TLA Transmedia Panel at CTIA Mobile Conference

Thanks to the efforts of TLA member John Heinsen, Transmedia L.A. was given the opportunity to host a panel on (what else?) transmedia at the CTIA Mobile Conference in San Diego, CA.

The Transmedia L.A. panel (“CASE STUDIES IN MOTION: MOBILE VIDEO AND STORYTELLING“) was moderated by TLA Co-Founder Scott Walker, and the panelists included:

• JC Christopfilis, who provided an overview of his on-going transmedia project, “Chopper.”
• John Heinsen, who gave a short presentation on his prediction for how the production, marketing, and distribution of content will change as we move deeper into the digital space.
• Zach Jordan, who talked about his very personal transmedia project, “Carpe Kilimanjaro.”

What is CTIA? It’s a conference focused on mobile technology, with all the major hardware, software, and service providers filling the exhibition floor and conference rooms with the latest and greatest in mobile. The PGA ran a 3-hour session, which included the TLA panel, a chat with Albert Cheng (EVP, Digital Media – Disney), and a networking mixer.

As you might guess, the transmedia panel touched on the opportunities for transmedia in the mobile space, but the Q&A session also surfaced more general concerns about the shift to digital, the challenge of producing quality transmedia content, and the hurdle producers face with a lack of consistent, verifiable metrics. If there was a theme to the Q&A, it was that things are continuing to move quickly in the digital space, and we have little insight into the next 12-24 months regarding who the “big” players in this space will be.

These challenges are compounded when you apply them to a transmedia experience, which will have multiple pieces of content across a variety of platforms and mediums.

After the networking mixer, a few of us headed over to Rama in the Gaslamp District afterwards to indulge in some delicious Thai food, relax in a cozy atmosphere, and swap stories about what we heard and saw at the conference. It turned out to be the perfect way to wrap up an inspiring and thought-provoking afternoon.

Again, big thanks to John Heinsen, who went out of his way to carve out a block of time in the Producers Guild of America’s “Storytelling through Advanced Mobile Content” session at CTIA so TLA could host the panel (he also handled darn near all of the logistics for the panel!).