In 2022 “Tech In Entertainment” was born as a spinoff of the ITTV Forum & Festival to address the need for continuing and expert updates on technological advancement as it applies to the entertainment industry, aiming to become a global hub for international industry players and select initiatives to converge into for discussion, networking, co-development and co-financing.

TIE’s debut included forums and panels on global digital distribution, metaverse development as it applies to film, tv and publishing as well as an overview on the state of the international media industry and on new emerging streaming platforms around the world.

As artificial intelligence, dynamic advertising, cutting edge special effects and relentlessly evolving visual, auditory and perceptive enhancements continue to alter the way we discover, engage with, and consume content, the entertainment industry is more dependent than ever on the advancement of new technologies.

Streaming services, which rely on recommendation technologies to more efficiently and accurately surface content for their target audiences, are only a part of the distribution outlets that take advantage of these advancements. Technology is totally ubiquitous, and it affects everything in our online lives, from social media platforms to video gaming and even sports betting, where bookmakers are switching to 5G to optimize the process, as well as retail outlets, increasingly relying on augmented reality to showcase and sell their products.

But that’s not all.

The “metaverse”, a word pointing at those online, interconnected digital environments where we are soon going to socialize, play, explore virtual worlds and share seemingly infinite entertainment experiences is become more relevant. Even Disney, one of the most “classic” among the Hollywood Studios, has announced plans to create a metaverse theme park and is creating an entire division to pursue opportunities in this environment.

But another controversial, yet undeniably revolutionary phenomenon is represented by NFTs, the blockchain-dwelling certificates used to record unique ownership of digital assets and with a potentially transformative impact on IP management generally. Mainstream and mass-market forms of media and entertainment, in the meanwhile, will continue to lose ground to more personalized, niche and community-driven “creator economy”.  This is why ITTV intends to look closely at transformative technologies and at the opportunities offered by the blockchain, DAOs and decentralized finance as new, alternative means to develop and realize audiovisual content.

As 2023 commences, TIE announces its evolution into a permanent, standalone program which will debut once again as a companion to this year’s edition of ITTV to then continue throughout the rest of the current and following year in an itinerant, multi-territory format adapting to the changing technological trends. For TIE to carry on its ambitious plan and become a global discussion, networking and content development hub in the business, it will rely on the support of management and advisory boards as well as of prominent industry contributors, such as CAA, AMAZON, RAI, and V-Channels.