Although there are hundreds of film schools around the world, very few universities have a fully fledged transmedia program in place. This means the majority of current and recent graduates are still reliant on their own initiative to source information about transmedia.
On the positive side, there have been some excellent PhD theses written. Of particular note is Dr Christy Dena’s Transmedia Practice: Theorising the Practice of Expressing a Fictional World across Distinct Media and Environments, which significantly advances our theoretical understanding of the practice of transmedia. Prof Henry Jenkin’s blog Confessions of an Aca-Fan is probably the most comprehensive repository of transmedia information to date, which is fitting given his status as god-father of transmedia.
The Transmedia Multiplatform & Convergent Resource Kit, developed by Dr Siobhan O’Flynn and Anthea Foyer and supported by the Canada Media Fund and Screen Australia provides a framework for collecting case studies and resources that will grow over the coming years.
In this context, where there is a paucity of formal education in transmedia, the Transmedia Coalition website and events like the TransVergence Summit taking place in Hollywood in August 2013 are all the more important. Not only do summits like these provide the most up-to-date information from practitioners at the forefront of transmedia, but they are also a great way to meet like minded vanguardians who are getting out there and making transmedia happen.
Over in London, England, my colleagues at Transmedia Next are also hugely passionate about sharing our knowledge to arm the next crop of transmedia storytellers with the tools and techniques to become leaders in the transmedia domain. In addition to creating transmedia projects, we deliver transmedia training, labs and workshops around the world. Transmedia Next LONDON, taking place in July 2013, is our flagship training event and is run as a live transmedia experience, so you get to hear, see and feel transmedia from before you arrive and throughout the training experience.