Time to go beyond simple new media & tech orientation, business networking or basic proof of concepts and step up to the next level – create story rich, original IP and new form entertainment, products & services.

WHAT IS IT?

StoryLabs were formed in Australia, Canada the US and UK aim is to pioneer digital content creation, strategy and innovation through strong, multi media story engagement its simply two stage approach is:

1. A long term project development and IP generation process that connects project teams and their stories with some of the best transmedia, games & social media mentors around – see StoryLabs mentors. The ‘exclusive’ StoryLabs network acts as the initial hub for a 6-12 month development process leading to deployment
2. Unique best practise incubator training and development labs for media, education, corporate, marketing and entertainment industries specifically designed to introduce story back into multi platform, innovation and transmedia services. These incubators last between 3 and 8 days and will cover the following tracks:

• Games Lab – Aimed at traditional media creators or existing games developers who want to develop their story skills across a range of game genre
• Multi Platform Lab – Aimed at all producers of content but particularly film and TV who want to extend and tell stories in an integrated way across multiple platforms and new forms
• Innovation Lab – Aimed at corporate organisation, these are introductory seminars and workshops to engender strategic product and service development and engage both internal staff and potential consumers with rich narrative components
• Social Media Lab – Aimed at a wide range of media practitioners who want to engage with predominantly online communities across social media networks and it’s participant, social audience
• Ad Lab – Aimed at marketing and ad agencies looking for alternative approaches to multi platform creative and new form targeting by using the latest multi platform story techniques
• Locative Lab – Aimed at traditional media producers who want to develop their skills in understanding and producing compelling pervasive story and game content for geo-social networks, highly connected smartphones & tablet devices

Unlike other development labs that focus on business networking or introductory idea development StoryLabs aim to take projects to that next stage and develop real, creative Intellectual Property, cut through multi-platform complexity and think first and foremost about participant audiences & users and rich compelling story experiences.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED?

StoryLabs are still fine tuning the process and contractual aspects but there are a few things you can do to get involved at this stage:

1. As a project creator SUBMIT a ‘basic’ overview of your project as an expression of interest at the submit page. This will allow us to gauge interest, see which territories are more activated plus understand key needs from mentors and types of incubators
2. JOIN the growing network of StoryLabers over in the network area of this site. This will allow you to directly & privately connect with mentors, share & blog ideas to everyone, develop your thinking around early concepts. A key part of StoryLabs is the 24/7 online network for those deeply interested and involved in new form story telling and there will be several hundred ‘practitioners’ eventually in this network
3. CONTACT StoryLabs directly if you are interested in sponsoring or submitting a range of projects into the labs at info@storylabs.us

THE PROCESS

The precise process and format for StoryLabs is also being fine tuned and it is designed to make projects ‘fundable’, audience ready and commercially sustainable and the process will roughly be:

• Early stage steering of ideas via the StoryLabs mentor network – this will be an altruistic, open process
• Submission of full ideas into a protected, confidential online mentoring area
• Two or more mentors engaged to help progress and develop the project for real world delivery – it will be assumed development funds in place at this point
• At regular times in a range of territories physical incubator labs will be set-up
• Some of these labs will be heavily subsidised (sponsored and/or government initiatives) others may be privately funded
• Project teams will be required to pay small admin fees but depending on the specific type of incubator higher fees
• Mentors are likely to be permanently engaged to projects in either exec producer or on-going consultant roles as the projects reach production stages and this will be outside of StoryLabs
• Some projects will be used as on-going case studies and resources for others to learn from