Corus, iLoveTV interactive trial decried as ‘stupid’ by Grammy-winning filmmaker

Toronto-based iLoveTV Entertainment Inc. will put its two-screen interactivity technology to the test April 6 when Corus Entertainment Inc.’s Documentary Channel uses it to enhance a broadcast of a documentary. The system uses markers in a broadcast to push content at users on a web site, and Corus will be the first high-profile trial of the product. The deal may also be one of the first in Canada to raise controversial questions about how much artistic control authors should have over their works in the digital environment, and what the appetite will be for two-screen content. Though details about the Corus-iLoveTV deal were unknown at press time, a key question is how the deal was structured. Although iLoveTV issued a news release promoting the agreement, Corus spokesperson Kerry Morgan would not volunteer any information, adding the release was issued without Corus participation. While another ITV experiment – that by CHUM Television to Wink-enable some of its in-house shows across four of its television channels – raises issues of carrier-broadcaster relationships, the iLoveTV deal introduces third-party content – in this case a documentary film on Lou Reed by photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. The piece is owned by American Masters, and Corus would have had to license the broadcast rights from that company. Contacted in New York by CNM, Greenfield-Sanders was surprised to learn that the film would be rendered interactive, and expressed concerns about distracting audiences from the main work. "Most television programs are such crap that you probably wouldn’t mind switching to your computer to watch something else," he says. "As a filmmaker, I would want people to watch my film as I intended it to be seen, uninterrupted. As an artist who put so much work into the making of the film, switching off to an interactive computer seems really stupid. If this is something like a bonus track on a DVD, well then why wouldn’t you want to watch that after seeing the film?" But Greenfield-Sanders notes that the decision to license broadcast rights isn’t his since the film was made by American Masters after he approached them with the idea. A note on the photographer’s web site reads: "Greenfield-Sanders’ first feature film Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart, won a 1999 Grammy Award. The film premiered in the United States at the Sundance Film Festival, in New York at the Museum of Modern Art, and in Europe at the Berlin film festival. It aired in the U.S. on PBS’s American Masters series and has screened at over 50 film festivals worldwide." The announcement of the Corus initiative, which came late in Canadian NEW MEDIA’s production cycle, caps a string of announcements by iLoveTV in recent weeks, including a major marketing agreement that has president/CEO Ian Park enthusiastic about the company’s progress. In February, the firm announced that it had inked a partnership agreement with OgilvyInteractive that gives the well-known digital marketing agency a small equity position in the company. Park tells CNM that the partnership will allow Ogilvy clients to begin using iLoveTV technology immediately, a claim that appears to have been borne out in light of the Corus announcement. "What we’re bringing to Ogilvy is the opportunity to play the convergence game," he says. "Our stuff is so good that now, instead of waiting for digital television or any of these interactive TV things to go – and they’re very slow to go – with iLoveTV you’re actually doing what you want today. You’re conducting t-commerce, ecommerce. You’re getting your clients ready for the digital age. You’re ready for digital TVs, ready for the day when all our TVs and computers will be on the same monitor. They want to get busy experimenting with this convergence technology so that they’ll understand the advertising model."

Corus, iLoveTV interactive trial decried as ‘stupid’ by Grammy-winning filmmaker

News | 03/07/2002 5:00 am EST

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