Transmedia has jumped out as a buzzword in 2009, with some declaring the multi-platform approach to storytelling as the noble savior of narrative in the digital age. Others though, dismiss it as industry hype over substance—just more marketing masquerading as audience participation. (By the way, if you’re not quite sure, here’s the definition of ‘transmedia’.)

Even Henry Jenkins, the man largely cited as responsible for defining the transmedia label in his 2006 book Convergence Culture, recently told the LA Times, "It may be that you try some interesting stuff […] but at the end of the day, our grandest ambitions aren't going to be realizable."

Whether a startling admission or a quote taken out of context, Jenkins can be forgiven. He is an academic, and as such, his quest is arguably more one of discovery than spin or commerce.

But it does call into question transmedia’s credibility.

From a top-down (big studio, big agency) approach, there is no shortage of mediocre transmedia execution, with many simply repurposing existing story content as an afterthought, with the video game or feature film 'pillar' acting as the only true narrative vehicle.

From the bottom-up (indie, alternative, experimental), the transmedia form faces different challenges, struggling to find profitable models and audiences beyond the fringe, and relying heavily on government funding through arts and film councils.

So which is the right approach? Is it possible for both top-down and bottom-up models to succeed?  And do either improve story, or just help sell it?

In this, the first of several discussions with leading figures in the transmedia industry, we decided to start with the top-down perspective.

Jeff Gomez is the President and CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment, a leading creator and producer of transmedia franchises that has been commissioned by the likes of Disney, Hasbro and Coca-Cola to offer guidance on how to expand storyline universes and prepare them for extension across multiple media platforms.

We found a quiet corner during Next Media’s Innovation Week in Toronto to ask Gomez some questions about transmedia from the top-down.

Jawbone.tv: Is top-down the only way transmedia can work?

Jeff Gomez:  In general, top-down is the way that the methodology and the return on investment is going to be proven for transmedia implementation. And so, it’s got to lead the way. In terms of just adaptation, the acceptance of transmedia narrative is going to happen top-down.

But bottom-up is going to show us the beauty and the art of transmedia narrative. I’ve seen really exceptional implementations, many of which wouldn’t even be recognized as transmedia from the perspective of an advertising agency or a movie studio. But that’s where I’m inspired. So it’s both. The bottom has to climb and the top has to reach down.

Jawbone.tv: Do studios and networks view transmedia as new channels for marketing, and little more than that?

Jeff Gomez: They did. But it’s no longer 100% true. Starlight Runner Entertainment was generally paid out of the marketing budget from whomever we were dealing with on a top-down basis, from 2000 to 2008. But late last year and into this year, our revenues are shifting to development, which to me is brilliant.

We’ve been working hard to do that, because, at least as far as I’m concerned, we’re not here to put a pretty picture frame around established content. We can do that, and we’ve been successful at it, but that’s the sort of thing you’re seeing with True Blood and a lot of these implementations.

The content is done, and then they’ll go to one of these agencies to kind of build a filigree of cross platform around it. And I’m not saying it’s badly executed. I love the True Blood transmedia, but there’s very little that Campfire, the creators of that content, can do to impact the narrative of the actual driving platform, the TV series.

With Starlight Runner, we’ve been working hard to move earlier and earlier into the production process, whether that’s a feature film or a video game or what have you. Basically, at the script level, to have input and begin to consult on how to maximize the potential of the intellectual property, and the world.

And from there, because it is top-down within these companies, and we’re hired by the top level of the executives, we’re able to navigate the divisions and silos, and talk them into playing well together, and into treating the world with a modicum of respect, understanding and appreciation.

We think there’s a responsibility in communicating a good story to the entire planet, and that the essence of story is in aspiration, in giving something to people that is going to move them in some way. If you generate content that doesn’t do that, based on a core property that does, you’re doing a disservice to your audience and to yourself, because you’re yielding crap.

So let’s produce beautiful things that are worthy of being told everywhere on the planet. And this sounds kind of goody two-shoes, but we have an effective way of conveying it, and so now, [the studios] are more apt to call us in earlier, because they are now starting to see the effectiveness of that type of content. Not repurposing from one platform to the next, but building new content that plays to the strengths of each platform.

Jawbone.tv: You said around 2007, things started to shift from ‘reframing’ to getting involved on the development level. With that new perspective, can you point to things that are coming out now to meet this higher standard, versus the old approach?

Jeff Gomez: Well, the Christmas themed website for Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man’s Chest isn’t such a good example …

Jawbone.tv: You mean, that wasn’t thought through from the beginning?

Jeff Gomez: I’m sorry. That was framing. I’m publicly apologizing [laughing]. No, it was cool, but it’s an example of framing things after the fact versus involvement early on. In that case, all we can do is make it as amusing and true to the property as possible. It’s not going to give you any insight into the Pirates of the Caribbean universe or characters.

But our relationship with that franchise has changed since then, and we’re very much anticipating On Stranger Tides, the next film, and it’s going to be different.

With regard to something that’s more in the new model, I’m going to point generically to Tron. And everything that you might find about Tron–again, I emphasize ‘generally’—if you look at what they’re doing, any time that the fiction is involved, it’s real. It’s within the context of the Tron universe.

So the ARG (Alternate Reality Game) that’s going on right now—even the one that played out at San Diego Comic-Con—anything that’s coming up related to the Tron narrative is in-game. It’s essentially evolving into a meta-narrative that is going to encompass the first film, the second film, anything that’s going to take place afterword, and all that takes place in between.

It’s truly 'of a piece,' and you’re going to see what I call 'call-outs,' from one piece of content to another. The content is literally going to refer to the events in other content, inviting audiences to flow into and out of it on each platform.

Jawbone.tv: Will it ever break through the central pillar of the box office stream though? Will audiences have to go play an ARG or delve into another transmedia channel to understand the movie?

Jeff Gomez: There’s going to be a distinction between Tron Legacy, and let’s say the second and third Matrix films. If you weren’t immersed in all of the things that came out around those [Matrix] films, you could easily have gotten lost. 

For Tron Legacy, if you enjoyed any of the content that came out previous to the film through these various transmedia channels, you are going to go, “Ahh, okay, that’s really cool, because I know all about that.” You’re validated for the extra investment, but those around you are not lost. They don’t know what they’ve missed. So the story still works for everyone, just on different levels.

Jawbone.tv: If you go to the academic definitions associated with transmedia, specifically, the ‘participatory’ side of it, the ability for audience to affect the story, how much narrative influence will they have on the big pillar, or can they just affect these transmedia channels?

Jeff Gomez: Well, I don’t see it affecting the pillar, at least not now—and probably not anytime in the next couple of years. In the next five years though, I believe that narrative will have the ability to absorb the response from a mass audience and have that influence what the next feature is going to be like and what it’s going to address.

If you’re looking at it simply from that perspective, look at the influence that the audience had … the ones who enjoyed the first three [chronologically] Star Wars pictures, and the presence of the Jango Fett and Boba Fett characters in three newer films. Did George Lucas even begin to consider Boba Fett as a template for every clone in that universe? No. But he realized that the fans loved the character, and that it was worthy of developing a little bit and inserting into the next three.

I think, soon, a multi-platform tapestry is going to be woven from the get-go with consideration towards the fact that fans can impact the canon. They’ll do this either by contributing content that becomes canonical, or through opinion, or some combination of the two. And that canonical content will find its way into the big pillars.

Jawbone.tv: There’s a strong move towards transmedia in mostly science fiction, fantasy and horror. Very little drama or comedy. Is that something inherent of the material and the participatory side of the fan base?

Jeff Gomez: Certainly, genre is going to persist. For so many years, if you were a sports fan, you were allowed to be a fanatic. To read the sports page, delve into sports news, talk all this data and trash about your favorite sports figures, but if you did the same with Star Trek, you were branded a geek.

Now, there’s this wealth of content and material and forums to do just that for us geeks. And so there’s this initial tidal wave from this last decade or so of this kind of early adaptation related to those genres.

But I think we’re seeing the second wave starting, which is young woman, as they realize that they can be drawn to aspirational worlds and that it’s okay. And they are embracing it wholeheartedly, creating this Twilight phenomenon. I think that it may have opened the floodgates as far as Hollywood is concerned.

I think we’re going to get transmedia soap operas that are really robust and well done. We’re going to see more dramas that take place in community settings that can allow for audience participation. And that will convey a deep, rich experience.

Valemont from MTV, the vampires on campus show, is just scratching the surface, technologically and implementation wise, but it’s a good indication that something’s brewing.

Jawbone.tv: What about audience apathy or even plain old laziness. Does transmedia run against the grain of the true nature of mass audience…do people just want to sit back and watch?

Jeff Gomez: The other day, a friend told me that she put on the new Tinker Bell movie on Blu-Ray, with some kids in the living room. A four-year-old was watching the establishing shots and when she saw the tree where the fairies live, her hand moved to click. My friend asked her why she did that, and she laughed and said, “I want to go there.”

Things are changing. The world is changing. In recent decades, we’ve been getting our entertainment validation by empathizing with a character psychologically, and then leaning back and watching that character go through an experience. But that’s not always how we’ve experienced story.

We used to sit around a campfire and lean forward and contribute our ululations and our gasps and our snide comments to the shaman delivering the story. And the shaman took that information and integrated it into his narrative because he wanted to eat that night. And I think we’re finally drifting back to that. We want the story to be good. To participate and be validated like that, it’s very empowering.

For more information about Starlight Runner Entertainment visit www.starlightrunner.com.