It came to America the following year, with a new name but with the same purpose: to find market-friendly talent among an enormous pool of amateurs and wannabes.
But to earn a slot in competition, to really make an impression, filmmakers often need to secure some festival-friendly talent -- even before they secure funding -- and hope their film can break out of the pack.
Friendly's talent for pouring out energy is an invaluable one in a profession where the problem of just getting from one place to another is so much more complicated than it is for people who work in printed journalism.
Plus, as Smith pointed out, it's not just a news source: it's an accessible, friendly community of fantasy talent.
In a field that is dominated by men, these moves may be another push to make Silicon Valley friendlier to top female talent – or at least, top female talent that wants to lean in before it comes time to burping up.
Happily, as well as being able to sing nicely, dance averagely and look FHM-friendly, Klass has another talent, having trained as a classical pianist at the Royal Academy of Music before she joined Hear'say.
Now in it's 12th year, the Disco Biscuits-curated festival has become a force to be reckoned with, featuring top-notch electronic music talent, the friendliest staff around, and thousands upon thousands of partygoers and their homemade totems.
But it is unclear whether reformers will try to make the system more talent-friendly.
"She is the most talent-friendly, creative, content-oriented executive I know," said a representative connected to several of the company's successful programs.
In Mr. Biskind's book Chris McGurk, the former chief operating officer of Universal Pictures, explained why the studio bought 51 percent of October in 1997: "We saw an opportunity to take October Films and position it as the anti-Miramax, the Bingham Ray alternative, with Bingham the more talent-friendly Harvey Weinstein".
Greenblatt had a reputation for being smart and talent-friendly, and the station immediately began getting better pitches.
