The entertainment industry has long developed licensed products, reproducing the same stories across multiple channels. More and more broadcast content is also available online streaming. And many films are adopted from books (or comic books). None of these necessarily constitute transmedia storytelling. In transmedia, elements of a story are dispersed systematically across multiple media platforms, each making their own unique contribution to the whole.

Each medium does what it does best - Motion Comics might provide back-story, games might allow you to explore the world, and the television or animation series offers unfolding episodes. So each form is sketched out as a context.

Transmedia is closely linked to the industry’s new focus on “audience engagement” and sometimes uses viral (can we just say spreadable?) media strategies. But, the best transmedia is driven by creative impulse. It allows the best storytellers to expand a bigger canvas and build more of their vision with dedicated fans, both which can be grown over time and maybe indefinitely.