TransMIP 2011 - a first look

Tomorrow sees the kick-off for a week of MIPness in Cannes, France. Leading out are two quite different events: MIPDocs is focused on documentaries, and is an established part of the MIPTV setup, where producers and buyers sell and buy a multitude of documentaries over the course of two days. I am not registered for MIPDoc, so even though I would be utterly surprised if not a large part of the documentaries featured could (and perhaps should) have a developed transmedia side to them, I will not be able to comment in detail.

MIPFormat, on the other hand, is merely a year old and already branching out over two days, not one as was the case last year. The format business is reportedly worth upwards of 3 billion euros now, which makes formats a viable part of any discussion around the media industry. Transmedia formats are still few and far between, but this is something I convinced will change in the near future. One featured session is the Fresh Talent Pitch, where a number of chosen formats are pitched to the attending crowd. Amongst the finalists are formats such as Dracula Tour Challenge, which simply feels made to be transmediated. From the description of the format:

«Dracula Tour Challenge» is an adventure competition show in which foreign participants are brought to Transylvania to confront the myth of Dracula and the evil spirits that lurk in this land. The purpose of the show is two-fold. One, to create an entertaining, frightening and thrilling competition for viewers. And two, to provide a unique history of vampires, Dracula and other mythical monsters that originated in this extraordinary area.

Now, what storylines could not be spun from this story world? We’ll see what happens with the format.

There are a number of interesting talks during MIPFormats, many who have some connection to transmedia, be it about rights and disputes or creative workshops. But we have to wait until Monday and MIPTV before transmedia is really on the agenda.

At a talk called ”Transmedia Storytelling: How to Achieve Creative Excellence?” Jesse Cleverly from Connected TV moderates a panel with, amongst others, Nuno Bernardo (beActive), Tracy Robertson (Hoodlum) and Christopher Sandberg (Company P) in a session that will ”talk through their strategic thinking, their creative development philosophies, and their multidisciplinary production processes.” I can see many ways this panel could go, but I dearly hope, from an admittedly personal POV, that it will go in-depth on development and design matters.

Hot on the heels of that panel will be a screening of the four finalists of the Fremantle/RTL Content 360 category ”Interactive & Cross-Media Digital Entertainment Formats”. I have no idea what to expect from this, but one can always dream of a quartet of beautifully crafted transmedia formats that take your breath away, right?

There’s a slew of other interesting talks and panels as well, of course – like ”Monetising Content on New Platforms” or ”Multiplatform Engagement Through Apps” or why not “Connecting to Tomorrow's Audiences”. All of these have the potential to not only touch on transmedia but go a lot deeper into that sphere (which should be normal, as that would help keep content and story world in line etc etc). At the very least I expect to get a lot of interesting notions and hints that I can take back to my drawing board after MIP.

There is also the MIPCC, the Connected Creativity, happening at the same time as the ”regular” MIPTV. Here I’m hoping to hear more about mobile, apps and their ties in to the television industry. A highlight will be Gavin McGarrys wrap-up session on ”Building Cross-Media Strategies” on Thursday.

So, be warned, there will be a lot of tweets coming from MIPTV in the coming week. If you decide to unfollow precisely because of these tweets, do refollow back in a weeks time, ok? ☺

A guest post and a couple of questions

I wrote a guest post for ReedMIDEMs MIP blog; it's geared towards the typical MIP-goer; i.e. a TV executive with a fair amount of years in the biz, just hearing about the term "transmedia" for the first time and wondering whether this will be a hype that'll fade away in a couple of years time, or something that they should take note of and start acting on.

I'm for the latter, so that's the angle I'll try to take in my guest posts. Not in a "do-this-or-be-DAMNEDFORALLETERNITY!!!"-way, but rather just to tell people what I know and show good examples that other's have done. Transmedia - or whatever you want to call it (I came up with the term "Sansmedia" the other day, since I'm fervently waiting for the day when we get rid of all "platforms" and concentrate on the stories being told) - is in my opinion the way forward, and I hope many others will recognize this as well.

I do, of course, as everyone involved in the transmedia business probably does, welcome a discussion on the subject. I started thinking about the multitude of people who are not aware of transmedia, who do not care about transmedia and probably never will. So, is transmedia a fad that'll fade? Will it merge with something else? Is it a phase we will go through on the way to finding an even better way of telling stories and engaging people? What do you think?

(I'll put my 2c in, in just a bit :)

The mixing of Real and Not Real in Transmedia

(the musings continue, now with something I'm struggling with right now)

One particular challenge that I face while developing transmedia, is the thin line between being just about enough fictional, but not too fictional. I don’t work – or, should I say, I do not at the moment work – with drama-based transmedia projects; instead, the ones we’re working on now are music projects, game shows, kids formats, etc.

As I see it, one key element of any transmedia venture is the classical ”willful suspension of disbelief” (love the phrase, btw). You know that you have your narrative superstructure in place, it’s solid and will be a fine, nurturing growth bed. You have some – three, then, to go by PGA’s rules for a transmedia producer – different media platforms utilized. The different pieces of content support each other, either directly or indirectly, but are not duplicates of each other. What you need now is for the consumer / participant (the ”consupant”? sounds a bit constipated...) to go into your story, your narrative superstructure, and embrace the willful suspension of disbelief and engage him-/herself.

This is a bit easier when building a drama-based transmedia setting, as anyone connecting to the mythology of the story knows and has accepted that it is a story. When blending ”real” stuff with a narrative that contains fictional elements, the cracks are a lot easier to spot.

What I’ve found out so far is one fairly simple thing, yet hard to stick to while developing, writing and scripting. Simply – be as true as possible. If you embark on the mission to include real stuff – be it persons, objects, physical landmarks or whatever – in your transmedia project, these different kinds of stuff will be a lot more credible if they, to as large an extent as possible, base themselves and present themselves as their real selves. What you don't want is for these characters and stuff to show any light shining through them. They need to be as solid as possible - which is only possible if they are, for the main part, grounded in who or what they really actually are.

The only thing you need to add are the small fictional things that lets these real persons and real places function within your transmedia venture.

I’ll update with an example of ours as soon as we’ve got stuff to show ☺

Musings on transmedia development

(Felt the need to write down some stuff re: transmedia development that have been bouncing around in my head for some time. It's basically just some reflections from the ground floor of the transmedia development factory...)

We started out as developers of interactive television-formats some five-six years ago. These were based on television as the core of the content, with interactivity included either via mobile phones or via digital set-top-boxes. We realized very early on that if you want to develop something that should accompany a traditional piece of content - like a tv show - you needed to develop the two (or more) together from the start. Thus you avoided the awkward feeling of added content being slapped onto existing content, without any form of seamless and enjoyable experience.

As time has gone by, we have thankfully been able to let go of the limited MHP interactivity for set-top-boxes and have happily embraced the cross media / transmedia approach to telling stories, be they music shows, kids shows, game shows or just about any kind of content. Now, some things are always good to keep in mind while starting up or being in the development phase of a transmedia project:

First off, make sure you're developing and creating compelling content - you need a great story to function as the framework, with enough holes in it for the audience to be able to fill in stuff themselves and become engaged in the story (Jeff Gomez's "Swiss Cheese-model"). Don't forget the narrative superstructure - build it solid enough to serve as a vehicle for this particular story, but also as a bed for future stories (from past, present and future in the story universe) to spring from.

Secondly (but developed at the same time so it all fits together nicely without any last-minute panic solutions, thank you very much) - logical ways for the audience/users to connect to the story, from platforms that are themselves logical ways into the story. I.e., do not make an iPad app just 'cause everyone else has one. If it's not essential for how you experience the story, leave it out.

Thirdly, get out there and get some traction for your content. Lots of stuff gets developed and produced and perhaps gets a blog mention or three, topping out at 452 users over a three month period. Don't do that. Get those people interested that can tip your little thing over the edge and into the abyss of a global phenomena. Get everyone to step over that invisible "WTF"-threshold (the threshold where you KNOW you should be doing something else but you're seeing thousands of people (who also should be doing something else) involving themselves in the story and having the time of their lives, so you think "Oh hell, WTF" and you jump right in). How? Read up on Propagation Planning. As they say - plan not for the people you reach, but the people they reach. Find your spokespersons. Be inclusive, not exclusive. Which nicely builds over to...

Be interactive. Listen. Communicate. You're probably not right every time, and others may have better ideas for your story and it's development. Face it - it is no longer yours only. Embrace that fact and take it onwards - it's all a good thing.

Lastly, don't leave people hanging. There's nothing worse than getting peoples expectations up and then letting them down. They have invested in your creation. Make sure they get full value for their investment. If you do, they'll be back.

Feel free to add stuff in the comments!


PS. Just read this in a blog text of mine from 2006, still agree 100% with the need to focus on content :)

"Myself? I believe that the changeover to new forms and ways of watching television will go much slower than people think, or hope for. I believe that in five years time there will be a small minority watching television via portable devices, while for the most part the audience will watch television in their living rooms, just like back in the 50s. I also believe that content is the most important factor, and that less energy and resources should be spent on developing and offer to people gadgets and trinkets they don't want or need, and more should be spent on doing great television shows."

The Space Trainees

A trailer of our language training cross media game show for kids, The Space Trainees. It's a bit neat.

When developing cross media content...

....remember that the story that is being told is the single most important ingredient in the whole of the project. It MUST be compelling, nice, engaging, entertaining... and suitable for 360 exploitation.

Now "exploitation" is not a nice word in itself, but exploitation is exactly what a cross media concept needs to be just that - cross media, engaging, entertaining etc. Just as long as the exploitation is done in the right way!

THe story told must in and of itself be strong enough to withstand the tear and wear of different storylines or parts of the story pulling it towards different platforms - be it television, the Internet, social media or whatever.

If the story turns out to not be strong enough, it is perhaps kindest to just put it out of its misery right away.

Mu two cents for the day.

MIPTV Day One

I always forget the feeling of gearing up to MIPTV mode. It's meetings meetings meetings pitches pitches pitches, a rumbling stomach and too much coffee. Still, a lot of fun.

Weather slightly off, lots of rain - not at the moment though - but more on it's way I've heard.

A mere couple of dozen of Twitterers so far, seems like the TV industry isn't quite up to scratch yet. And the question everyone is asking - how can we make money in new ways, with ad revenues shrinking... If I hear a good solution, I'll post it here.

Still, people are interested in our formats. All good, next meeting in 15 minutes.

Congratulations Strix

...on getting your format The Farm commissioned to Brazil and broadcaster Rede Record. As has been concluded before, the format market is going more and more global, with more and more formats coming from territories outside the traditional ones - UK, US and Holland. It makes me very happy to see Scandinavia doing well with a number of formats worldwide (partly because it makes it easier for someone else from the Nordic countries, well, yes, like me, to be taken seriously with our excellent ideas and formats).

So congratulations! And happy anniversary Finland, independence day tomorrow. Whee!

10 secrets behind successful tv formats - no 10

This is a list I've been thinking of writing for a while now. It's a list of the ten things I believe are the most important when it comes to developing and selling a tv format. This list will probably be updated in the future, but this is how it stands right now. In no particular order - the countdown begins here:

10. Know your own strengths and get people in to compensate for weaknesses.

No one can do it all by themselves. Well, Rambo can, but that's him. And you're NOT Rambo (probably).

Some people are creative brains. Some are good salesmen. Others can work magic with numbers and economic figures. Ideally, you'd need a team consisting of all these types of persons - the creative minds coming up with the ideas, the salesperson getting sponsors in and selling the formats to productions companies and tv channels, and the economy guy keeping everything in check.

If you're starting out, however, chances are this is not very possible. But you still have a GREAT idea for a tv show! Well - get someone else in as well. Just make sure that this person is not too alike you. What you need is different perspectives on things, someone to question your ideas and come up with new viewpoints, and vice versa. There will be a great many people that will have to like your idea before it's on air somewhere, and very few of them are likely to be carbon copies of you.

...tomorrow, number 9 on the list!

TV formats - why buy them, when you can just steal them??

Phew. The row that has been going on for a couple of weeks now is just getting messier and messier - and I must admit I'm a bit disappointed, though not overly surprised. C21 has the story, but to make it brief, this is what happened:

A memo from ABC leaked. The memo, from the exec VP of ABC Studios, encourages everyone not to license formats from abroad. Instead, they should be brought to ABC.s creative studios to be "evaluated", to see if the "underlying premises" can be used without licensing the format itself.

Phew once again, I say. As a format creator, this is what I fear the most. We have some pretty original and nice ideas going at the moment, but WHY ON EARTH would I pitch them to someone who is instructed by his or her boss to steal the "underlying premises"?? Sheesh... I mean, a year ago we were debating whether we should pitch one of our ideas to Endemol or not - seeing as Endemol has a reputation for nicking ideas - when we had a scheduled meeting with them. In the end, we did pitch it, but only because it was pretty funky and relied a lot on technical stuff.

ABC, don't expect much sympathy from the format owners. Last I heard FRAPA were going to have some serious talks with you guys.

Shooting pilots is fun

Today we'll be shooting a pilot for our football quiz show GAME ON. It's a really neat format, which gained a lot of attention at MIPTV this spring. Two teams compete, using a board game and their knowledge to score as many goals as possible. The scoring is live, they get to shoot penalties at a goalkeeper from the other team. All in all, should be an exciting day. Will keep you posted!

To sell a format

Now, the television business is not an easy one. Lots of money moving around, for sure. But to break into that flow of money is more of a challenge.

When selling a television format, most buyers would like to see an episode, or even better, a whole series. They also like ratings and reviews - ratings (if high enough) a lot more than reviews, as a matter of fact.

That's why I lift my hat when reading todays news that Armoza Formats of Israel have sold their format "Revenge of the Geeks" to the US, UK, Holland, Poland and several other territorier, although the series have still to premiere in Israel (which it will do in November). Well done lads - you must've had a great format, and a helluva pitch :)

Now I just have to do that as well... :)

Bonk OIF! It's Friday!

What to do over the weekend?

I'll try to come up with a really good idea for a tv format. Otherwise I'll have nothing to pitch during format pitching session on Sunday - first one, might just be fun :)

Off now, since nothing interesting is going on in the field of interactive and cross media television (just a bunch of same-old, same-old... I wonder when everyone involved is going to tire of hypeing new stuff every bloody day, without much substance? Soon, hopefully...)

Also, the pilot for The Space Trainees is soon to be finished. Well happy with that, it's been a long process. Now, let's hope everyone bites!!