Fallen

THE BIRTH OF CROSS MEDIA PRODUCTION
Adventures in Storytelling pt. 4 - Fallen
By Brian Seth Hurst

ABC Family’s Fallen was a 6 hour miniseries that told the story of fallen angels loosely based on the four volume fantasy novel “The Fallen” by Thomas E. Sniegoski. The extension of Fallen would be an alternate reality game or ARG.

An ARG is a story that takes place over time and actually has a beginning, middle and end as opposed to a “persistent world” created in virtual reality games. The devices (platforms) of storytelling vary but the hallmark of an ARG is the audience’s ability to interact with the character(s) and each other - thus blurring the lines between fiction and reality.

The Fallen Alternate Reality Game, 2007's Emmy® winner for Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Television, gave fans the opportunity to immerse themselves in a clue-based universe of emails, chats, video, live online events, and clues embedded into the television show. Here the viewser enters the brilliantly contrived, designed and executed online world through a device called “The Oculus”. A runic puzzle that must continually be solved in order to reveal story elements, working the Oculus will help to ultimately reveal the origins of Faith Arella, the main character in the experience.

Once you are playing, The Fallen ARG is no more difficult than any video game but you have to know the television program. Again, this is something to be experienced. After all, to get to know how to use these platforms and devices to reach your audience, you have to know what’s possible.

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Brian Seth Hurst is CEO of the Opportunity Management Company, Inc. a cross media strategy and production company. Hurst served two terms as Chairman of the Producers Guild of America New Media Council (’03-’05) while simultaneously serving on the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Board of Governors. Currently, he is Second Vice Chair of the Television Academy and sits on the National Board of the PGA.

The Jericho Experience

THE BIRTH OF CROSS MEDIA PRODUCTION
Adventures in Storytelling pt. 3 - The Jericho Experience
By Brian Seth Hurst

CBS Interactive’s The Jericho Experience at http://www.whodroppedthebomb.com also had a deeply interactive audience that lived across platforms. Rich with features that grew over time, the experience included an original prequel “webumentary” called Countdown which took viewers through the expected real world consequences of a nuclear bomb drop. Executive Producers Stephen Chbosky, Carol Barbee and Jon Turtletaub were intimately involved in the process with Turtletaub writing scripts for the online community experience. As in the case of Heroes, a character was introduced on the web with a storyline and videos, who eventually crossed over to television. Though the site launched as promotion, it morphed into a Web 2.0 social community, and sustained the audience’s involvement during a 9 week winter hiatus.

Again the power of an interactive community was evident, especially when fans sent 50,000 pounds of nuts to CBS executives to protest the cancellation of the show. CBS then ordered seven additional episodes warning fans that ratings on TV must increase. But, if you were the creator or the producer of the world of Jericho, you might have to ask yourself… if that community is so active... is the television show as we know it really needed or was it just the flash point for a community that would congregate in a virtual Jericho world or a massive multiplayer online Jericho game either supported through subscription or in game advertising and product placement. This is where storytelling and opportunity converge.

But before we get into how you define those opportunities, there is a brilliant example of a well thought out cross media strategy and execution that is redefining what a television experience can be. You will notice that both the Heroes and Jericho examples use the word experience. That is the essence of the cross media challenge. To involve the audience through the creation of deeper richer experiences of the story, the characters and the community that builds itself around them. Then, both the story and the audience evolve together. Rather than the audience being passive they become your active partners. And hopefully passionate and loyal partners.

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Brian Seth Hurst is CEO of the Opportunity Management Company, Inc. a cross media strategy and production company. Hurst served two terms as Chairman of the Producers Guild of America New Media Council (’03-’05) while simultaneously serving on the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Board of Governors. Currently, he is Second Vice Chair of the Television Academy and sits on the National Board of the PGA.

Heroes 360 Experience

THE BIRTH OF CROSS MEDIA PRODUCTION
Adventures in Storytelling pt. 2 - The Heroes Experience
By Brian Seth Hurst

The seeds of cross media programming and production may have begun in non fiction, but now, the real innovation is actually happening in fiction. As a matter of fact, some of this activity is blurring the line between the drama of the programming and the non-fiction reality participation of the community. And, though it doesn’t break the “forth wall” down per se, it bends it, twists it and distorts it into compelling interactive audience experiences among loyal fan bases. There could be some valuable inspiration and learning available for non-fiction producers of television by digging into what is happening in the fiction cross media world. We’ll talk more about how all television producers can master cross media in later posts but first, I wanted to give you a few examples. I can write about them but it is like trying to describe a brilliant VFX moment in a movie. You really have to see it. Or in this case you really have to be “in” it. So I urge you after reading this article to go play!

2007’s crop of Emmy® finalists for Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Television are pioneers, masters of cross media production pushing the frontiers and drawing audiences into the worlds they have created by extending environments, characters and plot onto platforms that are part of their viewers everyday lives: broadband, mobile, gaming, social networking and more. This trend has given rise to a new term - “distributed storytelling” and new titles: Executive Producer Cross Media and Producer Cross Media.

NBC’s Heroes 360 Experience knew that their audience of science fiction fans would be an active online community. They wrangled them through the introduction of the character of Hana Gitelman exclusively on-line. Hana became the bridge between what was on television and the opportunity for viewsers to become more deeply involved and therefore have more at stake emotionally in the show. Through emails and text messages to those registered (providing a valuable fan database) she interacted with them on a daily basis, urged them to build profiles, do research, and explore. She began by telling them how to hack into the fictitious Primatech Paper web site where they could find hidden messages, clues, voicemails, etc. that extended the shows plot lines compelling them to solve the mysteries. Later when Hana’s character appeared in the television show, the online community already knew who she was and why she was there. And yet, those who only watched the television show had no feeling of being left out. When Hero’s was off the air, the experience kept fans engaged in the Heroes universe. Between January 22 and March 22 of 2007 the Heros 360 Experience had over 48 million page views and 27 million video downloads testifying to the power of great storytelling and the ability to move an audience back and forth between platforms. (NBC.Com delivers with 'Heroes360'The Futon Critic. 2007-03-22).

Calling this season a dry-run, Co-executive producer and writer Jesse Alexander has promised that this season the 360 Experience will be even bigger. (WWLA: Loeb & Co Talk “Heroes” (Comicbookresources.com March 17,2007) This is a great example of not only knowing your audience but anticipating their needs and desires and giving them content and interactivity that is deeply and richly engaging. It is satisfying a hunger.

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Brian Seth Hurst is CEO of the Opportunity Management Company, Inc. a cross media strategy and production company. Hurst served two terms as Chairman of the Producers Guild of America New Media Council (’03-’05) while simultaneously serving on the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Board of Governors. Currently, he is Second Vice Chair of the Television Academy and sits on the National Board of the PGA.

Adventures in Storytelling

THE BIRTH OF CROSS MEDIA PRODUCTION
Adventures in Storytelling
By Brian Seth Hurst

Not long ago I received a call from a television producer of dramas. “I know television, I mean I really know television but when it comes to this cross platform stuff… well… that’s why I am calling you. I am at square one. I have no idea where to begin.” Welcome to the new world; a world where the audience is demanding more from television programming; where fans can become a powerful interactive community that actually exercises influence over each other and even over network decisions; a world that is virtual, that is mobile, that extends across a myriad of devices and activities. We have moved from network entertainment (traditional broadcasting) to the era of networked entertainment where a piece of content becomes the gateway to a web of connectivity that becomes both personal and communal. This is the Web 2.0 and it presents television producers with new opportunities to involve and evolve the audience, to extend the brand and even to create new revenue streams.

Mastering this world for traditional producers really isn’t that difficult because, save some revolutionary tools, it is still storytelling. Cross media is built on four foundational pillars: technology, distribution, content and social behavior. Yesterday’s kids weaned on video games, born with a mouse in their hand are now today’s viewsers. They just don’t view television they “use” it and literally can become a part of it. We’ll talk more about how to master cross media in future posts but first, I wanted to give you a few examples. I can write about them... but it is like trying to describe a brilliant VFX moment in a movie. You really have to see it. Or in this case you really have to be “in” it. So I urge you after reading this post to go play!

This “new world” actually started in non-fiction programming which stimulated people to interact with the shows and each other. Perhaps the best known example is American Idol where in version 1.0 fans got on cell phones and landlines to make sure their favorites continued to the next round. But those same fans got on the net and built discussion groups, fan sites, and blogs fighting to turn their favorites into stars. As the seasons progressed, the producers of Idol began to give that community a place to gather, a town hall if you will, where all those visits to the net would come under the fox.com domain and eventually americanidol.com. This is a place where fans play alongside Idol’s advertisers rather than being outside the tent on their own. Over the years more features and ancillary content were added to the site and now of course there are the requisite mobile applications, behind the scenes, downloads etc. During Season 6, producers of Idol motivated that same community for “Idol Gives Back” raising over $75 million for children’s charities in the US and Africa. CBS’s “Big Brother” with its robust Big Brother Goes Mobile, “House Calls” talk show on the net, wikis, message boards and, of course, full episode viewing at CBS.com is a good illustration of what most non-fiction producers are doing to extend their show brands. At BravoTV.com, which covers all of Bravo’s original programming, virtually the same bill of fare is available albeit very well done.

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Brian Seth Hurst is CEO of the Opportunity Management Company, Inc. a cross media strategy and production company. Hurst served two terms as Chairman of the Producers Guild of America New Media Council (’03-’05) while simultaneously serving on the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Board of Governors. Currently, he is Second Vice Chair of the Television Academy and sits on the National Board of the PGA.