Choreographer's Carnival, Opportunities for New Media

This past Wednesday, as an intern at a dance talent agency, I was lucky enough to be able to go VIP to Hollywood's monthly Choreographer's Carnival that's held on Sunset Boulevard at the Key Club. This post will describe the amazing experience of Carnival and how technology could be further utilized to promote it.

Going to Carnival is a great learning experience for me, featuring new work by professional dance choreographers, producers, directors, and dancers. As a prospective business person or creative production force of the dance industry, steady exposure to Carnival is invaluable.

Here's a little about Carnival from their website just to introduce you to it if you've never heard of it: "Carnival started eight and a half years ago to give working choreographers and dancers a venue where they can have free artistic expression without the constraints of an artist, a director, or a script. Carnival is an event where it features not only choreographers from the film and video industries, but from all over the world: -Paris, Japan, New York, Las Vegas, Texas, Florida, and many more... Where else can you see a show that highlights not only hip hop but ballet, funk, lyrical, tap, modern, performance art, and spoken word? Only at the Carnival, whre you get more dance for your dollar."

Here are a couple performances from last week's Carnival:

I appreciate many things about Carnival and what it does for the dance industry:

1. Increases exposure of dancers and choreographer's work to a more popular, mainstream audience
   
2. Provides a place for the dance community to meet and thrive
   
3. Allows professionals in the dance industry to see new and promising talent
   
4. Offers a welcoming, free space for artists in the dance world to showcase their work
   
5. Puts on a legit dance show monthly in the heart of Hollywood
   

On the flip side, there are some issues Carnival creates that doesn't support a thriving industry:

1. Dancers and choreographers aren't paid for their work (The Key Club must be making outrageous profits)
   
2. Time and effort spent to present this work unpaid detracts from valued professionalism, open scheduling, and quality of paid, industry jobs
   
3. It seems about 90% of the view of the stage are obstructed, which detracts from viewers' experience
   
4. Past Carnival performances are never revisited for monetization purposes
   

Carnival could:

1. Create a better website with online purchasing options where one could download a high quality video of a particular performance for an affordable rate. This would decrease the amount of piracy and free downloading of Carnival performances on YouTube
   
2. Collect tips for dancers on site and distribute funds accordingly (although the reason The Key Club is avoiding this is probably so that people spend all their money on drinks at the club)
   
3. Build a social networking site where scheduling and communication is mainstream and made available to all the necessary people. This could even extend to a dancer's agency where they could align schedules and check for availability of a particular client based on Carnival.
   
4. Create a yearly DVD of "The Best of Carnival" with different editions for different cities. All could be sold together as a box set. It could even be offered through Netflix or as On Demand on Digital Cable
   
5. Make that DVD release in 3D theaters around the country for wider distribution
   
6. Revolutionize the dance industry by somehow making the show a 3D live event in theaters on a monthly basis. It would become the national event of the tightly knit and ever-growing dance community
   

All in all, Carnival is offering a great service to many dancers and choreographers. It's increasing publicity and legitimacy for an industry that hardly gets the credit it deserves. However, it could do so much more to maximize the influx of cash from producing and performing a monthly show. By taking advantage of the long tail on the internet, as well as new media like 3D live action films, Carnival could propel the dance industry into a full fledged, well paying entertainment industry instead of a group of struggling, undervalued artists.

Dance in Movie Theaters

To extend my last post about the upcoming film, Step Up 3-D, I'm going to share some of my ideas on how dance can be further integrated into theaters and other mainstream culture.

Simply speaking, the majority of the population no longer goes to live shows, theaters, and concerts-- unless they're in NYC and want to see Wicked on Broadway. Imagine if actor's performances were limited to stage concerts. Their revenues would be a marginal compared to the amount of money they are able to pull down by being distributed in thousands of theaters in the United States, as well as all over the world.

Before you dismiss me for a dancer who's delusional about the ability for a non-film to be competitive with cinematic distribution, let's look at some examples of how the music industry has used 3D live action film technology to expand their distribution and profits. There are two music concerts in particular from this year that have impressed audiences around the world and gained great profits for the struggling music industry: 1. U2 3D, which has made more than $6.5 million in the US box office so far, and 2. Hannah Montana/Miley Cirus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour that has already grossed over $64 million in the US since its release in early February!!!

Here's a YouTube video of the U2 3D concert so that you can see for yourself what's appealing about presenting various performance arts in these new 3D live action theaters:

And here's a posting from a U2 fan on YouTube about his experience:

"Basically put it like this, you would think the band was beside you, at one point Bono reaches out his hand to the camera and it looks like you're in front of him and at the start of the film the camerica cut the crowd and a fan jumped, I was about the tell the person in front of me to sit down, that's how realistic it is, hope you can get to see it, as I said to my mates, it's the closest you'll get to being on stage with the Greatest Band Ever..." 

And just for you Hannah Montana fans... (I know you're out there)... here's a clip from her concert:

I think dance concerts should have a special place in cinemas... Some may argue that dance is not as mainstream or popular as music in terms of being able to pull in a large profit throughout the United States. This may be true for now, simply because the dance industry has failed to revolutionize and adapt to remain relevant with the prospect of new media.

I would also urge those who think a properly marketed dance show wouldn't be profitable in 3D live action theaters to remember a few recent dance related movies and their resonance in the cinema industry as proven by their respective box office revenues:

-Stomp The Yard: $61,365,221 in the US

-Step Up: $65,269,010 in the US

-Step Up 2 The Streets: $45,448,225 in the US

-You Got Served: $40,066,497 in the US

-Hairspray: $118,823,091 in the US

And as if that weren't enough, think about all the successful TV shows that showcase different types of dance: ABC's Dancing With The Stars, MTV's Americas Best Dance Crew, of one of the summer season's highest rated shows, FOX's So You Think You Can Dance, which doesn't even rely on celebrities from other industries to bolster audience viewership. Here's a clip from SYTYCD:

It's clear that dance is growing and creeping into the mainstream entertainment industry. It's time dance concerts come to 3D live action movie theaters. This will a create an experience that's over all:

         1. cheaper than a concert

         2. presented up close and personal

         3. more convenient for all people around the US

Step Up, Step Up 2 The Streets... now Step Up 3-D?

This post is going to focus on Disney's dance feature film franchise, Step Up, and how Disney is going to utilize new technology to draw a crowd for the final installation of the trilogy, which is now being called Step Up 3-D. First I'm going to talk about the original Step Up, then Step Up 2 The Streets, which came out about a month ago, and finally I will talk about the upcoming Step Up 3-D.

Variety has announced and it has become apparent in the dance world that the dance film series Step Up is planning a final installment of the trilogy after an impressive opening weekend for the second movie in the series, Step Up 2 the Streets. The movie made nearly $19 million at the box office opening weekend alone, which is great considering the film's budget was $20 million. As of today, the total domestic gross at the box office is nearly $50 million!

Step Up was very good from a dancer's perspective. Okay, it was not an amazing film. I wouldn't consider it equal to a comparable dance movie, Stomp the Yard that had all the components of a great film, such as dramatic characters, a compelling plot, a deeper theoretical concept, AND uberly amazing choreography and dancing. Regardless... Step Up held its own in the box office and offered something valuable to consumers: great choreography and dancing (especially in the movie's closing performance, attractive actors, and an acceptable story/plot/character development, etc. Here's a YouTube clip of the end sequence if you'd like to see what I mean:

This movie, the first Step Up, had to be good because it was an original screenplay and a fresh story coming the the market. Accordingly, the film had a great team of directors, producers, and a big name actor with lead Channing Tatum. On the other hand, Step Up 2 the Streets could ride the wave of a successful prequel. This resulting in the movie being a bit of a disaster in every sense BUT the box office figures... and that's coming from a dancer who endlessly roots for any film promoting dance and employing choreographers and dancers. This sequel didn't indulge by any means. Disney opted for a cheaper directing team, production process, and non-famous talent. Step Up 2  was basically an unoriginal cookie-cutter sequel to make money. The dancing in the movie didn't even look impressive because the less expensive director didn't seem to have prior knowledge about filming dance... For example, one sequence featured various jumps that should look very impressive, however, the director shot the scene from above the dancer instead of from below them, which made the jump look low and anticlimactic.

Granted, studios (Disney in this case) need to make this type of financially stabling movie to make up for other losses. I understand the necessity to create a sequel... However I'm hesitant to promote the creation of such an uncreative/disappointing sequel because it can oversaturate the market and cheapen the future of dance movies in general.

So... TECHNOLOGY...

Thankfully, Step Up 3-D has a new twist. It will be shot with live-action 3D cameras... you know, the ones where you get to wear those dorky red and blue lense goggle glasses? The movie will debut in IMAX-like movie theaters with 3D technology enabled. This should bring great promise and profits to Disney, so long as the lack-luster Step Up 2 The Streets doesn't too negatively affect the Step Up brand name.

The fact that 3D live action has already proven to be very profitable. This new technology is a great advancement in cinema, especially in a digital age where many movie goers are now opting to stay in and rent new releases from Netflix or ON Demand versus making the trek to the movie theaters. This new technology is pulling people back into the cinemas for huge opening weekends. Take a look at projects that are planned to release or re-release in 3D between now and 2011 and beyond: List of 3D Movies.

If normal feature films are impressive in 3D, just imagine how great the dance sequences of Step Up 3-D will be... or how impressive they SHOULD be. I'm excited just thinking about how the choreographer is going to utilize this new technology. The director, who as of now will be Jon Chu, the same director as Step Up 2 The Streets, better know what he's doing. This technological advancement could prove to be a huge opportunity for the dance world... If the film is impressive it could become a way to distribute other types of dance concert and theater besides feature films to a mass audience.

My next post will discuss the success of 3D music concerts, in particular those of U2 and Hannah Montana, and how the dance industry can similarly use this new 3D technology to expand the distribution of their performance art to millions around the US.

Want a different perspective on this topic? Check out a blog I stumbled upon from someone without the bias of a dance background: The Movie Blog. 

Savvier agents

This entry serves as a quick explanation of what agencies that predominately rep dance talent can do in order to improve their professionalism, efficiency, and productivity... I believe agencies are crucial in changing the industry because, if done properly, their respective clients will follow their lead and in turn become more professional and efficient and end up booking more jobs and making more money.

The four top agencies that I mentioned in the previous post, Bloc, Clear Talent Group, DDO Artist Agency, and McDonald/Selznick Associates, all suffer from vast internal communication inefficiencies. These agencies are stuck in a paper and telephone age and have failed to convert to the digital age and truly take advantage of all it has to offer.

Here are some common problems that dance agencies face:

-Internally, the work environment is severely noisy, there is a large inability to share updated information so everyone is aware of significant changes, there is endless backlogged paper work, and a degree of computer and technological incompetency.

-These internal problems relate to issues that aggrevate agent-client relations, and become serious external communication worries. The two main external results are that there is outdated client information, which makes it seems as though agents don't listen to their clients, which makes it seem like the agents aren't fully invested in the client's career. Also, there is too much reliance on the phone, which is simply unnecessary with all the present day technological tools. Because the agents spend all day on the phone in order to get automated feedback from their clients, they are then less available for important and personal issues that the clients need to fully discuss. Here's a cute little cartoon I found that relates to over-usage of the telephone for unnecessary topics:

Here are some solutions I propose:

-A multifunctional company server that incorporates many technologies. First, it would offer a client server portion of the agency's website where clients can provide automated feedback to straight forward questions such as confirming attendance at a particular audition or being booked in or out for a certain time frame. Secondly, the server would host a client database that is constantly updated and checked over to ensure all client details are understood by the employees. Thirdly, the server would offer the usage of a DDO-only email and IM/chat system, similar to MSN mail and messenger. Here's a quick image that displays how the client server would facilitate more productive internal communication.

-Proper usage and adoption of the central server will require intense staff development, which will result in more professional and savvy employees.

-Finally, intense team building that facilitates open and friendly communication between all departments of an agency would benefit the agency. To encourage this team building, depending on the agencies, the office space should be reconfigured.

Overall, these agencies need to update their current systems to be more connected with the digital world. This will not only benefit them, but by using a technology based system, their clients will then also need to be able to effectively communicate with new technology instead of just the telephone. Agents should show a greater concern for coming off as educated and professional, which will enable them to create strong synergy between various company departments and locations, all with the use of technology.

The dance industry is evolving. It is now relevant to more media forms than just theater, television, and cinema. One example of how dance is expanding into more technology intensive industries is recording artist Ciara's music video that offers interactive marketplace buying options related to the dance industry. I will further address this made-for-the-internet video in my next post.

The dance industry's agents should reflect this change in relevance to media forms by updating their technology to keep up with the times.