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Background: Transmedia is the blending of new and old media into something that is more than the sum of its parts. The term is gaining considerable traction in Hollywood (evinced by the creation of a “transmedia producer” credit by the Producers Guild of America). For pioneering scholar Henry Jenkins, ‘transmedia storytelling’ is the telling of a single story over multiple platforms. In order to get the full narrative, fans must piece together different parts of the story from the different media. Jenkins argues that this “transmedia impulse” is central to convergence culture, which is not about new media replacing old media but about the interesting and complex ways new media interact with old media.
Program background: By embracing and furthering the transmedia model, HH&S has placed itself in the vanguard of public health organizations that use media of all stripes to educate viewers and users about their health. HH&S is increasingly exploring and utilizing ways that users piece together different information from different media—new and old—to become better informed about their health.
Evaluation Methods and Results: Using this framework as a springboard, the collaboration between HH&S, CDC NCBDDD, NBC.com and the show Parenthood will be discussed as an example of transmedia. Evaluation results including comments and social media “likes” will also be presented. Other case studies from Hollywood, Health & Society’s current and upcoming transmedia work will be discussed as well.
Conclusions: With its innovative transmedia approach, Hollywood, Health & Society seeks to leverage the strengths of one medium (primetime television) against another (the Internet) to facilitate an effective public health outreach strategy that is more than the sum of its parts.
Implications for research and/or practice: This presentation will illustrate how innovative transmedia approaches can be an effective way to increase awareness key health issues.