Named by Wired magazine as one of 25 people helping to change the face of Hollywood, and by Business Week as one of 18 people who changed Hollywood, US-based transmedia pioneer Lance Weiler will be in Newcastle on Friday 15 April to deliver a special one-off workshop. Aimed at filmmakers and other creative industry professionals Lance will be sharing his expertise in designing stories for the 21st Century during an intensive four hour workshop on transmedia - the art of storytelling across multiple platforms and formats.

This is an amazing time to be a storyteller but there are more challenges than ever before. How do you reach audiences? How do you sustain as a creator? And, as the media landscape shifts, how do you position yourself and your work?

During “Building Storyworlds – the art and craft of storytelling in 21C,” Lance will pull back the curtain on his design, development and production process. He’ll also share details surrounding his latest storyworld experience entitled PANDEMIC 1.0.  

PANDEMIC 1.0  consisted of film, mobile, online, social gaming and data visualization combined to tell the story of a strange pandemic outbreak. The project debuted this past January at the Sundance Film Festival as an official selection within the New Frontier section. Set over the course of 120 hours, Pandemic had people online working with those on the ground in Park City to stop the spread of a fictional pandemic.

Lance will share the design, an overview of how the project was produced and shed light on how he’s using Pandemic as a Story R&D effort towards the creation of a rich storyworld. Additionally Lance will discuss a project entitled HiM that will shoot later this year and also includes a larger film property.

When: Friday 15 April, 1pm – 5pm

Where: Northern Film & Media, Studio 2, The Kiln, Hoults Yard, Walker Road, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, NE6 1AB (click here for travel info)

How: click on the registration link above.Thanks to the support of our funders delegates from the North East of England may attend this event free of charge. (For these purposes the North East of England is held to consist of County Durham, Northumberland, Teesside, and Tyne and Wear.) Those living outside the region are welcome to attend at a charge of £25.

Registration closes on Thurs 14 April (12pm). 

Lance Weiler is a critically acclaimed award winning writer/director. Recognised as a pioneer because of the way he makes and distributes his work, he has successfully self-distributed his films The Last Broadcast and Head Trauma to more than 20 countries while grossing over $5 million in the process. The Last Broadcast which he co-wrote and co-directed became the first film to be distributed digitally to theatres in 1998. Lance is currently developing a number of film, TV and gaming projects. His next feature film entitled HiM won the Arte France Cinema award at the 2009 edition of CineMart. In 2010 HiM  featured the Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab marking the first time the lab has supported a feature film/transmedia project. For more about Lance’s work click here.

** Places are still available for Holler MD James Kirkham’s workshop on The Death of the Digital Agency (Fri 01 Apr). Click here for further details. **