Aligning Participation with Authorship: Independent Transmedia Documentary Production in Norway

Incentives to develop non-fiction transmedia projects have recently challenged the work practices of independent documentary filmmakers in Norway. However, research on documentary films has only minimally captured the emerging practice of making non-fiction transmedia. Based on an interview study undertaken in 2012/2013 and reflections on contributing to a recent non-fiction transmedia project, I find that the emerging practice faces many of the same challenges as the participative documentary practice of the 1970s, mainly that the facilitation of audience participation requires a break from the broadcasting logic of independent documentary film work.