The State of Trans-media
The State of Trans-media
By PGA NMC member Jeff Gomez
Comic book and video game publishers, movie studios and animation houses, even Fortune 500 companies not normally affiliated with content production are all coming to realize that brands and brand messages are best conveyed through entertainment. Multiple platforms mean multiple revenue streams — and multiple ways to expose a mass audience to your products. Rich worlds lend themselves to large and incredibly loyal fan bases. Fans in turn are demanding stronger, deeper storylines that “speak” to them through whatever medium they have at hand, be it the web, television, their Sony PSP’s, or even their mobile phones. We’re seeing this with franchises as diverse as Lost, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Bionicle, Hot Wheels, Magic: The Gathering and Halo. In fact, all of these highly successful projects are examples of trans-media storytelling from early stages in their development. And all of these required producers and writers, who were especially prepared to envision these sophisticated narratives, develop, produce and prepare them for distribution.
Jeff Gomez (jeff@starlightrunner.com), is the CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment, Inc., a developer and producer of highly successful trans-media projects whose clients include The Walt Disney Company, 20th Century Fox, the Coca-Cola Company, Mattel and Hasbro.
Over the next few weeks he’ll be sharing his expertise on the white hot trans-media industry – exploring its fascinating history and expanding upon the 8 Defining Principles of Trans-Media Production