OTT & Transmedia

Big news in the world of interactive storytelling: SAG-AFTRA has reached a tentative agreement with major video game companies on a new contract. One of the key issues addressed? Protections around artificial intelligence.

This deal is especially significant for those working across transmedia platforms, where performance capture, voice acting, and digital likenesses are foundational elements of storytelling. The agreement introduces new AI consent and compensation terms that could influence standards across the industry, from video games to VR, AR, and beyond.

Read the full article here: https://deadline.com/2025/06/sag-aftra-video-game-deal-ai-1236429174/

What are your thoughts? Do these AI protections go far enough? How do you see this shaping the future of storytelling across platforms?

Love it or hate it, AI is reshaping our creative landscape...but you still control the narrative as a writer, creator, and filmmaker. The question isn't whether AI will impact storytelling; it's how you'll respond to that impact.

If you choose to reject AI entirely, what will define your work? What will be your unique contribution to the arts? History shows us that the most powerful art movements often emerge as direct responses to technological and societal shifts.

Consider the birth of Impressionism. When the Daguerreotype and early cameras arrived in the 19th century, traditional painters faced their own existential crisis. Photography could capture reality with unprecedented precision...so what was the point of realistic painting? Rather than surrender, artists like Monet and Renoir pivoted toward something cameras couldn't replicate: the fleeting effects of light, the subjective experience of a moment, the emotional truth beyond literal representation. They didn't compete with the camera's realism; they transcended it.

What will be our 21st century Impressionism?

As AI becomes capable of generating scripts, stories, and even films, what uniquely human elements will you champion? Perhaps it's the messy contradictions of lived experience that algorithms can't quite capture. Maybe it's the cultural specificity that comes from growing up in a particular place and time. Or the authentic emotional vulnerability that emerges from real struggle, real loss, real joy.

The artists who thrive won't be those who ignore this technological shift, but those who use it as a catalyst to discover what makes human creativity irreplaceable. Your voice, your perspective, your lived experience: these remain uniquely yours.

The question is: How will you make them count?

Hi everyone,

This is Part 3 of my symbolic video series (59 sec each), where I explore how films encode archetypal narratives — using symbolism, sound, and image to activate unconscious layers of meaning.

In this episode, I focus entirely on The Shining, proposing that the film can be interpreted as an embodiment of The High Priestess, an archetype from the Tarot’s Major Arcana associated with silence, intuition, symmetry, and hidden truth.

The music in this piece is drawn from my original album inspired by the 22 Tarot cards. Each video connects the sound and the symbolic structure of an archetype to cinematic language.

Would love to hear how others are using layered meaning or archetypes across different media.

Brad Pitt’s F1 isn’t just a movie, it’s a full-throttle example of how entertainment and global branding can collide to create a transmedia juggernaut. Apple Original Films partnered directly with Formula 1 to integrate real-time races, groundbreaking camera technology, and a narrative that blends fiction with one of the world’s most-watched sports events.

From filming during actual Grand Prix weekends to embedding characters and storylines into the existing F1 world, this project redefines immersive storytelling. It’s not just about using IP across platforms, it’s about designing a story that belongs in multiple spaces at once: film, sport, behind-the-scenes content, merchandise, and beyond.

As transmedia creators, there’s a lot to learn from how F1 is using real-world infrastructure and fandom to build something that feels both authentic and cinematic.

What do you think, does this kind of integration enhance the story or blur the line too much between entertainment and event? Could this model apply to your own projects?

Check out the article here:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2025/06/27/f1-the-mo...

I’m Monobjo, a composer and symbolism researcher. I’ve created a musical album inspired by the 22 Major Arcana of the Tarot, and I’m now developing it into a transmedia project combining music, video essays, and a live performance.

This 59-second short is the first in a symbolic film analysis series where I read iconic horror films (starting with Shining and Hereditary) through the lens of the Major Arcana.

It's part of a broader exploration:

Music as ritual

Film as symbolic language

Archetypes as emotional structures

I'd love to hear how others here are approaching transmedia storytelling, especially in experimental or symbolic forms.

You have been warned!! Here comes the last episodes of Stranger Things. With no pressure to watch them all before the finale on 1st January!

This is, I think, going to be amazing! Are you a fan? Who’s your favourite character? What’s your favourite episode?

https://youtu.be/QlYrNC_1Xmk

I’m looking forward to the next Benoit Blanc outing. This looks like it falls deeply into the gothic genre(!) and feels like a fun romp. I do love Daniel Craig in this role. How about you?

What’s your favourite Knives Out movie? What do you think of the trailer?

https://youtu.be/sRqU2276eaQ

I have just finished watching this series on Netflix and I've been absolutely wowed by it.

The Eternaut is an Argentinian series filmed in Buenos Aires. The story is an adaptation of Hector German Oesterheld's 1957 graphic novel, 'El Eternauta' (The Eternal). It is an iconic story of oppression and resistance, set in the frame of a dystopian, science-fiction world.

I first heard of it a couple of years ago, when connecting on Stage32 with a composer (Antonio Zimmerman) who lives in Buenos Aires. We started talking about animated series and graphic novels.

Here's the trailer:

https://youtu.be/TqT4fDQQqCc

The visual effects are stunning. The story is set during summertime, but as four friends play a card game, 'Truco', snow begins to fall. The snow however, is toxic and anyone whose skin is touched by the snowflakes, dies.

Some critics have complained that it's a slow-burner, but I give no value to that criticism; it simply increases the tension of the story. What's a dystopian thriller without scenes of streets empty of life, with the bodies of the fallen hanging out of cars and the windows of their apartments?

The subscribers to Netflix loved this series so much, that a day after its release, Netflix commissioned the second and final series of 8 episodes.

It has great acting and production values, which shows the qualities of the filmmaking community in Argentina. I watched the final episode last night and the last scene was breath-taking.

I recommend this series to you. Please let me know what you think? Are you a fan of dystopian stories? Have you watched The Eternaut? What's your favourite dystopian films of the 50s and 60s?

Here's a behind the scenes look at the making of the series.

https://youtu.be/bATx3KX1D4U

Amazon’s Fallout series has been a massive win, not just for fans of the games but as a clear-cut success story for transmedia strategy. This new blog from MIDiA Research breaks down how Fallout is more than just a show, it’s a masterclass in expanding a preexisting IP into a new format without alienating the original fanbase.

But the article also raises a smart question: how do we evolve transmedia strategies beyond just extensions of gaming IP? Can we build experiences that originate from shows, books, or even podcasts with the same kind of cultural resonance?

Check out the article here:

https://www.midiaresearch.com/blog/amazons-fallout-is-another-success-st...

Then let’s talk:

What other examples of successful transmedia storytelling have inspired you? And if you’re building your own universe, how are you thinking beyond a single medium?

Hi there,

I came across this article in one of my Google Alerts (it's a great way of staying on top of what's happening in the industry) and it offers a great overview of the VOD industry with some interesting snapshots. If you are into 'churn rates', then this article is for you!

Here's one bullet point from the article:

Among young viewers aged 18 to 34, 66% prefer using free streaming apps with ads over paying for ones with no ads.

So, it appears that SVOD has a long way to go, in its appeal to younger viewers, no doubt based on affordability. That however, is just one snapshot from it.

What are your thoughts on the data?

https://www.coolest-gadgets.com/video-on-demand-statistics/