• by Lydia Loizides , Op-Ed Contributor, June 26, 2008

I am someone who always seeks to learn from other places; looking for ways to apply scientific constructs to the arts, packaging and distribution efficiencies from manufacturing to video, non-profit marketing tactics to for-profit businesses. So when I first met and spoke with Lisa Holton a few weeks ago, I found it so refreshing to see someone come out of what is perceived as a dying business with a multiplatform, multipronged approach to developing content.

Lisa was most recently president, book fairs and trade and EVP of Scholastic Inc. You got it, she comes from the book business. But she comes from the book business via Disney and has always been in the children's book business. So what does this have to do with television? Everything. Meet The Amanda Project (http://lydialoizides.blogs.com/techieandthemedia/2008/06/the-amanda-proj.html). What is wonderful about The Amanda Project is that Amanda's story "will be told across a variety of media in addition to the books-a social website where readers can interact with and become characters in the mystery, a related series of blogs chronicling the story as it unfolds, clues and seed posts on satellite sites, downloadable music and official and user-generated merchandise." TV and or film seem just around the corner.

Again I will pull out my "think-out-of-the-black-box" drum and implore you see the Web as a tool -- a tool to grow audiences, extend story lines, create derivatives and offer a platform for fans to interact with characters. What Lisa has realized (thankfully) is that a good story is just that -- and that a good story can take place on multiple platforms at a time. With a strike threatening, CPMs facing pressure year over year, buyers, sellers and distributors all crying about prices, packaging and profitability, perhaps now is a good time to take a look elsewhere and see how the other guy (or in this case lady) is doing it -- and doing it right.