Universe Creation 101 creates playful stories
There,that sounds official and determined. It does summarise the type of projects I get a kick out at the moment. Hi,I’m Christy Dena and this is my company. Yay! I’m developing my own web-driven comedy drama called AUTHENTIC IN ALL CAPS,and a web service to go with it. I also work on other people’s projects as an experience designer,writer and transmedia consultant.
I love projects that have a message,have a reason for existing beyond selling something. I love weird-ass constraints,storytelling,playfulness,reactivity,mixing artforms,animation,music,sound,words,humour,silliness,theatre,the web,and most of all combining distinct media platforms into intimate experiences.
I worked on the 2011 Digital Emmy Award nominated project Conspiracy for Good by Tim Kring,The company P and Nokia;a One Show Branded Entertainment Award-winning global alternate reality experience The Hunt for Cisco with No Mimes Media;global online serious drama Bluebird AR by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation;Facebook Game ‘Coldwar Clambake‘;the Australian Film Festival;Second Life arts tour;mini-alternate reality games for training and many other large- and small-scale projects. Clients include Nokia Finland,Australian Broadcasting Corporation,Wieden + Kennedy,Australia Council for the Arts,Australian Film Festival,Australian Film,Television and Radio School.
I get asked to talk a lot too. I’ve given keynotes at DIYDays,LA; Power to the Pixel,London Film Festival and at the First International Conference on Cross-Media Interaction Design in Sweden.
I’ve given presentations on the design of cross-media projects to companies and organisations worldwide such as Nokia Finland;Microsoft Research;O’Reilly Media;Australia Council for the Arts;AIMIA;Film Australia;Australian Film,Television and Radio School;Australian Broadcasting Corporation and many more. I’ve spoken at numerous industry festivals and events worldwide,including Whistler Film Festival;Cartoons on the Bay;Power to the Pixel (London Film Festival);Slamdance;Documentary Organisation of Canada’s Reboot;DIYDays;Destination Film Festival;Revelations Film Festival and Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment. Full list of all my presentations is here.
I’ve been in the press a few times –ABC’s 7.30 Tonight,The Guardian,Christian Science Monitor,The Sacramento Bee,Vancouver Sun,Filmmaker Magazine,Australian Financial Review,The Age,Herald Sun,Encore,and others.
I co-wrote the Australian Literature Board’s Writers’Guide to Making a Digital Living,and I wrote the first PhD on ‘Transmedia Practice’. I’m often commissioned to write articles on transmedia writing and design. I’ve published chapters or been quoted in numerous books,including Cross-Media Communications:an Introduction to the Art of Creating Integrated Media Experiences;Pervasive Games:Theory and Design;Think Outside the Box Office:The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution and Marketing in the Digital Era;Space,Time Play;New Perspectives on Narrative and Multimodality. Full list of all my publications is here.
Her mentoring clients include the UK-based cross-media lab for filmmakers Pixel Lab;the UK-based but global Crossover Lab,the Australian Literature Board’s Story of the Future initiative;Laboratory of Advanced Media Production – a 5 day cross-media residential for the Australia Film,Television and Radio School;and others.
She has taught the design and theory of digital games,pervasive games,alternate reality games,cross-media,hypertext fiction,blog fiction,bot fiction,mobile fiction to institutions in UK,The Netherlands and across Australia.
I’ve been a board member of a few places,currently including Aphids Lab,and in the past Storyworld Conference &Expo;dLux Media Arts (an Australian new media arts organisation);Freeplay Advisory Committee;ad:tech Melbourne;Editorial Board of Second Nature:International Journal of Creative Media;and Conference Management Committee for the Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment.
I submitted my PhD on transmedia practice at the School of Letters,Art and Media,University of Sydney. I have a Postgraduate Diploma in Creative Writing from the School of Creative Arts University of Melbourne;and Bachelor of Arts (Visual and Performing Arts) from Monash University.
I was nominated as the 1993 Young Entrepreneur of the Year award;awarded a 1993 Director’s Secondment at the Playbox Theatre Company;awarded 2nd Prize (Prose) in the 2005 Melbourne University Creative Writing Competition;and was nominated for the 1990 Caltex Best All-Round Year 12 Student Award.
I began her creative career in theatre,working as a writer,producer,performer and director. I then pursued my passion for animation and became a producer in Australia’s first ever fully-digital production studio. For years I produced digital effects for television commercials and TV shows,as well as CD-Roms and websites. As an actor,I had appearances in TV commercials, TV shows,short films,performed comedy at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for years,toured Australia for a comedy cabaret,and had my own segment in a television show.
For more info about Christy,see Nikki Nimme’s interview with for Power to the Pixel,London Film Festival. Other thoughts,quotes and interviews are in the Press Page.
I have my personal website,and I blog about creative practice at my other site You Suck At Transmedia.
