Transmedia: Storytelling for the Digital Age

While the web TV industry is still waiting for its first blockbuster hit, the big players are starting to invest in quality content and audiences are slowly coming out for a look, reports media writer Aymar Jean Christian.

Image: Yahoo!'s sitcom Burning Love.

Robert Echevarria:  "Achieving longterm success in an online medium known for its short attention span is no small feat, but "The Guild," which is centered around the lives of a group of gamers involved in an MMORPG, is moving into its sixth season, which premieres on Day's YouTube channel Geek & Sundry on October 2nd" ...

Jake Coyle:  "How much does a good Web series cost? That's been an evolving but constant question as digital series multiply. Increasingly, Internet-based series aspire to television-level quality, while trying to get by on Web-sized budgets."

James Martin: "Canada is MIPCOM 2012's Country of Honour. From now until then, we'll be highlighting the nation's most creative projects, via the CMF/FMC. Enjoy!"

The protagonist of The Silent City is completely alone. Or so he thinks. “I’ve seen less and less of the others, as the years have passed,” he narrates to no one in particular.

Natan Edelsburg: "KIT Digital recently put together a very compelling deck on “10 Things You Need To Know About The Future of Television” for their clients, so we thought we’d share it with you."

DAVE ITZKOFF: "Bryan Singer, director of "The Usual Suspects" and "X-Men," is producing a new series, "H+," which will make its debut next month on YouTube and which tells of a not-so-far-off time in which humans are nearly wiped out by malfunctioning chips" ...

Meredith Woerner: "The first footage is out from Tom Hanks' animated web series, Electric City — set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, where only the rich can afford communication" ...

Richard MacManus: "Video content is one of the fastest growing categories online. Television networks are scrambling to keep up"...

Regardless of where your web series falls, the lion share of information here can be applied across the board, and to content like talk shows, tutorials, documentaries and other reality-based programming...

HOW TO MAKE A WEB SERIES TABLE OF CONTENTS

• In The Beginning: Story & Audience
• Keys To Success
• Books, Magazine, Online News Sites
• Web Series Host Sites
• Web Series 101: Practical Advice From A Creator
• How-To Online Resourses
• Funding
• Festivals & Award Ceremonies

Stuart Dredge: "Why broadcasters want to emulate the success of Angry Birds, Moshi Monsters, Cut the Rope and others" ...

Laura Mandengue:  "Canada is MIPCOM 2012's Country of Honour. From now until then, we'll be highlighting the nation's most creative projects, via the CMF/FMC. Enjoy!"

DRC: Part 1 can be found here.

Valentina Valentini: "If we’re all going to our computers these days to watch content we used to only be able to access on a television, why not put the efforts (and money) there in the first place, with content that's tailored for an online experience?"

ASSOCIATED PRESS: "In the latest batch of notable series to launch online, long-harbored ambitions find digital outlets: Seinfeld does nothing; Tom Hanks plays a hero; Larry King keeps his suspenders in action" ...

Katherine Brooks: "Scott Snibbe is a New York-based media artist whose innovative vision has taken the art and music worlds to new depths of interactivity. From giant, digital public installations to touch-screen based art, the visual artist behind musicians like Bjork and Passion Pit is bringing together art, music and technology in groundbreaking ways."

Ryan Fleming: "In this exclusive interview, Stan Lee discusses the future of comic books, and the rise of technology in the industry" ...

Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan: "In theater, there’s a concept called the “fourth wall.” It refers to performances that involve the audience, breaking down the invisible “wall” between performer and spectator. A new project from Pentagram goes even further, breaking down the “fifth wall” between the performer and a digital audience."

Brian Solis: "Social media is more than a digital water cooler for TV and movies. The global conversation that takes place around events and the experiences people share based on what they watch teaches us about consumer preferences."

Elan Lee: "This multi-screening/phone-call-making/email-sending/transmedia-ifying/future-of-storytelling/world-peace-involving/bioremediation-engineering/folk-dancing shindig* is now live at rides.tv/dirtywork and completely free."