Cross-media.it » henry jenkins

Max Giovagnoli, transmedia storyteller, and his “The sea in my veins”

admin — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:15:24 +0000

Max Giovagnoli is the best-known transmedia storyteller and cross-media researcher in Italy. Author of “Cross-media. The new narratives” and many other books and essays, he’is screenwriter for tv/web fiction and novelist. Member of the editorial committee of Cartoons on the Bay festival, where he will moderate the “Cartoons and Advertising” conference and the first “Cross-media Animation and Games Summit” with international guest like Jeff Gomez, Henry Jenkins and Stephen Dinehart, he’s now involved in the experimental transmedia project named “Il mare in vena” (The sea in my veins) which will start with the omonymous shortmovie, shown next may in the “El Cairo Mediterranean Literary Festival” and in other international locations. But the movie is just part of the story, which will be entirely told in the novel published next autumn, but first performed in a storytelling road show hold in Italy during the summer. “Il mare in vena” will become then an enhanched book for iPad in the winter, and it has already been shot its pilot for a tv series as well. The story runs the adventures of an ADHD sixteen-aged boy and his young teacher, an amazing exchange of roles which will drive the two guys to a spicy brotherwood, passing through a funny breakaway from Italy to Ireland (and back).

Italian “Cross-media Summit” on animation and games: Henry Jenkins

admin — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 11:25:02 +0000

Henry Jenkins, Provost’s Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, will be interviewed by Max Giovagnoli for the “CROSS-MEDIA AND INTERACTIVE ANIMATION SUMMIT” hold on Cartoons on the bay Festival, next 9, april. The videointerview will be shown as the official introduction of the conference. Prof. Jenkins is the best-known aca-fan in the world, and he has written and edited more than a dozen books on media and popular culture, including Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide (2006). His other published works reflect the wide range of his research interests, touching on democracy and new media, the “wow factor” of popular culture, science-fiction fan communities, and the early history of film comedy. As one of the first media scholars to chart the changing role of the audience in an environment of increasingly pervasive digital content, Jenkins has been at the forefront of understanding the effects of participatory media on society, politics, and culture. His research gives key insights to the success of social-networking Web sites, networked computer games, online fan communities, and other advocacy organizations, as well as emerging news media outlets. Prior to joining USC, Jenkins spent nearly two decades at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the Peter de Florez Professor in the Humanities. While there, he directed MIT’s Comparative Media Studies graduate degree program from 1999-2009, setting an innovative research agenda during a time of fundamental change in communication, journalism, and entertainment.

“Cross-media day” in Italy, 9 April

admin — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:15:15 +0000

Next Saturday 9, April will be the cross-media day at Cartoos on the bay Festival hold in Rapallo, Italy. In its 15th edition, the festival will host the first CROSS-MEDIA AND INTERACTIVE ANIMATION SUMMIT organized by RAI (the italian, national broadcaster) in collaboration with Cross-media.it and Aiomi. ”First person shooters” of the transmedia-cross-media market and storytelling conference will be: Jeff Gomez (President & CEO, Starlight Runner Entertainment) Warren Spector (Vice President and Founder Junction Point), Henry Jenkins (video contribution, Provost’s Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California), Gordon Bellamy (Executive Director, International Game Developers Association), Stephen Dinehart (video contribution, transmedia storyteller and game designer) and many else. Max Giovagnoli and Marco Accordi Rickards, members of the editorial comittee of the festival, will moderate the two sessions of the conference.

For more info, click here

Unheard (european) voices?

admin — Thu, 06 May 2010 17:17:09 +0000

It’s undoubted: the academic community ought to speak a common language to share contents in real time; and, nowadays, this esperanto can be the “global english” only. It’s pacific: to share their researches and contents throughout the world: professors, advocates, researchers and students love to use english to make their messages and projects public and easy to share. And this is valid and true in particular for the cross-mediality as object and discipline. But… what if also the publishing houses would use the same parameter, that is to publish just books written in english?

More than the 70% of the essays and handbooks focusing on Media Studies published in Italy, for example, are books originally written in another language: english, french, deutch, spanish, polish, portuguese… Even the smallest corporate in our market translate and publish foreign texts regularly to help people learning better and knowing more about communications, media techniques and imaginery. But… as you know them, how many US publishing house, for example, have an in-house reader that can judge french, italian, spanish etc… titles? So, how to compensate this absence? Are you sure that literary agents are the best solution actually?

Just a personal example: since Cross-media communication is such a young discipline, I wrote the first book focusing on cross-media in the world here in Italy in 2005. Then, I published the second one (one of the 5 published all over Europe today) in 2009, and it got published by one of the most important corporates in Italy (mutatis mutandis, the same that published the optimum Henry Jenkin’s “Convergence Culture”…). Dozens of students and young researchers studied them and today I’m so proud they are at owrk for majors and european broadcasters. But… did any US publishing house notice it?

Yes, many and complicated are the reasons of the fact: the small dimensions of the italian market, the “big risk” of the scouting activity, the absence of translators from italian to english in US for example, the low quality of many texts (like my books, probably!) etc.! So, I’ll write my next essay using my global (and incorrect) English and my students will study it in that language, ok! But… are you sure that this would be the real, ultimate and best solution for the audience too? And not just for Italians, or Europeans… [Max Giovagnoli]

Henry Jenkins on the “Trans-media Producer”

admin — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:14:50 +0000

The bestknown Acafan in the world, Prof. Henry Jenkins, commented some days ago the born of the “transmedia producer” credit in his blog. Here his words about the great role played by the first transmedia producer, Jeff Gomez and Starlight Runner Entertainment in this difficult match.

“From the beginning, transmedia has been a site of experimentation, innovation, and exploration at the heart of the mainstream media. Many of us have seen the signs of transmedia practices emerging from some time — mostly taking shape around forms of marketing because that’s how such projects could get funded, mostly reflecting the logic of a more integrated media industry with strong economic imperatives for creating entertainment experiences across platforms. [...] From my perspective, there is a use within the academic world for clearer, more precise definitions, but there is also a value more generally for a more slippery conception, at least while we are still undergoing such rapid evolution. My hope is that the definition and borders of the concept will be debate everytime two or more transmedia advocates have gathered.”

Here in Italy, the definition of “cross-media” is still more used than “trans-media”, as it is in many european countries, but soon, as Prof. Jenkins says too, I believe academic world and industry will match better also in the use of the phrases, to contribute better to the lifelong experience of merging media all around the world. And it doesn’t matter if some of us… like me, first of all, will have to update the “titles” of their books. Its the hard part of the job of any pioneer, isn’t it? But I’ll write more about it in my next short essay published on “Script”, the most important magazine for screenwriters in Italy, which will be published in june. [Max Giovagnoli]