OTT & Transmedia

William Goeyns *AFTER* and only *after* it is successful in one media. There is *no extant example* of a successful franchise which did not start out in one and only one media. "World building" beyond the script doesn't sell your script, only story and character sell your script.

That’s a fair point, and I agree that story and character have to come first.

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I like this exercise

At the center of ORLOK is a single myth. When overwhelming power enters a fragile world, it leaves a wound that passes through every generation. The Watchers fell, the giants consumed, and their children were born into hunger, fear, and the need to choose what they will become.

The myth is that catastrophe creates children who must decide whether they will inherit the ruin or rise above it. Strength, mercy, hunger, and order are not systems in this world. They are responses to the first wound. Every monster was once a child shaped by the sins that came before. Orlok carries that truth in his bones.

What a lovely post, Adam. Thank you!

"Lore tells you how far your world extends. Myth tells you what all that distance is circling."

The myth at the centre of my world? The arcane, the dissolute, whispers of interconnectedness that feel like gossamer webs over your eyes, these imaginings are the stuff reality depends upon, and the web dancer's feet are in my drink.

Even with interstellar expansion and alien contact, humanity will still be humanity.

Anita Waggoner's Final Sentence is a brilliant myth summation: "The land tests every promise, and only what is true endures."

What a brilliant guide to test every scene against. So useful for almost every genre.

Absolutely, Teddy Hayes. You’re starting with the emotional destination and choosing the tool from there. The little boat carrying Cozy away is especially clear as an image of release.

Yes, Lourdes Trammell. That’s almost the inverse of what I used to do: decide the destination first, then make every choice earn the arrival.

I know that feeling. Sometimes the ending we planned teaches us what the story was supposed to be, and sometimes the characters refuse the assignment entirely. For me that usually means it's time for a rewrite, Mikka Hope.

That pity is an interesting final turn, Nihal Rahman.

Revenge would complete the external conflict.

Compassion tells us something more important has changed inside her.

Thank you, Adam J Spencer, for the sweet comment! You’ve actually said it correctly. The genre of my story is psychological thriller, mystery, and family betrayal.

A 20-year-old girl is forced to become the CEO of the company her late father established. She doesn’t know what’s coming for her, a truth that has been hidden from her for seven years.

That’s where she has to choose who she wants to become: a monster, or a role model for others who are too scared to take a step toward justice.

She has a fear that she might kill someone, and the environment and enemies surrounding her gradually push her toward that final step, the step of becoming a monster.

Thank you, Adam.

For me, that moment is very simple.

A lonely translator receives a message from an AI assistant named SONIA. At first, it seems completely ordinary. Then SONIA begins to know things she shouldn't know—details about his life, his memories, and events that haven't happened yet.

That's the moment I hope makes people stop and ask, "Why? How is that possible?"

Once that question exists, I believe the audience will want to discover the rest of the story for themselves.

What you're asking for Adam J. Spencer is not 30 seconds. It's 5, maybe 8. I can do quite a lot in 30 seconds. Shortening it to get that key moment is so very important for every conversation I've had - it's what introduces the story. Sealing the letter twice is a wonderful image. So is the boy with the golden key. Both are immediate and intriguing. Thanks! I now need to go work on what I have. My stories are human stories. They have martial arts and martial arts lore at their center. They juxtapose a rural past with a hopeful future among the stars. They are about friendship, family, and ordinary heroes.

I love this perspective, Terri.

You're absolutely right. The shorter the introduction, the more important the image becomes. A single human moment can create more curiosity than a detailed explanation of an entire world.

In the end, it's the emotional connection that invites us into the story.

Thank you for sharing this insight.

One of the best movie openings I can recall—which would make for a highly compelling pitch—is the opening of the film "Submarine X-1". A beach by a stormy sea; a group of exhausted sailors, some wounded, swim ashore, utterly spent. The officer—presumably the captain—tries to help one of the sailors, but the man refuses the assistance. Another sailor approaches the captain, furious, stammering "You... you..." before collapsing. The captain looks defeated yet remains standing. With that setup, we instantly know a vessel has been lost and that the crew blames the captain for what happened. There is accountability, blame, drama, and emotional weight. It is simple. It is atmospheric. It is human. It is a small, unpretentious, and understated war movie, yet that opening has never left my mind. I would sell the film on the strength of that opening scene alone.

Thank you very much for the feedback on one of my set pieces for my 1975 volleyball script. I really appreciate it.

I agree with you, you're right, but my world is more likely to be a movie or a TV series. Because in 2026, people rarely buy books anymore, and in my world, there are no Poltuka Ureis, no words of wisdom, or any life experiences. This world is for entertainment, for fun, for fun, for fun, not for writing about books. This is the end of the world. I lost the book. That's why I want to find a studio right away. I want new scenes, new worlds, and Ronel will continue to do it.In the film industry. History

"I agree with you, but my vision is definitely meant for a movie or TV series rather than a book. Today's audience craves visual entertainment and high-octane action over traditional reading. My story isn't about deep politics or philosophical life lessons—it's pure, immersive sci-fi entertainment designed for the screen. That's why I'm focused on finding a studio or team in the film industry to bring these scenes and worlds to life."

Shotiko Ge — sounds like you know exactly what form this belongs in, so trust that. The one thing worth doing before you approach anyone: write the pilot or the feature yourself. Not the world — the story that happens inside it, one character, ninety pages. That’s the thing a studio can actually read. Good luck with it.

What should I write about books, chapters, volumes, verses, books 2026, Ltsev Uzviatiya is reading, admin

Only a few old people and students read because the Internet is in fashion now. This is not the 80s and 90s where books were valued. That's why I want movies and series to be released.

Hey Shotiko, this is Ashley from the Stage 32 team. I just wanted to let you know I moved your post from Acting to OTT & Transmedia , as it fits much better there. Let me know if you have any questions, and all the best to you!

Nice, Shotiko Ge, that looks like some cool sci-fi horror. My fave genre is sci-fi action, but I have incorporated come cosmic horror into one of my scripts. It was inspired by SCP lore, though I have read about that online.

What SCP entity do you like (and or fear) the most?

Michael Dzurak My world is colorful and the hierarchy is strict here. The role of the global security triangle in my world and the existence of this world gives me the opportunity to create worlds, scenes and films. In other genres 05 The ruler of this world is the admin, as they say in 2026, the ambassador of Corona, I have many scenes How will this world of mine appear in 2026? The results and the consequences are calculated.

Sounds interesting. Do you have any loglines for stories in this world?

In general, my world's mission is international security, where many secrets and hidden agendas are also separate from politics. From viruses to bacteria to recognizable objects to hidden corporations, they study and learn from all the unknowns. The logo is all over the place. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Elite Security and Technology Solutions"

Hey Shotiko, this is Ashley from the Stage 32 team. I just wanted to let you know I moved your post from Acting to OTT & Transmedia , as it fits much better there. Let me know if you have any questions, and all the best to you!

Hello, this is an original photo. I have tons of questions in my head and I wonder who I should tell about my world so that I can see it on screen someday.

Very cool art, Shotiko Ge. How did you make it?

I take a similar approach, but I try to start a step or two backwards from the tradition itself by looking for the environmental inciting incident. In one project, for instance, I designed a mysterious, recurring phenomenon—verdant rain—that spreads an edible lichen across the planet. That life-giving rain becomes the miraculous bedrock for their religious practices and economic security, which organically spawns all of their resulting cultural traditions and artifacts.

That’s awesome Adam J. Spencer. I haven’t explained any of mine yet, they’re just traditional traditions I guess you can say lol, always there for as long as anyone remembers. I haven’t made it a point to explain their origins.

That's a very interesting aspect of world building. Every world has a history, even the fictional, so it's more than reasonable that a fictional world would have traditions, holiday, etc...

For a fun but kinda corny example, take a look at Avatar and the Na'vi religion. It's as new as it is familiar.

Great topic, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh! Creating traditions is one of the most rewarding parts of worldbuilding because it makes a fictional world feel lived-in—like it has a real history that existed long before your story even begins. I do this quite a bit in my own projects, especially within folklore and dark fantasy, building entire cultures around original rituals that reveal ancient truths, awaken forgotten forces, or prepare characters to fight creatures. It can naturally help shape who your characters are and make the world feel authentically alive.

This can be useful for villains. A reader wouldn't likely identify with a villain, so elaborating on the villains rationale (to a point) can make them more believable in their drive for even an evil plot, such as...

Thanos from the Avengers series who bascially rationalizes a galaxy-wide genocide.

Absolutely Michael Dzurak, I'd argue it could be incredibly useful also for anti-heroes especially. Basically the more mental variation you give a character, the more oomph their choices can have.

I’d argue the way to get there isn’t more craft theory but less — setting aside the postulates and working from the inside out, a kind of literary Method acting. You dwell with the character in their specific environment and let the pressure of that place act on them, rather than marching them down a plot formula. Do that long enough and something shifts: the character starts modeling the other minds around them the same way you’re modeling theirs. That’s the theory of mind you’re describing — not the writer knowing the character, but the character knowing the room.

The paradox is that choices born this way — from origins, history, allegiances — sometimes resemble standard tropes. But because the decision comes from genuine in-world logic instead of a narrative mechanic, the arc reads as original anyway. Legible to the audience, but breathing on its own.

Banafsheh Esmailzadeh I think this is less about theory of mind being absent from art and more about how deeply a writer explores it. The characters I remember most aren't the ones who simply serve the plot they're the ones who clearly have lives, beliefs, and emotional worlds that exist beyond the scenes they're in. As a writer, I try to ask not only "What does this character want?" but also "How do they interpret the people around them, and how wrong might they be?" Those different perceptions create conflict, empathy, and surprise. For me, that's where characters begin to feel like real people rather than just functions of the story.