Transmedia Goes To Hollywood: Blacklight Transmedia

Just read on Deadline that Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment has doled out it's first ever first-look deal in the company's history to...drumroll please....Blacklight Transmedia.  Blacklight, started by former execs from Fox Atomic and in partnership with video game production company Zombie Studios, has about 20 IP creations in the pipeline.

This is the first transmedia-branded partnership in Hollywood that I'm aware of.  It differs from efforts surrounding known brands such as Pirates of the Carribean in that its does not focus on a product or franchise.  The concepts--such as Blacklight and Kingpin--have been built from the ground up.  It will be interesting to see how this well-funded enterprise will differ from other independent and pioneering efforts from creators like Lance Weiler and Douglas Rushkoff.  How deeply will the stories infiltrate the population-at-large?  Will it attract more than just fanboys and fangirls?  Which projects will Imagine elect to pick up?  Will each title be able to sustain itself monetarily?  Will they feel as organic as other transmedia efforts or will they come off as trite, like most other Hollywood products?  If this deal goes well, it could mean the birth of endless opportunities for content creators, producers, graphic artists, engineers, developers, actors, etc.  My only fear is that the transmedia industry will end up much the same way as the American independent film industry--an overflow of creativity and new talent that, with the appropriation of the Indie brand by Hollywood, slowed to a dribble.