5D presents: The Future of Storytelling in Transmedia 5D presents a transmedia track that looks at the ways in which world building enables new symbiotic relationships between the writer, director, designer and the narrative environment, releasing the potential for these narratives to stimulate and develop transmedia storytelling. Join multi-hypenate director Shekar Kapur (Elizabeth); the originator of ‘transmedia’, Professor Henry Jenkins (Convergence Culture); designer Alex McDowell (Minority Report) and moderator Inga von Staden in this important discussion of the future of storytelling. Alex McDowell, Production Designer, 5D Institute, www.5dconference.com Alex McDowell is one of the most innovative and influential designers working in narrative media, with the impact of his ideas extending far beyond his background in cinema. McDowell advocates an immersive design process that acknowledges the key role of world-building in visual storytelling. Since moving to LA from London in 1986, McDowell has designed for a diversity of directors including Tim Burton, David Fincher, Terry Gilliam, Steven Spielberg and Zack Snyder. He recently completed design on In Time, directed by Andrew Niccol and was visual consultant for the Aardman/Sony animated feature Arthur Christmas. Currently, McDowell is designing Man of Steel for director Zack Snyder. With many awards for his film design, McDowell was named a Royal Designer by the UK's Royal Society of Arts in 2006, a lifetime appointment. McDowell currently serves on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences SciTech Council, is an adjunct professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and is Visiting Artist at MIT's Media Lab, where he collaborated with composer Tod Machover on the robot opera Death and the Powers. He serves on several educational and corporate advisory boards, and works as an advisor and consultant in entertainment media. McDowell is co-founder and creative director of 5D | The Future of Immersive Design, a global series of distributed events and 5D Institute, an education space for an expanding community of thought leaders across narrative and trans-media. Henry Jenkins, University of Southern California, http://annenberg.usc.edu/ Henry Jenkins is Provost's Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. He has written and edited more than a dozen books on media and popular culture, including Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide (2006). His other published works reflect the wide range of his research interests, touching on democracy and new media, the “wow factor” of popular culture, science-fiction fan communities, and the early history of film comedy. As one of the first media scholars to chart the changing role of the audience in an environment of increasingly pervasive digital content, Jenkins has been at the forefront of understanding the effects of participatory media on society, politics, and culture. His research gives key insights to the success of social-networking Web sites, networked computer games, online fan communities, and other advocacy organizations, as well as emerging news media outlets. Prior to joining USC, Jenkins spent nearly two decades at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the Peter de Florez Professor in the Humanities. While there, he directed MIT’s Comparative Media Studies graduate degree program from 1999-2009, setting an innovative research agenda during a time of fundamental change in communication, journalism, and entertainment. Today, with more than 80 full-time faculty members and 120 adjunct professors, more than 2,200 undergraduate and graduate students, and dozens of research and public interest projects and programs, including the Norman Lear Center and the Knight Digital Media Center, USC Annenberg has become a center for discussion among scholars and professionals in journalism, communication, public relations, public policy, media and education. Shekhar Kapur, Director Shekhar Kapur is a visionary filmmaker and storyteller who works at the intersection of art, myth and activism. He started his film career with the Hindi film “Masoom” which went on to win 5 filmfare awards, the biggest award ceremony in India, followed by “Mr. India,” which is considered one of the most iconic films of the 80’s in Indian cinema. He then directed the critically acclaimed “Bandit Queen” which became an international success. Kapur got international recognition for directing “Elizabeth,” which was nominated for 7 Oscars and won the Oscar for best make-up. He followed that by directing Heath Ledger in “The Four Feathers.” Kapur then executive produced “The Guru” starring Heather Graham. Kapur returned to direct Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” in the sequel to the original Elizabeth. Golden Age was nominated for 2 Oscars including Cate Blanchett for best actress, and won the O