Blerime Topalli

Blerime Topalli, aka Blu, advises entertainment, telco and emerging tech clients as a transmedia strategist. Her new company, Brand Band, is a collective of creative and technology partnerships helping architect and execute story-led entertainment experiences for fans. Brand Band also invests in long-term cultivation of fan communities through collection and representation of metadata. Clients include Hasbro, E3D Creative (stereoscopic 3D), Strindex (streaming tech), and transmedia book projects with Becca Topol, writer of Ramen Girl.

Blerime began in VFX (Jurassic Park, Titanic) before chasing the elusive “story” to development where she was an executive on breakthrough features like My Big Fat Greek Wedding. After working as a production executive with producer Dino De Laurentiis her futurist inclinations led her to digital advisement and transmedia. Blerime is attempting to remedy her gypsy ways in Los Angeles, however on occasion you can find her haunting the streets of New York, Boston and London.

What Blerime will be doing at DIY DAYS

Transmedia: the Business of Execution

Many have discussed the definitions of Transmedia, but the realities of execution remain a mystery.  For those on the frontier of building their own projects, we will compare several Transmedia models of the past, as well as building treatments and story maps, how to pitch to co-producers and investors, and formulating creative teams and partnerships for execution and distribution.  

 

DIY DAYS asks Blerime

 

What are you currently working on that you’re excited about?

I’m proposing an ARG for the movie sequel to Stephen King’s Firestarter and am currently communicating with the development team during story inception – which is a first and very new territory. Hope to pass on some learnings.

What are some of your favorite sites and / or mobile apps and brief why?

www.unfiction.com: great site for discussing the playing and building of ARGs.
www.scoop.it: a fantastic platform with a great interface for curating information.
Instagram: still loving this app and how it has transcended novelty to inspiring a tangible creative community.

What are you currently watching, reading or playing?

I’ve been so swamped I’m way behind but will be checking out Christy Dena’s “Authentic in All Caps” and hoping the premiere of Pan Am lives up to the glamour of 2001: A Space Odyssey’s rendition. I am currently reading Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art” and Steve Krug’s “Rocket Surgery Made Easy” (UX Design)

For More on Blerime and his work visit

Twitter: @Blerime