We spoke to Co-Founders, Christine Hartland & Fiona Gillies about the company’s next steps and how the AI Accelerator has helped My SMASH Media achieve major milestones.
Christine and I both have a background in film production and we met several years ago at the Galway Film Festival. We talked about the issues inherent in our industry and the more we talked, the more we realised there was a problem we could solve by connecting people and projects globally. We joined forces with Mahesh Ramachandra, a digital product expert, and we set up My SMASH Media. We aim to streamline connections within the film and TV world, making it easier for new voices to break into the industry and easier for production companies to find the projects they’re looking for. My SMASH Media starts in the film & TV industry before expanding into other creative sectors such as games, podcasts etc.
Building connections can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. A producer might have a very specific brief – like a second-time director or a female-led story – but finding talent can be difficult. If we can match producers to a project that meets their brief, that saves a lot of time and money. It also brings new voices with different stories and ideas into the industry. An industry like film and TV always needs innovative projects.
Our solution enables people in film and TV to find projects that are beyond their traditional commissioning circle and make much broader connections than they would normally. We also help creators develop a pitch from a standardised format that we built in conjunction with industry professionals. We support them through the pitch development process and help them articulate their creative vision so their pitch gets taken seriously by the industry. This helps level the playing field, but also helps producers be braver in their decisions.
AI plays a huge role in the technology we're currently building because the more information we have to make the right match, the better. We're amassing data that will serve both sides of our IP marketplace – it will help creators build better pitches and help the industry pros understand what audiences are interested in watching. We're trying to create a mutually beneficial ecosystem enabled through AI.
Our progress has very much been shaped by the University. The Bayes Centre is an inspiring place to work and in the AI Accelerator, we found a very generous cohort of companies sharing experiences, ideas and energy. The programme leaders set the tone for a collaborative approach. We've learned a lot and had access to some really good mentors and advisors to discuss things that are out of our comfort zone. We really recommend the AI Accelerator programme. It's been a fantastic opportunity and we continue to shout about it from the rooftops.
Collaboration and finding people you can work with is important. You also need resilience because there can be a lot of doors that slam in your face. You have to be able to pick yourself up and carry on. Also, when you have an idea, it's important to understand where the problem you’re trying to solve lies in the wider world. There will be problems that are very niche, but others that are scalable, and those are the ones you need to push and understand the limits.
We've just finished a lot of travelling to and from the US and have a very busy time coming up as we build the next stage of the platform. We’re at a great stage developing both the tech and the user base at the moment. We can tweak and tinker to ensure we deliver exactly what people want to use. And we're bringing on new users from around the world, so that’s really exciting.
Collaboration | Clarity | Empowerment
Want to learn more about My SMASH Media, click below to head to their website.
