Teaching Transmedia's New Storytellers

Interesting press release on the founding of StoryLabs, an international program for educating commercial storytellers in the use of multiple media channels and devices. A global team of mentors, including well-known digital producers, games creators, TV and Film writer/producers, social media and community experts, and transmedia content creators, will lead presentations, seminars, workshops and incubators.  StoryLabs are being set up in London, New York and Sydney. 

Hip Fashion Brands Showcase New Collections & Emerging Music Talent

A recent story in the Financial Times looks at how fashion labels are connecting with young audiences through music. Example: Burberry, the venerable British brand now targeted at 20-something hipsters, launched Burberry Acoustic, described as part record label, part talent scout – devoted to showcasing emerging artists. Visit live.burberry.com to see the brand’s smart (and efficient) use of music across its digital/social platforms. Burberry will do well should it extend into narrative transmedia. It’s got creative vision, a vibrant brand story and an engaged multimedia audience to boot.

The FT article cites other brand-music collaborators, most notably Gucci, Hilfiger and the British lifestyle brand Jack Willis.  

NBC Universal Chief on Monetizing Transmedia

Interview clip: Recently on MSNBC Morning Joe, Jeff Zucker, NBC Universal's chief,  said the proliferation of new media will drive the use of transmedia to market shows as integrated brands. Monetizing the multimedia mix remains a challenge, he said. 

"Simple," According to Genius Storyteller Cole Porter

Cole Porter was a master storyteller. This YouTube clip features his 1934 song "Miss Otis Regrets," performed by Fred Astaire and Barrie Chase. Sure, the clip is old, but what better example of timeless storytelling?  Today, the art and craft of simple, great storytelling is timely as ever. "Simple" is hard to do, of course, and it helps to seek out and studying classics like this one.

Will Transmedia Drive TV's New Golden Age?

New York Times/David Carr’s interview with Time Warner’s chief Jeffrey Bewkes considers television’s future, and whether big budget programs will remain TV's competitive edge. Viewing habits are changing with the proliferation of new screen formats and on-demand entertainment, but TV should thrive in the age of transmedia. Programming will be richer no doubt, and so will profits as long as the new media mix can be monetized.