While mobile content guru Andy Nulman has enjoyed much success bringing brands such as the NHL, Maxim, Family Guy and Taco Bell to the mobile landscape, he says the medium remains as much an obscurity as a rapidly expanding phenomenon.

‘We’ve been doing it for over seven years, and we still don’t know where we’re going with mobile and what the future holds,’ Nulman tells Playback.

The president of Montreal-based Airborne Entertainment is looking to dispel myths and address some misconceptions about mobile content as the afternoon keynote speaker at the Playback Mobile Forum, May 17 at the Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre.

‘The biggest misconception right now is that [mobile] is a gold mine that’s going to save us from the precarious financial position [producers] find themselves in. It’s certainly not the case,’ he says, adding there has to be a new way of thinking about mobile content delivery.

Statistics suggest Canadians are slow to warm up to the idea of watching video content on their cell phones, with only 2.3% of our 15 million cell phone owners having video-enabled devices, according to the Print Measurement Bureau. ‘It’s still very fresh in the market,’ says PMB spokesperson Lina Di Santo.

Other than the cool factor, Nulman maintains that not a lot of thought has been put into whether consumers are actually going to use their cell phones to view long-form content.

‘Just because it’s a screen, doesn’t mean it’s a TV,’ he notes. ‘It’s not the best idea to have a film on your cell phone given the download costs, the heat of the phone in your hand, and the fact that it’s not the easiest thing to watch.’

Speaking in the morning keynote is Bernie Gershon, Disney/ABC Television Group’s head of digital media, who will be discussing digital trends and opportunities for broadcasters and producers.

‘The concerns of film and television producers are very specific, and we’re trying to address those concerns,’ says Playback publisher Peter Vamos. ‘It’s about how to take your existing program and leverage it onto the mobile platform, but also about producing content uniquely for the mobile platform.’

Other sessions at the Mobile Forum include Reality Check: Mobile and Digital Media in Canada, in which speakers including Claude Galipeau, VP of digital media at Alliance Atlantis, and Steven Comeau, president of Collideascope Digital Productions, will discuss the long-term business prospects of mobile content in Canada and beyond.

In The World at Your Fingertips, digital content creators including Gershon, Keith Ritter, president of NHL Interactive CyberEnterprises, and Gavin McGarry, VP of digital media at Cineflix Productions, will reveal where the international market is headed and how Canadians can learn from their experiences.

www.playbackmag.com/mobileforum/2007