My recent talk for the New York Foundation for the Arts - about using technology to connect with audiences and build a fan base. A little bit about where things are going with transmedia and how artists might use these techniques.
2. 2
Disruptive Innovation
Disruptive technology and disruptive innovation are terms
used in business and technology literature to describe
innovations that improve a product or service in ways that
the market does not expect, typically by being lower priced
or designed for a different set of consumers.
Clayton Christensen via Wikipedia
3. It’s not until the tide goes out until you see
who’s wearing the swim trunks
- Warren Buffett
14. Twitter Stats (via Twitter)
•105,779,710 registered users
•1,500% growth over the last three years
•300,000 new sign-ups per day
•60% of new accounts were from outside
the U.S.
•600 million search queries per day
•A NY Times story gets tweeted every 4
seconds
24. • $10 - Unpolished Rock (but with potential) Level: A free digital download of the album,
when it's released.
• $25 - Polished Rock Level: An advance copy of the CD. Weeks before the masses.
• $2,500 - Emerald Level: Mentioned as an executive producer of the album -- whoop-
di-doo!
• $5,000 - Diamond Level: I will come and do a house concert for you. Invite your
friends, serve some drinks, bring me out and I sing. Actually, this level is a smart
choice economically. I've played many house concerts where the host has charged his
guests and made his money back. I'd go for this if I were you.
• $10,000 - Weapons-Grade Plutonium Level: You get to come and sing on my CD.
Don't worry if you can't sing - we can fix that on our end. Also, you can always play the
cowbell.
Details from Jill’s Next Record website
47. Transmedia
What it is: Types/examples:
Develop the story across multiple entry points Events
Multi-platform Games/ARG
Audience can become immersed in experience Interactive components
Deep audience engagement Graphic Novels
Encourages participatory audiences Online & viral content
Each element a distinctive experience Mobile
Story flows & builds rev streams Think Outside the norms - experiences
48. Transmedia
Quick thoughts: Some Experts:
Keep a mind towards audience dev. components
from the beginning
Christy Dena
Think beyond marketing Stephen Dinehart (coined)
It’s not all about the film - extend the experience Jeff Gomez
Think about impact & social change Henry Jenkins
Not just games.... events, gallery shows, etc. Mike Monello
Some projects may not need to be a film John Threat
...or can become one if successful Lance Weiler
Transmedia can be simple Many more...
51. Creating context is more important
than creating content.
The greatest creative and business
opportunities are everything
around the content
Taylor Davidson
Need to be clear upfront - I’m only going to touch on how this can be used in your creation of works - you are the artist, and there is such a broad spectrum of “the arts” that I can’t possibly cover all the things affecting painters or dancers, or composers in technology and how they are possibly using technology. I’ll touch on these things, but I’m speaking more about how artists can use all of “this stuff” to reach a broader audience and engage them in their work.
yet still, films were made. Well, the first thing you have to realize is that digital has been a disruptive innovation on the field. it completely transforms everything we do. music biz example, trouble embracing the new so lose out
It has rolled back the tide on many bad business models and changed them fundamentally. We can now speak to one another more easily and see just how poorly a gallery is paying or a distributor, etc. Also, these behaviors (online) aren’t new - these aren’t new behaviors but what people wanted to do all along
we can’t operate in an analogue world anymore - the single biggest problem facing the arts is that so many people want to think that his is a cycle that will pass, that things will go back to normal, that digital is the same as analogue and we can adapt it to our existing models
but it’s a fundamental shift and we’re ill-fitted to the task if we try to cram digital economies into our old way of thinking
we’re in a whole new paradigm and business models are changing overnight in every industry.think about it, newspaper advertising and classifieds were a multi billion dollar industry and craigslist came along and tidied that up into one profitable 100 million company. the changes here will be just as profound
But we need to step back and look at a 50,000 ft level at what has changed Indeed the very notion of value has changed.
in the old world, the business was built on scarcity, but today we have ubiquity - true obviously in film and music, but also in all other arts - you are now competing with a worldwide artist base, and the entire history of the arts. And audiences who want cultural entertainment (or enlightenment, or....) can get it from many new places.
what matters is my attention
and engaging me, and keeping me engaged, is ever more valuable
becoming more participatory, a conversation
we’ve all heard of social networking, of course, and the thousands if not millions of social networks
here’s an example of a filmmaker using it to their advantage - building community. note how they make it easy for people to take the content to other websites and blogs through widgets, etc. Notice how Vanishing of the Bees has a blog, a petition, twitter, facebook, etc. and a widget to take the content elsewhere.
the latest twitter stats
Importance of twitter (today) Fastest growing 1382% increase in one year, 42% over 35.
Zoe Keating has used it to amass an audience of over 1 million followers, and she now has a self-sustaining career. Notice here she is replying/thanking a fan who cued her in on how to watch some media. She’s not just working a one way street, she’s communicating with her audience.
zoe has built a fan base, that’s in constant dialogue with her. Because this should be your ultimate goal - not to think of building an audience for just one project, but for you, your career - people who will continue to follow you, be in dialogue with you and support your career.
Filmmakers are doing it on their own. Iron Sky example
Join community in multiple places, now have 28K fans, and the movie isn’t even shot yet
also have people requesting the film through a Google Map mashup, and have over 19K requests before the movie is shot.
and now you can too with crowdcontrols
We’re also seeing people turning the audiences into their funders
Patronage – radiohead model, give it away but can donate to get more. Jill Sobule got her fans to donate to make her album - 95K
Here’s a blow-up of what you got for your donation
here’s a recent example of filmmakers doing this - cosmonaut example - one of the more clever uses of crowd-funding
cosmonaut example - here’s some of their merchandise, gives a broad range for support
Age of Stupid did this as well to much success and made a guide to it that anyone can download
Kickstarter examples
a gallery using it
Now, this is the next logical step - letting people actually be involved in the creation of new work
Back to Iron Sky - they are assigning tasks, for participatory filmmaking, and have over 1500 people helping with that - participatory means creation as well
Lest you think this is a weird Finnish thing - look at MassAnimation’s Live Music - 58K animators fro 101 countries made a join animated film
In B Flat - a collaborative, music/spoken word project - Darren Solomon
And they want to mix it up, mash it together and sample it and share it like crazy
Make their own versions, commenting on it and trade those as well
Rip – a film on remix culture (and girltalk) encourages mash-up and remixing
thruyou
it has to be convenient, immediate, because when I have things competing for my attention, I will move on. This means, people expect multi-platform
They want it when they want it, from whatever portal they like and on whatever device they like, and they want it yesterday
They want to share it virally with their friends
and they may even still buy the film on a DVD or other method - but they want access to all of these platforms. Here’s one filmmaker who is using that to his advantage - Cory McAbee with Stingray Sam - offering easy ways to get it in multiple formats and with value added.
They’ll pay for limited editions, from the artist, with cool add-ons
and get it on mobile- one of the biggest trends recently and in coming years, which I’m not devoting enough time to today.
multiple access points, transmedia -
Cross media allows them to become active participants in multiple parts of the story. It allows them to delve deeper into the experience if they so choose, or access it from their preferred medium. The idea is to expand the story line into multiple media. The Matrix is the most famous recent example
of course, Star Wars was doing it before
and their fans are legion, and very involved with every aspect of the story
Definitions of transmedia and examples/things to think about
More to think about and experts.
Thomas Allen Harris and Through a Lens Darkly
Thomas Allen Harris and Through a Lens Darkly
we like to say it’s all about content, but it’s really all about context - it’s about the context built around the content, the experiences I can share, the way it is placed, etc
There’s an old marketing theory that says people don’t go to store to buy a ¼” drill, but because they want a ¼” hole. don’t go to the store to buy a hammer. They go there because they want to hang a picture, to get something done, and the hammer just helps them do it.
I love seeing a movie in a theater, but let’s face it – that was a tool for Hollywood to pack as many people into one space and make money off their desire to escape. It was a tool to have a fun night out, but it was only one tool.
I love seeing a movie in a theater, but let’s face it – that was a tool for Hollywood to pack as many people into one space and make money off their desire to escape. It was a tool to have a fun night out, but it was only one tool.
these aren’t new behaviors but what people wanted to do all along
We now have new tools, and we can’t fight it, but need to embrace them to our benefit. The audience wants to build something – they can get your hammer for free, or you can give them a reason to buy it. They also want to interact with you in new ways, so use these tools to your advantage. People can collect around your film, watch it and interact with it in new ways now. And we have new ways of reaching them and engaging them.