When the pandemic brought the world to a standstill, the cinema industry didn’t slow down — it adapted. Film festivals and other events that brought the industry together quickly became online and hybrid events, and groups like Risolviamo helped make it happen.
The company provides technology to help film festival event organizers hold meetings and buy and sell films. Its web-based platform, b.square, has traditionally been used by producers, investors, and other festival participants to identify contacts, check their availability, request appointments, accept meeting invites, and even rate meetings.
Risolviamo has provided its technology at more than 50 international film festivals, but it had to scramble to find virtual options once COVID-19 struck.
“We were at the Berlin International Film Festival in March 2020. When we returned to Italy, all our clients were changing their planned events from on site to virtual, so we quickly had to add virtual experiences to our platform,” says Gianluca Cumani, Risolviamo’s Chief Executive Officer.
Reach More People
The company’s first priority was finding a video conferencing platform to integrate with b.square. It needed a solution that would serve as an add-on feature for event organizers who needed to set up large-scale meetings. So, the tech provider turned to BlueJeans because it came with the best APIs and many of the features Risolviamo’s clients needed.
“While all providers are improving their services, BlueJeans has better technical features, such as great audio and video through Dolby Voice and the ability to stream content directly to audiences,” says Cumani. “That’s very important for the kinds of meetings that we support, which include showing movie clips to potential investors so a film idea or project can be funded.”
Another huge benefit is that the BlueJeans platform is available in China, where there is a big market for these events. Where it used to be costly and difficult to get Asian and even American participants to attend film festivals in Europe and vice versa, hybrid and virtual options have made this possible.
Risolviamo can now deliver audiences from across Asia, the US, Europe, and South America, making these events bigger than ever. Participants can set up meetings on b.square with people in any country and connect with the click of a button.
“A link will bring them directly to their meeting room. It’s that easy,” says Cumani.
Connect with Ease
Participants are enthusiastic about the transition to hybrid and virtual film festival events, and especially the quality of their video-based interactions.
More than 90% of those involved rated BlueJeans Meetings positively for both desktop and mobile apps. And 94% of those who attended meetings organized in conjunction with major film events, such as Marché du Film of the 74th Festival de Cannes and Ontario Creates International Financing Forum at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, gave the platform positive reviews.
There are also more networking opportunities thanks to the ease of connecting online. For example, the Junior Entertainment Talent Slate (JETS) is an industry initiative to create funding opportunities for film projects in Europe that has embraced virtual events.
In 2022, JETS used b.square and BlueJeans Meetings to facilitate virtual presentations to funders and distributors, with more than 100 filmmakers watching in real time. At the end of the event, 25 film projects successfully secured co-production opportunities.
“All in all, the feedback has been very positive and we’re really happy to use BlueJeans,” says Cumani. “We have a good solution that provides a great experience.”
Optimize Every Meeting
The BlueJeans platform has given event organizers greater control over meetings, allowing them to monitor what’s going on and solve technical problems as they arise.
“And they can extract statistics and reports, such as the number and duration of meetings, and the costs saved for running a digital instead of in-person event,” explains Cumani.
Online events have cut costs by US$250,000 to US$300,000 on average, and cut carbon emissions by 150 to 200 metric tons per event.
Since adopting BlueJeans Meetings, Risolviamo has increased its number of clients by around 30%. As virtual events become a more regular feature in the industry, Risolviamo anticipates working further with BlueJeans.
“Our goal as an international event solution provider is to provide quality services and to expand. BlueJeans is no doubt key to realizing that,” says Cumani.
Read the full case study here.
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About the Author
Sharni Medina is the Director of Customer Marketing at BlueJeans Network, where she is responsible for sharing the voice of customers through customer-driven content and supporting business reference needs. Prior to joining BlueJeans, Sharni worked at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, leading their customer advocacy and referencing organization. Sharni holds degrees in Education and Physical Education from the University of Alberta and a Masters in Sport Management from the University of San Francisco. Outside of the office, Sharni enjoys spending time with her family and traveling.
