The NY Times Research & Development Lab suggests that — while the news article isn't exactly dead — we need to be going beyond traditional modes of storytelling to adapt to our audiences’ needs. For a while, multimedia, multi-platform storytelling became the way to do this, but the folks at NYTimes R&D are calling on news organizations to think beyond just the form our stories take to consider how their platforms accumulate knowledge over time:

"Creating news for the current and future media landscape means considering the time scales of our reporting in much more innovative ways. Information should accumulate upon itself; documents should have ways of reacting to new reporting or information; and we should consider the consumption behavior of our users as one that takes place at all cadences, not simply as a daily update."

At Kindling Group, we make a point of integrating these questions into our projects at the earliest stages, from pre-production to long after the film is in distribution. The same technical innovations that could help news become more interactive and more responsive to audiences apply to doc filmmakers, too —  so we're excited to see how these evolve, and which make it off developers' cutting room floor. But the biggest takeaway that we think can be used across genres, whether you are making a documentary feature, webisodes, or working as a journalist, is to think about an audience's learning process and how the facts of a story develop over time. What can we do to create a living, adaptive campaign around our films —and how might this allow us to achieve even greater impact?

A couple of years ago, the American Press Institute hosted a workshop to brainstorm forms beyond the article. Journalists got together and tackled how to tell stories without ever writing an article. The results were some very out-of-the box ideas that might also help filmmakers think "beyond the film". While NYTimes R&D suggests innovations like news “particles,” which would allow journalists to embed additional information within their stories more seamlessly than they can with hyperlinks, the folks at the API workshop got thinking about entirely new ways of telling stories in the first place. One of our favorite ideas was was “Fan Fiction,” where readers would submit their own fantasies about the outcome of a particular issue and the newspaper would publish the best ones. You can check out the full list of ideas here.

How can we use these ideas as doc filmmakers, with a slightly different set of missions and constraints? Here are a couple of suggestions:

1. Plan ahead for changes on the issue: Every doc filmmaker knows that they are going to uncover surprises during production, and that important events occur even after you go into distribution. Develop responsive social media channels around these issues to provide your audience with information and keep them engaged.
2. Use your assets in new ways: Doc filmmakers know how to tell stories visually. Think about how to leverage your material to produce innovative collateral. Can an app help engage your audience and expand the reach of your film? What about a website with an interactive feature, like a game? 
3. Respond, respond, respond: Are you hearing about a related issue from your social media followers? Follow up! See if you can go get an interview, make a short video, and report back. You’ve become an expert on your topic, and your audience wants to know your take on the current situation.