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About CULTURE HACKER

Culture Hacker focuses on how tech impacts storytelling. Media consumption is changing and Culture Hacker looks at how the collision of gaming, music, film and technology is changing the way stories are told and delivered to audiences.

Part of an ever growing collection of resources for the digital creative community, Culture Hacker is a cornerstone of the Workbook Project network focused on the funding, creation, distribution and sustainability of those working in the digital entertainment space.

WorkBook Project

DIY DAYS is coming to NYC
On Saturday April 3rd, the WorkBook Project and the New School present DIY DAYS NYC. This marks the first time that the roving conference for creators will make a stop in NYC. The day will consist of talks, presentations, workshops and a special section called Incubator that matches two media startups with a think tank of experts. BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP! Fo […]
NEW BREED: The Crowd
By Gregory Bayne – As some of you know, I recently completed a successful funding campaign using Kickstarter.com to raise the initial capital needed to get my new film, Jens Pulver | Driven, an intimate documentary about legendary UFC Champion Jens Pulver, off the ground. The end result of the campaign was $27,210 pledged, my goal was $25,000, via 410 contr […]
CULTURE HACKER: The Art of Branded Content
by Peter Katz – Here’s my interview on branded content with Creative Director Tim Roper from award winning advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky. We met at UCLA Media & Entertainment Week. What do you feel are the biggest misconceptions about branded content? The biggest misconception is how easy it is to conceive it in a fresh way and then how wi […]
EVENT: Join the Conversation at Columbia
On March 27th The Conversation comes to Columbia University. Started in 2008, The Conversation is a look at the future of filmmaking and how advancements in technology are enabling new opportunities for filmmakers. The program for March 27th is extensive and will bring together a number of innovative thinkers in the space. For more information visit www.thec […]

DIY DAYS

Speaker Highlight: Noah Harlan
Noah is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, producer and co-founder of 2.1 Films (film & media) and Two Bulls (mobile apps & mixed reality). His features have premiered at Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and Rome. He has produced branded projects for TV and the web for MTV, CSTV, Chevrolet, Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, Southwest Airlines and Audi. Two Bulls [...] […]
Speaker Highlight: Jesse von Doom
Jesse is the executive director of CASH Music a nonprofit organization building open tools and services for musicians and the evolving music industry. He has a background in design and technology and has been working with music marketing and technology for over ten years. Jesse lives with his wife and two daughters on a tiny [...] […]
DIY Days is still looking for a few good volunteers!
We are looking for volunteers to be a part of our logistics team. Volunteers will be needed to greet and register attendees and speakers, direct traffic between our spaces, maintain time for sessions, prep speaker presentations, and generally be ready to attend to other logistical issues as they pop up. Our friend and talented writer/director/editor Raffi [ […]
Speaker Highlight: Michael Last
Michael has combined his passions for entrepreneurship, technology, and fun into his startup Intellitoys. Intellitoys is using toys as a new platform for distributing traditional media such as songs and stories, as well as interactive media, such as games and interactive stories. Michael is seeking to disrupt the business model of the toy industry to [...] […]

Back in the Swing

14 Jun
2009

by Nick Braccia

Everyone at CH has been absurdly busy the last few months, either with school or work, but we’re all eager to get back to some regular posting.

What have I been up to? And what has me interested?

Well, I discovered my new favorite cable TV show and watched all its episodes sequentially, in one shot…via Netflix streaming capabilities on my XBOX 360. Something indicative of my recent media consumption behavior. I recently moved to SF and Comcast service and quality is terrible. So I’ve gone from getting most of my entertainment via postal delivery of optical (regular Netflix) to streaming Netflix offerings via XBOX Live.

Also, two recent software titles got me interested. I wanted the indie produced $10 horror title, The Path, and discovered that Direct2Drive was offering downloads via Paypal. The second game is Battleforge, a new EA title that was shipped to brick and mortar with a $49.99 tag, but this micro-transaction based, card combat RTS dropped its price to FREE in just a month so I downloaded it onto one of my machines.

The point is that, I’m not really an engadget/gizmodo guy, and yet, I’m discovering and accruing my media strictly via digidelivery and payment. How long before optical media is gone all together?

From a Culture Hacker POV, this is an encouraging trend–a broader user base getting their media exclusively through digital means. It expands the number of channels we can use to tell stories and/or run games. Additionally, It allows for smaller, niche game developers (and filmmakers) of all types to distribute their product without worrying about a lot of overhead and/or retail distribution.

Also important…it was the high metacritic score that drove me to the Path. Read about it. Explored the site, easy digital transaction and downloads. The path from awareness to sale was seamless and took just minutes.

A review of this game and its cross media and community components is forthcoming.

In: cross-media| gaming| marketing| television| video