Transmedia storytelling engages audiences who want to be heard and validated

Digital Media Wire recently posed five questions to  Jeff Gomez, CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment and a leading figure in the emerging field of cross-media storytelling called "Transmedia." 

DMW’s Q&A is a very good read; here’s a sampling of what Jeff said:

“For me, transmedia narrative is a kind of subset of cross-media content. It's the technique of conveying messages, themes and storylines across multiple media platforms in a way that is both artful and coordinated with care.

With transmedia you're not repeating the same story on a movie screen, a TV screen, a novel and a videogame. You are using each one to tell a complete piece of your story, and combined they can all become a deeper, richer and more immersive experience.  Different aspects of the story or story world are created to play to the specific strengths of the medium.

From a business standpoint, much has been said about how transmedia can help build franchises and maximize return on investment for entertainment properties. The toughest aspect of getting transmedia right is that you have to build two-way communication into the apparatus of your narrative.

Everyone talks about Star Wars to exemplify good transmedia, but I love talking about Glee, because what makes transmedia so unique and relevant is that it is fundamentally about telling stories to a generation of people who want to be heard, and who are used to being validated for their participation. That's what interactive media is about in essence: response.”

On April 25th in Los Angeles, Jeff Gomez, together with Digital Media Wire, will host the first in a series of transmedia workshops on how to use and leverage the most effective transmedia techniques.

NEW Myspace …quite a place for transmedia entertainment and cross-media marketers

Myspace relaunched this week as an entertainment platform that now puts content, not people, center stage. Facebook, with its half billion registered users, may have won the race for social network dominance, but judging by this video tour of Myspace's new format, the site could reemerge as an online entertainment powerhouse.

Myspace's new multimedia platform is especially timely considering developments in transmedia entertainment, which breaks storylines into parts and artfully delivers them across multiple media channels. Viewers enjoy a rich and immersive experience when these channels converge, say on a dedicated website ... like the new Myspace. Mobile applications make it possible to view mashed up content on iPad and smartphones. 

NBC's hit TV series Heroes is a model for transmedia storytelling, the central TV story made richer with sub-story lines streamed out using video/film, animation/graphic novels, games, music, twitter and forums, etc. –  for convergence on the show’s website. MTV’s latest teen-thriller Savage County works much the same way. 

If NBC and MTV can host transmedia on their own websites, can’t Myspace serve as a destination aggregator of transmedia productions and cross-media entertainment? It's an exciting thought. 

  

Will commercial sponsors warm up to the new Myspace? Great content and a cleaner, safer social environment will surely help. So does the fact that Myspace still has 122 million registered users worldwide – plus, deep roots in Generation Y who are digitally adept and voracious consumers of entertainment and branded goods. 

Disney and Propaganda Games tightly aligned on new 'TRON' film/game releases

Continuing my recent post about transmedia projects and the importance of creative alignment, at last week’s New York Comic Com the panel discussing Disney's upcoming release of the video game TRON: Evolution talked about the extraordinarily close integration among the game’s developers at Propaganda Games and filmmakers at Disney. This featurette provides an inside look at their creative collaboration and here is a post on sticthkingdom.com that gives a concise overview of the TRON franchise. 

Disney will release the TRON: Evolution game on December 7, 2010, and on December 17, it will release the 3-D film TRON: Legacy, the first sequel since TRON's film debut in 1982. 

For transmedia producers the challenges of silo-busting and aligning far-flung talent

"Drawing Hands" by M.C. Escher 

Transmedia storytelling is all about delivering a rich, integrated multimedia experience. But one of the challenges transmedia creators face is aligning far-flung project teams operating in talent silos. Lance Weiler, partner in Seize the Media, a social entertainment company that specializes in transmedia storytelling, recently spoke in London about the need for open communication between a project’s central story creator and those developing spin-off story elements. He said data sharing is one way to improve team synchronization. For example, testing a transmedia treatment gauges audience reaction and sharing this feedback enables team members to better dovetail their work into the total program. 

Will multi-channel marketing converge on Google TV?

Google TV, Apple TV and Roku make it possible to converge web-based content on the family television - a development that is sure to change the way people consume media – and commercial messages. Until now multi-channel marketing campaigns reached audiences via dispersed touch points. Converging multiple media channels on a single TV screen will be a whole lot better by making commercial content more dynamic and interactive. 

It'll take some time before Google TV and the like are mainstream. But it’s not too soon for marketers to start thinking about creative and strategic possibilities. Chances are television studios are already looking at ways to make transmedia programming appealing to advertisers. 

Fascinating example of Augmented Reality Drama and Transmedia Storytelling

^{This post links to a fascinating example of transmedia storytelling in the form of an augmented reality drama game called Conspiracy for Good. Developed by TV creator Tim Kring and sponsored by Nokia, Conspiracy for Good plays out on the Internet, on a mobile device and offline.  The audience plays the part of activists and supporters of the eponymous organization, Conspiracy for Good, and can join in and help direct the action by solving various puzzles spread across different media.} 

^{From a commercial perspective I am especially intrigued by the use of short narrative video clips designed to build interest and advance interaction. Imagine how a brand might engage fans with an episodic augmented reality series?}  

New $100 tablet will prime consumers for transmedia

Archos announced a new tablet device that will sell for under $100. In August's Wired, a great story about tablets and the transmedia experience. 

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. 

NBC's 'heroic' use of transmedia is a model to follow

Hollywood’s grasp of transmedia marketing is evident in FastCompany.com's interview with Tim Kring, creator and writer of the NBC series, Heroes. The show’s ambitious use of transmedia makes it a model worth studying. 

Kring himself is someone to watch. He says all of his upcoming television projects will utilize transmedia, and so will his own upcoming novel.

Entertainment will hook the public on transmedia; shows, films and certain books will seem incomplete without a multi-media experience.  This bodes well for writers, editors and web producers who will find steady work creating transmedia content. Who will absorb the cost? 
Producers and studios, using ad revenue generated from across the transmedia mix.