Reel Word

  Is the future of art more in the creation of creativity tools than in the fixed expression of ideas developed using the tools?   For years consumers have been learning to use the tools; initially for word processing and business or lifestyle management, but increasingly for artistic self-expression and communication, competition, and community.  Niche communities of experts and helper/trainers have formed around these tools.  Some of the communities have broken through to become mass-market experiences.  Examples include the various online gaming communities, communities around digital scrapbooking, and of course the hacker communities.  In all of those cases, while the results of each individual’s effort is interesting, the draw is the tool or environment that can be explored, probed, and learned in minute detail.  The tool, rather than the product of the tool, is the object of study and engagement.

Think about flash mobs.  What a flash mob does, whether it is a planned meetup in an Abercrombie and Fitch store where the men take off their shirts, or a gathering at an intersection where everyone stomps their feet at an assigned time and then disperses, could be classified as performance art in the traditional sense.  But perhaps our ideas of what art is have morphed to the point where the creation and acceptance of the tool, its flexibility and its boundaries, are a more meaningful reflection of culture than the works that they enable.  Some academic musicians have been working in this area for years.  Their art is in creating the tools and environment for an audience to manipulate devices that emit sounds to create works of music.

So where does this leave Hollywood?  Well, there is still a huge audience for good storytelling, good traditional artwork, good looking people, etc.  Hollywood is still very good at identifying talent in these and other areas. 

But now there are potential bus dev and monetization opportunities in feeding these tools with quality creative assets.  Either directly, or thru a secondary market, the output of Hollywood could be sliced and diced to become the story arch templates, character personality design, sets, avatars, soundtracks and sound effects, etc. for these new tools.  One example of this approach from the gaming industry, the secondary market for objects in MMOG and virtual worlds, already has well-established players with profitable business models.  (Note that many of them are fully aware of the importance of protecting intellectual property and have developed effective mechanisms for inhibiting piracy from overwhelming their markets.) 

Hollywood and the music industry have been scratching the surface of this potential monetization opportunity via deals for the distribution of ringtones.  But there are a wealth of opportunities that have yet to be tested, and that could be tested in partnership with the tool developers to everyone’s mutual advantage.