International Film And Media Partnership Launched

SampoMedia is aiming to help creative individuals, businesses and policy-makers in film, media and entertainment reach and engage with audiences in a changed digital environment.
SampoMedia has been set up by Peter Buckingham and Michael Gubbins, two well-known figures in the global film and media business with extensive experience of international creative business markets.
Peter Buckingham is the former head of distribution and exhibition at the UK Film Council and British Film Institute.
He has led some of the highest profile initiatives in UK film, including the Digital Screen Network, a pioneer in being the world’s first digital cinema network; Find Any Film, a website helping consumers discover legitimate access to movies; and a range of other innovative initiatives aimed at building and broadening film audience choice.
Buckingham sits on the policy and advisory groups of a number of leading organisations, including the Digital Cinema Forum, Cinema First, Power to the Pixel, FILMCLUB and the European ThinkTank. He is a frequent speaker at leading film events around the world and a lecturer at the Media Business School in Ronda, the Royal Holloway (University of London), and the National Film and Television School.
Michael Gubbins is the former editor of Screen International, Music Week and business technology magazine Computing. He is the current chair of the Film Agency for Wales and an analyst and consultant, writing influential reports for European and UK bodies on digital change and changing audience demand, including the annual Digital Revolution series for European film funds body Cine Regio.
Gubbins frequently chairs leading international events, including Europa Cinemas, the European ThinkTank, Europa Distribution, European Audiovisual Observatory and Inside Pictures, as well as events at the leading film festivals, including Cannes, Berlin, Edinburgh and London. He is a frequent expert speaker on consumer and digital change including recent events for the European Film Agency Directors (EFADs), the Danish Film Institute, the European Media Literacy Conference, and the European Commission Joint Research Centre.
Buckingham and Gubbins will be leading an industry session at this year’s Gothenburg International Film Festival on 2 February entitled How to double my revenues… by understanding audiences.
SampoMedia will be focused on understanding patterns of demand and consumer behaviour through the generation and analysis of data. Its aim is to help those with creative ideas to gain a much clearer idea of their potential reach and of the business models and practices that can help them generate demand and connect with consumers.
The emphasis will be on tangible data and objective analysis with its website www.sampomedia.com becoming an important repository of audience intelligence.
SampoMedia will offer a range of services, including project consultancy, workshops and think tanks, business consultancy and business model evaluation, bespoke research and in-depth reports. Its innovation services will experiment with, and evaluate new business models that will be essential to a changing on-demand digital environment.
SampoMedia is also currently planning a series of online tools that will allow clients and partners to intuitively access consumer knowledge.
"Everyone talks about the need to understand audiences in all creative businesses but responding to information and analysis tend to be a weak link. We believe that there needs to be a more systematic approach with a far wider scope," said Buckingham.
"Digital technologies and social media have dramatically increased access to intelligence about the way that consumers are thinking and acting and we will be using the latest techniques to effectively map audiences. What will be unique about the SampoMedia approach is our analysis, drawing on ideas and research from the widest sources."
Gubbins said that understanding how audiences engaged with creative work is essential to ensuring that ideas continue to be challenging and exciting.
"We will be building unique expertise in understanding audience behaviour and patterns of demand which, coupled with our experience in business innovation, will help people find ways to realise their creative visions and commercial and cultural goals."
He says the breadth of knowledge and analysis that SampoMedia will offer would be beyond the resources of most creative businesses in film, media and other arts and entertainment sectors. "We are committed to understanding and analysing demand and offering that knowledge back as cost-effective services of considerable value."
www.sampomedia.com
(GK)