Storytellers and Coders United
It’s time for a new breed of storyteller to emerge.
I have been working in interactive storytelling for the past 17 years; I’m fascinated by how stories can shape the world, or open our eyes to new realities. What’s more amazing than discovering that while we all share a same reality, we all see it, understand it, and experience it differently?
Now: let’s stop for a second and think about how the Web has changed our world in the last 20 years. It’s changed how we communicate, learn and exist. Where does this place us? In a hybrid world, where our voices need to he heard both physically and digitally, so that they can reach as many people as possible, and return to us with feedback.
This is what interactive storytelling is for me: a way to speak and think our world with the tools that compose it, and also a way to have a discussion, more than a monologue, so that things can change because people feel involved and active in what they believe in.
For this to happen, a new breed of storytellers needs to emerge. We need creative technologists to work with designers and content people in a truly new and collaborative way. We need to think differently, do work differently and to come up with a whole new storytelling language… thus is quite a challenge!
For the last 17 years I have been teaching, mentoring, producing and researching interactive factual stories (see my website to know more) and I now think that the moment is ready to start building this new grammar and language together! It took cinema more than 50 years to adapt to montage, sound and color… so we should start playing with digital technologies now if we want to shape the future of interactive storytelling!
When I came to MozFest three years ago I realized the amazing creative force of people at here. The whole ethos is about doing. I remember going to journalist sessions and co-hosting sessions and feeling the buzz of the creative energy around me. What a feast!
But what I have also noticed is how a division still exists between technical and non-technical people. Storytellers often do not know how to code and they would never dream to come to MozFest because they don’t feel in their comfort zone. This is insane, we need to bridge the gap between these two worlds if we want things to progress and creative juices to mix!
This year I have launched !F Lab (Interactive Factual Lab) in collaboration with iDrops — a company that specializes in digital training for change.
!F Lab invites storytellers and creative technologists to work together to create the factual stories of the future. These are stories for impact: stories that want to change the world in a way or in another. I think these stories should be told because they are important, and I think they should be interactive because it is by involving our audiences that we will initiate change. But here comes the problem that was flagged earlier: storytellers and coders do not seem to know each other that much! They mingle in different worlds and do not share that many contacts! And yet: surely both want to feel useful in life, both want to dedicate some of their time to stories that need to be heard, both want to feel a catalyst for change and justice…
This is why this year I have proposed a pathway at MozFest called STORYTELLERS & CODERS UNITED: TOGETHER WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD!
I strongly believe that it is time to create a network of people that want to work together in a truly multidisciplinary way, and Mozfest is one of the best places in the world to start the ball rolling. !F Lab storytellers will attend the sessions and will collectively share their passions and issues. These are people working on projects waiting to be produced, so these are stories that will have a life after MozFest. The idea of the pathway is to create a series of three events where people will be inspired, ideas will be shared and solutions will be found together.
Come to the “Use your skills to actually change the world!” (Sunday @ 11.30–13.30 in the Building Participation Space) to dive into the world of interactive storytelling and contribute with your creative ideas and skills.
Come to “Change the world through code: how to meet the person you need in your team to do so” (Saturday @ 12.00–13.00 in the Building Participation Space) if you want to have your say on how we could build a network/platform for people to be able to know about each other and start collaborating on real projects after MozFest.
And finally, pop into “Inspiration time: explore recent projects that will change the way you understand the world” (in the Global Village) if you want to take a break from sessions and indulge in the pleasure of experiencing interactive stories that you have never seen before!
And the extra bonus is that amazing digital creatives such as Philo Van Kemenade, Mike Robbins, Clint Beharry, Filip Fanstenaekels, Kasper Jordaens, Berto Yanez and Ewan Cass Kavanagh will join us! So… do not miss the opportunity to rub shoulders with them!
I hope to see you all very soon.
Sandra Gaudenzi
