Radiator Transmedia announces the production of an animated music video and original theme song to support the release of a new children’s novel Liesl and Po by New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver. Led by Grammy-nominated producer and co-founder Billy Hume, Radiator Transmedia teamed up with HarperCollins Publishers and Lauren Oliver in a collaborative effort that breaks new ground between publishers, authors and new media production companies to produce original storyworld content.
As opposed to a book trailer, the music video is a part of the storytelling experience. It was specifically created for the storyworld with the lyrics and the animated content all working together to tell a piece of the story. According to Hume, “its a far more effective way to engage multiple senses and draw the viewer into the author's world.” For authors and publishers who are embracing a multi-platform approach to storytelling, Radiator Transmedia’s creative partnership with them helps tap into new revenue channels with the customized content it creates. This results in providing the reader additional opportunities to experience a story, while at the same time, pioneering new ways to increase discoverability of books in the online world.
“The concept behind the music video is just one example of how authors can leverage other media platforms to tell a story, and its just the beginning,” said Radiator Transmedia’s co-founder and president, Marc Milot. Although the animated video is more of a cross-media adaptation using the illustrations from the book, the song provides new original content that adds depth to the experience. According to Milot, “at its core, a transmedia partnership is a collaborative, creative process that enables authors and publishers to take the storytelling experience beyond ink on paper to meet ongoing reader demand for amazing content – It’s about putting the reader and fan first, whether it be providing additional narratives, or additional opportunities to develop a more intimate understanding of the characters – it’s about giving them something new and exciting to discover about a storyworld when they start to peel back the onion.” According to Milot, Radiator’s ability to produce original music, video, animation and to develop software for building enhanced eBook apps creates new opportunities for authors to take their storytelling to the next level and provides them with a realistic alternative to a movie option that may never happen.
The Liesl and Po music video is available on YouTube and the Liesl and Po official website – www.lieslandpo.com. The official full-length theme song entitled “Train with Wings” will also be available on iTunes in the next few days. The music video will be used by HarperCollins to market the book which is set to be released in October of 2011.
Radiator Transmedia is also working on a separate production of its own enhanced eBook app for the iPad, a children’s book which is expected to be launched in the coming months and will be available for purchase and download in the Apple App store.