MECCSA CONFERENCE BRIGHTON JAN 8 - 10, 2020

IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE? CO-CREATING THE AUDIENCE OF THE FUTURE

The UKRI funded Audience of the Future project aims to further develop digital stA
A conference paper presented by the project research team, Dr. Helen Davies and Dr. Bronwin Patrickson

As part of the Audience of the Future Challenge (funded by the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund), the University of South Wales is working on an industry-led project in collaboration with a consortium of commercial practitioners dubbed Fictioneers. Using the popular Wallace and Gromit IP, the consortium will draw upon their combined skills in games production, animation, creative marketing and new technology development to create a location-based experience designed to propel new and playful identities for a traditional narrative media. Using transmedia elements, linked by a central mobile application, these enhanced experiences aim to engage new audiences and provide innovative ways for long term fans to interact with media favourites.

The University of South Wales is providing research and development support for this collaborative effort through documentation services, audience research, analytic expertise and a space for reflection.

Our focus in this paper is upon the ethical questions that can arise during such collaborations, such as the value of ensuring participatory audience inclusivity. Internally, it is important that all the consortium partners can build and maintain robust working relationships in order to help manage the potential interplay of project priorities.