Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/663385
42 cgw m a r c h . a p r i l 2 0 1 6 used in the picture messaging to continue promoting the strand and encourage the audience to make a Downton appointment to view the show on television." Another strand that devel- oped through demand was the fan recipes. Initially recipes from the show were output via social media, and fans were encour- aged to give them a try. "The response was incredibly good, and the fans started to share their own favorite recipes," says Fay. "We made the fan recipes into its own strand where people submitted them and one was chosen to be featured on the official social media and turned into a visual asset with the Downton branding." Well over two million people have "Liked" the Facebook page to date. There is a touring exhibi- tion in the US of Downton Abbey costumes. There is also a board game and card game. But, not everything has won favor with the audience – an app had to be withdrawn aer failing to entice followers. According to Carnival's own statistics, the core audience of the show is women in their '50s – typically not big social media users, which may explain the lack of interest. Meanwhile, the author of the Downton Abbey books, Jessica Fellowes, has toured the US and the UK, giving talks on the TV series and on the history of the period, attracting audiences of 2,000-plus. Although unfamiliar with the term "transmedia," she says that in talking about how the Downton community has developed, "my books and talks are specifically about tapping into that. Ditto Twitter and Facebook. The show had grown in success in tandem with those elements of social media, and it's definitely a big part of its story. I would live-tweet during episodes, and it was plain that people had enjoyed talking about the show together as much as they enjoyed watching it. They oen arrived at my talks dressed in 1920s outfits – it's all part of demonstrating the com- munity they felt they were in." Fellowes believes the au- dience led the way. "As social media has grown, the more online our lives have become, the more audiences crave the IRL (In Real Life) experience," she says. "We've seen it in the music industry, it's growing in the publishing industry, and with this TV show, there's more they can do than just buy the T-shirt." (The Downton Abbey trans- media presence can be found on websites such as www.itv.com/ downtonabbey and on Facebook and the links provided there.) T H E C I R C U S M O D E L In contrast to the mothership model is what I call the circus model because it reminds me of an atmosphere where audience and performers come together to create an event. Without an audience, a circus perfor- mance is simply a rehearsal, and without the performers, the audience is bored. The circus belongs to everybody – audi- ence and performers alike – and that is the nature of circus model transmedia. Circus model transmedia begins with no main focus on a single medium – rather, the approach is different on all media. Circus model transme- dia hovers on the balance of art, entertainment, and the need to make a dollar. Nuno Bernardo's company beActive in Portugal focuses on audience participation and the different ways to connect the audience to the story. BeActive is certainly different from most transmedia companies in that they actually create the initial property and the subsequent transmedia projects. BeActive's core business is to initiate the production, to write the main story and develop the char- acters and scenario, to plan the marketing of the product, and to develop the strategies they will need for spreading the product across different platforms. Essentially, they build a potential future audience for the main money spinner by creating a well-bonded social media community attached to the project. They create the fan base, and then they give them what they want. If the end prod- THE THEATRICAL RELEASE OF COLLIDER HAD A BUILT-IN TARGET AUDIENCE FAMILIAR WITH THE PROPERTY FROM OTHER MEDIA.