M. Night Shyamalan to Speak at Los Angeles 3D Entertainment Summit (9/15-9/16)

It is simply impossible to avoid the recent 3D technological movement going on today whether watching it in movie theaters with those geeky glasses in 2.5 hour increments, debating over buying an enhanced television that requires wearing geeky glasses in various increments of time depending on what is on, or noticing the marketing challenge of promoting 3D gaming on a two-dimensional medium. Whether you consider 3D to be the future of entertainment, a fad set to die as quickly as it came, or a plague on humanity, the third annual 3D Entertainment Summit may just be the convention for you to reinforce such thoughts or help change sides.

Located in Universal City, California, the 3D Entertainment Summit will feature plenty of exhibitors and sponsors of 3D technology including Sony with its Real-D 3D, Dolby, IMAX, DreamWorks, and Mitsubishi for some reason. Variety is is the main partner associated with the summit. The summit is boasting several proponents of 3D including DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, 3D Summit Conference chairperson Bob Dowling, Variety Group president Niel Stiles, and keynote speaker writer/director M. Night Shyamalan.

I could understand that James Cameron would be too busy counting his money from the success of the 3D film Avatarto speak at this year's 3D Summit. Or perhaps the organizers of the 3D Summit got confused over which Avatar director to book and wound up getting the director of the box office tent pole Avatar: The Last Airbender. Whatever happened, booking a director whose film was a textbook example of what NOT to do in a 3D film-or a film in general-is probably not the best thing to hype in a summit aiming to promote 3D entertainment. Unless he is going to apologize to everyone who saw his Avatar film during the summit or confess that 3D was not a good idea for his film, Shyamalan may have to prepare for two days of mocking.

What I find shocking is that this is the third time the 3D Summit is taking place. Coincidence aside, what were these guys doing before Avatar hit screens? Perhaps the previous summits were just gearing up the technology for James Cameron's magnum opus. Nevertheless, the 3D Summit has a few other issues to take care of if they want 3D to become the hit they want it to be. First, make the films and glasses needed to see them less of a headache. Second, make the technology more affordable at home. And third, use the technology responsibly so that it fits with the medium instead of as a marketing ploy.