Writing in the Midst of an Evolving New Media Landscape

[Marco]

I thought I'd start a new discussion in this particular group because it seems to be oh so relevant to the changing media landscape. Now that the writer’s strike is over, I want to start a conversation about writing for new media. What are the implications for story and content? How will “story” be impacted by the evolving distribution models? What kind of stories are more readily digestible by an audience that, on the surface at least, seem to demand content that fits their short attention span? Does today’s new media audience really have a short attention span when it comes to content?

In my opinion, story is story. You still have to engage the audience in a way that keeps them wanting to know what’s going to happen next. Characters, good or bad, need to be someone we can relate to - even in a short form narrative. And even in documentary, you still have to tell a story.

For those of us that want to make a living doing this, or at least want to get some return for the amount of energy we put into making movies, how do we leverage the current distribution and revenue models out there? And what does the near future hold for media makers.

[David Hayes]

Oddly, I feel that this discussion has taken place before. With the advent of the popularity of the internet in the early 90s, the rise of television in the 50s and the proliferation of film in the 20s. Although each of these periods saw a great deal of change in the media environment, the narrative remained that... a narrative. The 3-act structure (since that is the most prevalent today) was not impacted in the transference of live production to early silent film. As television rose, the story remained virtually intact... just given out in shorter doses. The internet has impacted, in my opinon, equally as much as the advent of film and television. In viewing the narrative internet product, though, the story (if I may be so bold) reamains the same. Watching a complete season of an internet property like Chad Vader, for example, shows that basic storytelling structure has not changed. We in the West, for the most part, are living under the auspices of the master narrative. We have been trained to view stories in a certain way with certain components. This is what dictates story to us.

As far as revenue models go, its a whole new world. The web show mentioned earlier, Chad Vader, is about to sign a network deal for a season. Who knows what the future holds? Not me, but I pretend to understand it. I fully believe the return will eventually equal the energy but, like we did as students, I believe it will take a good deal of exposure for no return first. But I could be wrong. And I probably am.

[David Hayes]

I agree that the story is king but does length determine value? There are very talented authors in this world that specialize in flash fiction. I don't believe that attention span determines one's ability to relate and appreciate good storytelling.

[Matthew R. Paden]

Independent film is so intriguing, because writers and filmmakers are willing to break the mold that Hollywood hasn't figured out yet! A good story will always find an audience, no matter what path it takes... The story is the bottom line, not all the other gadgets and gizmos that can be added to it!

[Jon Bonnell]

I think the definition of "new media" needs to be done here.

For example, if we're talking narrative, short form, serialized content (fictional webseries), content is king and, yes, we're going right back to the 1920's, 30's, and 40's cliffhanger serials. They aren't there yet, but that's really what I see people ultimately striving for. Mini-popcorn movies. There are a lot of comedies in this space right now, but not much else. Story is KING, but parliment really makes all the decisions and parliment, in this case, is run by money and no one has really figured out how to make money in this space yet... yet.

Quarterlife was a successful online webseries, costing $80,000 per 5-10 minute episode. They were picked up by NBC, aired for a week and summarily canceled. Frankly, I thought the show was terrible as a web series, but that shows what someone will sit through online vs. offline and that the audiences are quite different. Chad Vader is another one. Its funny online, but I can't see it surviving the TV audience with a full 22 minute program.

Another area of "new media" covered by the writers demands was video games. Video games have employed writers for years, but they got no recognition. This space is still up in the air. The WGA says they control it and the new contracts say so too... but I'm not sure anyone consulted with the video game makers so that's still open. Some video games story is king, but in a lot of others they see it as necessary evil or something any game designer can do. I know, I've applied as a writer for a couple of video game companies that were looking but they settled on game designers that could slap some plot points together instead.

Of course if we're just talking about online distribution and digital downloads this is a huge possibility for the independent film maker, but a two edged sword. You can get your film out there fast and cheaper than ever before. Netflix recently annouced they are going to let indie film makers upload their content right to their servers and will do DVDs on demand... sounds great, right?

But everyone is forgetting the key thing that a distributor does for your film: promotion and advertising. Just because its available online doesn't mean it sells. Look at the top iTunes downloads, they still have major promotion behind them. Just getting it online doesn't work. So, if you can put it on Netflix you have a potential revenue source and distribution arm, but now you need to budget your own P&A budget and promote the hell out of your title to generate revenue.

Maybe that's truely the new media that needs to be made...