Who’s going to the docSHIFT networking night at the Gladstone Hotel on Monday night?

docSHIFT is a two year project run by DOC Toronto with funding from OMDC’s Creative Cluster Partnership Fund.

docSHIFT: Real Stories to Multiple Platforms will create new business opportunities by bringing Ontario documentary filmmakers together with new-media producers. It will facilitate new creative partnerships and help develop innovative interactive documentary projects.

Monday night at the Gladstone’s networking event is a chance for documentary filmmakers and interactive digital media producers to hang out, have a drink and also to hear a little bit about the first of the docSHIFT initiatives: the docSHIFT Crossover Lab which will be taking place May 8-13.

If you’re read this blog over the last year and a bit, you know I am a huge fan of Crossover.  It’s a brilliant creative experience.  It’s an inspirational experience that gives you the opportunity to begin thinking creatively about working in the digital and interactive space.  Crossover labs are attended by a mix of people — some from traditional media and some from a digital-interactive background.  Not only do you get to meet and work with potential collaborators with a complementary skill set but of the course of the lab you develop a vocabulary for working together.  Plus it’s a magical creative experience.

I’ll be at the Gladstone Monday night – March 22, 2010 – to sing the praises of Crossover and encourage everyone to apply for the lab in May.  Maybe I’ll see you there.  The Gladstone is at 1214 Queen West in Toronto and the event runs from 6 to 8 pm.  Free for DOC members and $10 at the door for everyone else.  RSVP online here.

While I’m on the topic of documentary and Crossover, I should mention that when I attended the lab last March, I met a fabulous documentary producer named Liz Marshall.  Her documentary, WATER ON THE TABLE, airs March 24th at 10:01 pm on TVO.  Don’t miss it.