Pondering the Pentimento

"It looks like something that you can eat", Howard Donaldson of Disney remarked when I handed him my business card at GDC Canada.

It was the not the first time that I have encountered that reaction to my company name "Pentimento".  The word sounds  like the more familiar "Pimento" - a sweet cherry pepper not unlike a capsicum. In fact, the term "Pentimento" is an art term, derived from the Italian meaning 'repentance', and the plural pentimenti are the changes in composition which a painter makes while producing an oil painting. Today, the term is often used in the context of discovering masterpieces beneath paintings that have been painted one over another.

Which brings me to the reason that I have chosen it as the name for my media consultancy, Pentimento Productions. For I am undeniably attracted to, and choose to involve myself in projects that are more often than not multi-layered and enjoy a degree of depth. Over the years, I have learnt that the more thought and time devoted to the shaping of a production, event or organization, the more lasting the value & experience for both producers and participants. As one of my collegues noticed, I am a typical "early thrasher", with many a 'pentimenti' done at the planning stages of my projects, so that in the final stages, the final execution is clear and precise, yet continues to exhibit a strong and lasting foundation.

This year, I will be helping the dedicated Vancouver Film and Television Forum 2010 http://www.viff.org/forum/ team add another layer to their traditional film and television conference programming. We are discussing ways to add a strong digital media component to speak to, and assist participating producers who wish to understand the recent Canada Media Fund guidelines better and to develop a better handle on producing projects for the newly introduced Convergent and Experimental Streams. In developing this strand, I hope we will be able to attract not only the traditional television/film producer to this annual conference, but also the interactive producers keen to partner with their more conventional media counterparts.

Drop me a line if you wish to give your input....and help us create another layer, another dimension to this continually evolving industry. We're not opposed to multi-pentimenti, if that's what is required to create a masterpiece.