(Source: Filmfuturist.com)
At the FOE4 Conference, I was struck by something Mike Monello said on when speaking on a panel. He said something I had never thought of quite that way before: that as a Transmedia creator, one’s role becomes that of a creator/performer – not in the sense that the storyteller is acting per se, but rather that a storyteller MUST design a performance of engagement. What a brilliant way of thinking of audience engagement, I thought. And I nabbed him and made him promise to sit down with me after the conference.
Over tea in Brooklyn’s train-rattling DUMBO neighborhood, Monello and I spent a few lively hours discussing a broad range of ideas surrounding the practice of Transmedia and what it means to the form and art of the story when we cross into the wild, expansive possibilities of narrative without boundaries. Again and again, he cited examples of audience engagement AS art, performance, and not simply the necessarily evil creative people have to suffer to get their work seen by audiences. I recognized that as artists, especially filmmakers, the “art” of audience engagement may be the hardest one to embrace yet in constructing the full Transmedia experience, Monello demonstrated how critical it is.
What struck me as we spoke was how accessible and practical Monello was but then I remembered that it was he and his group of collaborators after all, that were responsible for the savvy, practical and explosive phenomenon known as The Blair Witch Project. (He calls that an early, unidentified Transmedia project – which spawned lesser known books and games that expanded the story and appealed to varying audiences) Yet as the same time, I found myself his unbridled love for story and his zeal for the challenge of creating compelling, immersive experiences rather infectious.
Because it was my obsession with rapidly shifting world of narrative form and content that led me to start writing this blog in the first place, I bombarded Monello with questions about how he and his partners at Campfire manage to do what they do, convince brands to let them create cross-platform stories and experiences; badgered him for the requisite end-of-year 2010 predictions; and pestered him for speculations on when Transmedia might go wide. He was gracious and patient with his extensive answers – a limited selection of which I am posting here.
Read the full article at Filmfuturist.com, or for more info on Mike Monello visit campfirenyc.com or follow him on Twitter @mikemonello.
