The Essential 360 Storytelling Lab
Took place at the National Film and Television School, Beaconsfield, 22 - 26 February 2010
Full cost: £806 (£161.20 with full Skillset subsidy)
Tutors: Rik Lander and Hazel Grian / Guest tutor, technical and design support: Dom Baker



The Essential 360 Storytelling Lab offered a unique chance to learn about cross-platform storytelling by testing ideas with a live web audience. Five participants from TV backgrounds explored the possibilities of multi-platform through a series of ideas generating workshops and pitching sessions.



The week ended with a live transmission using IPTV service Justin.tv from the NFTS to the Pervasive Media Studio in Bristol. We presented an hour long live show called Ruff TV to an invited audience who were able to interact with the show using Twitter, a chatroom, Flickr, MySpace and other platforms.



Formats tested included an improvised acting game, an art challenge and a live ARG. The audience response was overseen by Professor Jon Dovey of the Digital Cultures Research Centre, University of the West of England who gathered valuable feedback.



Rik Lander is a highly experienced producer, director and writer, who made one of the first web dramas in the UK, magic-tree (2001) and Wannabes, the BBC's first interactive soap. Hazel Grian, maker of many alternate reality games was lead writer for KateModern the Bebo online drama, won the One World New Media Award for the British Red Cross game Traces of Hope and was a writer and co creator of the Star Trek movie ARG in 2009. Design support was offered by Dom Baker, Interactive Designer / Art Director at Poke London. Dom has worked on many fascinating cross-platform media campaigns such as Orange Rock Corps and the Teens Speech for Barnardos.