Transmedia: Storytelling for the Digital Age

Ben Fritz:  "An effort to reshape the world of entertainment backed by Los Angeles' wealthiest man has taken a big step back" ...

Gunther Sonnenfeld:  "Things don't always go according to plan... And that's a good thing. A while back, my sister roped me into an independent project with Michael Caplan on the life and times of Nelson Algren."

Because digital is now a serious entertainment money-maker in its own right, argues beActive Media's Bernardo

Graham Button: "A film crew is a group of professionals answering to investors, working with a budget to make a marketable product in a competitive business. Sound familiar?"

Adam Davidson: "There must be an easier way to make money. For the cost of “Men in Black 3,” for instance, the studio could have become one of the world’s largest venture-capital funds, thereby owning a piece of hundreds of promising start-ups. Instead, it purchased the rights to a piece of intellectual property, paid a fortune for a big star and has no definitive idea why its movie didn’t make a huge profit. Why is anyone in the film industry?" ...

"The downward trend in movie attendance and DVD purchases are really the result of one, simple catch-all word: “technology.” Technological advances in home theater, especially since 2005 have shrunk the difference between watching movies in the home and watching in the theater."

"For newcomers: Zombies, Run! is a running game and audio adventure for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android (coming May/June) co-created by Six to Start and Naomi Alderman, in which you run in the real world while getting a story and zombie chases through your headphones."

DRC: An interesting look at the thought process behind the pricing of Zombies, Run!

Lucas J.W. Johnson: "But it’s not just about what people will pay for, in the sense of money. It also addresses any time the audience is asked for something — their time, their attention, their action, whether that be liking a Facebook page or following you on Twitter (and putting up with your updates on their news feed), participating in an interactive story, or moving from one medium to another. You have to ask — what is the audience getting from that? And is it something they want?"

Nick DeMartino:  "Historically, content hasn't been seen as having a predictably "scalable" business model. Content remains a hit business, whether distributed in analog or digital form, and the ability to repeat a success has proven to be illusive over time. Perhaps, that is changing, given the blur between content, technology, social, and audience"...

The Challenge that TV has is not in driving an audience that is bigger than an internet source. That is easy. The challenge is in creating hits that are big enough to maximize revenue and return for that show and to create a promotional platform for other shows.

[Viewpoint two...]

Jim Thacker:  "Your cross-media project is well under way. You have a killer pitch, great teaser content, and are ready to start talking to development and finance partners. But what else will they want to know about it?"

Image:  "Your project’s emotional hook may not be the obvious one. Is the thrill of watching a supersonic parachute jump that of seeing a world record – or that the parachutist might die live on air?"

Mina Hochberg:  "A film’s success depends on perfect casting just as much as a company’s success depends on hiring the right talent. No one understands this better in Hollywood than casting directors" ...

Gunther Sonnenfeld:  "With global economic parity looming, companies can no longer rely on themselves for the answers. They must co-create new value systems with their customers and other businesses not only to survive, but to grow. And stories – or the act of curating them – can provide amazing new opportunities for growth."

"The local creative industry is often overlooked when discussing the potential growth and development of Malaysia’s SMEs. This is no surprise considering the industry globally has been mostly dominated by big animation / movie studios whilst locally, our industry players have yet to garner any strong recognition even in the country."

Entrepreneurs.my had the opportunity to interview Caitlin Burns, a Transmedia Producer with Starlight Runner Entertainment, a role [in] which Caitlin creates and influences fictional universes that are familiar to millions worldwide.

DRC: Another excellent interview with Caitlin Burns.  Part 2 can be found here.

Cross-platform storyteller and branded entertainment expert Sparrow Hall discusses how today's storytellers can (and should) partner with brands to reach larger audiences, acquire production funding, and develop a thriving business model...