Audience Development allows the Entertainment producer to connect directly with its indented audience. It’s being used extensively in the last couple of years, from independent movies that have a companion web site and a Facebook Fan page, to the multi-million dollar interactive experience that involve games, web sites and live events. What all these projects have in common is the desire of their producers to engage an audience using digital and social media tools.

For the first time in this industry, creators can “own the audience”. They can talk to the audience and find out what they like (or dislike). The success of their work is not 100% dependable on the work of a distributor or sales agent. Using audience engagement strategies, directors and producers can validate their work directly with a real audience and can build a fan base and increase awareness of their project from early development stage to the premiere of their work, whatever a film, tv show, book or videogame. During this period, that in the indie world can mean a few years, audiences can be part of the production and feel that this is their work too.

In the end, this will mean a pre-built audience willing not only to pay for a ticket or a product, but they also become advocates that can spread the good word about the work on their own social media profiles or directly to their (real) friends.

Without multi-million dollar campaigns, the success of an independent film is always achieved with strong word of mouth and good reviews in the press (and a few awards at the most important festivals). What the transmedia approach allows, is for the producers and the creative team to start building that word of mouth process as early as possible so it can grow, as a snowball, during all the production process, so when the movie premieres it already has an audience. The success of movies like Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity or more recent Kevin Smith’s Red State was the result of the buzz created by the filmmakers using the internet and social media and a clear audience development and engagement strategy.

Most of the so-called transmedia projects that were produced in the last couple of years are just that – transmedia brand extensions. Most studio and network executives see it only as on-line marketing tool to promote to the young crowds of movie goers the upcoming summer blockbusters or the new sci-fi based network TV series. But the concept of transmedia goes beyond that.