CSB has been working for months on an exciting project with film journalist Andrew Urban of Urbancinefile. We’re interviewing film and television practitioners about their business experiences.
Our aim is to develop a deeper understanding about the history of business decision-making in film and television and to share with our audience the wisdom from the accumulated mistakes, experiments and achievements of the contributors.
Tom Kennedy - biography
Tom Kennedy is Head of Digital at Omnilab Media, Australia’s most comprehensive media group, specialising in content creation, production, post-production, broadcast, interactivity, duplication, advertising solutions and distribution. Tom has over 20 years experience in media and technology markets. He has been involved in Industry development and policy throughout his career and has been a champion for the future potential of the Australian content and the digital media industry. He has a wide range of business experience from start ups to public companies. He was founder and CEO of several leading digital companies over the past 15 years including, Media Zoo, Hyro, Beyond Online and Brainwaave Interactive. In 2006 he won the AIMIA award for outstanding contribution to Industry, and in 2007 he was listed in B&T Magazines Power 40 Digital Leaders list.
His past roles include, Chairman of the Digital Content Action Agenda Experts Group (DCITA) 2008, Commissioner of the Australian Film Commission (AFC) 2008, Chairman Internet Industry Association (IIA) 2007, President of Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA). 2004. He has been an advisor to Government in the following areas, member of the Digital Television Advisory Group, member of the Joint Singapore Australia IT Council, member of the Australian Information Economy Advisory Council (AIEAC) and a member of the National Bandwidth Enquiry and a member to the Australian Governments Broadband advisory Group (BAG). He is currently executive producer on a range of Australian feature films, King of the Mountain, Bad Bush, and My Little Eye. He speaks regularly at domestic and international media events and blogs when time permits - Mcluhan.tv
Audio download
Chapter 1 - The new digital environment - 13 minutes
- The proposed National Broadband Network – hallelujah, but will it get there?
- A game changer across the entire sector
- Will accelerate the appetite for online content
- Interactive media has rolled out over longer time frame than I would have liked
- Omnilab Media has long term relationship with Movie Network – introducing multiplatform model
- Digital film distribution has potential – especially with fibre to the home
- ‘Interactive’ is an imprecise, overly generalised term
- There are great opportunities in games and gaming
Video downloads
Chapter 2 - Valuation and investment - 10 minutes
- Valuation methods for digital media companies
- Market downturn is not a bad time to launch start ups – investors are looking
- People-driven, like the film industry
- Australians have done reasonably well with leveraging the internet
- International financing difficult
- Find the right, trusted, partners
- The tools of screen content creation have become cheaper and easier to use
- But good stories still needed
- As an investor, would look for something with wide social hook, not ‘me too’
- Broadcasters like Movie Network are trying to find new audiences
Video downloads
