France Télévisions’ Boris Razon thinks it’s time for some transmedia testing at The Pixel Pitch competition

By Rosie Lavan

In the next in our series of interviews with members of The Pixel Pitch Jury, we talk to Boris Razon, head of new writing and transmedia at France Télévisions. Now is the time for trying and testing in the transmedia world, he believes, and finding out what works for an audience has to come first.

Power to the Pixel: What qualities will you be looking for in the projects you will be judging at The Pixel Market?

Boris Razon: There is always a tension between story and technology, story and transmedia architecture. I expect the projects to have a very strong universe and storyline and to have a transmedia scheme which serves this world. PttP: What particular expertise and experience do you bring to The Pixel Pitch Jury?

BR: My experience as former editor-in-chief of lemonde.fr which was a huge laboratory of innovation in journalistic stories. And also our first experiences at France Télévisions, which are numerous now…

PttP: You are involved with transmedia on behalf of a public service broadcaster. How does this influence your approach to transmedia work?

BR: I’m not looking for rentability. I serve here to experiment and learn how the audience behaves with content in the digital world. We have the chance to try to understand how it works before we have to make money out of it. We also have to support projects that are strongly related to our values: education, citizenship and creation.

PttP: Can you share some thoughts about The Pixel Market and the prizes on offer there? What is the significance of events like these for producers?

BR: I think these events are really important for the market because it shows how the standards are evolving, what trends are ongoing and, naturally, allows us to share our cases and learn from others.