PressPlayPause Dissects Digital Disintermediation

Film festivals have long been the venue of choice to discover movies that push the boundaries of our imagination or dive below the facade of life as we know it, daring each of us to examine who we really are as a species.

The 2011 Newport Beach Film Festival served up a true cinematic jambalaya worthy of repeated helpings, but for me one film in particular stood out as a stark reflection on the creative process itself, examining how art in all forms was being affected by the digital revolution. PressPausePlay never reached a boiling point, thankfully, but succeeded in maintaining an intellectual simmer that gave one space to absorb and ponder at the same time. By the end I was reexamining every aspect of culture.

We’ve all been affected by the digital revolution that’s gone on for the past thirty years, and I think it’s safe to say that, for the most part, the changes have been positive for individuals and society as a whole. But along the way many industries have been ripped apart – think records to CDs to downloads – while the ability to create, manage and distribute art has been ripped from the claws of corporations.

The film contained insightful examples of how artists took control of their music, film and writing endeavors by using the latest digital inventions to create, communicate, collaborate, edit and publish and produce. One of the most interesting stories came from Seth Godin, who I prefer to think of as the dean of cultural disintermediation. In the video above he recounts a personal experience of blazing a new trail that in many ways turned the publishing world upside down.

Mind Bending Questions

The digital revolution of the last decade has unleashed creativity and talent of people in an unprecedented way, unleashing unlimited creative opportunites. But does democratized culture mean better art, film, music and literature or is true talent instead flooded and drowned in the vast digital ocean of mass culture? Is it cultural democracy or mediocrity?

These questions had my mind spinning as I left the theatre, but in the end I look at it this way – It’s true that technology empowers everyone, and that may mean there will be a great deal of mediocre work to wade through, yet the cream always rises to the top over time, and the ability to choose from an ever-widening array of material is always a good thing, especially for those artists in the developing world who have largely been shut out of the creative marketplace in the past.

Bottom line – hunt this film down at a festival near you and watch it!

Film Crew

DIRECTORS: David Dworsky & Victor Köhler
PRODUCERS: Einar Bodström, Philip Marthinsen & Adam Svanell
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Hannes Isaksson
EDITORS: David Dworsky & Victor Köhler
SOUND: Erik Olsson, Redpipe
GRADE: Mike Cosola, Cinepost Studios
ANIMATION: Stuart Langfield
SCORE MUSIC: Ólafur Arnalds, Ludvig Franzén, Carl Åborg, Feliz Martinz, Joel Hilme