As transmedia models became more central to the ways that the entertainment industry operated, the results were dramatic shifts within production culture, shifts in the ways labor was organized, in how productions were financed and distributed, in the relations between media industries, and in the locations from which creative decisions were made. Last year’s “Transmedia, Hollywood” examined the ways that transmedia approaches are forcing the media industry to reconsider old production logics and practices, paving the way for new kinds of creative output. Our hope was to capture these transitions by bringing together established players from mainstream media industries and independent producers trying new routes to the market. We also aimed to bring a global perspective to the conversation, while holding focus on the ways transmedia operates in a range of different creative economies and how these different imperatives result in different understandings of what transmedia can contribute to the storytelling process – for traditional Hollywood, the global media industries, and for all the independent media-makers who took up the challenge to reinvent traditional media-making for a “connected” audience of collaborators.

Many of Hollywood’s entrenched business and creative practices remain deeply mired in the past, weighed down by rigid hierarchies, interlocking bureaucracies, and institutionalized gatekeepers (e.g. the corporate executives, agents, managers, and lawyers). In this volatile moment of crisis and opportunity, as Hollywood shifts from an analog to a digital industry, one which embraces collaboration, collectivity, and compelling uses of social media, a number of powerful independent voices have emerged. These include high-profile transmedia production companies such as Jeff Gomez’s Starlight Runner Entertainment as well as less well-funded and well-staffed solo artists who are coming together virtually from various locations across the globe. What these top-down and bottom-up developments have in common is a desire to buck tradition and to help invent the future of entertainment. One of the issues addressed at this conference was the social, cultural, and industrial impact of these new forms of international collaboration and mixtures of old and new work cultures.

Another topic was the future of independent film. Will creative commons replace copyright? Will crowdsourcing replace the antiquated foreign sales model? Will the guilds be able to protect the rights of digital laborers who work for peanuts? What about audiences who work for free? Given that most people today spend the bulk of their leisure time online, why aren’t independent artists going online and connecting with their community before committing their hard-earned dollars on a speculative project designed for the smallest group of people imaginable – those that frequent art-house theaters?

Fearing obsolescence in the near future, many of Hollywood’s traditional studios and networks are looking increasingly to outsiders – often from Silicon Valley or Madison Avenue – to teach these old dogs some new tricks. Many current studio and network executives are overseeing in-house agencies, whose names – Sony Interactive Imageworks, NBC Digital, and Disney Interactive Media Group – are meant to describe their cutting-edge activities and differentiate themselves from Hollywood’s old guard. Creating media in the digital age is “nice work if you can get it,” according to labor scholar Andrew Ross in a recent book of the same name. Frequently situated in park-like “campuses,” many of these new, experimental companies and divisions are hiring large numbers of next generation workers, offering them attractive amenities ranging from coffee bars to well-prepared organic food to basketball courts. However, even though these perks help to humanize the workplace, several labor scholars (e.g. Andrew Ross, Mark Deuze, Rosalind Gill) see them as glittering distractions, obscuring a looming problem on the horizon – a new workforce of “temps, freelancers, adjuncts, and migrants.”

While the analog model still dominates in Hollywood, the digital hand-writing is on the wall; therefore, the labor guilds, lawyers, and agent/managers must intervene to find ways to restore the eroding power/leverage of creators. In addition, shouldn’t the guilds be mindful of the new generation of digital laborers working inside these in-house agencies? What about the creative talent that emerges from Madison Avenue ad agencies like Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, makers of the Asylum 626 first-person horror experience for Doritos; or Grey’s Advertising, makers of the Behind the Still collective campaign for Canon? Google has not only put the networks’ 30-second ad to shame using Adword, but its Creative Labs has taken marketing to new aesthetic heights with its breathtaking Johnny Cash [collective] Project. Furthermore, Google’s evocative Parisian Love campaign reminds us just how intimately intertwined our real and virtual lives have become.

Shouldn’t Hollywood take note that many of its most powerful writers, directors, and producers are starting to embrace transmedia in direct and meaningful ways by inviting artists from the worlds of comic books, gaming, and web design to collaborate? These collaborations enhance the storytelling and aesthetic worlds tenfold, enriching “worlds” as diverse as “The Dark Knight,” “The Avengers,” and “The Walking Dead.” Hopefully, this conference left all of us with a broader understanding of what it means to be a media maker today – by revealing new and expansive ways for artists to collaborate with Hollywood media managers, audiences, advertisers, members of the tech culture, and with one another.

The second annual Transmedia Hollywood conference, which focused on “Visual Culture and Design” in 2011, moved past the storytelling themes introduced in first Transmedia Hollywood conference (“S/telling the Story”), which argued that even when media projects are spun out across several platforms (potentially migrating from novels to comic books to movie and TV programs to video games and beyond), the source of power, the “mothership,” is still the overarching storyline that plays out across all those interlocking mediums. A secondary question that year was who should be responsible for creating and managing all those additional storylines — the creators, their collaborators, digital producers, ARG designers?
FTF2

This year, staying true to the goal of collaborating across previously dueling film schools, UCLA Producers Program head and associate professor Denise Mann once again joined forces with USC Provost’s Professor Henry Jenkins, moving the conference from its previous berth at USC to TFT’s James Bridges Theater.

In her introductory remarks, Mann referred to a line of inquiry that turned out to be a key theme of the day: the ways in which the members of the “production cultures” that comprise Hollywood (referencing the work of Mann’s TFT colleague Professor John Caldwell) are learning to navigate on a day-to-day basis the often choppy waters of transitioning from traditional industry practices to those embracing new media, social media, virtual work spaces, redefined job descriptions, and many of the bleeding edge technologies of visual design, including those that merge real-world and digitally reproduced spaces in entertainment worlds as vast as the Wizarding World Harry Potter and as imaginatively transporting as that of “Avatar,” “Spartacus” and beyond. TMH2 had a noticeably more practical approach to Transmedia as a work environment – and the Bridges Theater audience, made up predominantly of industry insiders, was riveted.

One goal of TMH2, Jenkins said, would be to get beneath the standard definitions, including his own (from his 2006 book “Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide.”) Panels would zero in on nuts-and-bolts topics such as character delineation, fan engagement as a precursor to (and extension of) transmedia, and the difficulty of planning and controlling a narrative, to explore how these activities have changed when these stories are transported to the virtual and physical worlds of theme parks.

Taking a cue from the user experiences created of pioneering theme parks such as Disney’s Tomorrowland, scholar Scott Bukatman of Stanford (“Matters of Gravity: Special Effects and Supermen in the 20th Century”) noted that in the era of Imax 3-D much of popular culture may no longer be primarily concerned with telling stories. Instead, its goal is a “kinetic, bodily, immersive experience.”

Theme park scholar Angela Ndalianis of University of Melbourne (Neo-Baroque Aesthetics and Contemporary Entertainment) and Thinkwell Designer Craig Hanna debated the social function of theme parks and amusement destinations from the past such as Coney Island and Atlantic City and how they fuse nostalgia and new technologies to create fantastic, baroque, alternative urban spaces (minus the crime).

Bruce Vaughn, Chief Creative Executive of Walt Disney Imagineering and a longtime Visiting Assistant Professor at UCLA TFT, says that while there can be a “narrative thread winding throughout the day,” the heart of all Disney theme park attractions is to create “a compelling collection of experiences” — each designed to take you through a set of emotions.

Thierry Coup, an imagineer-equivalent at rival Universal, captivated the crowd with a description of his latest design effort: the acclaimed new Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction in Orlando. When asked about the involvement of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and many of the creative personnel from the films, Coup explained that it’s nearly impossible to tell a coherent story over the three- or four-minute course of the typical theme park ride.

Fortunately, he explained, most “guests” come to the park with a full knowledge of the world of the novel and films, freeing the designers to concentrate on creating “experiences that engage all the senses.” Their goal is always, Coups said, to create a seamless experience for visitors, “to keep them in the world and not have them snap out of it.”

A recurring theme in all four panels was the need for creators to allow consumers to immerse themselves in the “world” of the theme park, video game, film or TV show. Production designer extraordinaire Rick Carter (“Avatar,” “War of the Worlds,” “Jurassic Park”) described how his work with such visionary directors as Cameron, Spielberg and Zemeckis compared with the experience of working with a next-generation director such as Zack Snyder (“Sucker Punch”), which replicates the experience of battling combatants in a first-person video game. While Matt Painter and UCLA alum Dylan Cole expressed relief that digital technologies have made it possible for him to keep pace with the demanding visual aesthetic of his visionary boss, James Cameron.

Geoffrey Long, a scholar associated with the Convergence Culture Consortium at MIT, where he studied under Jenkins, argued that the “negative space” of as-yet untold stories “makes the world of a project come alive in the viewer’s imagination.” These gaps provide opportunities for authors to come back later and fill in the spaces – though in a Transmedia-saturated world there is always the danger they will take matters into their own hands and fill the interstices with home material as interesting as any the original creators could devise.

Film studies Professor Francesca Coppa, both in her scholarly work at Muhlenberg College and as a board member of the Organization for Transformative Media, is a strong advocate for the mash-ups and other transformations perpetrated upon copyrighted IP (Intellectual Property) in fan fiction, fan art and fan video. “Fans pioneered transmedia,” Coppa declares, as recognizable characters were moved into different forms and contexts, often changing gender or race or sexual orientation in the process.

Kelly Souders, head writer and executive producer of “Smallville,” provided examples of ways in which mainstream entertainment has already been altered by Transmedia thinking. “Smallville” is a solid case in point because it was presented originally as an alternative, more down-to-earth version of the mythic “Superman” universe, an approach that could be seen as analogous to the context-shifting of fan fiction. Fans drawn to the show have enthusiastically embraced the notion that there could be distinct “Smallville versions” of established characters such a General Zod.

And “Smallville” boldly went where only Kirk/Spock soft-core “slash” fiction has gone before. The show’s writers spoke openly, Souders said, of the Clark Kent/Lex Luthor relationship as a love story. And in the current final season, a clone character has been introduced, created from a mixture and Kent and Luthor DNA – a character described by no less an authority than Lois Lane as “the genetic love child of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor.” Territory that George Reeves never explored.

Jeph Loeb brought his rock-star status in the comic book (Marvel and DC Comics) and television worlds (“Smallville,” “Heroes”) to bear on his new job as head of the Marvel TV division, vowing to tear down the walls previously separating comic book authors from animated, anime and live-action TV producers. He traded barbs and jokes with fellow TV writer-producer Steven DeKnight (“Spartacus,” “Smallville,” “Buffy”) about their early efforts to bridge the gap between the comic book and TV worlds and between his new cable series “Spartacus” and his visual predecessor, “300” — itself a graphic novel brought to the screen.

UCLA alum Craig Reylea, SVP of Global Marketing for Disney Interactive Media Group, celebrated the archival impulse behind Warren Spectors’ world-building wii game, “Epic Mickey” and the implications of choice and consequence when using a well-known imp like Mickey as your “first-person shooter” (with a paintbrush as his weapon of choice).

Again and again at “Transmedia Hollywood 2,” entertainment professionals acknowledged that they are already working in new media on a daily basis, living in the brave new world, absorbing a new perspective at the same time. The Transmedia future is now.

Related Links:

• Transmedia Hollywood 2 FULL Video Re-cap

The word from the cutting edge of New Media is that while explosive change is what’s making headlines, the heart of any successful media venture is right where it’s always been. “It’s all about a great story with relatable characters,” declared Danny Bilson, a prolific TV showrunner (“The Flash,” “The Sentinel”) turned videogame publisher (“Medal of Honor”).

Bilson spoke on March 16 as a panelist at the innovative academic/industry symposium “Transmedia, Hollywood: S/Telling the Story,” the first-ever collaboration between the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, organized by Denise Mann, associate professor in the UCLA Producers Program, and Henry Jenkin, Provost’s Professor of Communication, Journalism and Cinematic Arts at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and the School of Cinematic Arts.

“New social-entertainment formats have entered the zeitgeist to a startling degree,” said Mann. “In addition to the plethora of webisodes, mobile-phone apps and casual games that are available online, to keep fans thinking about a favorite television series like ‘Lost’ or ‘Heroes,’ the committed fan can participate in alternate-reality games. A perfect example was the ‘Why So Serious?’ campaign associated with ‘The Dark Knight,’ which invited Joker look-alikes across the world to come together to track down clues and solve the game.”

The all-day conference provoked lively responses from a standing-room only crowd in the new Ray Stark Family Theatre at the USC Cinematic Arts Complex. Twitter users were sending out enthusiastic tweets throughout the event. Despite the wide range of views, patterns began to emerge as participants circled back repeatedly to some recurrent themes:

Fans insist on taking an active role:

There is no way to turn back the clock on active consumer involvement. Interactivity is now so taken for granted, especially by the most coveted younger media demographic, that companies are well-advised to try to guide appropriate fan activity, encouraging guided mash-ups and promotions by providing access to copyrighted material in a carefully controlled and sequenced fashion. “Let them play,” as UCLA visiting professor and partner at Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon LLP Alan Friel put it, “but make sure the sandbox belongs to us.”

Throughout the day, panelists agreed that corporations that insist on protecting assets at all costs by closing off the sandbox to consumers are at a distinct competitive disadvantage.

Gaming is more social and less isolating than people think:

“The first post-‘Pokemon’ generation is moving into adulthood,” said Mimi Ito, associate researcher, University of California Humanities Research Institute and the author of two books about anime and anime fandom. Ito asserted that the importance of “games as a social medium,” binding fans and players together, is often overlooked. This prompted Richard Lemarchand, lead game designer for Naughty Dog Software, to repeat claims from fans who enjoy watching family members getting drawn into his “Uncharted” series of games almost as much as they enjoy playing them.

Fandom is no longer only for boys:

Traditionally a young, all-male geek preserve, fandom expanded to include more women and girls than ever before — an audience that some content providers ignore at their peril. Production Designer David Brisbin viewed the increase of female fans as an unequivocally good thing. He has first-hand experience working on projects such as the proprietary wrath of “traditional” fan boys on the re-make of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and the obsessive mostly female followers of the “Twilight” properties.

Transmedia doesn’t have to be expensive:

One of the defining events of the development of Transmedia, the Internet-based “Blair Witch” campaign, was masterminded by attorney and conference participant John Hegeman (Former CMO at New Regency Productions), and done on the cheap in 1999 because the filmmakers could not afford a traditional media blitz. And while pros like UCLA Alumnus Steve Wax, a co-founder and managing partner of trend-setting promotional agency Campfire, can spend up to a million and a half dollars on national alternate reality campaigns such as “The Art of the Heist,” for Audi, other panelists and audience members noted that low-cost tools of effective ARG production and distribution are now available to all: websites, blogs, Flip Mino video cameras and cell phone videos airing on YouTube.

Storytelling still rules:

If any one overall theme dominated the conference it was that a relatable story is still the “mothership” and central source of power in the most effective Transmedia projects. “If the characters are alien, and the world is alien and the technology is alien, the audience will be alienated,” said producer Danny Bilson. The “world” of a video game or film story can be hugely important, but largely because it is rich in potential stories waiting to be told. More often than not, many agreed, the best stories still originate in the creative imagination of a single individual such as “Twilight” novelist Stephenie Meyer or “Harry Potter’s” J.K. Rowling. According to Diane Nelson, president, DC Entertainment, the authenticity and unity of a single creative vision is key to “maintaining the integrity of the story across all platforms.”

The “Transmedia storytelling” concept was chosen for the conference to spotlight how open-ended, interactive, immersive and complex stories must now become in order to expand successfully from a traditional TV series or film into the new narrative spaces made possible by the Internet.

The alternative reality game “Year Zero,” for example, created to promote the Nine Inch Nails concept album of the same name, took 18 months to unfold. Fans became part of an “Art is Resistance” movement fighting a near-future dictatorship. National deployment of clues embedded in everything from text messages to sky-writing transformed the entire country into a virtual playing field, leading fans to a top-secret “resistance meeting” in Los Angeles that included a free NIN concert.

“‘Year Zero’ is a perfect example,” Mann said, “of the originality and expansiveness, the ‘wild wild west’ spirit in which all this Transmedia storytelling is taking place.”