Crossover

Crossover is a series of 'innovation labs', designed to incentivise games developers to collaborate with professionals in other creative sectors to produce new business relationships, business models and ultimately, to develop new intellectual property.

The Crossover Labs enable creative professionals from different sectors of the audio-visual industries to work alongside international experts and mentors to develop ideas for innovative products or services.

We will hold three Crossover Labs across the UK in 2009, each running over five days. At the end of each Lab, participants will get the chance to meet with commissioners and buyers from TV, advertising, and public and private investment sectors.

The Crossover Labs are run by Unexpected Media, with sponsorship from NESTA.

Crossover Labs - what we've learned

Video games developers have told us that their participation in the Crossover Labs has benefited them in the following ways:

• It made them aware of new opportunities to generate revenues (such as TV-style special effects, mobile technologies, and TV programme ideas).
• It introduced them to people in other industries, creating the seeds of future collaboration.
• It taught them about changes in the commissioning landscape, which has opened up new business opportunities.
• It taught them how to frame and pitch ideas to commissioners.
• It forced them to articulate their internal workflows.

The Crossover Labs also exposed professionals in other creative sectors to the processes and business models of video games companies, which they previously knew very little about.

Partners

Crossover is supported by NESTA, Screen Yorkshire, Skillset, London Development Agency, Yorkshire Forward and the Wellcome Trust.