(CAPTIONS: all photos by Ann Bennett. Clockwise from top left: 1) Anthony Marshall, Host/Producer at Current TV and owner of Lyricist Lounge, Inc, DJing at Seven*studioz. 2) Marita Rivero, Vice President and General Manager – Radio and Television, WBGH and Jacquie Jones, Executive Director – NBPC. 3) Shannon Gee, Independent Producer and Jaqueline Olive, ITVS. 4) Late night team meeting!)
Hi. Michella here, CAAM’s Web Producer. I recently participated in something really cool: the New Media Institute (NMI) put on by the National Black Programming Consortium.
To give you a little background, the NMI is a professional development training program for emerging and seasoned filmmakers who want to create innovative projects, explore multi-platform distribution, and attract new audiences using the latest in digital technology.
This year’s NMI focused on the creation of original new media content about the rich culture and history of the Delta region and the impact of Blues music in America. Content producers from all over the country came to Jackson, Mississippi to learn new media production strategies and create projects about the culture of the blues.
My project group created a locative media experience around a radio station in Greenwood, Mississippi. There were probably 10 – 12 project groups working in different media like digital games, interactive websites, podcasts, etc. For our locative media project, we embedded content in place, so if a user had a GPS enabled device their exploration of the area around the building would be augmented by sounds that we attached to the location. As they walked around, the user would hear interview clips, music and ambient sounds that we selected and placed in different hot spots. Neat huh?
The conference was a wonderful and enriching experience. I met so many talented people and I got to hear about many amazing projects. I’ve been to several new media conferences and digital art festivals and from my perspective, sometimes new media projects are more about the technology and lack cultural depth or politically rich content. However, at the NMI there was so many great ideas being shared that would knock peoples’ socks off. It was also really awesome to talk about art, storytelling and technology in a space that was predominantly people of color. I am so happy that I got to participate this year!
Check out NMI and other NBPC projects like their AfroPoP Series and their online video website: blackpublicmedia.org.
