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Transmedia storytelling is future of biz
Studios create mythologies, multimedia worlds
A June 2009 Variety article on transmedia storytelling with comments from Jeff Gomez of Starlight Runner on the transmedia development of Avatar for video games:
"The company's work "goes beyond your typical bible," Gomez says. Starlight Runner creates "megabibles and mythologies" contained in oversized binders full of images, chronologies, storylines, character profiles and descriptions of such details as geography, vehicles and weapons. "We teach the studio, other divisions of its parent company and its licensors how to bring these characters to life in a way that's true to the original platform."
For example, Starlight's mythology document for "Avatar" facilitated the extension of that property to the vidgame arena via publisher Ubisoft, which plans to release an Avatar game that, like the movie, will be available in stereoscopic 3-D.
Starlight began its relationship with "Avatar" via an introduction made by a senior studio exec with considerable franchise familiarity just as production on the film was getting under way.
"We always try to extend a property to other experiences," says the exec. To do that, he adds, it's important to "look at what the essence of the property is, what people are responding to, and re-create that in other ways."
"People are realizing that this kind of concerted implementation is one of the most powerful ways to convey messages," says Gomez, who worked with Disney on "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Tron," and with Fox on James Cameron's "Avatar." "For them, as for most of our clients, we make sure the universe of the film maintains its integrity as it's expanded and implemented across multiple platforms."
I love that Jeff Gomez emphasizes the integrity of a project. How many adaptations/transmedia developments have flopped because they have betrayed something essential that the core fans love?
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