“Transforming Stories @ Highland Farm” Connects Writers & Executive Producers In an Interactive Internet Storytelling Conference

Doylestown, Pennsylvania -- April 21, 2008 -- The former home and writing refuge of legendary writer and producer Oscar Hammerstein II, Highland Farm, will be the scene of a national forum for storytellers, script writers and executive producers to be held on Thursday, May 1 and Friday, May 2, 2008.

“Transforming Stories @ Highland Farm” is dedicated to the transformation of storytelling, moving from traditional forms to embracing the inherent interactivity and engagement of the online user experience. The event is sponsored by sevenEcho, Inc. and Script Magazine.

The roundtable event will be videotaped and edited, for distribution online at later date on Script Magazine’s web site at http://www.scriptmag.com/.

“Our vision for ‘Transforming Stories @ Highland Farm’ is to open up a dialogue between the creative individuals and entities driving this next phase of storytelling as an online, interactive, socially-connected and personalized narrative,” said David Russek, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of sevenEcho. “We are at the intersection of Madison Avenue meeting Hollywood Boulevard meeting Sand Hill Road, the true convergence of technology and storytelling content.

“New technologies exist to transform the craft of storytelling,” Russek said. “The primary objective for this event, and the distribution of our video highlights in partnership with Script Magazine, is to celebrate and advance the writer’s role in this revolution.”

Topics for the roundtable panel discussions include:

  • How the craft of storytelling changes across different audience touch points, for instance, a musical theater stage experience, an edited cinema experience, a TV experience, a video iPod experience, or a personalized, socially connected interactive narrative experience online;
  • How audience interaction, audience engagement, and online audience emotional response to storytelling factors into the craft of storytelling;
  • How audience engagement, as defined by Griffith, Eisenstein, Kuleshov, by the pioneering work at “Sesame Street” and by the forward progression of craft employed by Oscar Hammerstein II differ from the expectations of audiences today.

Among the creative professionals who will lead “Transforming Stories @ Highland Farm” are:

  • John Frankfurt, Senior Educational Technologist at Columbia University's Center for New Media Teaching and Learning;
  • Maureen Green, Editor of Script Magazine;
  • Andy Hammerstein, graduate theatre professor at Columbia University and the grandson of Oscar Hammerstein II;
  • John Heinsen, a former primetime television programming executive at FOX and currently President of Bunnygraph Entertainment;
  • Murray Horwitz, the award-winning writer, producer and director of “Ain’t Misbehavin” and other notable productions, former Vice President for Cultural Programming at National Public Radio, and the Director of the American Film Institute’s Silver Theatre and Cultural Center; and
  • Liz Nealon, Producer/Writer on the MTV startup team and former Creative Director of “Sesame Street” who conceived the approach for the upcoming, interactive “Sesame Street” broadband platform.

Highland Farm Estate (http://www.highlandfarmbb.com/) is the former home and refuge of Oscar Hammerstein II, noted writer of classic American musicals including “The Sound of Music,” “The King & I,” and “South Pacific,” among others.

“Transforming Stories @ Highland Farm” begins on Thursday, May 1 with an evening reception and opening remarks from 7 to 9 p.m. On Friday, May 2 the agenda includes a panel discussion from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., with a second session continuing from 10:45 a.m. to 12 Noon, followed by a luncheon. The third session begins at 1:30 p.m., and is followed by closing remarks and a “wrap party” from 3 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.

Attendance at “Transforming Stories @ Highland Farm” is limited. Additional information is available by contacting Andrew Rachmell, Executive Producer at sevenEcho by phone at 561-989-8504 or by e-mail at arachmell@sevenecho.com.

The edited version of “Transforming Stories @ Highland Farm” will be available after the event through the Script Magazine web site at http://www.scriptmag.com/ and at http://www.sevenecho.com/.

Media Contact: Jim DeLorenzo (for sevenEcho)
Phone: 215-564-1122
E-mail: jim@jhdenterprises.com