Pixelodeon is a new annual independent video festival in LA recognizing innovation, inspiration, and community in global online video.

It has just taken place......

Good sponsorship support primarily from companies based online.

Very enthusiastic video below:

Lots of other video's on their site - but none of the actual scheduled stuff as far as I can see!

The UK Film Council has published its new funding and policy priorities from April 2007-March 2010.

"In an age of global communication, film  has become one of the most potent means through which nations and communities project their values and identities and learn about one another. Moving image technologies have become a key factor in everyday living. They are big business. More than that, an ability to understand and use digitali technology has become as essential for citizens of the 21st century as literacy was in the 19th and 20th. The pace, scale and implications of this change are momentous. Established in 2000, the UK Film Council was charged with building a more successful and competitive British film industry and with promoting a dynamic film culture. It has always tried to create practical synergies between these two agendas, one commercial, the other cultural, and to realise the full public value of film as a medium for the representation and interpretation of identity, values and learning – as well as entertainment."

Geriatric1927 a blogging grandad launches the UK version of YouTube with his 79th self made broadcast.

Peter, a widower living alone in Derbyshire's Peak District  is already something of a celebrity to his fans. This new broadcast has created some heated correspondence which should only be read with caution.

Why is YouTube launching  UK version - I suspect it is all to do with advertising revenues.

Geoff Scott  has been exploring Second life and undertaking a series of conte pastel and watercolour landscapes a la naturelle.

You can see the results of his work at The Field Museum of Art which is a privately held museum institution dedicated to collecting and exhibiting Fine Art that endeavors to illuminate, celebrate and document the natural world.

Whilst they have exhibited other digitally based work, it has always been derived from the real world.

Ars Electronica has revealed plans for it's new 30m Euro building that will double the scale of it's original space in Linz, Austria.

To be opened in time for European Capital of Culture 2009.

Read more from Ars Electronica here.

Is the countryside more English than the city?

Matthew Sweet from BB3 Night Waves hosts a public debate in front of a live audience in Kendal, Cumbria, exploring the question 'Is the countryside more English than the city'?

Recorded as part of Art07 at the Brewery in Kendal. folly along with other arts organisations and individual artists were present,

Matthew and his guests discussed whether there is still a thriving rural culture, or whether the city is now utterly predominant.

View the movie

One of 5 short videos commissioned by furtherfield see http://netartfilm.furtherfield.org/

Free Media, reflects Mongrel's belief that free access to technology and knowledge is a question of democracy and creativity.

Study Predicts 400% Growth for Creative Content Online

Revenue from online content will reach €8.3 billion by 2010 in Europe, a growth of over 400% in five years, says a new study for the European Commission. For the most advanced sectors, online content will represent a significant share of total revenue: about 20% for music and 33% for video games. Thanks to the spread of broadbandi, the roll-out of advanced mobile networks, and the massive adoption of digitali devices, the study shows that mass market online content distribution is becoming a reality. The study found that although the market is growing steadily, technological, economic and legal challenges – notably intellectual property rights and interoperability – need to be addressed for Europe to have faster market uptake.  It found that Europe trails the US's lead in developing interactive fixed broadband services, and Japan and Korea's in mobile services. After a wide consultation, it identified 36 barriers to developing online content and assesses their market impact up to 2010. The study will be an important input for the Commission's proposals on 'Content Online in Europe's Single Market' that may be presented in the second half of 2007. For more, link to http://ec.europa.eu/comm/avpolicy/other_actions/content_online/

What is Circuit Bending?

The term circuit bending refers to the act of modifying the circuitry of battery-powered children’s toys to create strange, new, and unintended sounds for creative purposes.

This re-appropriation of objects of a digitali childhood is quickly growing in popularity as it offers an affordable, culturally referenced path into the creation of electronic music. Instead of merely watching a person’s face glowing in the screen of a laptop, the audience can watch performers wrangle squelches, bleeps, groans, and blips out of everyday childhood toys.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/changingmediasummit

Some Blogi Links -

When it comes to Web 2.0, social activity has become a product unto itself - Kevin Anderson

http://strange.corante.com/archives/2007/03/22/guardian_changing_media_business_model_for_free_content.php