WAB - autumn 2014 - EUROTRANSMEDIA
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WORK INVESTMENT Media without borders An EU grant will help Wallonia develop transmedia in Europe BY TOM PEETERS C onsumers no longer digest their information on one screen; they use different media on multiple screens, platforms and devices. Transmedia is about spreading audiovisual content all over. Its about watching your football team on television while checking the game stats online on your smartphone. Its about going to the movies after being drawn in by a customised trailer on social media. The ultimate goal is to create new products, markets and jobs PIERRE COLLIN 10 wallonia and brussels magazine AUTUMN 2014 The EU has granted funding of 2 million to the Eurotransmedia project, enabling the development of this new DQG KLJKO\ WHFKQRORJLFDO ²HOG §)LUVW were setting up a European research agenda, bringing together the ideas of world-class experts on how to use media screens in the future, says Pierre Collin from the Twist business cluster, whos managing the project. §%XWWKHXOWLPDWHJRDOLVWRFUHDWHQHZ products, markets and jobs. §,WªVDUHYROXWLRQDU\DQGH[WUHPHO\IDVW evolving area with big technological, economic and creative challenges. As the executive manager of Twist (Technologies Wallonnes de lImage, du Son et du Texte), Collin knows what hes talking about. Established LQ LW LV QRZ %HOJLXPªV ELJJHVW business network in the sector of digital audiovisual and multimedia WHFKQRORJLHV §$QG D SURYHQ accelerator of economic development, he emphasises. Hes currently running the three-year Eurotransmedia project, which is funded by the EU Regions of Knowledge programme. %HFDXVH RI WKH PDQ\ FKDOOHQJHV DQG opportunities for convergence, its only logical that Europe is trying to facilitate the transition from monomedia to transmedia, supporting LQQRYDWLRQLQWKH²HOG(XURWUDQVPHGLD gathers media clusters to bridge digital content with emerging technologies. ,WªV D FROODERUDWLRQ EHWZHHQ ²YH European regions Wallonia, ÎleGH)UDQFH &DWDORQLD 6NnQH DURXQG Malmö in Sweden) and Estonia DQG 4XHEHF §%HFDXVH WUDQVPHGLD cannot be stopped by borders, we were encouraged by the EU to search for a partner outside Europe, Collin explains. §&DQDGD LV UXQQLQJ DKHDG LQ WKH ²HOG of transmedia. The federal Canada 0HGLD)XQGKDVD\HDUO\EXGJHWRI¯ million to invest in the local television and digital media industries, and for three years it has only supported projects that spread their content over at least two media. If you stay monomedia there, you dont get subsidies DQ\PRUH)RUORFDOPHGLDHQWHUSULVHV it was one of the main reasons to start investing in transmedia. In the future, Collin thinks Europe can move its subsidy policy in this direction, but were not that far \HW )RU QRZ 7ZLVW DQG LWV SDUWQHUV are designing a strategic European agenda, considering the best ways to free content from only one medium. §:KDW ZLOO WKH ²HOG ORRN OLNH LQ WKH year 2030? is a crucial question we asked ourselves, Collin says. The Eurotransmedia project started on September 1 last year. In the meantime, a thorough analysis of the transmedia industry in the regions concerned was made and a global study about media consumption in Europe, North America and Asia was launched, interviewing experts in all territories. )RU:DOORQLDIRULQVWDQFHWKHFXWWLQJ edge Liège-based technology company EVS and the television chains RTL and 57%)ZHUHDSSURDFKHG The results were due to be presented in early October to a jury of eight experts, all specialised in a different media ²HOG $PRQJ WKHP DUH WKH (XURSHDQ %URDGFDVWLQJ8QLRQWHOHYLVLRQ6RQ\ (mobile telephony), Ubisoft (games), Média-Participations (publishing) and +DYDV FRPPXQLFDWLRQ §:H DOVR gathered specialists in storytelling and second-screen technology, giving us insights into how we can tell a story through multiple media. According to Collin, the biggest challenge is not the technological or the economic one, though a lot of convergence issues still have to be solved and budgets will need to increase, since theyre no longer working with a cultural product say books or movies being spread through one medium. §7KH ELJJHVW FKDOOHQJH LV D FUHDWLYH RQH¨ KH VD\V §0RVW DUWLVWV DUH acquainted with only one grammar: theirs. They still work under a onemedium paradigm, such as writing a scenario for a movie. In Europe especially, a few paradigms still need to fall down. A European creative often works by himself, unlike in the US, where working in teams is much more common. §:H FDQ IRU LQVWDQFH EULQJ WRJHWKHU scenarists who specialise in different ²HOGV VR NQRZKRZ FDQ EH VKDUHG and stories for different screens can evolve simultaneously, enabling the protagonists to really think transmedia. We need to free the content from its medium. I think thats what Europe wants, too, and it will be a blessing for the international career of our cultural products, which will be forced to seek global appreciation. The one thing thats still missing for Collin is a reference project, especially LQ WKH DUWLVWLF VHFWRU §/LNH ZKDW WKH movie Avatar did for Stereoscopic 3D, which already represents 20 percent of WKH PDUNHW¨ %XW DQ LQFUHDVHG EXGJHW is needed. To get a hold of that, the plan is to identify what the technology QHHGVE\QH[W)HEUXDU\ §7KHQ RWKHU UHJLRQV FDQ UHJLVWHU LQ RXU DJHQGD¨ &ROOLQ VD\V §5HJLRQV can start to mark new goals and we will try to represent transmedia SMEs in a new consortium, developing and launching new products, creating new markets, all based on our conclusions. In doing this we can hopefully create a European transmedia style. N WWW.TWIST-CLUSTER.COM wallonia and brussels magazine AUTUMN 2014 11
