SXSW panel – The Economy of the GIF – #GIFecon

Mr. GIF’s Jimmy Repeat & Mark Portillo, the DailyDot’s Fernando Alfonso III, and Cinegif

We had a great time at the SXSW interactive panel presentation “The Economy of the GIF.”  The moderator and panelists were terrific and the questions from the audience sealed the deal.

The GIF is here to stay and we at Cinegif are ready to turn this trend into an industry!

Here’s an excerpt from a recap of the session by one of our favorite reporters, Addie Broyles, that was printed (yes, newspapers still exist) in the Austin American Statesman on Saturday, March 9, 2013.  Check out the original article online HERE. 

Animated GIFs making a comeback

GIFs, the animated files that used to be so popular in the early days of the Internet, fell out of favor for years as developers left the seemingly primitive form of animation for sexier programs like Flash. But as computers became more powerful and Apple held firm on not allowing Flash to work on its mobile devices, the GIF has come back in a big way.

GIFs are so popular because they are easily digestible. Unlike a video, to watch a GIF, you don’t have to press play, you don’t have to wait for them to load, you don’t have to sit through an advertisement to watch, says Jimmy Repeat, an artist/producer for MTV.

Making GIFs is more of a challenge than making a static image, but the payoff is huge,” says Lindsey Weber, a writer and GIF maker.

“Businesses are taking advantages of GIFs by inserting them into email newsletters and creating their own, which makes them look hip in our GIF-obsessed online culture.

Weber says that Twitter’s six-second video app, Vine, is a great example of just how pervasive GIFs have become.  “Tumblr alone has helped the GIF revival because they make it so easy to embed them.”

Learn more about the session and the background on the panelists at the DailyDot.

Cinegif Powers SXSW Roadtrip

Even if you have never heard of Mr. GIF, you’ve probably seen their work on the web.  The famous duo, Jimmy Repeat and Mark Portillo, will be participating in a panel discussion called  “The Economy of the GIF” on March 8th as part of the 2013 SXSW interactive festival in Austin, Texas.

I met Jimmy and Mark in early 2012 in NYC at dinner to discuss their work and our technology.  I had been a fan of their GIFs and wanted to meet the creative behind Mr. GIF.  They’re great guys with a lot of talent and we shared our passion for the animated GIF format over some oysters and beer.  A friendship developed and when they were selected to speak at SXSW, I saw it as a perfect opportunity to share our Texas hospitality (and a little BBQ) with a couple of city boys from New York.  They decided to “GIF” their way down to Austin in an RV with embedded online journalists from The Daily Dot and Tumblr.  Mr. GIF is using Cinegif to document their travels and provide a glimpse into the creativity of this new digital artistry.

Mr. GIF will also be contributing to the first ever animated GIF stock library which will be announced and launched at SXSW.

 We’re looking forward to their panel discussion on Friday, March 8th at 3:30 pm CST.  Follow their journey at The Daily Dot.