The State of Trans-media

The State of Trans-media
By PGA NMC member Jeff Gomez

Comic book and video game publishers, movie studios and animation houses, even Fortune 500 companies not normally affiliated with content production are all coming to realize that brands and brand messages are best conveyed through entertainment. Multiple platforms mean multiple revenue streams — and multiple ways to expose a mass audience to your products. Rich worlds lend themselves to large and incredibly loyal fan bases. Fans in turn are demanding stronger, deeper storylines that “speak” to them through whatever medium they have at hand, be it the web, television, their Sony PSP’s, or even their mobile phones. We’re seeing this with franchises as diverse as Lost, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Bionicle, Hot Wheels, Magic: The Gathering and Halo. In fact, all of these highly successful projects are examples of trans-media storytelling from early stages in their development. And all of these required producers and writers, who were especially prepared to envision these sophisticated narratives, develop, produce and prepare them for distribution.

Jeff Gomez (jeff@starlightrunner.com), is the CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment, Inc., a developer and producer of highly successful trans-media projects whose clients include The Walt Disney Company, 20th Century Fox, the Coca-Cola Company, Mattel and Hasbro.

Over the next few weeks he’ll be sharing his expertise on the white hot trans-media industry – exploring its fascinating history and expanding upon the 8 Defining Principles of Trans-Media Production

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THE NIGHT OF THE PRODUCER for PGA members only

Coming this Thursday, October 18, 2007

THE NIGHT OF THE PRODUCER

It takes a special breed of professional to succeed in New York City. Members of the New York community thrive on the energy, the excitement and even the incredible challenges that come with producing media in this city. The Producers Guild of America East Coast Chapter, along with the New Media Council East, is hosting a members only celebration of that energy, excitement and community as our fellow producers come together for an evening of conversation with a pair of New York producing legends:

JANE ROSENTHAL

and

ROBERT GREENBERG

Jane Rosenthal co-founded Tribeca Productions and the Tribeca Film Center with Robert De Niro. She is also the creator, along with De Niro, of the first annual Tribeca Film Festival in May 2002 to contribute to the cultural and economic recovery of Lower Manhattan after the tragedy of September 11, 2001. Rosenthal's numerous producing credits include The Good Shepherd, Rent, Meet the Fockers, and the Academy Award-nominated Wag the Dog. www.tribecafilmfestival.org.

Bob Greenberg has been a pioneer in the advertising and digital communications industry for three decades. His company, R/GA has created groundbreaking visual effects for films such as Superman, Alien, Predator, Seven and Zelig. R/GA's body of work spans 400 feature films and 4,000 television commercials. Last year, R/GA was recognized by Adweek as the "Interactive Agency of the Year" and named on Advertising Age's Agency Top 10 "A-List". www.rga.com.

All ticket proceeds will benefit charities chosen by Jane Rosenthal and Bob Greenberg.

***YOU MUST BE A MEMBER OF THE PRODUCERS GUILD OF AMERICA TO ATTEND THIS EVENT! ***

For more information about the PGA New Media Council and to access a membership application, please visit: www.pganewmedia.org.

For more information about the PGA and to access a membership application, please visit: www.producersguild.org.

Digital Content Week in Review

Digital Content Week in Review

Hollywood prepares for writers strike - FT.com

US interactive ad sales to hit $61bn in 2012- vnunet.com

Online: Live A site offers 'lifecasting' to anyone with a Webcam- WSJ

Joost To Stream Live TV - Gizmodo

Does FunnyOrDie need Will to live? - Hollywood Reporter

Google pegs video ad plans- Variety

CBS Interactive Scares Up Web Series - Mediaweek

Endemol to Bring Content to Next.TV- Mediaweek

PGA member Jeff Gomez (left) assembled a stellar panel to discuss the brave new world of trans-media production.

“Trans-media” may be a new term for many of us… but after this fascinating discussion, it became clear that the word will soon become part of any good producer’s vocabulary.

The 8 defining characteristics of a trans-media production (by Jeff Gomez):

1) Content is originated by one or a very few visionaries
2) Cross-media rollout is planned early in the life of the franchise

3) Content is distributed to three or more media platforms

4) Content is unique, adheres to platform-specific strengths, and is not repurposed from one platform to the next
5) Content is based on a single vision for the story world

6) Concerted effort is made to avoid fractures and schisms
7) Effort is vertical across company, third parties and licensees

8) Rollout features audience participatory elements, including:

- Web portal

- Social networking

- Story-guided user-generated content

Examples of contemporary trans-media properties include:

The Blair Witch Project

The Matrix

Hot Wheels: World Race / Acceleracers

Bionicle

Pokemon

Magic: The Gathering

Many Disney projects, including High School Musical, Pirates of theCaribbean, Fairies, Hannah Montana

After 2 hours we only began to scratch the surface of this unbelievably rich topic. We will continue the conversation right here, featuring in depth discussion of each of the 8 characteristics.

Greg Weinstein

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