How to develop transmedia (multi-platform) stories and why this is important for independent filmmakers

1. Sacramento Film Festival, April 24th 2010
BY
ROBERT
PRATTEN
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2. Robert pratten… about me
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3. Today’s presentation
• PART ONE: intro to transmedia
– What is transmedia?
• PART TWO: a new mindset
• PART THREE: a design process
• PART FOUR: final example
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4. Part one... of four
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5. What is transmedia storytelling?
Telling A
Story over
multiple media
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6. Example: Mass effect 2
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7. example: Cathy’s book
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8. Example: level 26
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9. Aim: Whole is greater than sum of parts
Movie Game Book Media Franchise
Whole is less than the sum of the parts:
dissatisfying conclusion to consuming all media
Movie Game Book Transmedia
Whole is more satisfying than the sum of the parts:
euphoria of collecting and connecting the pieces
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10. Lowlifes: novella, webseries, blog
http://www.lowlifes.tv
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11. Early transmedia Problems (IMHO)
• Many transmedia examples
today are “experimental” in
that their appeal is in their
novelty
• Too much friction for too
little entertainment
• Endless detail ZZzzzzz
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12. Two key thoughts...
• Emotion leads to immersion
• Choices not things
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13. Part two... of four
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14. Why consider transmedia?
• Becoming the entertainment modus operandi
– Audience expectations
– Audience habits (e.g. online)
– Old world is dying
• The explosion of free content has meant:
– Discovery & attention problems
– Payment “issues”
• Multiple audience touchpoints
• Opportunity to outflank Hollywood
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15. The Transmedia tao
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16. Rethinking entertainment
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17. New indie dharma
• Lose attachments:
– Feature film
– Ego
– Past and future
– Technology
– Money
• Walk middle path:
– Old ways not all bad
– New ways not all good
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18. TRANSMEDIA BUSINESS MODEL
(FOR INDIE FILMMAKERS)
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19. Example: rekill
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20. Example: metro 2033
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21. Timescale for metro 2033
• 2002: Self-published novel given away for FREE. Set up website
(http://m-e-t-r-o.boom.ru) and posted on sci-fi forums.
• 2002-2004: Thousands of readers. Readers ask for revival of
the main character and to continue the book.
• 2004: Added 8 new chapters – published as series with readers
suggesting plot lines, guessing the plot and providing
criticism.
• May 2005: New version of Metro 2033 completed. Now has “dozens
of thousands of readers”.Three publishers offer deal.
• 2010: Millions have read Metro 2033 online. In Russia,
400 000 physical copies of book sold.
• 2010: New book and new website for Metro 2034 (M2034.RU). In
less than 6 months, visitors exceeded 500 000 unique readers.
300 000 books sold.
• Source: Author Dimitri Glukhovsky and http://transmediadesign.org/metro-2033-book-game/
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22. Part three... of four
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23. Delivering your story, profitably
• Five key, inter-locking
considerations
• Iterate through the process to
ease complexity
• Could be tackled in a different
sequence to the one I’ll show
here but considerations are the
same… and still requires
iteration.
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24. Transmedia from first idea
CHARACTERS
PLOT
PREMISE
THEMES
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25. Who’s this story for?
ITERATION
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26. What’s the best way to delivery this
story to this audience?
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27. Matching Audience to Platforms
• Audience
– Who are they?
– Lifestyle?
– Where do they hang out?
• Platforms (e.g. media + technology)
– Reading: paperback, ebook, comics
– Watching: TV, online, mobile, theatre,
cinema
– Listening: radio, online, mobile
– Interacting: console, online, mobile,
social
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28. Match Story to Audience and Platforms
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29. Paying for it…
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30. Business models
• Free
– Investors don’t want repayment
– Crowdfunding
– Sponsorship
• Premium
– Higher marketing costs
– Vulnerable to piracy
• Freemium
– Free to view on some platforms
– Paid on others: some more suited to
payments
– Other revenue sources
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31. Spotlight on selling to audience
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32. Goals of business model
• Sell things that can’t be
copied
• If they can be copied, bundle
with something that can’t
• Leverage time and friction
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33. Connect with fans + reason to buy = $
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34. Rethinking products & pricing
• Provide more opportunities
for audience to give you
their money
• Range of “products” at
various price points to suit
different audience segments
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35. Example from Tectdirt (Mike masnick)
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36. Iterate in light of business model
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37. Five point approach for transmedia
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38. Execution: Play to your strengths
• Timing
• Resources
– Money
– Skills (technical and personal)
– Social network (online and
offline)
• Optimize >> probability x
impact
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39. KEEP ITERATING, MEASURING & MONITORING
DEVELOP IMPLEMENT
MEASURE & MONITOR
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40. Key to great transmedia…
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41. Part four... of four
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42. Christian Viel, Indie filmmaker
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43. Canadian superheroes!
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45. 45

46. 46

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48. 48

49. Summary
• The internet has leveled the
playing field: let’s change
our game
• Transmedia plays to indie’s
strengths
• Doesn’t have to be
complicated
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50. Credits
• CwF+Rtb=$$ (TechDirt/Mike Masnick)
http://www.techdirt.com/rtb.php) but for indie
filmmakers, recommend Ross Pruden
(http://rosspruden.blogspot.com/)
• Christian Viel: Heros of the North
(http://heroesofthenorth.com)
• Slide borders use half-tone brush for
Photoshop from:
– http://szuia.deviantart.com/
– http://www.brushking.eu/164/halftone-brushes.html
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51. Things I’m working on now
• Platform for transmedia storytelling
– http://www.transmediastoryteller.com
• LowLifes
– http://www.lowlifes.tv
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52. My Contact details
• Robert Pratten
– http://twitter.com/zenfilms
– http://www.zenfilms.com
– robert at zenfilms dot com ;)
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