nextMEDIA contemplating shorter festival in 2004
Berni Wood, executive director for the nextMEDIA festival in Charlottetown PE, says organizers are contemplating shortening the event by a half-day to give attendees a chance to relax and visit the Island. No decisions have been made, but the current plan is to run the festival from October 20 to 22. Festival planning is now ongoing as organizers finalize hiring a programmer, and prepare to contact the industry advisory board to discuss the event’s focus. It’s a safe bet this year that the new media festival will see a broader focus. Complaints have been leveled against the event in past that it has been too broadcast-focused. This year, however, the festival is under new ownership since being purchased by Toronto-based Achilles Partners LLC when it bought the Banff Television Festival (CNM, April 16/04). New ownership may see a rejuvenation of the programming, and attendees will likely hear more about the broader areas of mobile entertainment and video games.

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