The transmedia revolution has begun
From cinema and TV to blogs and mobile phones, different media outlets and technologies are coming together in unprecedented ways. Changing consumer habits, digital convergence and dematerialisation of media content have fuelled this change, with new media becoming more interactive and telling a deeper story. This convergence has been dubbed the transmedia revolution. The EU-funded EUROTRANSMEDIA (Gathering media clusters to bridge digital content with emerging technologies) project outlined ways to boost the transmedia industry. Recognising that mastering transmedia content is the key to the future of creative industries, project members outlined priorities in the emerging field. First, they highlighted the need for immersive and interactive content, noting also user acceptance as an important issue to consider. The team also called on the EU to move away from the old model of protecting local and cultural content towards creating worldwide communities with artistic universes that are free from cultural barriers. Last, EUROTRANSMEDIA underlined the need for building and offering bankable content on several devices to disseminate the content of these new artistic universes. Furthering transmedia requires removing technological barriers that dampen user creativity, providing editing interoperability, and fostering both portability and an updated editorial policy. It involves overcoming technological and economic challenges regarding research and innovation in the EU’s media industry, transforming the consumer also into a producer. As media-related practices become more ubiquitous and mobile, human creativity will be shifting from independent initiatives to team-led creations that characterise transmedia. In this vein the project successfully brought together transmedia value chain actors, including industry, business, academia and policymaking, creating a SWOT analysis for the industry and implementing its research agenda. The project’s joint action plan led to a new transmedia industry platform for R&D projects, an observatory on transmedia best practices and paved the way for the creation of a European Transmedia Institute, a European metacluster fully dedicated to the immsersive and interactive contents as well as a convergent fund to support transmedia creation. It also raised awareness on the topic, enhanced research and defined crowdfunding regulations. These outcomes strengthen creativity and lead to new digital technologies in terms of image, sound and text. Once this vision becomes reality, Europe could emerge as a pioneer in the field, ahead of Asia and the United States.
Keywords
Transmedia, digital convergence, interactive, EUROTRANSMEDIA, emerging technologies
