James Cameron’s Next Films Are ‘Avatar 2′ & ‘3′ For Fox; May Shoot Back-To-Back For December 2014 & 2015 – Deadline.com

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"Commented Cameron: "It is a rare and remarkable opportunity when a filmmaker gets to build a fantasy world, and watch it grow, with the resources and partnership of a global media company. AVATAR was conceived as an epic work of fantasy – a world that audiences could visit, across all media platforms, and this moment marks the launch of the next phase of that world. With two new films on the drawing boards, my company and I are embarking on an epic journey with our partners at Twentieth Century Fox. Our goal is to meet and exceed the global audience's expectations for the richness of AVATAR’s visual world and the power of the storytelling. In the second and third films, which will be self contained stories that also fulfill a greater story arc, we will not back off the throttle of AVATAR’s visual and emotional horsepower, and will continue to explore its themes and characters, which touched the hearts of audiences in all cultures around the world. I'm looking forward to returning to Pandora, a world where our imaginations can run wild."

“It is very exciting to be teaming again with our partners at Fox to give audiences the opportunity to return to Pandora,” said producer Jon Landau. “With the first movie, Jim only scratched the surface of the stories he wants to tell and the creatures and world he wants to create. Now we will continue his vision.”

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Jeff Gomez Reveals Secrets to Transmedia Franchise Development at CineKid | ARGNet: Alternate Reality Gaming Network

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Excerpt:

November 1, 2010 · By Daniël van Gool

"So what are the criteria for a successful transmedia franchise? Gomez argues that a successful story is told in a deep, rich, fictional world that has a defined past, present, and future. The world that consumers encounter in a novel, movie, or television series should exist beyond the boundaries of that one medium: successful examples of this include George Lucas’s Star Wars franchise and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings saga. Storylines should also be compelling, and there has to be an overarching story supported by smaller stories that develop within the umbrella of that arc: Gomez praises Lost for its mastery of this storytelling model. Transmedia also has to have a convincing presentation that takes its viewers seriously, like Disney’s treatment of Pirates of the Caribbean: the level of detail of the world provides a convincing albeit historically inaccurate world that viewers can believe in, allowing audiences to accept the franchise’s crazier and fantastic moments. The world should embrace its internal logic and remain consistent throughout, which is one of the strong points of a movie like The Dark Knight, as well as a flaw of the Spiderman films. Spiderman 3 disappointed a number of fans when it abandoned the story’s underlying mythos by first establishing Peter Parker’s spider-sense and then repeatedly subjecting him to assaults from behind.

Transmedia worlds need to include timeless themes that are simple but artfully presented like The Wizard of Oz while cultivating, validating, and celebrating the fan base like Star Wars does. Gomez asks developers to include something extra for the most fanatic audience members who feel most connected to your story: give them something more to dig for. Gomez warns to be careful with market segmentations, because doing so risks may alienating a story’s core audience...."

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It's been up a while but cudos! CommArts' Webpick of the week goes to The NFB Test Tube

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From commarts.com

"Part of the National Film Board of Canada’s evolving collection of innovative, interactive stories exploring the world, from uniquely Canadian points of view, The Test Tube with David Suzuki is a social experiment that demonstrates how all seven billion people in the world are connected by a simple mathematical reality.

Combining user input, interactive video of Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki, and live data from Twitter, the project is a modern parable about society’s insatiable appetite, the fallacy of growth and the things that can and cannot be changed. It also supports Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie, directed by Sturla Gunnarsson, which just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and won the Audience Choice Award...."

Love McSweeney's! & Spike Jonze! & I'm Here! & Soundtrack! now in The McSweeney's Store (& love the stores!)

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From the site:

"Filled with gorgeous photography, behind-the-scenes ephemera, and funny, inspiring interviews, There Are Many of Us celebrates the uniquely spontaneous making of Spike Jonze's new movie I'm Here, a boy-meets-girl love story, set in LA, experienced by robots. The book includes an original CD soundtrack as well as a DVD of the thirty-minute movie I'm Here, with special bonus content."