Transmedia Pitch – A Work in Progress

Transmedia Pitch – A Work in Progress

For my Storytelling Across Media class we were required to pitch a transmedia project to the class.  I’ve elaborated on an earlier concept that is The Rituals We Keep, a project focusing on the habits, routines, and rituals obtained while living abroad, and how adapting to those situations (or from those situations) shapes who we become.

 

Enjoy this prezi presentation. Transmedia Bible (an in depth logistical overview of the project) to come!

School, Convergence, and Inspiration

I had an interesting experience today. I’m currently taking a class called Storytelling Across Narratives and I’m enjoying it very much.  So far we’ve been investigating just what is meant by transmedia (or multimedia, or multiplatform, or multimodal, or crossplatform, choose your pick!) experiences. Today’s class featured a wonderful presentation by Caitlin Burns of Starlight Runner Entertainment.  Caitlin was engaging, passionate, and crafted a good narrative about how and why she does what she does. Seems simple enough for someone who’s in the business of telling stories. She answered our questions thoroughly, offered great advice for upcoming projects, and even gave her contact information to keep in touch and ask questions; a real get for a classroom full of students looking to break into the burgeoning field.

After class, a couple of classmates and I accompanied our instructor to a panel discussion about Branded Entertainment with three people working in the industry. As advertising is a natural extension of transmedia, I went to find out more about it. The event was called Convergence: The Art of Advertising, and it took place at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. I had mixed feelings about the talk overall. The panelists did a pretty good job of explaining what they do, but discussions we’ve had in class did a better job of defining transmedia and pinpointing its uses. (Guess that means the going in the debt thing is worth it…?)

Of the panelists, Behnam Karbassi of No Mimes Media did an excellent job of answering the questions and engaging with the audience. Steve Coulson of Campfire Entertainment (which he named drop numerous times) made some salient points as well. The lone woman on the panel was Jennifer Warren of Brand Cinema. Now I’m sure Jennifer is a fine producer, but as a woman noticing the absence of women in the media industries (Read: got together with a bunch of Smithies a week ago, and we’ve vowed to change the status quo), I was disappointed. She did not make any clear points, or advance the conversation overall. When coupled with the fact that the woman who was working the computer for the presentation, messed up said presentation twice, I was a little worried.  I turned to my classmate (a female) and said, “It’s only because they let the silly woman run the technology.”

Of course I was kidding.  But I bet there were some people in that auditorium (around 75 people maybe) who believed that. The audience was a great mix of men and women, young and old, and actually a wonderful range of racial diversity. But I wished that someone as eloquent and inspiring as Caitlin from earlier in the evening (who was sitting at the front row of this event), was sitting up there inspiring other women to break into the business.

Three things to acknowledge:

1. I’m a Smithie.
2. I recently met up with some friends for a semi-regular meal that’s been dubbed Brown Ladies Brunch. At said BLB, we discuss a number of issues in more detail in a few hours than most of us probably do in the weeks (months) in between.
3. It’s black history month I’m more than a little concerned about the state of the world.

All of this is to say, that I’ve been thinking more about representation, access, and privilege more than your average Jane. (And no, Caitlin is not a woman of color, but she quoted Chimamanda Adichie, so she knows what’s up.) But honestly, not having to think the thoughts I did tonight is one of things I want to work toward. Having competent passionate women as role models, panelists, and inspiration… Or simply having them there to do such a kick-ass job it would silence anyone in that audience who thought what I said, but meant it.

And we’re off!

Spring Semester’s begun!  I’m excited about the two classes I’ve had already.  Media Management and Leadership with Paul Hardart (who comes highly recommended), and Storytelling Across Media with Vlad Nikolic.  He seems extremely competent, experienced, organized, and knows what he’s talking about!  The subject matter is very intriguing as well as transmedia storytelling definitely seems to be the way of the future. While Paul’s class is huge, there are some good characters so far and I’m just excited to finally be starting on the Management Certificate! Overall, I’m excited about the assignments, projects, syllabus in both classes.

I will also be auditing a sign language course this semester which starts in a couple of weeks.  From my understanding, we’ll pick a song to learn through the semester and then perform it at the end of the class. (I’m pretty certain that I’ll be doing a Sarah Kay or Taylor Mali poem, but I should probably wait for the class to start). I think the class will be a great way to tie in some of the storytelling elements we’ll be discussing in Vlad’s class, and just overall communication/presentation skills.

Here’s hoping for a great semester!