22 Mar Neiman Journalism Lab | MIT’s Open Documentary Lab: part think tank, part incubator

Posted at 00:24h in News by

The Neiman Journalism Lab’s Andrew Phelps interviewed OpenDocLab Director Sarah Wolozin and Principal Investigator William Uricchio following the 2012 New Arts of Documentary symposium at MIT. The talk focused on interactive documentary forms and the future of storytelling:

Wolozin: Just as you’re building your story and building your idea, you’re building your audience at the same time. So that’s the difference between linear documentary, where you used to make your story and then put it out there. It’s not like that anymore. You start from the beginning, building your audience — it’s iterative from the beginning — having them work with you, impact you, help you build it, help you spread it…

Uricchio: One of the great affordances of this interactive online stuff is that you can sort of see how people are using it, see where the stumbling blocks are, see where the barriers are, and rebuild. And it’s not a problem. Whereas with the linear, once that’s out in the world, it’s sink or swim.

Read the entire interview “MIT’s Open Documentary Lab: Part Think Tank, Part Incubator for Filmmakers and Hackers” at the Neiman Journalism Lab website.