1. It’s still all about the story

As with any form of storytelling, it all comes down to the story. When creating a cross-media screenplay, consider whether or not you have a strong enough story to create both a screenplay and a cross-media project. Keep in mind that a cross-media project entails a world of story that expands much, much deeper than the traditional screenplay.

o Consider whether or not the story is interesting enough to expand it beyond the screen. For example, can you imagine your audience becoming so interested in your characters or concept that they actually venture online and google them?

o Do you see the potential in your characters to develop into fully living, breathing people off the page? Make no mistake, there is a lot more involved with cross-media storytelling and character development than mere social networking sites such as myspace and facebook. No, what I’m talking about are characters that post photos of their personal life; characters who’s professional work you can see online and off in some cases; characters that blur the lines of fact and fiction. Yes, social media is a large part of it, but with the over-saturation of commercial presence on myspace, audiences have caught on.

2. 3x3x3 act structure

Screenplays are traditionally broken down into three act structures — most stories are, actually. The number three has worked for thousands of years due to the fact that it represents the beginning, middle, and end of a story, so let’s consider simply revising how we look at the number three instead of trying to create something entirely different.

By considering the act structure of a cross-media screenplay 3x3x3, we maintain the fundamental understanding of how every story is usually structured (beginning, middle, and end) while expanding it at the same time. This structure resembles something more of a trilogy than a single film, but therein lies the key to successful cross-media storytelling — expansion. Imagine our main attraction, the screenplay being the second act in the 3x3x3 structure. As with a traditional screenplay, the story is based on a 3 act structure, however the main difference includes the fact that the story has room to grow in both directions. It’s important to create a world of story capable of growth and expansion when writing the cross-media screenplay. By doing this early in the process, you create a much more organic cross-media world of story, and thereby avoid defaulting to shallow cross-media marketing campaigns such as myspace pages. What happened before the screenplay? You might say that the 3x3x3 act structure is like chaos theory; by delving into the first three acts, you will grow an understanding of how your character became who they are in the main attraction. What they accomplished. What they failed at? The possibilities are as colorful as your imagination.

The key here is to create not only a world of story capable of expansion, but characters as well. The 3x3x3 act structure allows for audiences to learn more about the story.

3. It’s still all about the ending

Audiences willingly pay for movie tickets, DVDs, and other forms of storytelling entertainment due to three reasons … and the second is the ending. As a good friend of mine recently brought up, unless the story is strong and unless there’s something exciting for the audience to discover, such as something as simple as who the killer is or as complex as what the island is, audiences won’t invest their time in the story. On the other hand, the mere existence of secret websites, personal blogs, and other underground cross-media elements can be just as exciting for potential audiences, while creating onramps to the main attraction at the same time. A great example here is the Dark Knight cross-media campaign, which revealed fun information, allowed for interaction with audiences on a more ARGy level, and provided a cool experience audiences could share with friends before the release of the main attraction.

o Is your concept strong enough to attract the attention of the audience?

o What will the audience want to know or share with their friends?

When it comes down to it, audiences simply want to enjoy great stories and forms of entertainment. As one of the newest forms to the scene, cross-media storytelling (not marketing) has the power to attract audiences for the long haul, but it’s up to the storyteller to create compelling stories.

For more on the subject, read about writing the cross-media narrative