Tools of attraction: creating multimedia content for games and TV shows |#transmedia | The Guardian

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"The traditional processes behind TV programme–making are breaking down.

Kate Bulkley
The Guardian, Monday 6 June 2011

Illustration: Brett Ryder

Storytelling has always been at the heart of the best media, be it a TV show, a documentary or a game, and there is no doubt that with the expanding choice of technology – from smart mobile phones and tablets to TV sets that have internet connections – we are seeing an ever–increasing convergence of storytelling on different platforms. But as this convergence develops, one of the key questions now confronting the media industry is this: who's in control of this explosion in creativity?

The answer might seem obvious. Surely, it's the commissioners who grant producers the chance to broadcast on their channels. Or maybe it's the producers and directors themselves with the ideas for the programmes or films that have the whip hand? Or perhaps it's the writers who ultimately have control?

But there is another view: The US version of the BBC hit show The Office is now six years old and has run for more than 160 episodes. But according to Frank Rose, the author of The Art of Immersion, which is based on interviews with creative and media company executives, what the show's producers found pretty early on was that they were running to keep up with the demands of their audience. Rose says audiences of television shows – be they documentaries or entertainment programmes – are increasingly demanding extra material, online chat areas, show–related games and so much more. "Greg Daniels [the producer of The Office for NBC] put it to me that people assume that if your show is any good, then there will be stuff online to do with it," says Rose.

What this means for TV programme–makers is that the traditional processes behind TV programme–making are breaking down. "We're living in the midst of a major sea change," says Rose. "It's obvious that TV shows are huge drivers for web traffic, but many TV network executives take the wrong message from that. They think that means TV is the most important thing and that everything else is just an add–on. But the right message is that TV is just one part of a much bigger eco–system that is emerging. The executives can turn this to their advantage, but [if they ignore it] they risk alienating the people that matter the most, their audiences...."

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