As a regular contributor to Culture Hacker, I often think about how technology is affecting storytelling. How are audiences receiving their entertainment? How are storytellers delivering entertainment? And how can we as screenwriters get involved with the innovation?

One possible avenue screenwriters might be able to pave is the cross-media screenplay.

In other words, a screenplay that exists across the social media platforms audiences use everyday, including social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and yes, even Myspace, social bookmarking sites such as digg, reddit, and delicious, and on traditional websites.

So how would this work as a piece of entertainment?

First of all, as cross-media mysteries and interactive ARGs (alternate reality games) have shown us, there needs to be an answer of some sort at the end …

there needs to be a point to it all.

I can imagine a couple different approaches that might attract the attention of filmmakers and maybe even audiences interested in a good story …

Clickable Screenplay

Unlike the traditional paper or even PDF version of a screenplay, writers could create a file of the screenplay with outbound links to various websites, profiles, news stories, and other relevant content. While this doesn’t seem all that far off from what some might do with a link to their contact information or bio page, a clickable screenplay should include links to elements that continue the story “beyond the page” in a unique way.

For example, if a character were to mention an old news story, the screenplay could link to an article about it and the reader could read into it therefore gaining more insight to the story from the added dimension the screenplay enabled.

Another example might include links to clues of some sort, such as pictures, documents, or video. Imagine how cool the clickable version of the Blade Runner screenplay would be!

Experience the Screenplay

The other way you could create a cross-media screenplay would be to actually spread the story across the web using video, pictures, downloads, blogs, links, and more — this resembles a true cross-media project. This might not work as well due to the amount of attention it would require from audiences, but it would be pretty fun.

Imagine using various social media sites to create your scenes. Your first scene might take place on Blogger as prose while your last scene might take place on YouTube as an actual video. Your first plot point might be revealed using photos on Flickr and your climax might be revealed using a custom website you build to host that particular part of the story. The possibilities are endless!

This form would call for mroe creativity from screenwriters, for you would need to harness each platform according to the impact you want to have on your “reader” or audience. For example, while a blog might be good for the first few scenes, it might not pack the punch YouTube could deliver for the climax.

I’d say it’s possible to create a cross-media screenplay and start innovating the craft using the power of the internet, but the real question is whether or not audiences would participate.

Again, it all comes down to the point or reward for participation. As a screenwriter, your audience is made of filmmakers, producers, agents, and other industry types, so you have to think of what they want to achieve by participating.

Withhold the Ending

You’ve heard the golden rule of pitching before … I think it might apply here for screenwriters: Never give away the ending. Withhold the ending so the producer, director, or other talent has to contact you for the ending.

These might be a few approached screenwriters could take, but you should avoid getting lost in the technical aspects of your storytelling method. Remember that it’s about character, conflict, mystery, and theme. Hey, maybe you could even employ the Three Act Theme with a cross-media screenplay. With innovation around every corner these days, it’s easy to forget why we tell stories …

To share experiences and shed light on the human condition.

Find the balance to this form of screenwriting and you could be receiving calls from producers, directors, and agents dying to know how your story ends.

Anyone have any ideas here? How would you create a cross-media type screenplay online? What sites would you use?