OTT & Transmedia

Hello everybody,

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Baldur's Gate 3 is coming to TV. Showrunner Craig Maizen - from the Last Of Us - is tapped to develop the series. It's going to be an amazing project, adapted from an utterly amazing game by Larian, which itself was adapted from a great RPG, Dungeons & Dragons.

THIS is how "transmedia" actually develops. A game, developed with an expanding multi-generational audience since the 1960s, adapted to video games (not to mention films, already), and then the phenomenal Baldur's Gate III, and now into episodic television. The "world" expands and morphs over decades of interaction with audience and transformation in different media and markets.  Watch this commentator video linked below. For aspiring "transmedia" writers, notice how utterly engaged and knowledgeable about the specific IP and about different types of storytelling this person is. This is very rare in film and novel audiences, normal in the gaming community. That observation should inform you about the potential challenges of assuming a "franchise" can actually be designed whole cloth from the start.  A worthwhile watch:

https://youtu.be/1QioZF7lBMo

Do you all find that studio execs tend to respond more favorably to pre-packaged digital-format pitch decks, or the in-person presentation(storyboards, etc) thereof?

Lol so this is a bit of a reach, but hear me out:

I love tattoos. I have five. Two custom (my clover and moon dreaming of sheep) and three flash pieces (Capricorn mergoat, girl dancing with fairies and woman being dragged up to heaven by angels). All of them tell a sort of story, reflect who I am. And yes, I have many ideas for more.

I got to thinking… in a way, aren’t tattoos examples of transmedia? Just like how toys are you telling your own stories with existing characters, tattoos tell stories. Coverups you get to hide scars and past mistakes. Cremation tattoos allow you to literally carry the piece of a loved one wherever you go. Most times you get a tattoo that means something to you. As such, every tattoo tells a story, even if it’s just “I was bored.”

What stories do your tattoos, existing and future, tell?

Do you do a podcast to engage your audience? Possibly one of the original "transmedia" activities in the current era, the podcast has been used by fans to discuss and critique our expressions, for a long time. Of course before that, radio was the dominant media... However, now, studios are in on it! This has been a discussion in the Independent Producers Guild - and I addressed the development in the new article which I adapt below to stimulate your discussion here! Please read and comment on how whether and how you would use a companion podcast for your transmedia storytelling...

The Companion Podcast - Opportunity For The Independent Creator.

In the early days of digital fan culture, the "companion podcast" was a grassroots phenomenon. Independent creators and obsessive fans led the charge, dissecting every frame of their favorite shows on platforms like Reddit and YouTube. Then came the cast-led era, where hits like Office Ladies and Pod Meets World proved that audiences didn’t just want to watch a show; they wanted to live inside its production history.

That landscape has shifted again, and this time, streamers are taking the wheel. As marketing budgets tighten and the "growth-at-all-costs" era of streaming ends, networks are pivoting toward engagement and retention. Part of the strategy is a concerted effort by major platforms to launch in-house companion podcasts to keep viewers tethered to their ecosystems.

The Streamer Stranglehold: HBO pioneered the "official" breakdown with its Chernobyl podcast in 2019, but the trend has reached fever pitch in 2026. According to recent industry analysis by Transistor.fm, platforms like Netflix are now integrating video podcasts directly into their interfaces, launching companion series for flagship titles such as Bridgerton, The Crown, and Love is Blind UK. This shift is about "increasing the surface area of what is already popular" by using existing data to feed more content to people who have already shown interest. In other words, it’s about marketing to your existing fanbase, and expanding that in the medium of the podcast.

The numbers prove the strategy. Peacock’s The Traitors Official Podcast climbed to the top of the charts within its first month, coinciding with a 66% jump in viewership for the show’s fourth season. Similarly, Hulu and Disney’s Tell Me Lies: Official Podcast has generated over 50 million social media views, proving that audio-first content can drive massive cross-platform engagement.

The Indie Opportunity - PR vs. Journalism: For independent producers, this trend is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it validates the podcast as a vital marketing tool for any new release. On the other, it raises questions about the "walled gardens" of official content. As industry analysts have noted, these authorized podcasts offer exclusive access that independent creators can’t match, but they are often "hemmed in by legal departments" and serve more as "PR with a podcast mic" than actual journalism. They avoid candid critiques and rarely venture beyond the company line.

For the independent filmmaker, this creates a significant opening. While streamers focus on high-gloss, sanitized aftershows, the market has a persistent hunger for authentic, unfiltered discussion. Independent productions can leverage this by creating companion content that offers the "soul" and investigatory depth that corporate-sanctioned feeds often lack.

The Bottom Line for IPG Members: Podcasting is no longer an optional "extra" for your marketing slate—it is becoming standard issue for any title hoping to sustain a cultural conversation. In an environment where streamers prioritize retention, your title’s longevity may depend on the community you build around it between episodes or after the credits roll.

However, the lesson for independent producers is clear: don't wait for a streamer to build your community for you. While the majors use podcasts to "capture more casual viewing time," independent creators must use the medium to build direct, owned relationships with their audience.

Join the Conversation

As we navigate these shifting tides, the Independent Producers Guild is committed to ensuring our members have the tools to stay competitive. We are currently discussing the launch of a dedicated IPG member channel on the upcoming FilmPod platform—a space designed specifically for independent filmmakers who are IPG members to craft host, control, and promote their own companion content without streamer interference. Interested in being part of the FilmPod launch? Contact me by DM.

Link to full newsletter, for those interested: https://ipg-news.beehiiv.com/p/the-companion-podcast

One writing device I really like that I don’t feel is utilized nearly as often as it should be is “one dialogue, two conversations.” Pretty straightforward, two characters are talking but maybe not listening to each other, and usually towards the end one or both reveal they were talking about something completely different.

So I wonder… it’s bonkers but could that be possible when writing a story? The same words you write can tell more than one story at the same time?

And I don’t solely mean how there’s naturally as many possible interpretations as there are people reading your work. Can you tell two stories using the same words?

It’s admittedly probably easier to do in poetry, a classic example being the Sbeve meme: S(he) be(lie)ve(d). Still, might be a fun challenge in similarly small doses, like the aforementioned dialogue :3

One thing I really want to do one day for my bigger projects (so far probably just Petal, maybe Finding Elpis) is an ending that’s not really an ending but a loop closure/opening; that is to say, an ending that directly connects to the start of the story showing that the world is eternal and the story happens in a cycle rather than a line.

Do you like these endings or do you like to be more final/definitive?

A new Vanity Fair piece makes it official: the traditional late-night talk show is no longer the only game in town. Instead, digital creators like Brittany Broski, Bowen Yang, and Amelia Dimoldenberg are "shattering the talk show format" by building something looser, more intimate, and entirely online.

Why Digital Creators Are the "New Late Night": Unlike network shows struggling for a fraction for an audience, these hosts thrive on "realness" and their unfiltered personalities. As Broski puts it, fans crave genuine "parasocial connection" with celebrities, not rehearsed talking points. The gatekeeping power of traditional late-night is dissolving—an appearance on a popular YouTube show is now a Hollywood "rite of passage," as Glen Powell said of Hot Ones.

The Deep Connection to Podcasting: Many of these shows are, at their core, video podcasts. Las Culturistas is a podcast with recognizable hosts and a strong demographic behind them and now hosts its own award show on Bravo)! With often spend an hour or more with a single guest—a format that allows for depth impossible in a six-minute network segment. YouTube reports that viewers watched over 700 million hours of podcasts on their TVs last October alone. Streaming services are taking note, with Netflix signing major deals to develop its own video podcast slate.

Audiences Don't Need TV for Zeitgeist Commentary Anymore: The traditional late-night monologue has been replaced by a thousand different authentic conversations online. The new hosts generally avoid political edge (with Ziwe being a notable exception), focusing instead on collaborative, positive spaces where audiences can connect directly with personalities they trust.

Breaking In: Luck vs. Training?: The path varies wildly. Some, like Broski, found fame almost accidentally—through a 2019 kombucha-tasting meme. Others, like Ziwe and Julian Shapiro-Barnum, bring clear creative vision, aiming to create something "literally for a YouTube audience." Kareem Rahma's finds his Subway Takes series taking off on social media and YouTube as the host found no luck selling the series to a network before hopping on socials with celebrity guests to someone just sitting on the train looking to offload their thoughts. Amelia Dimoldenberg graduated with a journalism degree and most recently striked up a film centering her Chicken Shop Date concept. While luck can open the door, sustaining a show requires entrepreneurial hustle—from funding projects with brand deals to turning down buyout offers to retain creative control.

The table is getting more crowded, but as Broski notes, "there's room for everyone"—because unlike network television, these shows aren't fighting for the same time slot. They're available anytime, anywhere, and for a new generation of viewers, that's exactly what late-night should be. What does this mean? Late night won't be ditched for some time but it's clear that leveraging a new audience has allowed these hosts to break a door they couldn't even open when going the traditional route, from produced films to serious acquisitions, the road may not be as narrow as one thinks.

I was just watching a video by a YouTuber I’m subscribed to, Greg Owen, about Millennial writing, and he and several commenters made an excellent point:

Sincerity is largely missing in today’s creative works. The reason anime is as popular as it is, for example, is that no matter how over-the-top the plot and the characters are, they are played completely straight and serious without any asterisks. They buy into their own product, have fun, and encourage you to dive in as well. And you do, and you have the time of your life.

This is especially true with transmedia. It’s much harder to sell a big story when you’re being ironic about it, when you can take a risk (that I’d argue shouldn’t even really BE a risk) and be sincere and win audiences that way. You gotta commit to what you’re selling because if not, who will?

This is the video if you wanna watch it for yourself:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NGSkq9WeNcI&pp=ugUEEgJlbg%3D%3D

Curious to know—what’s your all-time favorite transmedia world? I’m talking stories that stretch across books, games, films, maybe even comics or animation. The kind of universes that just keep expanding and still hold up.

Here are a few of mine:

1. Shrek – Wildly entertaining across formats and ages

2. Star Wars – From novels to games to streaming, it’s a global myth

3. The Lord of the Rings – Still the blueprint for cinematic worldbuilding

4. Underworld – Dark fantasy done loud and stylish

5. Van Helsing – Gritty, gothic, and underrated in how it crosses mediums

These kinds of OTT worlds have inspired how I build my projects for film, games, and streaming.

Would love to hear yours—what transmedia world has stuck with you over the years and why?

As I promised a couple days ago, for this lounge, I have concluded a case study of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise, as it relates to transmedia. This is very instructive, as D&D has over 50 years since its creation, and has been and remains a transmedia phenomenon. I encourage everyone interested in the "transmedia" world to read the full article, which links at the bottom of this post. Here, I include only the executive summary. HOWEVER, before that, I invite your comments and I also want to make a couple observations not directly addressed in the case study but which is fundamental to the success of D&D: it was and remains a unique and original contribution to both gaming and narrative structure. The latter even has a label: "emergent narrative" - which is a topic all its own. But the lesson here is, if you want to be a successful transmedia franchise, you need to do Ph.D. level work, in that you create something which is an original and unique contribution to media and story. Most of us are not capable of that. And now, the summary (link to full paper at bottom of page):

Overview and Financial Evolution

Since its creation in 1974, Dungeons & Dragons has evolved from a niche tabletop wargame produced on a $2,000 budget into a massive transmedia lifestyle brand. Today, the property is a primary financial engine for its parent company, Hasbro; in recent reports, the Wizards of the Coast (WotC) and Digital Gaming segment generated over $1 billion in operating profit, driven heavily by digital licensing and video game sales.

Creation, Ownership, and Legal Battles

The game was originally co-created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and published through their company, Tactical Studies Rules (TSR). The property's history is defined by corporate consolidation and bitter legal friction. Arneson was ousted early on and spent years suing TSR to secure his royalties and co-creator credit. Gygax was similarly ousted in 1985 following a stealth stock buyout by executive Lorraine Williams.

Teetering on bankruptcy, TSR was acquired by WotC in 1997, which was subsequently bought by Hasbro in 1999. The brand's history of legal turbulence continued into the modern era, most notably with the 2023 Open Game License (OGL) crisis, where massive community backlash forced WotC to abandon plans to extract royalties from third-party creators and instead place the game's core mechanics into the Creative Commons.

Creative Influences

The foundational lore of D&D operates as a postmodern pastiche. Its mechanics and world-building were heavily inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien (which sparked early copyright disputes over terms like "hobbit"), as well as global mythologies and a specific list of pulp fantasy authors—such as Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, and H.P. Lovecraft—codified by Gygax in the game's famous "Appendix N".

Transmedia Adaptations

Because D&D is fundamentally a world-building engine, it became highly adaptable across various media:

Literature and Comics: The franchise proved the viability of shared-world fantasy fiction through massive bestsellers like the Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms series, alongside decades of licensed comic books.

Film and Stage: After a critically panned film attempt in 2000, the brand successfully translated to the silver screen with 2023's critically acclaimed Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. It has also entered the theatrical space with the officially licensed, interactive Off-Broadway and touring production, The Twenty-Sided Tavern.

Video Games: D&D's ruleset translates perfectly to computer RPGs. The Baldur's Gate series, originally developed by BioWare in 1998, revitalized the genre.

The Baldur's Gate 3 Phenomenon and IP Control

The 2023 release of Baldur's Gate 3 by Larian Studios represented a massive cultural and financial windfall, selling tens of millions of copies and sweeping global industry awards. The game's success was driven by its acclaimed cast of companion characters, such as Astarion and Karlach. However, the project perfectly illustrates the harsh realities of transmedia franchise control: while Larian Studios engineered the cultural phenomenon, Hasbro and WotC retain absolute ownership over the intellectual property and all the original characters. This absolute corporate control was recently highlighted when HBO announced a live-action Baldur's Gate television series helmed by Craig Mazin, a production from which Larian Studios and the game's original writers were completely excluded.

Read and download the full paper here: https://independentproducersguild.org/paper-D&D-history-of-a-%20transmed...