Trans-Fran-Convergent Entertainment…eh, wha’?

Trying to come up with a quick and easy way to name what’s happening in the field of entertainment for writers is kind of funny, but also dead serious. I’ve seen combinations that made me think that, finally, the only people to write for are Drag Queens, because they are going to be the most popular entertainers -- a well-deserved honor, I admit, but hard to believe. The point is that the field is in chaos and there are many opportunities for writers who are paying attention and who are willing. Willing? Yes, willing for what?

In order to cross the bridge from what was to what is, writers have to be willing to take charge of their careers in ways they, perhaps, never planned on doing. Many writers are going to be pushed away from wallflower status to front and center stage in the unfolding events they will create themselves. The product is changing. The process is changing.  For goodness sakes, the format is going to have to change.

What’s a shy writer who lives in her head supposed to do? What’s a guy who just wants to write supposed to do? Well, let it go, people. The writer’s life is no longer confined to “A Room of One’s Own,” or anything resembling quiet, unless one builds some strong boundaries, high fences, or perhaps a psuedo-persona. A writer can no longer afford to cut herself off from the world around her to write the deepest stories of her soul…wait! Stop the bus, I want to get off now, thank you very much.

Let’s go back to the title of this blog post and break it down. The “Trans” part stands for “Transmedian Writing,” which is a new word that is not in your spell check. Writers Boot Camp® told its alums yesterday,  "'Transmedia' is one of those buzz words that may evolve into another term soon, but it definitely means a lot today.“ Bottom line is that you had better not write a feature film without a plan to work it on many different levels and directions – such as the internet short features, television, and apps. Apps? Yes, apps. OMG. It is hard enough to write a friggin’ feature film, right? Am I right? But, I have to say only this, “So what?” Get out of your back alley and come into the light. This is the beginning of your thrilling career!

“Fran” stands for what I know a lot about – The Franchise. I worked on the jewel in the crown of franchises for many years on a “transmedian” level. As a publishing consultant for the STAR TREK franchise, I really get that the future has finally arrived. For writers, this means when you’re thinking of writing a story think about how it could be built into a franchise. A franchise is the “braided money tree” of the entertainment industry. It exists on multiple levels going in multiple directions and unfolding in seemingly endless possibility. Think about it this way…the Original, classic STAR TREK series with Kirk, Spock and McCoy became popular in a flash, and then died or so the studio and network thought. The fans loved it though. So the studio, Paramount Pictures, made it into a movie, when it turned out there was an audience for Sci-Fi after all. That movie bred five more, and also gave birth to STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION; six more movies; STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE; STAR TREK: VOYAGER and STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE, and further movies and shows, I promise you. Not only that, STAR TREK became the king pin of licensed products from games to cereals, magazines to action figures, bars to ring-tones, DVD box sets and more, so much more. Did Gene Roddenberry, STAR TREK’s creator, know when he went to the network and pitched “A Wagon Train to the Stars” show idea that this is what would become of it? I doubt it. It was an organic process then, but it led the way for all of us. We must pay attention. Study it. Know that it is possible.

I like the term “Convergent,” though it has been used by probably the MOST boring of outlets: the business website. The idea is to bring video into websites to convey information in a way that clients, trainees, and employees themselves will relate to and understand. However, the word itself, convergent, means so much more. It is an adjective used by biologists to describe the adaptive evolution of superficially similar structures. The word also suggests a confluence, such as the convergence of two rivers. It also means the coming together of focus, such as two eyes converging on a hawk flying above. To me this is what is happening in the field of writing entertainment: We are having a convergence of superficially similar products (i.e., television, film, on-line streaming, publishing and all stories franchised) focused on a singular entertainment continuum. How’s that for high-faluting?

Very exciting times. Get to work!