Sheffield Melts Creativity – Melt 2008 Inspiration Session – Part 1

Posted on 07. Sep, 2008 by in Inspired, Multi-Platform Content

Melt LogoI was in Sheffield for much of Thursday attending the rather excellent Melt 2008 Inspiration Session which celebrated the success of the Melt pilot programme.

Melt is a three year, digital content development programme for South Yorkshire which was launched in 2005.

Melt gives annual research and development (R&D) awards of up to £50,000 to leading artistic, media and technical talent to explore the creative and economic possibilities of innovative content for new and emerging media platforms.

Lots of great talks

A busy afternoon, it was a whirlwind of talks and presentations from speakers like Adam Gee, head of Factual Interactive Commissioning at Channel 4, Paula Le Dieu, director of Magic Lantern, James Kirkham, co-founder and director of digital agency Holler, Tom Savigar, strategy and insight director at The Future Laboratory, and of course, all the Melt awardees who ranged from games developers to animation and CGI effects studios.

The presentations were great and I briefly outline my takeaways from each speakers talk below.  As I’ve done with previous events, I will be referring to key insights and quotes by each speaker, as hastily scrawled by me.  Feel free to add to anything I’ve missed in the comments.

The highlight of the day for me was Tom Savigar of The Future Laboratory’s trend briefing which covered consumer trends for a variety of different industries and included lots of really interesting observations.  It’s so good I’ve decided to blog my entire notes… in a subsequent blog post.

First, Adam Gee’s talk.

Adam has been involved in the Melt programme for 3 years, having been there since its inception.  Producer of such popular Channel 4 programmes as The Big Art project and Embarrassing Bodies, he was there to talk about 4IP, Channel 4’s £50m fund for innovative multi-platform content.

Adam Gee on 4IP

Channel 4, now in its 25th year is in a process of transforming from a public service broadcaster to a public sector network: across TV, digital TV, mobile and the web.

4IP* Channel 4 is public sector* service in a commercial framework.  It (4IP?) explores what public service means in a networked world.

A good example is the recently launched 4mations, part funded by 4IP.  A new hub for UK animation, it is a partnership between Channel 4, Aardman Animations and Lucas Films.

What does the IP stand for?

Innovation for the Public – though it although also alludes to Internet Protocol and Intellectual Property.

Basically an investment fund for innovation for digital platforms, to the tune of £50 million pounds. Over four* two years, Channel 4 and other companies invest in new companies creating content.  The submission system will be launched on the 4IP site later on in the year.

*Corrections by Adam Gee in the comments.

The 4IP Team

The team is headed by Tom Loosemore, starting end of September and includes Ewan McIntosh ‘Mr Scotland Web 2.0’ and a number of digital commissioning managers.

What is 4IP looking for?

Production companies, digital agencies, platform developers, consortia.

Partnership ethos, a strong selection of partners is good.  It’s not TV.

Network and interactive media propositions that deliver public sector and public services beyond TV.

Next on 4 blueprint, the next 25 years for Channel 4.  Help people make positive changes in their lives.   Equity investment, project commissioning, seed funding, helping build scale.   Their partners in the South Yorkshire region: Screen Yorkshire, Yorkshire Forward.

On to Paula Le Dieu, director of Magic Lantern’s talk.   I’ve decided to stop now and continue in a new post! This is getting too long…

Related posts:

  1. Sheffield Melts Creativity – Melt 2008 Inspiration Session – Part 4
  2. Sheffield Melts Creativity – Melt 2008 Inspiration Session – Part 3
  3. Sheffield Melts Creativity – Melt 2008 Inspiration Session – Part 2
  4. A Glimpse Into The Future
  5. 4Talent Inspiration Session – Building Online Communities like Flickr and Habbo Hotel – Part 3

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  • http://www.realfresh.tv/sheffield-melts-creativity-melt-2008-inspiration-session-part-2/ Sheffield Melts Creativity – Melt 2008 Inspiration Session – Part 2 | Real Fresh TV | Social Media, Multi-Platform Marketing and Internet TV Specialists

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  • http://www.arkangel.tv Adam Gee

    Thanks for taking the trouble to summarise my brief update on 4iP. I hope you don’t mind me correcting a couple of small points:

    The initiative runs initially for 2 years (not 4). It was Channel 4 (rather than 4iP) I was describing as “public service (not sector) in a commercial framework”.

    I’m glad you enjoyed the event – I thought Lucy and Nigel at Melt made a fabulous day (and night!) of it.

  • http://www.realfresh.tv Chi-chi Ekweozor

    Thanks for commenting, Adam. I’ve amended the post to include those points.

    I assume you are then making the point that “4IP explores what public service means in a networked world.” Let me know if otherwise…

    Yes, it was a fantastic event and deeply inspiring, unfortunately I was having so much fun I forgot to thank Lucy and Nigel!

    So good to see home grown projects that focus on innovation and creativity… just because…

  • http://www.realfresh.tv/sheffield-melts-creativity-melt-2008-inspiration-session-part-3/ Sheffield Melts Creativity – Melt 2008 Inspiration Session – Part 3 | Real Fresh TV | Social Media, Multi-Platform Marketing and Internet TV Specialists

    [...] Part 1 is what I learnt from Adam Gee, head of Factual Interactive Commissioning at Channel 4’s talk about 4IP, Channel 4’s £50 million fund for innovative multi-platform content. [...]

  • http://www.arkangel.tv Adam Gee

    Yes, that was indeed the point I was making: 4IP explores what public service media means in a networked, interactive world (beyond traditional television) where the media flow is two-way – a conversation between the media organisation and the audience (and of course among the audience too).

  • http://www.realfresh.tv Chi-chi Ekweozor

    That’s great Adam. Sounds really good, I’m really looking forward to seeing what projects are delivered by 4IP.

    Now following them (and your good self) on Twitter!

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