The Producers Guild of America announced that it has formally christened the “transmedia producer” credit, recognizing those who manage and adapt entertainment properties that span multiple platforms.
“The Guild’s decision to expand the code of credits to recognize the transmedia producer underscores the changing media landscape and the critical role of the producer within the new creative medium,” said PGA president Marshall Herskovitz, in a statement.
“As technology evolves, it’s no longer adequate to think of a project as simply a television show or a movie,” he added. “We now understand that the audience will want to experience that content across several platforms — online, mobile, VOD, Blu-ray, and now iPad — often with different or additional material. It’s the producer who oversees the complex and creative process that allows that to happen.”
The PGA defines a project or franchise as being “transmedia” if it consists of three or more fictional storylines that exists simultaneously on film, TV, broadband, print, disc, etc.
A transmedia producer credit will be given to the person responsible for “a significant portion of a project’s long-term planning, development, production and/or maintenance of narrative continuity across multiple platforms.”
The PGA didn’t specify awards recognition for this newly established producer role. However, the org’s Vangaurd Award, given to Joss Whedon earlier this year, does recognize new media acheivement.
