A new consumer technology called FANLIB that fosters reading, writing, and creative expression, is being piloted with Harry Potter. It's a fun and easy-to-use online game that lets thousands of players collaborate on a kind of "democratic chain story."
NEW YORK, NY (PRWEB) October 30, 2003 -- Everyone remembers the old game where a group of people sit in a circle, traditionally around a campfire, taking turns adding a line to a continuing story. FanLib(tm), a patent-pending technology from New York-based My2Centences LLC, adds massive scale and voting to the classic "chain storytelling" game, growing the potential size of the circle into the thousands and beyond. "It's American Idol for stories and scripts." says Chris Williams, My2Centences CEO and co-founder.
For the first event to utilize FanLib, My2Centences partnered with Harry Potter fan-site SnitchSeeker.com to launch The Potter Project (http://www.ThePotterProject.com), a contest that lets Harry Potter fans collectively create an original adventure based on the young wizard. With little promotion, the event has already attracted over 5,500 active players who have submitted more than 12,000 scenes and reviews.
Each week, fans are invited to submit a scene based on that week's "Mission." The Mission is a brief outline posted by the moderator that describes what should happen in the fan-written scene. Players vote on the submitted scenes until, at the end of the week, a single scene is elected and added to the script in progress. Then, a new Mission is posted and the process repeated until the story reaches "The End."
If you think it sounds pretty simple, FanLib's chief architect David B. Williams insists "The best ideas always do, but rarely are." Williams, who has spent the last two and a half years developing the web-based technology, says "A chain storytelling game is one thing. A chain storytelling game with massive scale is another beast entirely. Especially, if you want it to be easy and fun for the AOL crowd." Williams explains how FanLib incorporates sophisticated features such as "dynamic candidate pools" that keep the elections fair and manageable; auto-formatting of scenes into easy-to-read script format; graphical scene abstracts called "Promos" that can be scanned quickly by the voters; and "robust administration tools" that let the FanLib managers keep all those players and submissions from getting out of hand.
FanLib takes its cue in part from "fan fiction," or "fanfic," a spontaneous movement on the internet in which the fans of an existing entertainment property write original stories around their favorite characters. "We aim to do for fan fiction what Netscape did for the internet." says CEO Chris Williams. "Make it super accessible and blow it into the mainstream."
My2Centences is attempting to jump-start the market for FanLib by taking it directly to Hollywood. In fact, they are represented by high-powered agent Mark Stroman, a veteran of FOX and Endeavor, and founder of Entertainment Marketing Partners.
For producers and distributors of scripted entertainment properties, "FanLib is the best of both worlds." Chris proclaims. "It lets them ride the reality wave by adding the talent show element to a dramatic series. And, besides being a great promotional tool, it encourages reading, writing, and creative expression." Hollywood isn't an entirely foreign place to Williams. In addition to developing FanLib, My2Centences produces movies. Its most recent, "A Good Night to Die," premiered at this year's Tribeca Film Festival.
In the long run, My2Centences sees many applications for its technology, ranging from broad-based consumer events like The Potter Project, to educational programs, and even as a purely recreational pastime with groups of friends or families - No campfire required.
My2Centences LLC is an established entertainment and technology company based in Tribeca, NYC.
Contact: David B. Williams, 917-553-1968
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