All in with digital: MEDIA CONVENTION Berlin and re:publica present their programme for this year

MEDIA CONVENTION Berlin (#MCB19) and re:publica (#rp19) present their programme for this year, which once again features more than 400 sessions and keynotes. For six years, both events have been held simultaneously at STATION Berlin, offering unique insights into the worlds of Internet culture, digital technologies, media policy and new business models. From 6 to 8 May 2019, the international digital scene, representatives of media companies, Internet policy makers and everyone wanting to get up to date, become inspired and exchange ideas on matters of media and Internet policy, media business and media trends will gather once again. In more than 60 sessions on three stages, #MCB19 will present a diverse, up-to-date programme and alert its audience to the enormous economic, regulatory and societal changes brought about by digitalisation under this year’s motto “Playing for Keeps”.

Opening Keynote
To kick off MCB19, Michael Müller, governing mayor of Berlin, will give a welcoming speech. In the subsequent keynote, Malu Dreyer, Minister President and chairwoman of the federal broadcasting commission, will be speaking about the design of digital society, values and democracy in the digital age, media pluralism and the handling of market-dominating digital platforms.

“Point of no Return – Going All In with Digital”
The opening panel at stage 6 will also be dealing with the digital paradigm shift and the integration of digital business sectors as a component of company strategy. Alina Fichter (Newsguard), Nadine Bilke (ZDFneo), Dr. Holger Enßlin (Sky Deutschland), Dan Maag (PANTALEON Films, PANTAFLIX) and Eun-Kyung Park (ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE) will be debating ways to succeed in transforming an entire company to digital.

“The End of an Era: When Broadcasting Becomes Media”
Presenter Joachim Huber (Tagesspiegel) will be discussing how to safeguard findability, plurality of opinion and democratic discourse in a post-broadcasting era with State Secretary Thomas Kralinski (authorised state representative for Brandenburg at the federal level), Patricia Schlesinger (Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg), Tobias Schmid (Landesanstalt für Medien NRW), Eva Flecken (Sky Deutschland) and Marie-Teresa Weber (Facebook Germany) in this session. Jan Penfrat (European Digital Rights) will open the panel with his keynote on new EU directives for platforms and intermediaries.

“TV Made in Germany – Meet the Team” 
Visitors of this year’s MCB can once again take a look behind the scenes of high-end series productions in this session. They are joined by the team of the new VOX production “Das Wichtigste im Leben” (“The Most Important Thing in Life”), represented by lead actors Jürgen Vogel and Bettina Lamprecht, Hauke Bartel (VOX), Richard Kropf (screenwriter), Laura Lackmann (director) and Lasse Scharpen (Bantry Bay). MCB is also welcoming lead actress Mai Duong Kieu, Lisa Blumenberg (Letterbox Filmproduktion), Caroline von Senden (ZDF television play I editorial board) and Christian Zübert (director) of the “Bad Banks” team as well as the team of “Die Neue Zeit” (“The New Era”) with lead actors Anna Maria Mühe, Lars Kraume (screenwriter & director) and Thomas Kufus (producer).

“Big Tech reviewed: the competition for data and equal opportunities on the Internet”
User data as a competitive advantage: Federal competition authority president Andreas Mundt will be speaking about the Facebook lawsuit and data as a market dominance factor. Subsequently, Justus Haucap (Institute for Competition Economics), Dennis Kaben (Google Germany), Holger Enßlin (Sky Deutschland), Katharina de la Durantaye (European University Viadrina) and journalist and presenter Vera Linß will be debating equal opportunities and fair competition for user data.

“The Golden Age of Podcasting”
One emphasis of this year's MCB is podcasting. The two-part session will have Tobias Bauckhage (Creators Media, Los Angeles) in an initial discussion with Joel Lovell (Pineapple Media) about the history of the current podcast boom in the US in the first session. In session two, he will discuss the economic side of the current success of podcasts in the United States with Nick Quah (Hot Pod Media, New York).

“Media, manipulation and microtargeting. How social media dominate election campaigns with political advertising”
On this panel, Simon Hegelich (Technical University of Munich) will be presenting new study findings on the topic of “Microtargeting in Germany and Europe” as well as an online tool which provides insight into election campaigning activities on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms. After that he will discuss the implementation of political advertising in social networks and associated regulatory challenges with Tabea Wilke (botswatch Technologies), Semjon Rens (Facebook Germany), Manon Metz (DIRK METZ Kommunikation), mabb director Anja Zimmer as well as journalist and presenter Daniel Fiene.

“VR & AR: The Art of Immersive Storytelling”
Sven Bliedung (Volucap), Sebastian Sylwan (Felix&Paul Studios) and Karim Ben Khelifa (The Enemy) will provide insight into the development of good VR experiences as well as the kind of stories which really lend themselves to immersive storytelling.

“The new abnormal: hate, fakes, bullying. How can we make the web a better place?”
This question will be posed by presenter Nadine Kreutzer to panel participants Alexandra Borchardt (University of Oxford), Teresa Bücker (Edition F), Markus Heidmeier (Kooperative Berlin) and Marco Holtz (Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg), the latter of whom will also introduce the project “Verfolgen statt nur Löschen” (“Don't just delete – prosecute”) in this context.

“What’s in a Game? Game engines as drivers for film, XR and industry”
Game engines are capable of more than games: they have long been used in industry and media business applications far beyond classic gaming. Pascal Tonecker (Cryengine Enterprise Solutions), Andreas Suika (Unreal Engine Evangelist, Epic Games) and Thomas Bedenk (Exozet) will be facing the question.

“Designing better platforms. Characteristics of humanistic digital platforms“
How can we design humanistic platforms which put people at the centre? This question will be analysed by philosopher and social scientist Joe Edelman in his keynote for this panel. Following this keynote, presenter Daniel Budiman will debate values and principles for a new kind of platform with Ingrid Schneider (University of Hamburg), Philipp Otto (iRights.Lab) and Gesche Joost (College of Fine Arts Berlin).

“A golden age – but where is the next generation?”
How far do stations and producers have to go in the “War for Talents”? The question of which working conditions should be awaiting young talent behind the camera to enable them to develop and produce meaningful and diverse content will be contemplated by Christian Rohde (UFA Fiction GmbH) and Grischa Böhmer (EPI, Winterclass – Serial Writing And Producing), Christine Tröstrum (Berlinale Talents) and Ben Gibson (dffb Serial Eyes und Next Wave) in this session. 
 
View the complete programme