Think politics, disorder, issues with a capital I. In fact, capitalize the whole bloody word. 503 seems synonymous with topical debate, 2009’s This Much Is True, for example.   But can the fearless 503 show its lighter side?

Their new show Peter & Vandy, on which I have just been appointed Assistant Producer, certainly leans to the happier side of the human condition. About as close as 503 will ever come to RomCom, Jay DiPietro’s play is receiving its British premiere after huge success in New York.

It might seem like a safe bet, nice and comfortable and easy. But it goes against that age old axiom (which I may have just made up) that topical issues sell. This certainly seems to work best at 503 and with social/political/cultural “problems” come a whole host of potential marketing strategies. But how do you market a play where two people fall in love, then fall out of love and back in love and then back out of love, etc? This isn’t a deadly shooting on the underground or the conflicts in a gritty south London prison. This is worse. In Britain, Love and Happiness doesn’t sell.

But it’s my job to make it sell. This is going to be tough. I’ll hopefully be back with positive progress soon. Check it out at www.theatre503.com. Maybe I’ll just ask the writer to have a little rewrite. Perhaps Vandy is driven to psychosis after discovering Peter, now a premiership footballer, has been cheating and her brand new Toyota has been recalled?

Back of the net.

“The Theatre, Film and Television industries are changing rapidly.  We’re seeing more cross-platform, cross-industry projects, creative people moving between the industries, and the integration of digital media.  The lines are blurring, and those that are launching projects and organisations need a network which addresses these challenges and opportunities.”

As you may know Stellar Network is managed by a volunteer committee.  Going forward, the network will be less managed, and more community driven. Not because we want to do less work, but because we think you’ll get more out of it that way. Our responsibility is to provide  reason and reward for you shaping the network: from telling us what event content you would like, through to your thoughts on membership..

Whilst our event programme is open to everyone and anyone who wants to come, from here on out, we’re offering event content and membership specifically to actors, writers, producers and directors.  So if that’s your role in theatre, film, television or digital media, this network is for you.

We’ve also made it easier for you to just come to individual events.  Events will be relevant to all industries and job titles and a dynamic online tagging system will signpost content, target industries and job roles, so you can make informed decisions.  We’re also creating a way on the site for you to tell us what content you want to see in each event, to be launched soon.

We’ve streamlined our membership offer. We’re offering less, but of a higher quality. Becoming a Node Member gets you the event programme for free, as well as a range of other benefits. Once you’re a Node Member, the next step is Hub Membership; a playful and dynamic hub of activity which rewards real engagement with real benefits. Hidden doors to Hub Membership will be opened to particularly active Node Members in response to their creative and professional needs.

What are your influences?

Because I work in so many different media, I draw influences from all over the place. Charlie Kaufman, Powell & Pressburger, 42 Entertainment (and all who sailed in her), Artichoke, Naomi Alderman, Six to Start, Graham Greene, Philip Pullman, Joss Whedon, Raymond Chandler, Pixar, Simon Stevens, Lee Hall, 1980’s text adventures, Punchdrunk and Kneehigh Theatre, Martin Elricsson…. If any of these names are unfamiliar, look them up. They’re all great.

What was your journey to working cross-media?

I studied English at university, made shorts and wrote poetry. Then I came to London and wrote light entertainment (anything from magic shows to musicals) for a holiday entertainment company. I worked as a copywriter, writing in many different voices for many different companies. I wrote plays. I wrote screenplays. I wrote radio plays.
And then I saw an ad in the Guardian written entirely in code. Unscrambled, it was an open call to writers, designers and creative types to work on an international murder mystery treasure hunt. It was called Perplex City. I started as an in-house writer and took on more and more production duties. For nearly two years, I worked on this huge cross-media game creating a fictional world using audio drama and live events, fictional websites, videos, puzzles, songs, maps, text messages, board games, and just about every medium you can think of. My diverse career finally came together. It felt like I’d unwittingly trained myself for this new, peculiar job.

What’s great about diversifying as much as you have?

I’m never going to get bored. Technology is creating new media to tell stories with, but more importantly, there are very few conventions in cross-media storytelling yet – there’s no formula to follow, no reason to do the same thing twice. And though my time is mostly taken up with these cross-media projects, I get to indulge in ‘single-media’ projects too. I’m working on a play for Radio 4 right now.

What’s not great about it?

Cross-media stories have a fairly limited audience at the moment. The technology is still a barrier to a lot of people, so those who play along are mainly the most tech-savvy. As a result, I don’t think the audience is large enough or diverse enough to accommodate a wide range of genres – yet. As the audience grows and matures, we’ll have the chance to tell a bigger range of stories.

Other things that aren’t great: explaining to my mother what I do for a living; struggling to find time to write and not just organize; and dealing with lawyers.

What are your directions for the future; where are you going next?

I’m producing another global game to be launched next year. I think it could get noticed by a more mainstream audience and help make cross-media entertainment truly popular. That’s the aim, anyway. I want everyone to join in.

A huge thank you to Skillset, and all our speakers and attendees both.

And in case you couldn’t make it, all the presentations delivered, which looked at Legal, Financial, Marketing and Strategy Issues respectively are now available for Stellar members to view in the Community portion of the site, under Discussions, then Resources.

PRO BONO LEGAL SUPPORT FROM REED SMITH
FREE INITIAL ACCOUNTANCY CONSULTATION FROM BEHRMAN, SWINDELL AND ASSOCIATES
10% DISCOUNT ON SCREEN INTERNATIONAL AND BROADCAST MAGAZINE
DISCOUNTED AVID USE COURTESY OF AIMIMAGE
LITTLE WHITE LIES – 8 COPIES FOR THE PRICE OF 6
20% OFF CREATIVE ALCHEMY CONSULTANCY WITH CLAUDIE PLEN
DISCOUNTED MEMBERSHIP TO INNERPLACE
DISCOUNTED MEMBERSHIP TO PRIVATE MEMBERS’ CLUB TEATRO
DISCOUNTED SCREENING ROOM HIRE AT WIRED ASSOCIATES
DISCOUNTED MEMBERSHIP TO THE INDEPENDENT THEATRE COUNCIL
DISCOUNTED ROOM HIRE AT CLEAN BREAK

For information on how to redeem these offers members need to log in here: here

We’re always looking to make your lives easier and would love to know if there are any professional products or services you’d particularly like to see on that list. Pretty please email us at uk@stellarnetwork.com or comment away here.

Our final seminar, delivered with the support of Skillset and in associationwith the Film Business Academy, is taking place this Saturday December 6th at BFI Southbank in the Delegate’s Centre.

Topics addressed will include

• Understanding the film competitive environment and your own unique resources
• Information and tips on business planning

There will also be opportunities to steer the conversation towards attendees’ unique areas of interest.

Speakers are:

Natasha Munshi – Assistant Director, Institute for Business Integrity, Wright State University
Emily Corcoran – Consultant, Film and Digital Media Exchange

The fee per seminar is £10.00 for members of Stellar Network and £60.00 for non-members. The fee includes lunch, refreshments and a pack of supplementary materials including speaker presentations, exercises and recommended resources.

Register here –