Most of us in digital media have weathered all kinds of storms. We’ve witnessed the rise and fall and rebirth of convergence; suffered and survived the dot-com bust; raised capital in good times and bad; and generated revenues when people told us it couldn’t be done -- with everything from microtransactions to mobile messaging. Even with the current economy, we have a wealth of experience to draw from and a lot to be optimistic about. While retail experienced a modest Christmas, Facebook made about $35M from virtual gifts alone in 2008. Business models that are free to customers -- and both traditional and ...

So far in FanTrust’s Setting Your Digital Resolutions series, you’ve identified digital business goals and investigated your fans’ online behaviour … Welcome to the FanTrust guide to digital success – Setting Your Digital Resolutions for 2009. December is traditionally a time for reflection and goal-setting, both personal and professional. Though you know what it takes to reach your goals for, say, losing weight (less eggnog, more yoga) or having fun (more eggnog, less yoga) –what if you’re venturing into uncharted business terrain? This month, we’ll walk you through short, simple exercises – complete with case studies and success stories – intended to ...

ICE Cubes – a series of podcasts that examines current trends and news stories in interactive entertainment – launched this week in conjection with the Interactive Content Exchange (ICE) conference. An ICE 2008 advisory board member and presenter, FanTrust President Catherine Warren recently sat down with ICE Cubes host and producer Alan Sawyer to share her thoughts about the digital ABC’s – audience, business and content – including: How audiences are changing entertainment content and the business of entertainment Aggregating fans to monetize online content Developing a profitable digital strategy (property-specific or corporate) Raising capital for multiplatform IP What the gaming ...

Microsoft and Disney announced at the E3 Media and Business summit that a selection of films are available for download on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Classic films and new releases from fifteen of Disney's partners will be available for download in high definition and standard definition based on Microsoft's points system. This announcement marks yet another collaboration on digital delivery and cross-platforming of HD entertainment, not to mention, the increased partnering of video games and films. This was a no-brainer for Disney given that in seven months Xbox Marketplace has seen 10 million downloads and the game platform already ...

Emily Carr Institute's Masters of Applied Arts internship e-zine