain

ROOM 2 - SALO PAU CASALS
MORNING TEA BROUGHT TO YOU BY RTE, IRELAND
10.30 - 11.30

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BRAND
11.30 - 12.30

THE MINIMUM 5 MINUTE CONTRACT
12.30 - 14.00

LUNCH BREAK
14.00 - 15.00

FROM SPAIN TO THE WORLD: BUILDING A GLOBAL BRAND
15.00 - 16.00

DUBPLATE: PUTTING CONTENT IN ITS BOX A CASE STUDY
This case study by Livity on ' UK’s first viewer-led interactive drama,' DUBPLATE DRAMA, demonstrates how thinking beyond the limitations of traditional marketing disciplines has helped achieve the objectives of brands and businesses as far ranging as the NSPCC, Channel 4, MTV, 3 Mobile, PlayStation Portable and Talk to FRANK.

Dubplate Drama Series 2 - Trailer 1


Dubplate Drama Series 2 - Trailer 2

16.00 - 16.30

AFTERNOON TEA
16.30 - 17.30

THE ART OF BRAINSTORMING: HOW TO OPEN OUR MINDS TO NEW THOUGHTS AND NEW IDEAS

Wednesday 9th April
ROOM 1 - GRAN SALO GAUDI
9.00 - 10.00

DVEIN AT WORK: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE CREATIVE PROCESS

In this session you will experience a must see show and tell from the Barcelona based design company ‘Dvein’, revealing the processes and creative workflows behind their stunning digital creations.

TOCA ME design conference 08 // trailer


11.30 - 12.30
"BLEEDING FOR ART: HOW I SLIT MY THROAT ON CAMERA AND NO ONE CARED"

Using the case study on the Emmy and BDA award wining opening title sequence for the American TV show Dexter, Eric Anderson will walk you through every step of the internal creative process as well as the external creative process with the executive producers and network executives

Dexter [opening titles]


Six Feet Under [opening titles]


14.00 - 15.00
THE ART OF THE TEASE

As veteran key player at Imaginary Forces (IF), Anita Olan wore many hats. During her nine years with IF she covered roles of Executive Producer, Creative Director, Brand Strategist, and Writer where she supervised all feature advertising projects including teasers for THE STEPFORD WIVES (four Golden Trailer Awards), THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, ANGELS IN AMERICA, SCREAM 3 (International Monitor Award) and 102 DALMATIANS (Key Art Award for Best Teaser / Trailer).

Stepford Wives – trailer


102 Dalmatians Trailer

15.00 - 16.00
CLOSING THE SALE

Charley will also unveil–for the first time in Promax history–a strategy for promo success he calls: "The Dirty Little Secret".

Movies Every Promo Producer Should See

Good Night, And Good Luck

We indeed must never confuse dissent with disloyalty. George Clooney's telling of Edward R. Murrow's media battle against U.S. Senator Joe McCarthy is black and white, soaked in scotch, jazz and cigarettes... you feel like you want to change clothes and have a shower after watching. But really, a nice reminder of the power of television– at a time when TV really meant something. David Strathairn's portrayal of Murrow is eerily good; and his opening speech alone is worth the cost of the movie.

Strange Days

Millennium madness on minidisc. Ralph Fiennes is a black marketeer of SQUID recordings. The viewer is able to wear this device and playback other people's experiences, just as if they were the ones having the experience. You can buy whatever you want from Ralph and see, hear, smell, feel exactly what somebody else was sensing while they made the recordings. The film cleverly opens with a robbery from the first person for you to enjoy... but there's all manner of other mind-movies, from Ralph himself being madly in love, right through to experiencing what it's like as a woman being... a-hem... "attended to" by another woman.All of this simply to say, that there's no real difference between this and watching any (good) movie or TV programme. The cinema is really only a lo-tech SQUID. You sit in a darkened room, facing the screen, and hear sound from all around you. If the movie's good enough, you forget yourself for an hour or so.

The Matrix

Anyone who has heard me speak knows all about this one. Keanu Reeves’ character discovers that what he thought was the reality of his life was in fact all one big dream, fed to him by a computer. Once awake, he discovers the whole of society is being farmed, just like battery hens. Humanity is being kept asleep from cradle to grave; fed everything they need to stay alive including the illusion of a normal life pumped straight into the cerebral cortex.Now, you don’t have to be an internet propellor-head to understand the metaphor. TV is the Matrix. The whole of society is hooked up to it. It’s feeding everybody their dreams.The reason I’m going here, is to remind you that it's a promo producer's job to keep people connected to the matrix.
Are you okay with that?

Fight Club

It's subversive, and that's cool. But whilst on the subject of illusions, Fight Club does a great job of exploding the dreams that have been inculcated in the minds of an entire generation."We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."Very nice work.

The Story Of Us

How's THAT for a juxtaposition! But seriously, there's one great scene in this film that every entertainment marketer simply must see. And that's Paul Reiser telling Bruce Willis why nobody would be interested in reading a book about his f@#king Grandmother! Say no more. Just hire the movie and watch this scene. It will only cost you two bucks for a weekly hire. They might even pay you two dollars just to get it out their store for a week.

Catch-22

You could also read the book, but the movie is not without its charms. Still a classic piss-take on organisational behaviour... Yes it's the American Army in World War II, but even today you pick up virtually all the characters, plonk them down on any modern corporation today and still get the analogy. From the maddeningly entrepreneurial Milo, right through to Major Major's vanishing manager routine. And of course, the paradox of Catch-22 itself; as alive and well today as it was over 50 years ago.

The Holiday

This is actually a sweet little movie. But it also peddles the exact kind of dreams as analogised in The Matrix. Perhaps the most important reason promo producers should see it is because it depicts a fabulously wealthy promo maker who produces Hollywood movie trailers. Talk about the dream factory! The staggering opulence of this woman played by Cameron Diaz just has to be seen to be believed. Diaz's thought-track is played by veteran voice over guy Don LaFontaine. (We all know what Don would be really saying if he lived in Cameron Diaz's head.)Diaz also has her own edit suite right there in her house, operated by a real live editor and line producer. Diaz pops in, makes a few tweaks, and disappears. It's just jaw-dropping, force-seven fantasy. There isn't even a client in sight; which anyone will tell you who makes Hollywood movie trailers... there are, like, twenty of on any given movie.Later in the movie Diaz exclaims "That's why I'm paid the big bucks!" Look... anyone who gets paid like her to make movie trailers must be better at more things than just writing a few tepid clichés. My forehead was red from slapping it throughout this picture... whole scenes were viewed from between my fingers. But I couldn't look away.



ROOM 2 - SALO PAU CASALS

9.00 - 10.00
I DID IT MY WAY

A unique opportunity to compare and critique quite different approaches to the same shows, the perfect chance to see if your approach was a truly original idea!
Linda Ong will be MC for I Did It My Way
You can view her client list at truthco.net and her blog at truthco.blogspot.com

11.30 - 12.30
THE FUTURE OF BRAND EXPERIENCE

As young audiences all but abandon traditional advertising influences, Jess Greenwood from Contagious Magazine will take a look at how the advertising fraternity are fighting back with new, unique and risk taking ways.
www.contagiousmagazine.com