Nick Braccia reports – I’m new to the WBP crew and wanted to kick-off my involvement with a brief and practical outline of introductory steps to help you make the transition from mono-media storyteller (in this case, film) to transmedia storyteller. In time, this evolution will help you to grow (and strengthen) your audience.
Like many contemporary transmedia story architects, I was first exposed to this expansive medium back in 2001, …

For DIY DAYS we reached out to a number of folks to create presentations. Christy Dena is a cross-media specialist who is also a contributor to the Workbook Project. The following is a presentation that she compiled which provides an excellent overview of the who, what, when, where, why and how of cross-media.

Christy Dena is a Universe Creator and Transmodiologist. She is an industry strategist, mentor, transmedia writer and designer …

This edition of TCIBR is brought to you by IndieFlix – Elan Lee has been behind some of the most renowned ARGs to be produced over the last eight years. The Beast, I Love Bees, Year Zero and the Dark Knight to name a few. In our conversation Elan explains the driving force behind the design of his games and his desire to make the players feel empowered.

For …

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This edition of TCIBR is brought to you by IndieFlix and Breakthrough Distribution – Jeff Gomez turned his childhood passion for role playing into a successful transmedia venture. His company Starlight Runner Entertainment has expanded the intellectual property of brands (Hot Wheels, Magic: The Gathering , Pirates of the Caribbean) by developing cross-platform storyworlds that engage audiences in new and interesting ways. The design and builds of these worlds have …

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I’ve just return from Hot Docs where I participated in a panel of judges for the newly formed Convergence Lab. Created by DocAgora, the lab focuses on a number of projects. The lab brings together producers, filmmakers and interactive designers in an effort to develop cross-media strategies for their projects.
Cross-media (the telling of stories across multiple mediums, devices and platforms) is a topic that we discuss often – an exciting …

In this special video podcast Christy Dena interviews workbook project founder Lance Weiler. Dena, a cross-media entertainment strategist, mentor, designer, writer and PhD researcher conducted the interview for her universe creation podcast. Here’s what Dena had to say about the interview.
Filmmaker Lance Weiler is the special guest on this first video podcast at UC101. Weiler talks about the unique ways he has experimented with extending the storyworld of his …

Christy Dena is one of the most knowledgeable people I know working in the cross-media arena. Having studied the topic for years, she is at the forefront of a new emerging form of entertainment.  Christy has written a comprehensive essay on the topic for the Feb 2008 issue (vol 14, no 1) of Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies (which is available in hardcopy and online).  …

M dot Strange reports – So I was lucky enough to be summoned to make an animated music video for one of my favorite bands “Mindless Self Indulgence” I used Cinema 4d 9.1 w/Cactus Dans tools, and After Effects 6.5.
I thought I would out together a little thang documenting my work on the Mindless Self Indulgence music video “Animal” There’s a ton of music video making-of’s out there but since …

This past week, we concluded our latest cinema ARG experiment entitled HOPE IS MISSING. The design of HIM is covered in an article that I wrote for the current issue of filmmaker magazine. This post will focus on the results of the experiment. A more detailed case study surrounding the cinema ARG will be released later in Nov.
Layers of interactivity
HOPE IS MISSING consisted of four web films that were loaded …

This past weekend Arin Crumley of Four Eyed Monsters and myself did a panel about all things DIY called “Fast Forward – Filmmakers Seize Control.” The Vancouver International Film Festival held a special one week forum around the art and craft of filmmaking. Brian Chirls of FEM was kind of enough to man the camera – he had done a viral marketing panel earlier in the week.
Big thanks to the …

Producing a feature-length motion picture is a daunting task. All the more so if you do it without the support of a major studio using money you have raised yourself. But according to independent filmmaker Lance Weiler, “the real struggle” comes after the film is completed. Distributing a theatrical feature — and doing so profitably — poses an even greater challenge. As Weiler put it during a recent interview with …

By Christy Dena –
In 1917 poet Guillaume Apollinaire gave a lecture, L’Esprit Nouveau et les Poetès, on what he described as the ‘visible and unfolded book of the future’. He wrote that creators in the future will, ‘like conductors of an orchestra of unbelievable scope,’ have at ‘their disposal the entire world, its noises and its appearances, the thought and language of man, song, dance, all the arts and all …

Today we are joined by writer and game designer Ken Eklund. Over the past 20 years Ken has been writing and designing games. His most recent game World Without Oil, was an ITVS funded ARG (alternate reality games) about a future oil shock. WWO is the first ARG designed to create a dialog about our dependency on oil and stimulate social change.

For more info on Ken Eklund click …

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Since I’m knee deep in pulling together the next HEAD TRAUMA cinema ARG, I thought I’d share some of my promotional materials. The following is an invite followed by a press release for the event. We started by hitting horror blogs and then moved into some indie film and general movie outlets. When I come up for air next week I want to layout a detailed description of how we …

Today we sit down with Mesh Flinders, co-creator of the web sensation Lonelygirl15. In our discussion Mesh explains how his team built a loyal following for the show, and how they’re starting to monetizing the popular web series.

For more info on Mesh and lonelygirl15 click here.
Related: ‘Lonelygirl15′ cozies up to promo deal’ – Variety

To listen NOW click the play button below.

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Filmmakers That Think Outside the Film
By Christy Dena
In the 1940’s filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (known as “The Archers”) championed a multi-artform cinema. They created films that represented music, dance, painting, literature and photography; for they believed that ‘all art is one’. Now, with the proliferation of media platforms, the palette for filmmakers is stupendous. Not only is it impossible to encompass all artforms in a single film, but …

A few weeks ago the HEAD TRAUMA mashup / cinema ARG had its first screening. The event was a collision of movies, music, gaming and theatrics. In a previous post I questioned the viability of traditional theatrical releases for “truly” independent films. The mashup / cinema ARG has promise and event driven theatrical experiences could in fact become an interesting model for independent distro.
- The event attracted …

Our guest today is author and journalist Heather Chaplin. Heather’s most recent book is “Smart Bomb” which covers the history of the gaming revolution. During our discussion we touch on the emergence of the independent gaming movement and how games can make social and political statements. And perhaps most interesting for filmmakers a look at the collision between filmmaking and gaming.

For more info on Heather Chaplin and her work click …

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I’ve heard a lot of people challenging the theatrical experience – box office numbers are down from previous years, and home theater systems are only getting better. Not to mention all the competition for viewers attention thanks to a 500+ channel universe, broadband and a shrinking amount of free time. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that people still want that communal experience that a theatrical film can provide. …