New Media
New media refers to any major shift in communication as a result of new technology or capabilities. As the lines between traditional and "new" media blur, so does the separation between the two segments of the entertainment industry. Console game production, interactive television, broadband Internet, DVD and connected DVD content are just some of the storytelling genres in which producers with finely honed skill sets take ideas and concepts and make them real.
New media in the 1990s to 2000s
In the late 1990s, new media referred to the rise of the Internet and the use of interactive digital technology for news and entertainment content, signifying a major shift from highly concentrated, television-oriented media organizations to more grass-roots, personalized and customized content. This has seen ebbs and flows, with different trends taking hold along the way:
- 1996 - Advent of Internet, e-mail, Web content
- 1998 - Large media organizations embrace Internet (ESPN/Disney, TimeWarner, Viacom/MTV), streaming audio and video, e-commerce
- 2000 - Personal communications - rise of instant messaging, broadband, digital photography, DVD
- 2002 - Personal interaction, web logs, peer-to-peer file sharing
Storytelling
Pioneers and innovators such as Steven Hoffman, George Shaw, Nicholas De Wolf, Shawn Johnson, and Vito Montone have been leading the way for new ways to use technology in support of storytelling.
Organizations like the Producers Guild of America are also diving into the new media arena, with the recent inauguration of their New Media Council.