Cal asks:

What I’m curious about is if/how you are going to script/employ other forms of media and interface around the main plot line and if so, are you building it in at this stage. In other words, is the format actually going to revise how you tell your story? Or will it be closer to a number of short episodes of a single series? Are you planning to tell some parts of the story with clips and then augment it with text or some other material? It seems to me you could tell a much more efficient story by leaving out all those scenes where detectives regroup over details and just jump to new and interesting scenes which further character plot and theme, sort of like voice over does in traditional noir films. Also, are you planning to let the user have any control over the story telling? Will there be any way they are able to adjust how the story is told or unfolds? If so, is this altering your traditional writing process? Curious minds need to know about this interesting stuff.

Good questions… but no.  I’m not leaving out the good stuff.  This isn’t that project.

Ruby Skye is a linear video series — one long story told in twelve episodes.  The audience will not be able to alter the plot or the presentation of the story although they can interact with Ruby on her blog.  This will be quite traditional in many respects.

Which is not to say that there aren’t exciting and novel elements to both the storytelling and the project as a whole.We’re trying to build a transmedia franchise from the ground up.  Even as we blast toward production on the web series, we’re actively pitching and planning other elements one of which will be an interactive mystery for mobile platforms.  That will include more of the elements Cal mentions and will give the audience the opportunity to search for clues, determine which trail to follow next and generally participate in the investigation of the mystery.

There are a number of reasons for taking a more traditional approach with the web series itself.  One is that innovation and making money don’t always go hand in hand and we really want to develop a strong business model for this that generates some revenue for our team and our highly valued investors (have I thanked the IPF today?).   If we do something experimental or cutting edge, it becomes difficult for sponsors and other partners to understand what we are doing and find value in it.

Also, interactive fiction tends to work more like a stage play than a television series, in that it has to be experienced live.  That is, we’d release an episode and the community would interact and help determine the next step.  But if you started watching a week later, then you’d still be able to watch that first episode, but you’d miss the interaction around it.  Stand alone traditional video has a better replay factor and can be more easily distributed to other platforms than a narrative that involves significant audience interaction.

Then there are the budgetary considerations around interactive fiction.  I have a number of project concepts that do involve the audience as a collaborator, where they can have significant impact on the story.  In those cases, you have to keep a writing staff on for a long run and have the facilities to shoot new material every week.  The only way to be truly responsive to an audience in your storytelling is to write on the fly.  I haven’t been able to finance that… yet.  But I have the budget, the team and the concept if anyone out there has the money.

But back to Ruby Skye, along with drafting the scripts, I’ve been sketching out plans for the web site.  It will have tons to do on it and lots of cool ways to interact with the characters, the story and the franchise.

On today’s agenda: big production meeting when we’ll start to lay down a schedule and a critical path for the entire web series; a meeting with a potential director; another writing session; a get together with the Tights and Fights team to celebrate our mutual good fortune and figure out ways to collaborate.