Transmedia: Storytelling for the Digital Age

Michael Grothaus:  '"Our responsibility is to produce meaningful and playful toys for the kids, and also to help kids take the Star Wars universe and expand it in their own play plans," says [Steve] Evans. Unsurprisingly, in order to achieve that, he and his team work closely with the creative minds behind the franchise.'

Sam Thielman:  "What looks like an entertainment company, spends like an entertainment company and programs like an entertainment company? It's Hasbro, a toymaker. Hasbro makes not just toys but also hugely popular intellectual property, which for decades has been key to its bottom line."

James Whitbrook:  "When Star Wars released in 1977, the face of science fiction in popular culture was changed forever — but a year later, the movie helped transform the toy industry as well. Since then, Star Wars and the toys it inspired have been forever linked, a story that can just as easily be told through figures as it can the films."

Jordan England-Nelson:  "Rather than rely on popular films to generate buzz for new products, toy companies are creating in-house studios to produce their own video content to get kids excited about new toy lines."