Should independent filmmakers be excited by the iPad? Making the Movie thinks it’s a step in the right direction rather than a revolution. That may be right, but nevertheless we think the iPad represents a major opening up of opportunities, both for independent filmmakers and for the advertisers that work with them.

First thing to say is that this isn’t just about the iPad – the tablet form factor’s been bubbling under for quite a while. Whether or not the iPad succeeds, these devices are coming, and in large numbers. What everyone agrees on is that the real winners are going to be the content creators. People are going to need stuff to do with the iPad, and although iPhones apps are compatible, they’re going to have to get bigger, better and more entertaining.

And that applies to video ads as well. The iPad and its future imitators will build on what TiVO, the iPod, multimedia phones, downloading and streaming and all those other ‘on demand’ entertainment technologies began: the tendency of consumers to pull entertainment to them rather than passively watch. At the moment TV ads are largely made as a ‘brand experience’ and they’re repeated frequently. We tolerate this on TV because we’re in a sit-back frame of mind – they wash over us.

This isn’t going to be tolerated on tablet devices. When we’re watching shows through streaming software such as the BBC’s iPlayer long, ‘brand experience’ ads repeated often are just going to jar. So what’s going to replace them? There is going to be a lot of ad space needing to be filled with original, regularly updated ads that are entertaining rather than a chore to watch.

Imagine, also, if you’re a web advertiser. The iPad can’t currently see Flash, so a lot of online advertising is going to be missed by iPad users. This is another great opportunity for video. We think that the iPad’s large, beautiful, glass screen and its ability to play high-quality video is going to give new life to film online. There will be an appetite for visually stunning video developed especially for devices such as the iPad and brands will be looking for people to supply it.

Where is all this content going to come from? No doubt there are types of content we can’t even conceive of already being developed for the iPad. Books will change, newspapers will change, video will change. The opportunities for filmmakers are going to multiply and no doubt the way films are made and distributed will change even more quickly than they are already. When brands need content quickly, they’re going to go straight to the source as much as possible.

At MOFILM we’ve built a business around the idea that original, independent film and big-brand advertising are a great match. The iPad just tells us that we’re right.

Avatar has finally done it – it’s beaten Titanic to become the highest grossing film of all time. What do the two films have in common? Director James Cameron and producer Jon Landau. We’ve got Landau, one half of this formidable team, available to our MOFILM competition winners in Barcelona in February.

Enter the MOFILM Barcelona Ad Competition and/or the Pepsi Short Film Video Competition and you could not only meet Landau, you could actually end up working with him. Two of our winners will be invited to direct ads co-produced by Landau.

So don’t forget to enter our competitions, deadline 1 February 2010 and hopefully we’ll see you in Barcelona.

Would you move city if you could increase your chances of making a great movie? If you would, MovieMaker has handily calculated which US cities would make the best base camp, according to facilities on offer such as soundstages as well as financial incentives and the strength of the local filmmaking community.

Here’s who came out on top. Surprisingly, not LA.

1. Alburquerque, NM
2. Los Angeles, CA
3. Shreveport, LA
4. New York, NY
5. Austin, TX
6. Stamford, CT
7. Boston, MA
8. Detroit, MI
9. Philadelphia, PA
10. Seattle, WA