Cross Media Methodologies

THE BIRTH OF CROSS MEDIA PRODUCTION
Adventures in Storytelling pt. 7 - Cross Media Methodologies

By Brian Seth Hurst



“Welcome back.” A phrase that has been used in television since it began. But these days it has a whole new meaning when it relates to a persistent active and dynamic community built around a television property. When the show is not on the air, its life and the life of its fans can continue across a number of distribution platforms.

Previous posts presented examples of cross media production includingNBC’s Heroes 360 Experience, The Jericho Experience, ABC Family’s Primetime Emmy® winning Fallen Alternate Reality Game, and Showtime’s The L World. These examples are really just the beginning of a growing trend that may actually provide new programming genres: part drama, part interactive mystery, part game, part social network. And, though these examples are anchored in television, new and compelling storytelling can begin on any platform -- Comedy Central’s Lil' Bush was born on mobile and there are many examples of original programming born or reborn as both linear and cross media programming on broadband including Prom Queen, Kate Modern and Quarterlife.

Mapping out and producing cross media programming is a challenge. And, just as television production companies specialize in producing television, there are new cross media production companies teaming with television and film producers that are the experts in the planning and production of cross platform storytelling. It is challenging, but as production processes in film and television have become standardized over time, so too will cross media methodologies.



In most cases now, it is a chaotic world of experimentation - like the early days of any medium - but speaking for cross media producers I can say that we are rapidly and of necessity quickly finding our way. We are responsible for defining not only what is possible on each platform but what story or content will live on those platforms while remaining true to the creator’s and producer’s vision and the audience. After all, the audience has to have an authentic and engaging experience regardless of platform. If it’s too complicated, or not complex enough, not true to the story, not organic, or they feel manipulated we will lose them. We have to be more audience-centric than your traditional television producer. We really need to know who they are and how they behave with technology and each other. We are profilers of a sort, mapping and predicting their behavior with content, technology and each other. Finally we are responsible for selecting the right technologies, partners and best of breed vendors to execute the vision. And like any production we must remain on time and on budget.

When dealing with a specific show we begin the process with a strategy. Traditional producers might call it preproduction, but to Cross Media producers it’s that and more. It’s blueprinting. It is an audience experience “flowchart” of how fans will move through and interact with the story. We found it necessary to create a workflow methodology that maximizes efficiency, facilitates integration, communication and quality assurance... but leaves plenty of room for creativity and the “secret sauce” that makes it delicious to the audience. And so our planning stage -- whether we are coming in before a show has even been produced or coming in after the fact -- has to have a process.



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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.

Welcome to Cube One

THE BIRTH OF CROSS MEDIA PRODUCTION
Adventures in Storytelling pt. 6 - Welcome to Cube One
By Brian Seth Hurst

In recent posts we’ve explored some of 2007’s stand out best cross media executions.

Heroes 360 Experience
The Jericho Experience
Fallen
The L World

These are really just the beginning. And, just as television production companies specialize in producing television, there are new cross media production companies that are the experts in the planning and production of cross platform storytelling.

It isn’t easy right now, but just as production processes in film and television have become standardized over time, so too will cross media methodologies. In most cases now, it is a chaotic world of experimentation - like the early days of any medium - but speaking for cross media producers I can say that we are rapidly, and of necessity, finding our way. We are responsible for defining not only what is possible on each platform but what story or content will live on those platforms while remaining true to the creator’s and producer’s vision and the audience. After all, the audience has to have an authentic and engaging experience regardless of platform. If it’s too complicated, or not complex enough, not true to the story, not organic, or they feel manipulated we will lose them. Finally we are responsible for selecting the right technologies, partners and best of breed vendors to execute the vision. And like any production we must remain on time and on budget.

So, how do we do it? We’ll talk about the nuts and bolts of cross media production including the strategy, the business models, production integration and implementation in the upcoming posts.

This is one of the most exciting times in the history of storytelling. In fact, Cross Media storytelling is becoming a genre all unto itself. And, the participation of the audience is blurring the boundaries between fiction and non fiction, providing fertile ground for new ways to tell stories to a new “interactive” generation. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination and the imagination of your audience. So, in the multidimensional world of cross media you are not really at square one -- you are really at cube one. Cross Media producers are here to help to turn those cubes into building blocks for a remarkable audience experience.

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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.

Local T.V. Meets Global New Media PGA NMC Event Tuesday Feb 26th

Producers Guild of America
New Media Council East

Presents the

2007-2008 Panel and Salon Series

Tuesday February 26, 2008

Local T.V. Meets Global New Media: A Real-Time Interactive Session between New York and San Francisco

The emergence of new media platforms and consumer's interactive behaviors have made the local television market a different landscape, where news is now fed from online broadband channels, created by local consumers, and distributed throughout a wider, and more eclectic network of advertisers, journalists, and producers. Each location will have 4 panelists representing both traditional and new media, discussing the merging technologies and their personal experiences as they forge ahead in this ever-changing industry. Both audiences will have an opportunity to view the live bi-coastal panel discussion and participate in a question and answer session with both panels.

New York Panelists will include:
• Nick Abramovich, CFO, The NewsMarket, President
• Danny Passman, Vice President, DailyMotion
• Andy Keidel, Founder, ModMyLife
• Juliette Powell, Co-Founder, The Gathering Think Tank, Inc.
• Moderated by Chris Pfaff, President, Chris Pfaff Tech/Media, LLC

San Francisco Panelists will include:
• Justin Gunn, Vice President, Online Programming, Current Media
• Dan Rosenheim, Vice-President & News Director, KPIX-TV
• Craig Newmark, Customer Service Rep & Founder of Craigslist.org
• Mark Randall, Chief Strategist, Adobe
• Moderated by Tracy Swedlow, CEO, publisher & editor-in-chief of Interactive TV Today (itvt)

NEW YORK EVENT TIME:
8pm - 10pm EST
**A networking mixer beginning at 8pm will precede the panel programming. Wine and refreshments will be served during the mixer.**

NEW YORK LOCATION:
Theresa Lang Auditorium at The New School
55 W. 13th Street, Second Floor
Between 5th and 6th Aves.

NEW YORK RSVP:
Rsvp@pga-ny.org

SAN FRANCISCO EVENT TIME:
Promptly 6pm-8pm EST
**Networking mixer after the panel with refreshments.**

SAN FRANCISCO LOCATION:
Adobe Systems
601 Townsend Street
San Francisco, CA

SAN FRANCISCO RSVP:
sfpgamixer@yahoo.com

Event hosted by The Producers Guild of America, New Media Council East in conjunction with the Producers Guild of America San Francisco Chapter.

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is the premier industry association for entertainment producing professionals working in film, television and digital media.

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

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

Previous events from our 2005-2008 event series can be accessed in web cast format at: http://www.scribemedia.org/pga

For more information about ScribeStudio Productions, please visit: http://www.scribemedia.org/about.

This event is made possible through generous cooperation with the New School Department of Media Studies. Please visit http://mediastudies.newschool.edu for more information.

The L Word

THE BIRTH OF CROSS MEDIA PRODUCTION
Adventures in Storytelling pt. 5 - The L Word
By Brian Seth Hurst


Though not in 2007's Emmy® crop, Showtime’s cross media programming for The L Word is another wonderful example of a brilliantly executed cross media property rooted deeply in the culture and social behavior of its audience. The approach taken by Showtime’s Digital Media Group and Senior Vice President and General Manager Rob Hayes seemed to achieve the perfect balance of promotion for the on air show and cross platform story telling.

It began by making the show available for download on iTunes, Movielink, Cinema Now etc. so that viewers, even those not subscribed to Showtime, could have access anytime and anywhere. Fans were passionate, and a community formed online instantly. Showtime became a part of that community and then literally gave ownership of the show brand over to the fans.

First, through a company called FanLib, the community had a chance to take the characters of the show and write their own stories and situations. Known as fan fiction (a growing industry unto itself) the stories are based on the original work. According to FanLib Founder and CEO Chris M. Williams, this season an actual fan scripted scene will be shot and incorporated into an episode. It is the first time this has ever been done. The show also has a MySpace page, and clips available on Youtube, and other video sharing sites, and fans building their own tribute pages.

But, the best playground was yet to come- L-Word in Second Life. A virtual world with all the locations, characters, parties - everything you need to live the L-Life. Like any virtual world, fans choose an avatar and an identity and enter the world that was established by Showtime but that they now own and create. And, Showtime has now entered the world of social media with “Our Chart” , a Web 2.0 network for the lesbian community. Showtime watched the trends among their demographic and simply integrated itself into those trends.


We do need to tip our hats to non-fiction producers for breaking down the forth wall and allowing viewers to participate in the telling of the story. Back in 2004, FX’s ToddTV offered the audience the chance to control Todd’s life through their T-Mobile phones. The hook wasn’t enough and the show tanked. But bigger brands with bigger audiences can succeed where smaller ones cannot. Flash forward to this season on CBS’ Big Brother 8 and “America’s Player”. Housemate Eric was handed tasks to complete in each episode by the viewers votes at CBS.com or via text messaging. And, each task completed not only affected proceedings in the house but earned Eric $10,000. As of this writing Eric has completed 20 out of 27 tasks and has one task left - to cast America’s vote for who should be the winner. Additionally, CBS gave fans more - the Big Brother broadband talk show House Calls and, for the things that you can’t show on network television, Big Brother After Dark on Showtime Too.

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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.