OTT & Transmedia : Help Me Choose the Best Term! by Mandi Allen

Hi, Mandi Allen. Transmedia.

"Transmedia" would be the term for a franchise which already across different media. Before that, it is a potential "adaptation" which is the term we use in business documents and legal contracts. The IP must always start in one media.

My question is to whether the term transmedia is still clear as a term, Im my reserach is has been misinterrpreted to mean trans inclusive media. Working with older adults, I need a term that works but is clear in its language. The model is the same, but also includes other mediums not often associated with with Traditonal transmedia,

Personally, I like calling it multimedia storytelling since it covers multiple mediums while sharing the same story.

Hello Mandi Allen Here's quick explanation of Transmedia Adaptation vs. Transmedia Storytelling

Transmedia Adaptation

The same story is shared across different platforms.

For example, a film adapted into a TV show, audiobook, or stage play. The core story stays the same, only the format changes.

Transmedia Storytelling (original term)

A single story world is told across multiple platforms.

Each platform adds new details, characters, or perspectives, so the story grows as you experience more of it.

Transmedia Marketing

This uses multiple platforms to promote a story or project.

The content supports awareness and engagement, but it is mainly designed to market the work rather than expand or retell the story itself.

Mandi Allen Is the term transmedia still clear? IMO absolutely not. It's a terrible term and you see here, even among professional industry and amateur filmmakers, it gets mixed in with "multimedia" and adaptation/derivation/ancillary versions. In the legal contracts, it's not a term ever used because it has no legal meaning, and no functionally agreed definition. For explaining it, it's not a generational issue. It's a practical versus visionary issue. It's fun for people to envision a transmedia universe, and a great exercise in imagination. It's fun to dissect how a franchise has developed over the decades from one media into transmedia phenomenon. Think of Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings, Harry Potter, Batman, Superman, et al. But it's not practical legally, design-wise, production-wise, or market-wise, to try to create a "transmedia" story from the beginning, because that's not how its done. So my question to you is, why are you trying to explain this, what specifically are you trying to get across? Because who cares about the term so long as you can do that?

Shadow, the term often used in education is “Super Story,” a story world strong enough to naturally expand across platforms. Many people do not realize that transmedia requires a specific skill set, and not every story is capable of it without intentional design. Houston Howard’s background is centered on helping people create, and he has dedicated his teaching to young creators learning how to design transmedia from the beginning. That is the same space I work in, as my super stories are built to cross platforms by design. If you need help creating a super story, I have mastered this process within a year and do it daily. If you still want help, I am happy to walk you through building a transmedia story, as this is very easy for me and I work 60 to 100 hours a week doing it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VinhH83Uy2Y

Dwayne Williams 2 Thank you I certainly don't need any help with story. However since you offered, could you please outline how you pitch and produce a transmedia franchise. It would be instructive for us to see how you package for divergent media, how that affects your budgeting and your pitching process for your transmedia project.

Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg How I package for divergent media, and how that affects budgeting and pitching

I package the project as a story-world bible, not as simultaneous productions.

The core package includes:

A primary anchor script (feature or series)

A world bible outlining rules, factions, timeline, and mechanics

Visual storyboards and VFX-style previs to clarify tone, scale, action, and world logic

To demonstrate cross-platform viability, I attach separate, modular PDFs that outline:

A game version (core mechanics, player perspective, progression, systems)

Lore extensions that exist outside the anchor narrative

Scriptment-level outlines for other media (interactive, audio, episodic, etc.)

These materials are descriptive, not greenlit. They show how the world functions across mediums without bundling production or budgets.

Pitching flexibility:

If the project is better positioned as a game first, the game outline already exists and can be pitched directly to the gaming industry. The same world can also be pitched to film/TV buyers, or to companies operating across both film and gaming, without rewriting the IP or repackaging the core logic.

Budgeting impact:

Each medium remains independently budgeted. Previs and environment visualization reduce creative risk by making scope, scale, and mechanics concrete before production decisions are locked.

Pitching impact:

I pitch the anchor version appropriate to the buyer. The bible and attachments are used to make franchise potential tangible rather than theoretical, not as a requirement for financing.

In some cases, I bundle Film Part 1 and Part 2 into a unified bible when the story architecture requires it. These bibles include storyboard-style visuals and modular mechanics that can later be activated across platforms.

In short: the work is packaged as a designed world with multiple valid entry points, not as a speculative multi-platform production.

Dwayne Williams 2 To whom have you done this with? Certainly not Netflix or Paramount, who both would require all rights at first instance.

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Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg totally agree it’s not a fit for purpose, in my example I am looking for a clearer term that CAN be used across generations as well as media.

I totally understand the term as it sits currently doesn’t intend to disengage for example, older adults, but in my experience as a writer, producer and academic researcher, Transmedia producers, productions companies, broadcasters etc don’t include them as part of the audience, it’s as if they are invisible!!

so what I’m hoping to start a conversation. about, which is great as it’s happening, is exactly what what we mean and what alternatives are there.

For me Transmedia, doesn’t include (typically I hasten to add!) formats such as theatre, audio dramas (radio plays) art installations etc, for focus is more on the digital and newer technologies.

maybe it’s something that one term will also be insufficient for, but I like the fact that people are willing to discuss.

Dwayne Williams 2 hi thanks for traditional definition, it’s something I’m aware of, but my question was relating to it not being fit for purpose or already dated may be a better way of phrasing it.

Holly Fouche thanks, I like the simplicity of this choice.

Hi Mandi, one term I mentioned earlier that may be useful in this context is “Super Story.”

It’s used in education and development to describe a story world designed to naturally extend across generations and mediums (including theatre, audio drama, art installations, film, TV, and interactive), without being tied specifically to digital-first assumptions.

I’ve found it helpful as language when “transmedia” feels dated or too narrowly defined.

Mandi Allen Why not just "adaptation" - that's the actual term used in industry and it's descriptive.