Explorations of the simultaneous convergence and collision of the traditional and new media worlds
We regret to inform you that Alan Sawyer passed away on June 8, 2013 after a 9 month battle with cancer.
Hence the services offered at Two Solitudes Consulting will no longer be available.
I’m Alan Sawyer and I am a consultant specializing in transmedia storytelling and digital media / new media / interactive media and its impact and inter-relationship with traditional media, especially in broadcast-related forms. While other consultants dabble in this space, this is my principal area of practice.
I'm also an Emmy® award-winning and Gemini-nominated interactive content creator, producer and creative consultant. I develop creative transmedia content and help broadcasters and producers scope out interactive project components. When needed, I can help producers and broadcasters find appropriate companies with which to partner on these initiatives. More about that can be found at www.changingchannels.ca.
I consult on all aspects of cross-media, transmedia and interactive-only projects from creative content to business and marketing plans.
My specialty is strategic consulting and analysis, but I also take on appropriate research projects and offer training services for clients wishing to examine and explore the changing worlds of traditional media and digital media.
I also consult on Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund (Bell Fund) applications, helping ensure that the creative concept is on the mark and that the application tells the right story in order to maximize the chances of success (and I have a perfect record... every application (11 in total) I've been involved with has received funding).
In addition to independent producers and private broadcasters, I've worked with various corporations and industry organizations including the
Alliance of
Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), the
Association des producteurs de
films et de télévision du Québec (APFTQ),
the
Canada Media Fund (CMF),
the Canadian Media Production Association(CMPA), the
Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission (CRTC),
the Directors
Guild of Canada (DGC),
the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC), Interactive Ontario
(IO),
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB), the
Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC),
Telefilm Canada,
TELUS and
the Writers Guild of Canada (the WGC).
I've been a judge/adjudicator for the
Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund,
the Independent Production Fund Web
Series program, and the
Banff World
Media Festival awards (best cross-platform
project
category).
I have an extensive background in the area of digital content and bring a unique combination of technical and business perspectives to my analysis of the Canadian media industry, the convergence of telecommunications and media, and emerging technologies and business models. In a not-so-distant past life I was a senior management consultant with IBM's Business Consulting Services in the Media and Entertainment and Digital Media practices.
I have specific expertise related to new media in Canada and the implications of regulatory policy (under the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Acts) with respect to digital media.
I'm a member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (ACCT).
"Alan has a wicked imagination combined with an extraordinary technical capacity - he is smart, funny, creative and clever, and I will work with him whenever I get the chance to do so.”
"Alan's creative contributions have become a valued part of a number of our projects, both at early stages and also during the production process, always leading to great success!”
“He was instrumental in opening us up to new ideas and ways to bridge old and new media constructs. I highly recommend him as a thinker and facilitator”
“Always insightful and ahead of the curve”
“His knowledge of broadcasting, new media and telecommunications industry is among the best in Canada”
“… not only possesses an extensive depth of knowledge in digital content, but he is also masterfully skilled at moderating his contemporaries”
“Alan is an excellent resource. Clear minded, focused and thorough”
“The horizons are broad on Alan's insight into both the present and the future of the television industry at home and abroad”
“He’s a cut-through-the-clutter type of thinker with a high-level perspective on all things digital content and distribution. His dedication to high standards of quality and excellence also make him a pleasure to work with”
LinkedIn users can read these recommendations (and see who wrote them!) here
Although I've curtailed my speaking activity of late, I have spoken (as a panelist or moderator) at the Banff World Television Festival in 2009 and 2010, the Canada 3.0 conference in 2010, the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) [formerly the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA)] Prime Time 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013 conferences, the 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit, the Computer Animations Studios of Ontario (CASO) Jump Start program (2009), the Interactive Ontario annual conference in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010, the International Institute of Communications Canadian Chapter 2008 Conference, the Insight Telecommunications Forum in 2008, 2009 and 2010, Insight Information's Entertainment Industries conference in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, the 2010 International Digital Media Arts Association (iDMAa) conference, the 2010 Merging+Media Conference and Masterclass, the 2010 mesh conference, the Playback Mobile Forum in 2006 and 2007, the Insight Telecommunications and Broadcasting: Current Regulatory Issues and Policy conference in 2007, the 2006 Media in Canada Forum, the 2007 Atlantic Film Festival Strategic Partners conference, the 2007 Canadian Digital Broadcasting Summit and the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada's 2006 Interactive to the Max Big Day.
I've delivered keynote addresses at the Tela Viva Congresso TV 2.0 conference in Brazil (2007), the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) lunch at the 2006 Banff World Television Festival, the 2006 Infopresse Journal Future of Television conference, the Canadian Institute's 2006 Film and Television Industry Conference, the Canadian Satellite Users Association 2005 conference and the Central Canada Broadcast Engineers 2004 conference.
I also participated as an industry expert mentor at the docXchange conference at hot Docs 2011 -- an invitation-only international event, at the Merging+Media Masterclass in Vancouver in 2010 and 2011, and at the Merging+Media 2012 Lab in Toronto.
I've shared my vision of the future media world with the next generation of industry professionals, guest lecturing annually to the Management and Regulation class of Ryerson University's Radio and Television Arts program and presenting to the CFTPA's Mentorship Program at their Jump Start '08 conference.
I now decline requests but in the past I’ve been interviewed by TV, radio, newspaper and magazine journalists and have been quoted in newspapers across Canada from Halifax to Victoria including the National Post, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The Ottawa Citizen, The Montreal Gazette, La Presse and the Vancouver Sun. I've also been quoted in Playback Magazine, Broadcast Dialogue, ITWorldCanada, Maclean's Magazine and on many blogs.
"Always a great guest" — Kim Parlee, co-anchor, The Close, Business News Network
"A keen observer" — Andy Bell, co-anchor, The Close, Business News Network
Netflix coming to Canada,
July 20, 2010
Online privacy,
The Agenda live @ mesh 2010,
May 18, 2010
Time spent online surpasses TV
watching (maybe)
March 24, 2010
Industry Minister varies CRTC
Globalive decision,
December 11, 2009
CBC Newsworld,
Conventional broadcasting "crisis",
(with co-guest Norm Bolen),
March 29, 2009
CRTC New Media hearing begins,
February 17, 2009
CRTC BDU decisions,
October 30, 2008
CRTC announces New Media review,
October 16, 2008
The National (CBC News),
CRTC BDU hearing,
April 8, 2008
CRTC BDU hearing,
April 7, 2008
Canadian cell and Internet usage,
July 18, 2007
Business News Network,
Possible TELUS takeover of BCE,
June 22, 2007
Business News Network / CTV News,
Media mergers, convergence,
May 15 , 2007
CBC Newsworld,
Astral purchase of Standard Radio,
April 12, 2007
Report on Business Television,
NBC announces massive job cuts,
October 23, 2006
I have written for Broadcast Engineering Magazine, CARTT, The Mark, Playback Magazine, The Toronto Star and hosted the INside Tracks podcasts for the IN 09 conference and the ICE Cubes podcasts for the ICE 2007 and ICE 2008 conferences.
Alan Sawyer
Two Solitudes Consulting Inc.
Phone: (647)
477-6187
Toll free: (800)
315-0608
Twitter: chgchn
(production-oriented tweets)
asawyer (consulting/personally
focused tweets)
