Transmedia Crossover

Like any pop culture junkie, there’s nothing I like better than a good crossover – when characters from different realities step into each other’s world. Like when Laverne & Shirley or The Big Ragu appeared on Happy Days. Or when Batman and Spiderman teamed up to take on the Joker.

Crossovers happen in real life too. This past fall, I witnessed one of my favorites when Jeff Gomez and Henry Jenkins met at the Future of Entertainment Conference. Seeing these two transmedia giants interact was as epic and entertaining as any fictional crossover.

Prior to the panel discussion, Professor Jenkins had distributed a set of questions to the speakers to help them prepare. Gomez recently decided to revisit these questions and sent his current thoughts back to Jenkins. Events in the transmedia space have progressed so rapidly that he felt it would be valuable to keep the dialog moving ahead.

Over the next few days, we’ll be rolling out portions of the correspondence between these two transmedia heavyweights… it will be as entertaining as when the doctors from St. Elswhere crossed over onto Cheers for a drink.
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Jenkins: Let's start by examining the concept of "cult media." What does this phrase mean to you, and do you think it accurately describes the kinds of projects you've worked on? Why or why not?

Gomez: To me "cult media" is exemplified by the slow crumbling of traditional media content aimed at huge swathes of the population, down to the more contemporary approach of designing content to engage subsections of that population or even smaller "niches."
My company Starlight Runner works on "cult media" in that we work on projects that already have mass appeal or have the potential to reach mass appeal, but what those projects always have to begin with is a specific genre appeal that almost guarantees an extremely loyal core "niche" audience.

Starlight Runner also consults with movie studios, comic book and fiction publishers, and videogame developers to take their niche or "cult" content and prepare it for extension across multiple media platforms. In this case, we are acting as transmedia storytellers, developing and producing "cult" properties for exposure to a much larger audience.

Jenkins: The idea of cult media historically referred to films that appealed to a fairly small niche of consumers. But many genres, which once were regarded as cult -- fantasy, science fiction, superheroes -- have emerged as increasingly mainstream. What's changing? What accounts for the mainstreaming of niche media?

Gomez: There are five factors that seem to be contributing to the "coming out" of cult media:
1. Baby boomers and gen-X'ers weaned on the explosion of pop culture spurred by the proliferation of television and movies in the aftermath of World War II have come of age and taken control of the entertainment industry. Naturally, they have a strong desire to recreate what they loved and share it with others who've had similar cultural experiences.

2. Genre product such as science fiction serials and horror films, which had been relegated to Saturday matinees and second or third billing in movie theaters, could now be given A-list treatment. The new moguls and visionaries could now apply top grade production value to this content, and hire marquee talent for it, secure in the knowledge that genre fare is more than likely to turn a profit. In the international market, a growing hunger for action and genre content could boost domestic failures into profitability.

3. Attention to quality extended to storytelling. Filmmakers, comic book writers, genre novelists and their ilk were better educated and more interested in stories that conveyed better character development and stronger verisimilitude. Star Wars was fueled by the work of Joseph Campbell.

4. Genre content became more reflective of the mood and politics of the time, and therefore resonated more powerfully with mass audiences. Note the nuclear spawned monsters of the 1950s, the "acid trip" sci-fi of the '60s, the terrifying "evil children" of the early '70s, the "gee whiz" hope of Star Wars and Close Encounters later that decade, the political morass and moral ambiguity of Battlestar Galactica currently.

5. Like no other time in history, devotees of this type of content have complete access to one another via the Internet. Fans whose imaginations are fired by these stories make a deep and lasting connection with them. They become "specialists," intensely knowledgeable of the property, the way that sports fanatics memorize the accomplishments and statistics of their favorite teams. These fans become "apostles" for the property, devoting time, effort and creativity in celebrating the story and characters, collecting ephemera and licensed extensions of the brand, celebrating it with others of their ilk. They form the property's core fan base, which in turn fuels the continued success of the brand.

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.

The Future of the Book – A Conversation with Bob Stein Monday, June 23, 2008 7PM

**EXCLUSIVE, MEMBERS ONLY EVENT**

Monday, June 23, 2008
7 pm – 9 pm

The Future of the Book – A Conversation with Bob Stein

It has been 453 years since Johannes Gutenberg published the first mechanically printed book, and recent developments in electronic ink and more user-friendly mobile displays - including the introduction of Amazon.com’s Kindle reader and Apple’s iPhone - have created a market for electronic “books” that go far beyond ink-on-pulp publications. As the printed page is giving way to the networked screen, the Institute for the Future of the Book seeks to chronicle this shift, and impact its development in a positive direction. The Institute is a project of the Annenberg Center for Communication at the University of Southern California and Columbia University, and is based in Brooklyn, New York.

Bob Stein, Director of the Institute for Future of the Book (http://futureofthebook.org). Stein was the founder of The Voyager Company. For 13 years, he led the development of more than 300 titles in “The Criterion Collection,” a series of definitive films on videodisc, and more than 75 CD-ROM titles, including the CD Companion to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, “Who Built America,” and the Voyager edition of Macbeth. Previous to Voyager, Stein worked with Alan Kay in the Research Group at Atari on a variety of electronic publishing projects. In 1996, Stein started the Night Kitchen company to develop authoring tools for the next generation of electronic publishing. That work is being continued at the Institute for the Future of the Book. Stein is also Research Director, Digital Authoring Tools, USC Annenberg Center for Communication.

Moderator: Chris Pfaff, President, Chris Pfaff Tech/Media LLC; board delegate, PGA New Media Council
A board delegate of the PGA New Media Council since 2006, and a PGA NMC member since 2004, Chris Pfaff leads a consultancy – Chris Pfaff Tech/Media LLC – that represents some of the leading service providers, audio/video technology firms, networking vendors, and media companies in the world, from PRIMEDIA and Eastman Kodak to Cantor Telecom. A veteran of the venture world, Chris helped launch more than 20 ventures from the Lucent New Ventures Group, including iBiquity Digital; Flarion; Lucent Digital Video, and GeoVideo Networks, among others. In addition, he has helped launch AT&T’s Internet strategy; the Viacom New Media division of Viacom, Inc.; Sony Electronics’ Digital Betacam format, and Sharp Electronics’ LCD product division.

A wine and cheese networking reception beginning will precede the conversation programming.

This event will take place at The Core Club in New York City.

Event hosted by the Producers Guild of America New Media Council East.

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

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 2005-2007 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/.

New York: Digital Media Mecca – A Conversation with Chip Austin, founder of i-Hatch Ventures

Producers Guild of America
New Media Council East

Presents the
2007-2008 Panel and Salon Series

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

New York: Digital Media Mecca – A Conversation with Chip Austin, founder of i-Hatch Ventures

Though memories of Silicon Alley and the 1990s are receding, the role of digital media in the New York economy continues to gain strength. Even as the recent Wall Street crisis continues to unfold, entrepreneurs and major media companies are creating new businesses, new means of digital media delivery and transaction, and venture capitalists are contributing to this evolving ecosystem of content-driven plays.

One such long-standing New York digital media investment stalwart is Chip Austin, founder and partner of New York-based venture capital fund i-Hatch Ventures. Chip has been an active agent in the growth of both the first wave of online ventures, as well as the current landscape of New York-based ventures. Since founding i-Hatch in 1999, Chip has invested in such successful ventures as Vindigo, Dotcast, M:Metrics, and Thumbplay. Previously, in addition to founding Bertelsmann's E-commerce division, Chip was a member of the senior executive team leading the buyout and restructuring of Prodigy Communications and was a co-founder of McKinsey’s & Co.’s interactive practice, where he spent seven years advising Fortune 500 companies on their technology and media strategies. Prior to that, Chip worked at Morgan Stanley and IBM's PC division.

Moderator: Chris Pfaff, President, Chris Pfaff Tech/Media LLC; board delegate, PGA New Media Council
A board delegate of the PGA New Media Council since 2006, and a PGA NMC member since 2004, Chris Pfaff leads a consultancy – Chris Pfaff Tech/Media LLC – that represents some of the leading service providers, audio/video technology firms, networking vendors, and media companies in the world, from PRIMEDIA and Eastman Kodak to Cantor Telecom. A veteran of the venture world, Chris helped launch more than 20 ventures from the Lucent New Ventures Group, including iBiquity Digital; Flarion; Lucent Digital Video, and GeoVideo Networks, among others. In addition, he has helped launch AT&T’s Internet strategy; the Viacom New Media division of Viacom, Inc.; Sony Electronics’ Digital Betacam format, and Sharp Electronics’ LCD product division.

A wine and cheese networking reception will precede the conversation programming.

This event takes place at the Screening Room at The Core Club.

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

Previous events from our 2005-2008 event series can be accessed in both webcast and podcast format at: http://www.scribemedia.org/pga

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

’CONTACT IS KING’ – A Conversation with Douglas Rushkoff

Producers Guild of America
New Media Council East

Presents the

2007-2008 Panel and Salon Series

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at the Screening Room at The Core Club

’CONTACT IS KING’ – A Conversation with Douglas Rushkoff

As all media becomes a landscape in which interaction takes place, and “literacy” is the ability to participate consciously in this environment, the convergence of media networks becomes ever more important in how we consume, produce, and analyze content. Best-selling author, documentarian, and cultural commentator Douglas Rushkoff is one of the foremost analysts of how people, cultures, and institutions create, share, and influence each other’s values. In this conversation, he will examine how one of his futuristic predictions from the 1990s, ‘Contact is King,’ has manifested itself in becoming a mantra for an all-pervasive communications paradigm for today’s society.

Author of such works as Cyberia, Media Virus, Playing the Future, and the just-completed Get Back in the Box: Innovation from the Inside Out, Rushkoff has written and hosted two award-winning PBS Frontline specials, The Merchants of Cool (how corporations influence youth culture) and The Persuaders (how the cluttered landscape of marketing makes efforts to overcome consumer resistance).

He regularly appears on TV shows from NBC Nightly News to CNN’s Larry King Live and HBO’s Realtime with Bill Maher. His commentaries are seen and heard on CBS Sunday Morning and on NPR. He is writing a new monthly comic book for Vertigo, and he developed the Electronic Oracle software series for HarperCollins Interactive.

Rushkoff founded the Narrative Lab at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, and lectures about media, art, society, and change at conferences and universities around the world.

Moderator: Chris Pfaff, President, Chris Pfaff Tech/Media LLC; board delegate, PGA New Media Council
A board delegate of the PGA New Media Council since 2006, and a PGA NMC member since 2004, Chris Pfaff leads a consultancy – Chris Pfaff Tech/Media LLC – that represents some of the leading service providers, audio/video technology firms, networking vendors, and media companies in the world, from PRIMEDIA and Eastman Kodak to Cantor Telecom. A veteran of the venture world, Chris helped launch more than 20 ventures from the Lucent New Ventures Group, including iBiquity Digital; Flarion; Lucent Digital Video, and GeoVideo Networks, among others. In addition, he has helped launch AT&T’s Internet strategy; the Viacom New Media division of Viacom, Inc.; Sony Electronics’ Digital Betacam format, and Sharp Electronics’ LCD product division.

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

Event hosted by Jeff Dachis and Chris Pfaff, co-chairmen, PGA New Media Council East.


Previous events from our 2005-2007 event series can be accessed in both webcast and podcast format at: http://www.scribemedia.org/pga

For more information about please visit ScribeStudio Productions.