Today I spent the day at the FMX Conference in Stuttgart where I’d been asked to introduce the keynote talk “Envisioning the Literary World of Cornelia Funke.” As you may know, Cornelia Funke is an international best-selling author who has penned Wild Chicks, The Thief Lord, the Inkwell series, and Dragon Rider, for example. In the past, Cornelia’s works have often been adapted to film, theater and computer games. However, after her works had been adapted, Cornelia often felt that they no longer matched the image and vision of the story as she saw it inside her head.

The MirrorWorld App

In her newest series, MirrorWorld, Cornelia has decided to extend the story world created in the first two books of the series – Reckless and Fearless – across different media, and to retain creative control over it. She chose Guillermo del Toro’s Mirada Studios as collaborator and Andy Merkin, Producer for Special Projects and Transmedia at Mirada, led the studio-side of her efforts to “build a living, breathing world” that would allow Cornelia to show her readers the story world she had created in her head.

Some of you may remember that Andy already presented this project at last year’s Storyworld Conference. However, as MirrorWorld was still in development back then, Andy was only able to present his and Cornelia’s overall vision for the project and their general transmedia concept. Today, Cornelia and Andy were finally able to show us the final product. The MirrorWorld app is a multi-media experience including 110 minutes of new stories, content, and characters, packed into a combination of cinema, interactive elements, and storybook. All in all, the app provides a highly immersive story experience that offers both Cornelia and her readers the opportunity to explore the MirrorWorld universe without the constraints of just one type of medium.

And let me tell you, it is awesome. It is one of the best, if not *the* best, transmedia experiences I’ve ever seen.

A Perfect Creative Match

Cornelia and Andy both highlighted how their collaboration was marked by an exceptional creative match, and it shows in every feature

Illustrations in MirrorWorld

and every piece of content presented in the app. “It was like they could see into my head,” Cornelia explained. While she had brought the initial story universe to the table and Andy’s task was to implement her vision, both fed off the creative energy of each other. Mirada’s employees asked Cornelia the right questions – e.g. what happens if one of the child-eating witches in the story ate too old a child? – which prompted Cornelia to let her imagination roam further. At the same time, Mirada took care not to bend Cornelia’s stories to technology. As Andy explained: “We tried to use technology at any given point to further the narrative. Rather than saying ‘Look at the cool things we can do with technology!’ it was only to further the story.”

Transmedia Immersion

The MirrorWorld app consciously steers away from a game format in order to continue the feeling of immersing oneself in an imaginary world. On that same note, the app lets the user chose between a book mode and a spectacle mode (i.e. read a story vs. being told/shown the story). No matter which one the user chooses, s/he explores the “World Behind the Mirror” on their own accord, in a non-linear way. The graphics, designs and animations are exceptional, and the look, feel and tone of MirrorWorld remains perfect throughout the entire experience, starting with the moment the user him/herself dives through their own mirror image into the MirrorWorld. Moreover, Cornelia’s direct involvement isn’t just limited to the supply of content and vision, either. If you chose, you can even have her herself read the storybook passages to you.

The graphics in MirrorWorld are incredibly detailed and thorough.

Combining Old and New

In addition to combining different story world elements and different types of media, the Mirror World app also combines old modes of

Shadow play in MirrorWorld

illustrations with new ones. For example, animations are juxtaposed with traditional, 19th-century embroidery, shadow play, and multi-layered pictures, each type of illustration being used as it fits the narration. And as necessary in a good transmedia project, each piece of content is conclusive enough to stand on its own while giving the overall narrative and story world additional insights and depth.

A Milestone for Storytelling 

As Andy proudly told me after the presentation, the MirrorWorld app is made up of over 9000 assets. Compare that with 250 assets that make up your average game app, and you can imagine just how much content the MirrorWorld app holds for its users. Unlike Pottermore and its companions, MirrorWorld offers masses of actual, new content – encyclopedias, background stories, character POVs, pictures, etc. All in all, the app has taken just less than a year to develop and sells at €5.49/$5.99 in the German and American iTunes stores.

I think it becomes quite clear that I am deeply impressed with the MirrorWorld app, and for very good reasons. Go and try it out; it is well executed, truly story-driven, and it it will captivate you right away. The MirrorWorld app really is another milestone for the future of storytelling. I wish that something like this app existed when I was younger and couldn’t get enough of the books I was reading, and I hope even more so that MirrorWorldwill finally pave the way for more transmedia projects like it.

Yesterday I was interviewed by Vanessa Cornford. Vanessa is the Course Leader and a Lecturer of Acting & Contemporary Theatre Making at Northbrook College Sussex. She currently researches whether the trend towards transmedia requires a change in the way actors are trained. Given that relatively little has been said on how acting may be affected by transmedia, I’d like to share some of the points from my interview with you. No matter whether you’re a director, a producer, an actor or a writer – the following notes should be useful to everyone involved in a transmedia project when thinking about what’s in-store for the actors and, consequently, for the characters they portray.

Transmedia requires an increasing skill set from actors

Although I may not be familiar with different actor training techniques and all of the acting methods that exist, there’s one thing that I can tell: The trend to transmedia requires an increasing skill set from actors. Even without going through actor training, one can for example see that there are differences when it comes to acting on film and acting on stage, purely by watching actors act in the two media. In this regard, transmedia affects acting – and consequently, actor training – in two ways: It increases the amount of platforms that a character may be found on, which means that actors have to know their way around more platforms and that they have to be able to switch between different ways of acting in an instant. They have to stay in character at all times, no matter the medium. This means actors also must:

Know each platform and how they fit into the narration

When a character and the narrative continue across different media platforms, it is incredibly important that the writer(s), the director and the actor(s) all understand how each platform works, what the audience expects from content on a particular platform, how the audience uses the platform (i.e. for what gain, where, with others or alone, daily, rarely, etc.), and how each platform fits into the overall narration (e.g. providing back story, being the driving platform, engaging the audience directly, etc.). Each media platform has its own properties, strengths, weaknesses, and purposes, and knowing them is crucial in building a powerful narrative, as they’ll influence greatly how a character should/would behave and act on a given platform.

Really know your way around each platform

However, knowing of the purpose and use of a media platform in itself isn’t enough. Anyone involved in the creative process must also be aware of how a platform works technically. Knowing that Twitter is a short-message service made up of messages that are 140 characters long is great, but do you also know how to use hash-tags, trending topics, mentions, twitpics, twitlongers, etc.? Do you know how to shorten particular words to squeeze as much info in 140 characters as possible? Do you know what a #ff, bit.ly, or a tinyurl is? These are very basic functions on Twitter, and you only really get to know them when you start tweeting and have a need for them. The same goes for any other medium. Knowing of a platform and what it does isn’t enough. In order to really be able to work efficiently and effectively with any media platform, you have to have experienced it first hand – or garner the experience as quickly as possible when you’re supposed to use it. Traditionally, the platforms an actors was seen/heard on were few – theater, film, TV, radio/audio plays, etc. Now, actors are increasingly expected to perform on different media as well, social media in particular. Really knowing your way around each platform and how people use it greatly increases its narrative impact. Even if the script is already written and an actor’s performance is directed by someone else, knowing a platform in detail can help an actor nail their character and locate storytelling opportunities the writers and the director may not have thought of.

Understand and be able to cope with the immediacy of the Internet and online platforms

The Internet offers more and more platforms that can be used in storytelling – websites, YouTube/blip/vimeo & co., Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, tumblr ,and WordPress are some of the most frequent ones. What’s particularly special about these platforms is their immediacy. Whether you like it or not, audiences will try to engage with the character you portray on these platforms, and maybe even with you as an actor. This immediacy has it’s pro’s and con’s, of course, and it’s important to bear them in mind.

For one, the immediacy and direct audience engagement can lead to a more personalized experience for the individual fan. Actors, directors and writers get direct feedback on how a character is received, and can adapt the character’s portrayal, if they wish to do so. At the same time, however, this immediacy can also cause challenges. Being online makes the story, the character, and even the actor vulnerable to attacks online. Offline and online performances are reviewed in real-time. Shitstorms may be brewing if a story doesn’t satisfy the wishes or needs of its audience. And depending on the size of your fan following, replying to audience messages and posts may take up a huge chunk of time each day. All of these aren’t reasons to forego online platforms, of course, and shouldn’t put anyone – actors, directors or writers – off from using them, put it is important to prepare for them with suitable resources and, particularly in the case of actors, with growing a thick skin.

Know what you’re getting yourself into in terms of time

When signing up for a transmedia project, it is important that you really know what you’re getting yourself into. An acting job may start on one driving platform, but if this beginning is successful, you’ll move on to different platforms that’ll bring with them changing requirements in terms of time. Moreover, transmedia projects are usually long-term undertakings, so signing up for one could bind you to that project for several years, if not decades. Again, this has both advantages and disadvantages. While a long-term contract offers a certain economic stability, it’ll make you professionally inflexible to a certain extent. Make sure that when you sign a contract, that it defines exactly how much time you’re supposed to spend on the job on each platform, how much notice in advance you’ll receive whether a project will be continued or disbanded, and how many acting jobs you’re allowed to take up outside this particular engagement.

Needless to say, you should also think about whether you’d be willing to play a character for an extended period of time – creatively and/or personally. And remember – you’re not only entering a contractual obligation. You’re also entering a social contract with your audience, and they will not like it if you abandon a transmedia story because you don’t want to do it anymore. Not only does it disappoint them, but it can also hurt the brand image of the story and your own image as an actor significantly.

Creative opportunities – backstory, audience loyalty and making minor major

Transmedia offers some great creative opportunities, which of course can also turn into challenges (as usual). In transmedia, the backstory doesn’t have to remain imaginative. Due to the availability of different platforms, any story arc can be explored – prequels, sequels, parallels – by both the actor and the audience. The challenge here is to ensure that any additional information does not only fit into canon, but that it also fits the look and feel (or, as Jeff would say, “the brand essence”) of the story. If it doesn’t, having the additional information can backfire among the audience because it doesn’t live up to their expectations and the story’s heritage (e.g. Star Wars Episodes I-III, Prometheus, etc.). While an actor may not be able to influence the story content itself, s/he is able to influence how a character is portrayed, and that this portrayal is consistent with what the audience experiences in other parts of the story.

In addition, transmedia also offers actors a great opportunity to spend more time with the audience. Aside from the professional advantage of building one’s reputation and skills, this also makes a character invaluable to the audience and to the story. If an audience is willing to follow a character across different platforms and through (story) time due to a gripping performance, the character becomes one of the main points of entry for the audience, and often even offers them some form of emotional relief or gratification.

Finally, transmedia also offers room for minor characters to become major characters, or at least to cater to their fan followings. Starting out, there may not be time to go into detail on the fate, background or adventures of a supporting character in the content on the driving platform. However, there is time on additional media. So if a minor character develops a fan following or sparks particular audience interest (like Haldir in Lord of the Rings, for example), s/he is able to lead the audience on to a different platform where they can explore his/her story in greater detail. Ultimately, this minor character may be so successful, that s/he becomes a major character in the overall story.

Conclusion

Casting the right actors is key in any medium. Casting the right actors in transmedia is particularly important, as it is a story’s characters that provide the main point of entry into the narrative, and because it is the characters that will afterwards lead the audience from platform to platform due to the interest the audience has in them. Even if one isn’t particularly interested in a certain story arc or part of the story universe, one may be willing to experience it anyway if a major or one’s favorite character is involved.

For actors, transmedia requires the ability to act on essentially any medium, to know one’s way – or, rather, to quickly find one’s way – around any medium, and to understand how a particular platform fits into the overall narrative and into narration. Moreover, factors like the immediacy of the internet, the professional commitment required, and creative opportunities in transmedia must also be prepared for. All in all, however, I personally believe that the move towards transmedia ultimately provides actors with incredible opportunities to fulfill their personal and professional potential, and to provide great value both to the story, the director and the audience.

Friday, October 19^th 2012

The last day was defined by two presentations and a final panel. In the first keynote presentation, Kathy Franklin, Director of Franchising at Lightstorm Entertainment (the production company behind James Cameron’s Avatar) shared a few of the franchise’s plans to go transmedia in the near future. It must be noted that the original release of Avatar was already accompanied by transmedia elements such as a computer game in which the player took on the role of a new character and books with details on the world of Pandora; unfortunately, these weren’t advertised very well so many audience members do not know that these tie-ins even exist.

• Kathy made it clear that James Cameron and his team aimed to build an eco-system around Avatar from the very beginning
• Very shortly after the film was released in theatres for the first time, there was a very strong fan involvement, which ranged from fan art, fan fiction, fan sites, and fan meets to crowdsourced tools to expand the Na’vi language from the movies; as a matter of fact, the latter even saw fan submitted words added to the Na’vi language when they fit
• For the future, James, Kathy, and their team are planning to integrate fan activity even more: “If you don’t drive your franchise yourself, your fans will drive it for you and you don’t know where that bus will go.” Therefore, it is important to work with the fans, not against or without them.
• The central message in Avatar, i.e. that we are all connected to each other and that we need to “wake up” really strung a chord with the fans, and this message will actively be imbued into any piece of Avatar content there is.
• Right now, the franchise needs to combine the business aspect and the storytelling ethos, which of course isn’t always easy, but one also won’t happen without the other
• Part of the current transmedia expansion plans are: local events,  integrating fans, expanding the Na’vi language, education and learning projects, games, greater depth, content, and access on the website, Avatarland at Disney’s Animal Kingdom… on top of the next movies, of course.
• Even think about ways to share fan videos on YouTube (and circumventing any legal issues) – “always leverage all your assets”
• Currently, Kathy is working to get all the stakeholders on board, break down all the boundaries between the individual divisions (and have them communicate with each other), and figuring out the exact business models they want to employ.
• “If you have a storyworld that you think can change the world you owe it to yourself to try.”

The second defining presentation of the day was by Brian Clark, Founder & CEO at GMD Studios who spoke about “Phenomenal Experiences.”

• The audience is key; art and entertainment only achieve an effect through the impression they leave on the viewer
  • Sometimes, one can even feel more than there is/what one sees, e.g. feeling that we only get a small glimpse of Pandora in Avatar
  • As a result, the audience provides the meaning, the artist only provides the framework
    • “Our ideas are the product of our experiences.”
  • We are wired to exchange stories as if they are real-life experiences; brain tests show that the same brain parts are used for following a story and for living through an actual event.
  • “Characters are so crucial in storytelling because they allow us to bond with the meaningfulness of the experience.”
  • “Phenomenal” is additive and takes into account the experience for the audience
  • “If we love a woman it is because she is lovable.” (Unfortunately, I did not write down the author of this quote, so please let me know if you know him)
    • All of our experience and meaning is shaped by our own experiences
    • Meaning is created by our experiences
    • “You can re-awaken people’s sense of wonder.”
    • More details: phenomenalwork.com/manifesto

I am still wrapping my head around the different meanings, possibilities and consequences that derive from Brian’s ‘phenomenal’ approach. His presentation definitely offered the only new approach to transmedia while not being actually new after all; the concept of phenomenology has quite a history already. Nevertheless, Brian’s approach to phenomenology in transmedia left tremendous room for thought and will hopefully be seen in action soon. If you want to check out his presentation yourself, you can do it here.

And finally, a panel moderated by Nick DeMartino, Transmedia Consultant, came together in order to point out what we will encounter in The Way Forward. The panelists consisted of Jeff Gomez; Flint Dille, Screenwriter & Game Designer; Elan Lee, Chief Creative Officer at Fourth Wall Studios; , Kathy Franklin; and Ivan Askwith, Senior Director Digital Media at Lucasfilm.

From left: Nick DeMartino, Jeff Gomez, Elan Lee, Flint Dille, Kathy Franklin, Ivan Askwith

Kathy Franklin:

• Fans are important, increasingly create content and we will have to figure out a legal solution to encouraging fan engagement.
• It is OK to think about your storyworld as commercial – it is not selling out!

Flint Dille:

• We have to give meaning to our real world so that we are more aware of our environment again.

Elan Lee:

• Second screens are becoming very important, so we must design stories that actively reach out to second screen devices.
• We should stop building ARGs.

Jeff Gomez:

• The transmedia people need to be called in far earlier in the production process. We need to move towards transmedia as an investment in the long-term rather than in the marketing budget.

Ivan Askwith:

• People get burnt out from engaging with something that isn’t of value to them. All media must offer value to their audiences.

Again, not many new thoughts here but mostly reiterations of points from last year. To be fair however – and this accounts for the entire conference – there are only so many new ideas the community can come up with. For now, we need to try our ideas out, we need succeed and to fail in order to determine what works and what doesn’t, so that we can come up with new, informed ideas again. And while have panels have shown that there is a change in the approach to transmedia and new forms of entertainment among studios and TV networks, the risk-aversion we’ve seen in the last few years remains.

Thursday, October 18^th 2012

Storyworld’s second day started out with a presentation of “Take this Lollipop” by its producer Jason Zada. Jason has specialized in combining video and social media content in a way that inserts the user into the story. If you haven’t seen this project yet, I highly recommend you look it up (and experience it) – particularly now that the dark winter months begin.

The second day was also marked by Jeff Gomez’ (CEO of Starlightrunner Entertainment, the leading transmedia agency) keynote talk “Achieving Blockbuster and Evergreen in the Age of Pervasive Media”. Having seen Jeff’s previous standard presentation introducing the concept of transmedia storytelling far too many times, I was quite excited about his new presentation. “Achieving Blockbuster and Evergreen” offers a great framework for evaluating both for-profit and non-profit transmedia projects:

• Jeff started out with the reminder that it is the story and the storyworld that is at the center of transmedia storytelling, NOT the platforms.
• It is therefore important to determine the DNA of one’s storyworld (read below for details) and to stick to it, no matter what medium the content is on.
• Also, for franchising in particularly, the transmedia experience should NOT turn into a scavenger hunt, but should be a complete, orchestrated experience where every piece of content counts and emotionally satisfying.
• The characters of your story are of crucial importance to rope your audience in. Only if your audience relates to and loves (i.e. deeply cares) about your characters they will follow you on to other platforms.
• The brand essence of your story consists of “the attributes that distinguish your brand or storyworld from competitors or anything like it.” Next to the characters, the brand essence is also fundamental in having your audience relate to your story.  Some parts of the brand essence are:
  • The vision: “What does my brand or storyworld give to my audience? What questions does it answer in a positive way?” There should be an aspirational quality to your story universe, and it must be very clear.
  • The theme: “Aspirational messages that, if adhered to, would improve the quality of life of the human race.” As Jeff puts it, “to aspire is the best result of being inspired.” (Aspiration being the internal drive resulting from external motivation/inspiration)
  • The archetypes: They are as old as storytelling itself – The Lover, The Sage, The Innocent, The Trickster, The Outlaw, The Hero, etc. How does your brand or your story “ring a primal chord in the hearts of the audience?”
  • Infusion/the heart of your story: The narrative must be built around the core elements mentioned above. “The brand essence is the skeleton of your transmedia content” which is why you should never let anyone push you around regarding the characters and the brand essence.
  • Examples where the brand essence was congruent and where it wasn’t:
    • In Prometheus, the marketing and transmedia efforts (particularly the TEDx talk) were a far cry from the actual plot and the storyworld. While the TEDx talk was inspirational and philosophical, the actual storyline was rather dark and darkly philosophical. As a result, it did not receive a positive audience reaction.
    • In The Hunger Games on the other hand, producers stuck closely to Katniss’ internal struggle instead of focusing on the love triangle, for example – just like it is the case in the books. They understood that the storyworld is about any human’s fundamental conflicts and aspirations, regardless of gender, in a situation where one is forced to kill in order to survive oneself. Being marketed and presented in this way allowed both boys and girls to connect to the story and to Katniss as the main character, granting The Hunger Games a wide audience appeal.
• Following this, Jeff went on to explain the 10 Commandments of 21^st Century Franchise Production:

1. “Know your brand essence and never stray from it.”
2. “The storyworld is unstoppable and rules over everything. Seriously.”
   1. This includes the individual story installments.
   2. “Franchise visionaries must put up tent-poles now, even if they have to move them later.”
3. You must know what your long-term plan is; you cannot rely on a single human being (actor, director, producer, etc.). Everyone involved in the project must know what the long-term strategy is, which elements are crucial, and how the story is going to play out.
4. “Studios and producers must secure the best possible talent for the job, but that talent must never roadblock the ongoing storyworld.”
   1. E.g. the director’s vision MUST NOT conflict with the brand essence.
5. “Create highly organized resources for canon and assets.”
   1. E.g. where files and pictures and other materials are stored so that anyone can take over at any time
6. “Studios and producers must establish a franchise clearing-house and regular cross-divisional meetings in support of the storyworld.”
7. “Stakeholders must be incenticized to to support the strategy behind the rollout of the storyworld.”
   1. Successfulness of the storyworld must be an incentive, e.g. making a licensee tie in to the creative vision of the storyworld or even producing transmedia content themself
8. “Franchise visionaries and storyworld implementation must validate and celebrate audience participation.”
9. “Licensing, merchandising and marketing must nurture and expand the storyworld.”
10. “The storyworld must be accessible across an array of digital and traditional media portals, each piece adding to the narrative whole.”

• Examples of franchises that meet the 10 commandments completely or in part:
  • Star Wars and Apple – meet all 10 commandments
  • Harry Potter and The Hunger Games – do not have a long-term plan, merchandising and licensing does not nurture the storyworld, no cross-platform access; both do not show a move towards an “evergreen” franchise, and both authors of the storyworld (Rowling and Collins) consider their work done – no room for new content
  • DC Universe – 0 points; absolutely no brand essence and no consistency
  • Avengers – 10 points

Looking at these points, Jeff’s presentation was of course not revolutionary. As usual, however, he managed to pinpoint exactly what many in the transmedia community already knew and felt without being able or willing to put it into words or a structured approach. As a matter of fact, even many users might look at these commandments and go “Duh!”, but the truth is that there are still many, many media producers and media companies out there who remain confused about what transmedia production and the transmedia approach itself mean exactly. For them, Jeff’s 10 Commandments offer a basic “How-to” guide, while posing a great point of reference for existing transmedia producers.

Developing Digital Content – Network to Network

Panelists: Rhonda Lowry, VP Emerging Social Web Technologies, Turner Broadcasting Systems; Mike Monello, Co-Founder & Executive Creative Director, Campfire; Drew Pisarra, VP Digital Media, AMC; Andrew Adashek, TV Creative Partnerships, Twitter.

Rhonda Lowry:

• Digital content for TV must be created purposely to fit within the TV story and NOT be added on top; it must be an integral part of the whole
• Digital content for TV must always be tailored for social consumption
• While we know what advertisers expect from TV and digital content (i.e. viewers) and what networks want (viewers and subscribers), we have not yet figured out how/in what way digital content and social TV can be truly valuable to the audience

Andrew Adashek:

• Can’t pinpoint a causation between social media engagement and TV ratings

All in all, not much new information was shared on this panel. The most refreshing aspect was to hear that networks begin to understand that second screen content needs to be worthwhile to watch/read, and that social television must be considered an integrated part of the complete TV experience, but these concepts themselves had already been talked about in great detail last year as well.

How Brands Create Storyworlds

Panelists: Dan Hon, Global Interactive Creative Director, Wieden + Kennedy; Atley Loughridge, Reboot Stories; Mauricio Mota, Founder, The Alchemists; Houston Howard, CEO & Founder, One3Productions.

Houston Howard:

• One3Productions creates storyworlds and transmedia campaigns with 3 steps:
  • “Creation:” Identify the theme & purpose and create the storyworld accordingly
  • “Immersion:” Create and engage your audience at meaningful (!) touchpoints (i.e. those that offer value to your audience)
  • “Commentary:” Create an “online lasso,” i.e. a social outreach using social media
• A brand must know “why they do what they do” – this is crucial to develop a message (or ‘brand essence’ – hello, Jeff!) that’s at the heart of each piece of content and engages your audience again and again

Due to my current position as Communication Manager for essence this panel was one that interested me the most; however, I was a very disappointed . Despite its high-profile speakers, not much was actually said about “How brands build storyworlds”. Dan Hon demonstrated examples of his agency’s work, such as the campaign surrounding the Nike Air Max limited edition, but all panelists offered little information in terms of what to do when you are trying to build a storyworld around a brand, particularly one that does not have any roots in storytelling whatsoever. This is definitely something that could be improved for next year.

Immersive Story Experiences

Panelists: Brent Young, Principal and Creative Director, Super 78; Alison Norrington, Founder, storycentralDIGITAL; Caitlin Burns, Transmedia Producer, Starlight Runner Entertainment.

Panel consensus:

• The audience must know within a few moments who they are and where they are and what is expected of them
• In immersive experiences, participants expect to be surprised which makes it difficult to surprise them, of course, but it is not impossible and the experience itself remains surprising

Caitlin Burns:

• It is important to build in a “transition moment” – “the moment where you both [the storyteller and the user/participant] agree to enter that magical space” and play by its rules – e.g. when the lights dim at the movies, or the “Yo-ho” song at every piece of content relating to Pirates of the Caribbean
• Techniques to do this include:
  • Consistency – through the brand essence and the structure of the experiences
  • Authenticity – adhering to the storyworld, characters and themes the audience has previously agreed to and following those through at all times
  • Indication of role-playing  – let the audience know what the roles are and who they are in this experience
  • Themes – again, following them through and being consistent with them in each experience
  • Consistent styling and consistent signifiers that tell the audience when and where the experience begins and ends, and any rules involved
  • Not everyone will have the same experience – it depends greatly on how deeply they are willing to immerse themselves, and what part of their identity, knowledge, and persona they add to the experience themselves
  • A good experience and a good story engage all our senses anyway, but as a creator you have to make sure you work with each sense in a meaningful way

Sara Thacher:

• “You need to create clear structures, bounds, and rules for how to play”

I very much enjoyed this panel. It was exemplary of a general paradigm shift that I experienced at SWC12 and which I will be blogging about in greater detail in the next few weeks: the move from transmedia story design to the creation of immersive experiences for the audience. Both concepts go hand-in-hand, of course, but this shift is definitely worth additional reflection.

Disney buys Lucasfilm for approx. $ 4 billion

So really, this match only waited to happen and I am tremendously excited to see what else the two companies can come up with besides Star Wars episodes VII to IX. Ideally, this will be a tipping point that will get all entertainment producers (particularly those in Hollywood) really and truly thinking about new approaches to entertainment; approaches that center around the concepts of transmedia and creating seamless, pervasive experiences. Disney and Lucasfilm have always been ahead of their times, and in combination they might just kick other studios and production companies out of the game in the long-run. The possibility remains, of course, that with this acquisition, Disney is slowly getting too large to handle itself; looking at Disney’s history, however, I am very positive that once again, Disney knows exactly what it is doing, and will master this acquisition and all management resulting from it in its usual, highly successful manner.

Sadly enough, however, Ivan Askwith already announced that Leia has already declined to join the Disney Princesses. Just give her some time, though, I’m sure she’ll come around.

Wednesday, October 17^th 2012

The first day of SWC12 was sponsored by Disney’s Imagineering and was kicked of with a presentation of Scott Trowbridge, VP Creative/R&D Imagineering. Some of his points which I find worth mentioning are:

• The difference between synergy and transmedia:
  • Synergy: Referencing a story in a different medium (e.g. like many of Disney’s theme park rides)
  • Transmedia: Extending a story across different platforms (of course! )
• Narrative forms, humans, technologies, etc. – everything is constantly changing. Starting with Walt, Disney has embraced this constant change and as a result never considers Disneyland finished. Instead, they keep looking for new ways to engage the audience and their visitors.
• The 5 rules by which Imagineers work:

1. Tell great stories
2. Bring characters to life
3. Make great places – let audiences live the story
4. Find new ways in which the audience can engagebe with the characters

• Audiences and their expectations are changing: Everything has to be fast and on the audience member’s own terms (where, when, what)
• Consequently, experiences must change as well and become more participatory and more interactive
• Imagineering R&D is currently testing new story experiences, for example, Legend of the Fortuna, a live-storytelling project in which the audience played an active part in propelling the plot. Legend of the Fortuna took place in Disneyworld (if I remember correctly) and had the audience dress up and take on the roles of characters within a live play that was complemented with actors.
• Scott also introduced the Story Engine, a computer program that can write scripts in real-time. After laying out the storyworld, the Story Engine can even accommodate decisions that the players make and change the plot accordingly. It is essentially an interface system and lets guests determine the story they want to play out.
• And finally, Scott announced the Living Worlds Program, an initiative to foster a community of excellence around real-life storytelling. They have been accepting applications with story proposals since Monday, October 22^nd 2012. Anyone can apply, there are no qualifications needed (besides a good story, of course!). The Living Worlds Program can be found at livingworlds.disney.com.

Scott Trowbridge presents at SWC12

Given Disney’s historic focus on storytelling and creating immersive experiences, Scott’s talk probably didn’t come as a big surprise for most attendees. It was extremely interesting to learn about the kinds of experiences and types of storytelling that Imagineering R&D is currently testing, and the principles by which they design their experiences. On top of all that, they are even reaching out to their audiences to help them tell their stories, and are once again ahead of the times. I can’t wait to see which of their projects make it to the parks in the end!

Following Scott’s presentation, we were treated to a talk between Damon Lindelof, the famous executive producer of the TV-Series Lost, and Sean Bailey, President of Production at Disney Studios. Damon talked about the relationship between the creator/storyteller and the audience:

• The audience wants to suspend their disbelief, of course. As a consequence, audience members have a very clear image of the story and their place within the fandom and within the story itself in their head. This is something that a storyteller must always remember.
• The audience both wants you to listen to them, but also wants to know that the story is already planned out in detail and you’re not “making it up as you go.” Needless to say, this creates a lot of room for conflict, both for the producer and the audience.
• Shared media experiences remain extremely powerful and emotional.
• As a storyteller, you must always know where your story is headed and how it continues. Here, Damon mentioned Felix XY’s record sky-dive as an example: It drew the attention of millions and was an incredible event, particularly for Red Bull as the sponsor, but now the question that remains is: What’s happening next? If nothing happens next, a lot of potential remains unused, given that the jump managed to bring together a massive global audience.
• If you use a secret or mystery as the main or one of the main drivers for your storyline, make sure that the resolution of this mystery is really, really good. You’re asking your audience to spend a lot of time and emotion on your story, and a weak ending can easily destroy the overall experience.
• The same holds true for asking the audience to follow you to a different platform – the reward for following you has to be really good, i.e. really and truly worth the audience’s time and efforts.
• According to Lindelof, it is also important that your story has a clear and definite ending to offer the audience a sense of closure. This notion is contested amongst transmedia storytellers, but Lindelof is convinced that a definite ending is quintessential for a good story.
• Sean agreed with Damon on this topic and added that a single conclusion is important even if the audience is asked to participate. According to Sean, it is ok to have one “right” dramatic ending planned by the storyteller.

Damon Lindelof and Sean Bailey

I am very glad Damon mentioned collective/shared media experiences. I strongly believe that the media’s future lies in the shared experiences of experiencing media content – whether it is an actual live event like the Superbowl, or the newest episode of a show. In the past, we have again and again seen that audiences love to share their viewing/entertainment experiences with others when they are emotionally invested. Gamers have long been talking to each other whilst gaming – whether they are in the same room or on headsets. In many cultures, going to the cinema involves shared reactions to the events on screen, and with the rise of many recent franchises, we have seen a trend towards such shared cinema experiences as well, particularly on opening nights. Twitter has long become a platform for shared TV experiences and I would even like to argue that, as scheduled broadcasting is slowly dying, TV will be able to benefit from fans’ emotional investment in few, particular shows that they can share collectively, and from nationally shared experiences, like football games or elections. Heck, some girls even film themselves reacting to the trailers for their favorite franchise’s next installments to create shared fan experiences!

“The Psychology of Play & Players” Panel

Wednesday also saw the “Psychology of Play and Players” panel featuring Keith Oatley, Professor at the University of Toronto, Dr. Pamela Rutledge, Psychologist & Founder at Transmedia Associates, and Denise Weston, Psychologist. It was moderated by Corey Rouse, Tech Staff at Imagineering R&D.  In this panel, the following insights stuck out for me:

• Keith Oatley:
  • One must remember that play and story are done for the sake of themselves, not for the result.
  • In both, the writer contributes 30% of the experience and the reader/player the remaining 70% (with their background knowledge, approach to stories/play, and their own imagination)
  • A recent study has shown that the more fiction people read, the better they are at understanding each other.  What’s more, when reading fiction, we use the same brain areas that we rely on to deciphering others’ behaviors.
• Dr. Pamela Routledge:
  • It is important that users are given the social permission to play. In most cultures, play is frowned upon in adults, and only tolerated in children because it teaches them something. As a result, in order to engage audiences, we have to give them the active permission to play

While I enjoyed all the points above, Pamela’s mentioning of the “permission to play” stuck with me especially. The permission to play varies greatly from country to country, for example (something I can personally vouch for as a Third Culture Kid), so once we’re actually thinking about taking transmedia experiences to an international level this is definitely a factor that needs to be considered. In order to work, transmedia needs powerful stories and storyworlds, and engaging with storyworlds (particularly with fantastic ones) will require different types of permission to play, depending on the country one is in/marketing to. Thinking about it, the greater difficulty of getting a “permission to play” in many European countries is probably also the reason why Disneyland Paris didn’t get as many visitors in the past (and apparently, still doesn’t). So this is definitely something to look out for if you want your transmedia franchise to cross borders!

For one, I am currently on a temporary work assignment as Communication Manager essence at cosnova GmbH in the Frankfurt area in Germany. cosnova is a cosmetics company and its two brands essence and CATRICE are distributed in over 35 countries. As Communication Manager essence, I am developing a transmedia communications strategy for the brand and I also support the remainder of the Brand Communications Team with the production and distribution of essence’s communications content. I very much enjoy my work at cosnova and it’s an amazing opportunity to put my transmedia knowledge to work.

After hours, I have been working alongside Karine Halpern to establish Transmedia Europe & Alliance, an advocacy group that aims to further transmedia as an art form within Europe. If everything goes according to plan, Transmedia Europe & Alliance will not only offer transmedia advocacy but will also become an international network of transmedia professionals and shared transmedia knowledge. Right now, we are wrapping up a survey with which we try to assess the most immediate needs of European transmedia professionals and how they envision an organization like Transmedia Europe to function. The survey closes on September 10th, 2012, and once we’ve evaluated our findings, we’ll be sure to share them with you and with the European Commission (if all goes well).

Moreover, there’s also a smaller project I am working on with Maximilian von Grafenstein, entertainment lawyer at Brauner Rechstanwälte (Berlin) and part of the Transmedia Berlin Meetup. Given that one of the most common claims against transmedia is that there are “licensing and rights issues”, Max and I decided to take a closer look at standard licensing and right-of-use agreements from different entertainment sectors – film, publishing, TV, etc. – in order to identify the exact problems there are – and ways around them.

And finally, I’ll be heading to LA and Guadalajara next month for Storyworld 2012 (as attendee) and Congreso Red 2 Transmedia (as speaker). If you’re there and would like to meet up – shoot me an e-mail.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions on the projects I’m doing. And as soon as I have some space to breathe I’ll share the progress of the projects I’m involved with in greater detail in a few blog posts.

In this post, I’d like to outline these wider implications to give you an idea of why transmedia storytelling is actually a misconception. Don’t worry, though, this doesn’t mean I’m giving up this blog or my enthusiasm for transmedia storytelling just yet.

A medium no longer stands on its own

Second screens! Movie websites! Prequel webisodes! Wikias! Help the detective solve the riddle online! I love bees! The Old Republic! Knights of the Old Republic! Graphic novels! And so on. Media over media now help us tell our stories, engage our audiences, and reap the (economic) results. What many producers still fail to see, however, is that with the integration of other media, the ‘original’ medium ceases to stand on its own. It now exists in direct relation to the added media, and the quality and type of content offered on one medium directly impacts the appeal of the content on the other medium as well.

Whether you’re only trying to get hold of your TV audience on second screens, or whether you’re building a gigantic transmedia franchise, each medium and each platform involved must have a purpose in the overall story you’re telling. If the quality, tone, or content of the media you’re using differs too much, it will interrupt your audience’s overall entertainment experience. And there is no escaping from such multi-media aspects for your content either. A website is a standard requirement for any entertainment property nowadays, and increasingly, audiences will demand even more content from producers.

Storytelling has freed itself from the medium

In the past, how a story was told and consumed was greatly dependent on the media available. This still holds true, of course, but with a minor difference: We now have all (currently known) media available to tell a story, we have easy ways to distribute each medium, and users don’t need many different devices to access different types of media. As a result, storytelling has freed itself from the media. Want to convey a character’s inner thoughts and feelings? Use text/a book. Want to really show off that awesome final fight scene? Use a movie. Want to show your users what your storyworld is like? Use a computer game. For the first time in history, the narration is fitted to the narrative, not the other way around.

The entire notion of what constitutes a “medium” might soon be overcome

For hundreds of years, our understanding of individual media has been defined by the devices that delivered them. Whether it was a book, a movie, a radio show, a TV program, or a computer game – the device framed narration, distribution, accessibility, and formats. All of these characteristics are breaking down, however. A book might now consist of text, video, pictures, and audio parts. TV shows – although often still constricted to traditional formats due to traditional advertising structures – experiment with the integration of social media and online communities directly on screen. Web producers suddenly find that their audience does watch for more than five minutes, and that they also play games tied into a web series. Thus, there is again a shift from “what the medium is” to “what a media feature can do”. Whether it is a ‘TV show”, a “radio program,” or a “graphic novel” doesn’t matter anymore; instead, the question is what types of narrative devices are involved – audio, visual, text, interactivity, everything at once? “The medium” as such is ceasing to exist. Now, it’s all about the combination of different media parts to create the best entertainment experience possible.

Transmedia is really a misconception, then …

There have been endless debates about what the exact definition of “transmedia” is. Does every platform have to add something new to the story? Does a t-shirt count as a transmedia extension? Is the same plot with more detail on a few scenes in a different medium transmedia?

It really doesn’t matter. Looking at the way the media are currently evolving, everything and nothing is going to be transmedia. As traditional notions of “the medium” break down, it really is all about the story, and how different media features can be used as narrative devices. Transmedia is a misconception because very soon, it will be the standard of how stories are told. There will be no uni-media/single-media to define what transmedia is not. Every story, every type of content, every entertainment experience will involve different “media.” From the very beginning, starting with the earliest books consisting of texts and pictures, authors have put different types of media to use as narrative devices. It is the natural course of art and creativity. Right now, we’re at a point where we can finally live this creativity to the fullest because we are no longer constricted by the limits of individual media. How many “media” (or rather, their features) we’ll be using exactly to tell our stories is irrelevant. It is the story and the experience that counts. Technically, the notion of transmedia has existed for a long time now, and it will continue to exist. It is not a new concept, and there is no right and wrong transmedia. It’s just that we now have the possibilities to really pursue it, and to tell stories the way we’ve always wanted to. 

… but we need it to put a name to this thing

The reason why transmedia has such a wide appeal at the moment is because it puts a name to this change in media and storytelling we’re experiencing. Calling this change “transmedia” allows us to think about its different aspects – guiding audiences, using media features as narrative devices, finding future business models, etc. – so that we can start to wrap our heads around what we’re seeing and experiencing. The transmedia scene has been doing great so far in developing future ways to tell a story, so even if the concept itself may not actually be the novelty many praise it to be, the term “transmedia” itself will continue to be the best rallying point for anyone thinking ahead of the stories we are seeing now.

Bertram Gugel: Hollywood vs. Silicon Valley – Open Video as Mediator

Despite flip-flopping a bit – it wasn’t always clear whether he was talking about the film industry or TV networks, as he kept using the term “Hollywood” for both – Gugel raised some interesting points:

• Piracy and new media aren’t the actual threat to Hollywood; instead, the threat is simply anyone who offers better content, no matter on which platform
• In future, success and profitability will depend mostly on
• one’s ability to offer closed ecosystems, i.e. infrastructures that offer content, distribution, and self-synchronizing hardware in one, just like Apple
• one’s ability to generate visibility and access for one’s content, i.e. making it possible for people to a) easily find your content and b) easily share it
• content interactivity, both on the platform it is consumed on and on second screens/other media
• appealing content, i.e. an exceptional story
• co-creative potential, i.e. to have your audience take part in the production of your content
• Visibility, access, and interactivity require that you take your audience by the hand and lead them from content to content

The Main Threat is Content, Not Piracy

I don’t agree about piracy not being a threat; no matter how you put it, it is theft. Right now piracy may be far from a point where it endangers the survival of Hollywood, but it is still a threat in terms of lost (deserved) revenues. I do agree, however, that “better content” its the biggest threat – for anyone in the media industry. Due to convergence and digital distribution, the different forms of media have become largely interchangeable. Whether you watch a two hour movie, ten 12-minute webisodes of your favorite web show, or read a book doesn’t matter anymore. For one, high production values rarely trump a good storyline, and on top of that, you can now (and in the future even more so) watch/read/play any form of content on any device – smartphone, TV, tablet, personal computer, etc.

In addition to increasing competition for Hollywood, though, I would like to argue that this interchangeability of media also has the potential to turn piracy into an even bigger threat to Hollywood than just lost revenues. While the studios are busy fighting piracy in all parts of the world, the likes of  YouTube, Google, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have started to produce their own content, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple joined them at some point as well. Unlike Hollywood, all of them already have domestic and/or global distribution and payment structures in place. If Hollywood doesn’t act fast, these platforms will get to viewers and their wallets long before Hollywood does in terms of the home video market. Right now it seems that piracy is distracting Hollywood from the real threat: That it will soon be losing revenue ‘legally’ to up-and-coming competitors as content production becomes less dependent on monetary value, and distribution more dependent on reaching your customers at the right point in time.

Future Factors for Success and Profitability

Not much needs to be added to each of these points, Gugel has summarized them aptly. I will say, however, that I’m not sure about the inclusion of hardware into your closed ecosystem for distribution; having all content available in a cloud that is compatible with many different devices should be enough. And quite frankly, I doubt that consumers will be too happy to be locked into one software-hardware system or another; already, DRMs on ebooks are driving many users up the wall and on to “unlock DRM” websites.

In terms of co-creative processes, that would be the ideal of course. However, as I’ve mentioned before, there are quite a few hurdles to co-creation/participation at this point. Still, it will never change fans’ and general users’ desire to partake in shaping a story.

Taking Your Audience by the Hand

I completely agree with this one. It still baffles me when producers go through the effort of producing content accompanying, elaborating, or expanding and existing story, and as a user you cannot find a clearly visible link to it. Marvel has a practice of stating “Captain America/Iron Man/Thor will return in The Avengers” after the credits have rolled. While this is a step forward, why not state it before credits roll? Particularly if there’s additional content to be discovered online? You have to tell your audience where they can find you if you want them to follow you. Stating it outright – “Check out character XY’s adventures on our website www.soandsofilm.com”- may not be the most graceful version, but it does the trick. The same thing goes for Google – make sure your content shows, and if necessary, buy different search word combinations. As Orrin Shively said at the last StoryWorld Conference: “Create a weenie” – a big signpost guiding the user to where you want them next. It is the only way to stay visible and accessible.

What are your thoughts on Gugel’s points and/or on my additions? Do you agree on his future factors for success and profitability? Have you made the same or different experiences? Comment below and let me know!

In this blog, I have again and again referred to a variety of trends that currently impact entertainment consumption around the world immensely. I will not go into detail on each of these because I have done so before, but I will compile them in a quick re-cap so we’re all on the same page:

• Audiences around the world become increasingly inter-connected across national borders
• Consumption itself has become global: audiences around the world watch the same movies, the same TV shows, read the same books, and play the same computer games
• Consumption has also become inherently social: Fueled by social media and the interactivity of the internet, we can now discuss our favorite and most hated products with consumers around the world
• At the same time, entertainment content (and many other products) have become extremely niche and focused on a particular segment of the audience
• Entertainment experiences in particular have become a shared experience on a global scale; e.g. awaiting the opening of a movie, the publishing of a book and/or its sequel, the sale of a new computer game
• Piracy is escalating
• A growing amount of people around the world speaks either English, Spanish, or Mandarin
• The internet offers a (technically) globally accessible space without the need of linear, 24-hour programming
• The internet becomes available to a rapidly increasing number of people everyday, particularly in Asia
• Companies like Amazon, PayPal, and Apple have set up global electronic payment structures
• Companies like Amazon, Google, and Facebook have created powerful user-profiling mechanisms that allow for carefully targeted advertising
• While domestic cinema attendance is gradually dropping in the US, international cinema attendance has been increasing steadily, along with international box office revenues (particularly for Hollywood studios)
• Fans and fandoms are using the interconnectedness of the internet to organize on a global scale and to become even more vocal about themselves and their fan objects

What this all boils down to, then, is that for the first time in history, entertainment producers have a truly global audience, the mechanisms to reach them, and the methods to charge them.

Unfortunately, television producers in particular fail to make use of these great opportunities, particularly when compared to other industries, movies in particular.

Hollywood, for example, recognized the revenue potential of international audiences early on (i.e. the early 1900s). Even as the US market remained their primary market, film studios in the US ensured that their movies could be sold abroad as well. International premieres in big film markets around the world have become common and most recently have also included regions like Russia, Brazil, and India . Particularly within the last ten years Hollywood has become the king of global marketing hypes, synchronized release dates, and international franchising.

Their system is not perfect, of course, and you still have situations where even big blockbusters like Twilight Eclipse or Tron are released months later in important markets like Germany, France, India, or Russia. But still, Hollywood has definitely figured out exactly how to make the momentum created by internationally shared consumption and international distribution work for them.

The TV industry, on the other hand, spent years developing its elaborate syndication system where the owners of a TV show rent out the broadcasting rights to their show to TV stations everywhere in the world, in return for cash or other shows’ broadcasting rights. While this system has worked very well in the past, I believe that it is completely unfit for the demands and consumption behavior of today’s and future audiences. TV show syndication has always generated revenues for its original producers, but has also left them with minimal control in terms of how their series is aired by the stations buying the rights to a show – what day, what time, and even, in what order. As a result, in the current international TV syndication system, global collective viewing is virtually impossible.

What can TV networks learn from Hollywood, then?

As I mentioned above, Hollywood has become a master at creating global marketing hypes surrounding the release of their newest blockbuster. Audience members around the world spread the excitement, talk about going to midnight showings and previews, share movie trailers, and end up pulling in their friends and families as well, even if their friends and family usually do not like the genre or type of a movie in question. All in all, the film industry has perfected the art of creating “must see” movies. If you haven’t watched, or at least, know what happened in the latest Harry Potter/Transformers/Pirates of the Caribbean/Sex and the City/Hangover/Twilight/Hunger Games/Star Trek/Marvel/etc. movie, you’re a social outsider. However, per franchise, Hollywood only has the possibility of such big openings and fan momentum every other year.

Television, on the other hand, has the possibility for such big hypes every week. And in the US, they’re making use of it. TV networks have become incredibly adept at generating social media buzz surrounding the airing of a show’s new episode. Trailers, teasers, interviews with actors, tune-in reminders, fan votings – it’s all there, but only for North American fans. Because in international TV syndication, the majority of a show fans (i.e. including international viewers) do not get to see a show’s episodes until at least several weeks or months after its original air date. So while fans around the world are included in the social media marketing and social media buzz surrounding the airing of a show’s new episodes, they are excluded from the airing itself.

Of course, many fans won’t wait for weeks until their local TV stations will finally air the episodes in question. They don’t want to be left out of the global talk after the newest episode of their favorite show airs. Even if they are not from the US, young people around the world speak and understand English extremely well, so it is absolutely no problem for them to find, watch, and understand a pirated copy of the most recent episode online. In addition, many fandoms posses fan-subbing communities, where bilingual fans create pirated episodes of a show with subtitles in many languages including Mandarin, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, etc. These fan-subbed episodes can also often be found online a few hours after a TV episode aired for the first time.

Needless to say, watching pirated copies of a show’s episodes means financial losses for the show’s producers, and most likely also for the local TV networks that buy the local broadcasting rights to the show as most viewers probably wouldn’t watch an episode again once they’ve seen it.

How Can TV Networks Adjust Their Distribution to the Demands of Contemporary Entertainment Consumption?

TV networks are already off to a good start. Both their own marketing departments and the technological and social possibilities of today are in their favor. In order to really cater for contemporary and future audiences, however, the most important step for them is to make their new episodes available online as or just after they air on TV for the first time, without any restrictions for other countries. Of course, the episodes shouldn’t be available for free. TV networks could use existing online stores like Amazon or iTunes, for example, for an easy distribution- and payment-system, or could use their own website in combination with the user-targeting powers of Facebook or Google to tailor commercial breaks to a user’s preferences after s/he was required to log-in with a social media profile.

Directly globally distributing a show online has another added advantage. Niche TV shows that may not perform too well domestically suddenly have a far wider reach, and could therefore stay alive and profitable much longer if they are able to be watched and paid for by viewers around the world. Direct global distribution could even include dubbing or subtitling – if it is financially viable, of course. If it isn’t, dubbing and subtitling might be the supply niche that local TV stations could use as their business angle.

Sounds easy. Why are TV Networks not directly distributing globally yet? 

The biggest hurdle for direct global distribution is the current system – as always. After years of broadcast and cable television without the internet, international TV syndication has become incredibly complex with a multitude of sub-industries and sub-businesses that are now attached to it. The local TV stations, for example, often rely on syndicated content and have barely got any productions of their own. For them, direct global distribution would be an immense shake-up if the majority of viewers would watch shows online, causing advertisers to decrease their spending on the syndicated runs. The same goes for dubbing and subtitling businesses; right now, they are paid by TV show producers and local TV stations to prepare the shows for their local broadcast, and would of course also suffer a great blow if local TV stations faced smaller audiences.

Secondly, particularly within the US TV networks probably also receive a lot of pressures from the cable companies. For over two decades, cable companies and TV networks have worked hand in hand; the networks supplied the content, and the cable companies supplied the distribution mechanism. Given the fact that most cable companies are also internet providers, it could be possible that they, threatened by the loss of cable subscribers due to direct global distribution, prevent their internet subscribers to access direct global distribution websites.

Finally, financing direct global distribution has its difficulties as well. Even though global electronic payment systems already exist, transferring money internationally remains relatively expensive. On top of that, legal frameworks might require localized “stores” or payment sites that comply with national tax laws and the like. And even if personalized advertising is great, what happens if you don’t find advertising partners for the local market of a viewer?

I am sure that in the long-run, even these systematic obstacles will be overcome in favor of direct global distribution. The initial industrial shake-up might be great, yes, but looking at the changing consumption patterns, the soaring of piracy, and modern technology, I don’t think TV producers will have any other choice than approaching their global audiences directly. As soon as one of them has dared to make the first step, all others will quickly follow.

What do you think? Do you live abroad? Or in the US – where direct distribution would likely be well-received as well?