If you even remotely follow the transmedia storytelling community you know that a small group of people, led by Steve Peters from No Mimes Media, announced the establishment of the Transmedia Artists Guild (TAG) at ARGfest in August. Admittedly with very little official information about the organization, I’ve decided that I probably won’t be joining the guild. It just doesn’t seem like something that would be of great benefit to someone like me…
I consider myself an independent transmedia content creator with no plans to use my creativity to sell someone else’s product or brand. I want to collaborate with the audience to co-create transmedia storytelling experiences that enriches people’s lives in some way. I don’t outright object to the idea of the TAG, but I’m not going to be one of the people who blindly endorses it with a spontaneous round of applause without asking some questions first.
What’s in it for me?
That seems like a very selfish way to start, but still a valid question to ask. At some point, the TAG will open their doors and offer memberships, and those who qualify (more about that later) will likely be asked to pay annual dues. Once there is a monetary transaction involved, our brains automatically start a cost/benefit analysis. Since there hasn’t been any official announcement that lists all the benefits of TAG membership I’ll use a couple of things Steve Peters said in the announcement that the TAG would provide as a basis for my initial analysis.
A place for conversation and networking: There are tons of places for conversation and networking where you can connect with other transmedia producers. I think that creating a members-only forum for discussion will only insulate the participants from disruptive ideas and could promote an environment of “group think”. Real advances in any creative medium don’t come from consensus, they come from conflict and disagreement that forces you to defend your position or adopt a new view. Additionally, assuming great ideas do form within this walled garden, will that hinder the widespread adoption of those ideas?
Mentorship program for people who haven’t done a “professional” project: This particular statement seemed to be aimed at enticing the indie transmedia creator, but in my view this already exists. In my experience, the successful people in the transmedia realm are very free with their opinions and time. Perhaps as a by-product of their expert use of social media tools and a desire to build community around their projects, transmedia producers are very accessible. If you emailed a question to Jeff Gomez, or Henry Jenkins, or any number of leaders in the field and asked for some mentoring advice there is a high probability that it would get answered. In fact, I’ve had multiple CEOs from transmedia companies give up hours of their time to be interviewed for Remix Fiction Television. If those people start participating in the TAG mentorship program as a benefit to that membership will they be less likely to give that advice for “free”? Somehow I doubt it.
I’m sure there are other benefits of TAG membership that haven’t yet been announced, and we have no pricing plans for indie creatives yet, so I’ll revisit my cost/benefit analysis when I have more information.
Do we need another gatekeeper?
Again, in the initial announcement for the formation of the TAG, Steve Peters ran down a list of things the organization would provide. He started his announcement with some rhetorical questions referring to transmedia projects and creators - “Who’s qualified… and getting credit…Who can do them?”, and he kept using the term “central clearinghouse”. Perhaps freelance artists who want to get hired to work on big transmedia production teams would see the benefit of being on the TAG list of “approved” transmedia creators, but as an indie transmedia creator I’m not seeing the value.
One of the things that attracted me to this type of interactive storytelling in the first place was that there are no gatekeepers. The democratization of the internet allows anyone to tell stories and create content for others to consume with very few barriers. My story is told directly to the audience without any filters, and that audience has direct access to me and can even influence the outcome of the story. So, when I hear that the TAG will offer a “directory of transmedia professionals” based on their process of “accreditation” I see that as a step backwards for independent creators.
I think that most independent transmedia creators seek validation from their audience and not from any central clearinghouse claiming authority over one aspect of creative storytelling.
Does my creative vision need a definition?
This is a continuation of the theory that indie creatives don’t typically seek validation from anyone other than their audience. The TAG purports to establish “best practices and standards”, “a common vocabulary”, “definitions”, and “metrics” for transmedia storytellers and their projects.
Someone in the industry for whom I have a lot of respect once said that significant creative movements are rarely defined by the artists themselves, they are defined by their audience. The first grunge bands didn’t all get together and decide to name the type of music they were creating – their audience gave them that name. Then when other bands chose to mimic the originators they marketed themselves as “grunge bands”. Indie transmedia creators should spend less energy debating whether or not to use the term “Alternate Reality Game” and focus on creating something awe inspiring.
Final thoughts.
I hope that this article will engender much more conversation and debate on the benefits of a Transmedia Artists Guild. I don’t want to disparage or discourage the people who are driving the creation of the TAG in any way. This type of organization might be exactly what’s needed for people working in Hollywood or a desire to contribute to large transmedia productions. My opinions expressed here are just my initial views on the subject and I’m keeping an open mind on the potential for the TAG to serve indie creators, but for now – I won’t be playing TAG.
(and besides, I doubt they would allow fictionals to become members anyway)
What do you think?
It’s summertime and there are a ton of interesting things happening in the ARG world! As many of you know, as the Creative Director at 
