Jay Bushman

Jay Bushman is a writer and producer of transmedia entertainment — whatever that is. Somebody once wrote that he was the “Epic Poet of Twitter.” For reals. Jay produces social media story events and new media adaptions of classic literature. He’s a founder and co-manager of the Transmedia Los Angeles meetup group. Earlier this year, Jay joined Fourth Wall Studios as a writer and designer. Jay’s many Twitter accounts include @dr_lyle_evans, @HodorHodorHodor and, boringly, @jaybushman

What Jay will be doing at DIY DAYS

Collaborative Fiction

After many years of writing and producing for stage and screen, one day Jay Bushman suddenly realized that somebody had left a perfectly good, totally free, worldwide broadcast network lying around just waiting to be used for storytelling. Since then, Jay has used Twitter as the basis for a series of social media story events, including an annual mashup of Star Wars and the South By Southwest Interactive conference known as #SXStarWars, and the Halloween events #Cthalloween (based on H.P. Lovecraft) and #TheTalkingDead. Come behind the curtain to learn about how these experiences are made, how Twitter is the best thing to ever happen to DIY interactive fiction, and get a sneak preview of this year’s Halloween event.

DIY DAYS asks Jay

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

This year’s Halloween story event. Nothing else I’m allowed to talk about, unfortunately.

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

Shadow Unit: http://www.shadowunit.org – a television show that never existed, with episodes in the form of short stories, character blogs, and hidden DVD extras. Brilliant writing, and proves that there’s always a way to tell your story, even if it’s not readily apparent.

The Night Circus: http://nightcircus.co.uk. Beautiful, haunting and compulsive. I love that acquiring mementoes takes a back seat to the luxurious descriptions of the mementoes.

I could not get through the day without my Twitter app. I actually have three of them on my phone, just in case.

What’s are you currently watching, reading or playing?

Watching: Downton Abbey, My Drunk Kitchen
Reading: Reamde, by Neal Stephenson
Playing: #FakeWesteros – a self-organized network of fake twitter accounts for characters from Game of Thrones. I’m playing the aforementioned @HodorHodorHodor, as well as @mormonts_raven and @jaqen_hghar.

For more on Jay and his work visit

Twitter:
@jaybushman