The New Art of Storytelling

So, in search of those content creators that would change interactive television, I made a pilgrimage to Los Angeles to speak with film students, writers, and producers to see how they could tell stories over interactive television platforms. Fortunately, there was no shortage of creative thinking and good storytelling, despite the limited interface that a cable set-top box provides. But even with the right stories, there will still be a challenge in marketing interactive television content. How do you market an interactive television product that will only be available to a limited and gated universe? To reach the masses with an interactive television application, you have very few options. You can wait for an over-the-top solution like Microsoft’s Media Center PC or Apple’s iTV to reach critical-mass adoption, or you can go make a deal with 15 or so cable and satellite providers, most of whom don’t have an interactive television solution in place.

The way to get around this market fragmentation in interactive television is to use the power of the web to reach the masses and drive them back to their televisions so they can experience television in a new way (assuming they are on a cable or satellite system that offers the interactive application). The problem with this solution is how to link stories on the web to stories on television and keep the user engaged. Since the likelihood of someone jumping directly from the web to her television screen is slim, the challenge is to keep the story fresh in the user’s mind for days after she is first exposed to it. If this is accomplished, the next time the user sits in front of a TV, she will want to interact with the story she first interacted with on the web. Accomplishing this is no easy feat, and it again leads back to the quality and the form of the storytelling.

Have you noticed that people can’t wait to watch the next episode of Lost or 24? Have you noticed that despite the fact that people complain about how little time they have, they still find time to watch 13-hour DVDs of these shows? The stories are so compelling that people can’t wait to watch and talk about the stories with their friends. That is the "link" that needs to be tapped into.

In a world where the spectrum of video entertainment ranges from highly produced Hollywood blockbusters to home videos uploaded on YouTube, how can you capture people’s imaginations, keep them engaged, and give them an experience that is as powerful as a Hollywood movie yet is as easy and convenient as watching a little kid breakdance on the web?

Why Multiplatform Stories?
The concept is not so hard for people in the industry to understand, because it has all the right buzzwords, but will consumers actually adopt this kind of storytelling? While the delivery of storytelling has evolved from oral tradition to the written word to radio to television to the web, the stories themselves have not changed in structure since the beginning of time. Why should we believe that they will change now?

There is no hard evidence supporting the notion that consumers will adopt this kind of storytelling except for the penetration of television, broadband, cell phones, PDAs, iPods, and other mobile entertainment devices in the consumer market. The evolution of video games over the past 25 years also supports the notion that consumers desire alternative story structures.

What this means is that the interface and the literacy to make multiplatform storytelling work are already in place. Most people have a television, and many have an enhanced television with digital cable and interactive capabilities. More than half of the U.S. has a computer with broadband connectivity at work and/or at home. Almost everyone has a cell phone. And many professionals, teenagers, and tech junkies have another mobile device: a Treo, Blackberry, iPod, or PSP. What this tells us is that we don’t have to change user behavior in terms of how entertainment is consumed for multiplatform stories to work. We do have to find a way, however, to create cohesive experiences across all those entertainment devices.

Putting consumer adoption aside for a moment, the concept of multiplatform stories offers a major value proposition for content creators and advertisers. If a multiplatform story can capture a user on all of the user’s entertainment devices, advertisers have the ability to reach their target market at all possible touch points in an extremely efficient, seamless, targeted, relevant, and accountable way. Advertisers can market directly to their target customers through the story, instead of trying to cast a wide net and hoping to reach potential customers in multiple locations. Time spent with the story increases, and the storytelling adapts with user behavior as opposed to trying to change user behavior or prevent its evolution.

But if multiplatform storytelling is to be the next big thing in entertainment, we can’t just put consumer adoption aside. Since we aren’t simply trying to change how stories are delivered but are instead trying to change the way stories are told, multiplatform storytelling is in essence setting out to become a new art form. And with any new art form—whether it is theater, film, dramatic television, or interpretive dance—it takes several iterations before a working format emerges. In other words, the next big thing in entertainment is not a new hit movie or a new killer delivery technology. The next big thing is a new focus on creating story worlds that are in tune with the new generation of consumers and the new interfaces through which they will interact with new stories.

The first multiplatform story will most likely not be a "hit." The next step will be several generations of trial and error with creative experimentation to learn what consumers want and what they are attracted to. It is time for a whole new generation of Spielbergs and Scorseses to hit the market. Creative thinkers can now create imaginary worlds that are as complex and intricate as the creators’ own imaginations.