Transmedia And Independent Filmmakers

Transmedia And Independent Filmmakers

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  Sacramento Film Festival,April 24th 2010 BY ROBERT PRATTEN 1
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  Robert pratten… aboutme 2
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  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 3
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  Part one... of four 4
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  What is transmediastorytelling? Telling A Story over multiple media 5
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  Example: Mass effect2 6
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  example: Cathy’s book 7
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  Example: level 26 8
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  Aim: Whole isgreater 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 9
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  Lowlifes: novella, webseries,blog http://www.lowlifes.tv 10
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  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 11
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  Two key thoughts... • Emotion leads to immersion • Choices not things 12
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  Part two... of four 13
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  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 14
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  The Transmedia tao 15
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  Rethinking entertainment 16
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  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 17
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  TRANSMEDIA BUSINESS MODEL (FORINDIE FILMMAKERS) 18
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  Example: rekill 19
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  Example: metro 2033 20
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  Timescale for metro2033 • 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/ 21
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  Part three... of four 22
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  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. 23
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  Transmedia from firstidea CHARACTERS PLOT PREMISE THEMES 24
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  Who’s this storyfor? ITERATION 25
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  What’s the bestway to delivery this story to this audience? 26
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  Matching Audience toPlatforms • 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 27
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  Match Story toAudience and Platforms 28
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  Paying for it… 29
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  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 30
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  Spotlight on sellingto audience 31
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  Goals of businessmodel • Sell things that can’t be copied • If they can be copied, bundle with something that can’t • Leverage time and friction 32
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  Connect with fans+ reason to buy = $ 33
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  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 34
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  Example from Tectdirt(Mike masnick) 35
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  Iterate in lightof business model 36
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  Five point approachfor transmedia 37
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  Execution: Play toyour strengths • Timing • Resources – Money – Skills (technical and personal) – Social network (online and offline) • Optimize >> probability x impact 38
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  KEEP ITERATING, MEASURING& MONITORING DEVELOP IMPLEMENT MEASURE & MONITOR 39
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  Key to greattransmedia… 40
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  Part four... of four 41
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  Christian Viel, Indiefilmmaker 42
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  Canadian superheroes! 43
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  Summary • Theinternet has leveled the playing field: let’s change our game • Transmedia plays to indie’s strengths • Doesn’t have to be complicated 49
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  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 50
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  Things I’m workingon now • Platform for transmedia storytelling – http://www.transmediastoryteller.com • LowLifes – http://www.lowlifes.tv 51
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  My Contact details • Robert Pratten – http://twitter.com/zenfilms – http://www.zenfilms.com – robert at zenfilms dot com ;) 52