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April 26 2011
Find Out How To Monetize Transmedia Storytelling And ARG On Hollywood 2.0!
My co-host Rich Silverman (Emmy-winner writer) and I (producer/neurocinema innovator) will tell you how…Welcome to Hollywood 2.0, a new podcast that covers innovation in the entertainment industry.
Subscribe to Hollywood 2.0. Follow Rich and Peter.
March 23 2011
The Revolution will be Streamed Live… from an iPhone
Reporters from the major news stations have been blocked from covering a violent protest in a foreign land, but this doesn’t mean an international audience can’t watch the chaos ensue. Rioters armed with the newest smart phones are streaming these events live to the Internet. And this time, CNN is trying to catch up. This is the future of journalism.
Right now, the process of streaming live video via mobile devices is far from perfect: it’s slow, unreliable, and tends to have low picture quality. Once the technology improves, however, endless channels of this footage can reach the masses. Like a TV director, viewers will be able to switch between multiple perspectives from different mobile broadcasts covering one event. Instead of the bulky camcorders of the past, small lightweight Androids and iPhones will be able to stream this content in real time.
Potentially, people will be able to rely more on civilians to deliver news, and less on professional journalists. Image quality from phones are improving, and eventually these bystanders will shoot live video in high definition. Also, TV networks have a limited budget for expensive camcorders and professional crew. On the other hand, hundreds of bystanders equipped with phones typically have the ability to cover more ground. When something newsworthy happens in public, anyone carrying a cell is there before the press.
In addition, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter can create communities around the streaming content. Viewers will be able to comment about what’s happening around the world at any moment. This audience can rely on popular web personalities who will act as curators and commentators for the live news. Each unique perspective will attract their own niche audience that CNN or Fox News may ignore.
Eventually, the hunger for instant, live news will not be served by big news corporations with costly equipment and star reporters- but by millions of ordinary people with the newest smart phones. And with this technology, who knows? The next Anderson Cooper just might be you.
January 08 2011
Transmedia Talk Podcast – Episode 14
Welcome to Transmedia Talk a new podcast covering all things story. Transmedia Talk is co-hosted by Nick Braccia and Robert Pratten and looks to shed light on the topic of transmedia storytelling with commentary, interviews and tips on how storytelling is moving into the 21st century.
NB: If you’d like to give us feedback, recommend yourself as a guest or suggest topics to cover – please email us at talk@workbookproject.com or Tweet away with the hashtag #tmediatalk
Hosts.. and Guests for this week
Nick Braccia from Culture Hacker
Robert Pratten from TransmediaStoryteller.com
Dee Cook from Dogtail Media
Haley Moore
The panelists discuss their early & current experiences with developing and executing transmedia projects. Good discussion about the thrill of interactivity and designing ARGs.
Running Time
00:00 Introductions
00:40 Getting started in transmedia (Rob’s story)
04:40 The Lowlifes transmedia project : Objectives & narrative design
16:40 Developing the interactive game for Lowlifes
29:00 Haley Moore discusses The Sketchbook Project
41:00 Dee Cook discusses her work with DogTail Media
44:45 The market for ARGs in 2011
46:00 Changing nature of ARG and developing for different audience segments
November 12 2010
Augmented Reality
Below is a short interview with Fred Steube – Digital Innovation Manager, Cox Target Media/Valpak. I watched him speak on an interesting panel about Augmented Reality at the DMA2010 conference.
What’s your experience with AR?
Our experience with AR includes a Martha Stewart promotion we did with our Valpak coupon envelope that allowed consumers to see if they won a daily prize and to see daily previews for the Martha Stewart show by holding up the envelope to their webcams. Additionally, we did a B2B ad campaign in Ad Age and DMNews that showed Marketers what our product offerings are by holding up a AR marker to a webcam and viewing in 3D.
What are your favorite examples of AR?
Favorite AR experience has to be the Toyota example we showed at DMA and the Coke Zero and McDonald’s Avatar promotions. Also the Mini AR campaign. Anything by Total Immersion (an AR technology developer) is typically very high caliber.
Virtual reality never lived up to consumer’s expectations. Is AR heading in that direction?
AR appears to continue to gain traction along with QR codes, particularly with mobile. The key there is the location based benefit of seeing content that geographically relevant and relevant to what they are looking for.
The word innovative is overused. What is truly innovative?
Innovative is anything that transcends a current way of doing something by being new. It should add value to a key stakeholder. It should break molds and be out of the box; something new and impactful. This can be a product or process.
tkirszenstein
June 28 2010
My Thoughts on E3
At a spectacle known as E3, I witnessed everything from 3D games without glasses to controller-free gaming. Before this conference I didn’t think Star Trek-like technology could be available in 2010. Can Hollywood learn from the constantly evolving game industry?
Below are some highlights from E3 and how I think they will impact filmmakers.
X-Box 360’s Kinect created by PrimeSense
Audience members could place themselves into scenes and those clips will automatically be shared on Facebook. How many girls would love to have an appearance in Twilight? Maybe, Kinetic could track where a viewer is in a living room to change the perspective of how they watch a movie. Additionally film environments could be interactive e.g. you can pause a film and then run your hand through raindrops.
Nintendo 3D DS
There aren’t any TVs on the market that deliver 3D film viewing on a budget. 3D DS gives consumers an incentive to purchase a movie vs. watching it through Netflix, pirating, or Red Box. With over a 125 million of the previous DS models sold, this could be a big market. The LA Times reports that Nintendo has already made deals with Warner Bros, Disney, and DreamWorks.
What are your predictions? Let us know in the comments.
June 15 2010
Transmedia Storytelling-Fishing where the fish are
Multiplatform Storytelling: A Master Class with Tim Kring at SXSW brought a rock star–sized following of fans and some press excited to see the architect behind Heroes. Brian Seth Hurst moderated it. Their discussion started with them revealing how George Lucas invented transmedia storytelling. Prepare to be shocked-it all started November 17, 1978 with The Star Wars Holiday Special. A mysterious new character appeared on this show. His name was Bobba Fett. Before long Bobba Fett could also be purchased as a limited edition action figure in toy stores. Fans were confused and excited about this bounty hunter who came out of nowhere. About a year later when The Empire Strike Back was released Bobba Fett showed up again. Many fans were already aware of him. It was the first time a character originated on one platform then moved to the “mother ship of the property”.
Next Tim talked about his experience in the TV biz, then and now. When he started out a viewer had limited options: passively watch a show, at a certain time, via their TV. Now technology has offered new ways to distribute content at anytime to viewers e.g. smart phones and computers. It’s a double-edged sword; this has also brought about new competitors-including social networks and casual games that can steal eyeballs from a TV show.
Here is data that shows how things have changed:
Casual game FarmVille surpasses 80 million users http://mashable.com/2010/02/20/farmville-80-million-users/
Nielsen data shows that U.S. Facebook users now spend an average of seven hours per month on the site.
Apple announced that more than three billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store by iPhone and iPod touch users worldwide. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/apples-app-store-downloads-top-three-billion-80694707.html
Some people have looked at transmedia storytelling like a novelty; Tim knew it was a necessity. So for Heroes his strategy was to “fish where the fish are”. He created Heroes Evolution, which expanded his stories beyond a TV screen with weekly web graphic novels connected to the show, interactive puzzles that engage fans with text messages and phone apps, among many other techniques to reach an elusive audience who have migrated all over the place. Tim’s closing remarks were he recommended that young producers should prepare to pitch TV executives their shows with a transmedia strategy. For future projects Tim is considering making his story the mother ship where everything is connected vs having his TV show at the hub.
Transmedia Storytelling-Fishing where the fish are
Multiplatform Storytelling: A Master Class with Tim Kring at SXSW brought a rock star–sized following of fans and some press excited to see the architect behind Heroes. Brian Seth Hurst moderated it. Their discussion started with them revealing how George Lucas invented transmedia storytelling. Prepare to be shocked-it all started November 17, 1978 with The Star Wars Holiday Special. A mysterious new character appeared on this show. His name was Bobba Fett. Before long Bobba Fett could also be purchased as a limited edition action figure in toy stores. Fans were confused and excited about this bounty hunter who came out of nowhere. About a year later when The Empire Strike Back was released Bobba Fett showed up again. Many fans were already aware of him. It was the first time a character originated on one platform then moved to the “mother ship of the property”.
Next Tim talked about his experience in the TV biz, then and now. When he started out a viewer had limited options: passively watch a show, at a certain time, via their TV. Now technology has offered new ways to distribute content at anytime to viewers e.g. smart phones and computers. It’s a double-edged sword; this has also brought about new competitors-including social networks and casual games that can steal eyeballs from a TV show.
Here is data that shows how things have changed:
Casual game FarmVille surpasses 80 million users http://mashable.com/2010/02/20/farmville-80-million-users/
Nielsen data shows that U.S. Facebook users now spend an average of seven hours per month on the site.
Apple announced that more than three billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store by iPhone and iPod touch users worldwide. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/apples-app-store-downloads-top-three-billion-80694707.html
Some people have looked at transmedia storytelling like a novelty; Tim knew it was a necessity. So for Heroes his strategy was to “fish where the fish are”. He created Heroes Evolution, which expanded his stories beyond a TV screen with weekly web graphic novels connected to the show, interactive puzzles that engage fans with text messages and phone apps, among many other techniques to reach an elusive audience who have migrated all over the place. Tim’s closing remarks were he recommended that young producers should prepare to pitch TV executives their shows with a transmedia strategy. For future projects Tim is considering making his story the mother ship where everything is connected vs having his TV show at the hub.
April 15 2010
Followers
Here is my interview with Scott Kirsner, who is the author of Friend, Fans & Followers: Building an Audience and a Creative Career in the Digital Age. Scott spoke on various panels at SXSW.
What did you take away from SXSW this year?
SXSW is always great. I tell filmmakers that it’s the best annual event for figuring out how film and technology work together, and how new online dynamics are changing the way people will consume video. As far as what I took away, I did sessions at SXSW with the videoblogger/Internet artist Ze Frank and Gary Hustwit, who makes documentaries like “Helvetica” and “Objectified.” Both of them really underscored for me that if you do something you’re interested in (or even obsessed about), do it well, and let people get involved (giving them ways to participate and support you), there really is a viable way to be an independent artist in these digital times…without being a shameless self-promoter.
How should film schools adapt to a new media landscape?
I think they ought to be encouraging students to think about making new forms of content that take advantage of technological possibilities: short-form stuff that’s linked in new ways, that connects to location, that engages the viewer in different ways than feature-length, cinematically-exhibited films do. What can you make that lives in Facebook, that spreads via Twitter? Does there need to be a boundary between film and games? I’d like to see more film schools encouraging students to ask those kinds of questions.
When you wrote Fans, Friends And Followers what information did you find surprising?
Mostly, how experimental you have to be to figure out a strategy that works for you to build an audience. A remix contest may work for someone, but not someone else. You need to let a thousand flowers bloom.
Will creators have to spend more money on marketing as the web becomes crowded with new entertainment?
Well, spending lots of money on marketing, whether it’s billboards along every major highway or a Super Bowl ad, is a pretty time-tested way to get people to be aware of your product. But I actually think the online world gives creators more opportunities to organically build word-of-mouth about what they’re doing, rather than buying awareness. And when you do buy stuff, like ads on Facebook or Google, you can do it in a targeted, inexpensive way, without needing to hire an ad agency. That’s really revolutionary for individual creators.
How can artists do more to recognize fans who actually buy their content?
Well, crediting or thanking them is one way. Integrating them into the content somehow is another. M dot Strange incorporated images of some of his fans into his debut feature, “We Are the Strange,” and Jill Sobule sings about some of the donors who made her 2009 album “California Years” possible.
Is content still king or have aggregators taken its crown?
I am a believer in democracy, not monarchy. I think great work will always be recognized, will always find an audience, and that there will be ways for its creators to earn a living. People vote with their dollars, and they are still purchasing books, CDs, movie tickets, movie downloads, videogames, etc. And I’m hopeful that content and aggregators can coexist peacefully.
If you were going to be a financier in the entertainment industry what would be the best investment and why?
Well, I’m really interested in companies like JibJab Media or Next New Networks that have been trying to create new kinds of studio models… What would the next Disney or Paramount look like? What would the production costs be? What kinds of stories would you be telling, and how can the audience be involved in new ways? That said, there have been some failures already in that arena— but I also believe we’ll eventually see some successes.
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