building a community doesn’t have to be drama

i had the pleasure of being asked to host a workshop for the students of the multi platform writing course held in cardiff by cyfle last week. the writers participating on the scheme were some of the best BAFTA award winning television writers in wales, who have credits for doctor who, torchwood and casualty. i felt very insignificant in comparison

the writers came together to launch an online drama series – each have vast experience of writing for different platforms but wanted to learn more about harnessing social media to build a community around the project and to try new tools and techniques to “spread the word” and “gain some love”.

the project that they’re working on is really interesting and turns the traditional drama/film model on it’s head. the concept of the project is that each of the writers comes up with a character, the thread that all pulls them together? a self-help group run by the guru. each of the characters has real world facebook, twitter, myspace accounts and blogs etc. the characters are gaining real world friends and holding conversations – taking the story into real life.

it was really interesting for me to get involved with a project that is challenging the boundaries and merging the lines between online and real world experiences. i drew upon head trauma as a case study for the course which integrates real world gaming, interactive and film. the lead up to the film involved secret screenings, participants had to await tips on twitter, facebook, myspace etc.

the project can be seen at www.breakfree2009.co.uk where each of the new episodes will be posted a couple of times per week. i know that i’ll be eagerly watching to see what happens with the development of the project. thanks to rhys and the guys for making the workshop so enjoyable!

i’ll be posting my slides below, but i’m afraid they’re mainly images, so might not teach you that much… it’s just how i roll