Director, Universe Creation 101 (Melbourne)

Christy Dena specializes in the design and production of trans/cross-media projects.

She designs, writes and directs transmedia projects and is currently developing her own creative projects and web entertainment services.  She worked with Nokia on Tim Kring’s global alternate reality experience Conspiracy for Good; Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s global online serious drama Project Bluebird; new animation franchise Coldwar Clambake; the Australian Film Festival; Second Life arts tour dLux Pony Club; is currently consulting to filmmakers at the user-generated film distribution service Openindie; and has worked on multiple mini-alternate reality games for training and many other large- and small-scale projects.

Her clients include Nokia Finland, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Wieden + Kennedy, Australia Council for the Arts, Australian Film Festival, Australian Film, Television and Radio School. 

Christy has given presentations on the design of cross-media projects to companies and organisations worldwide such as Nokia Finland; Microsoft Research; O’Reilly Media; Australia Council for the Arts; AIMIA; Film Australia; Australian Film, Television and Radio School; Australian Broadcasting Corporation and many more

She has presented an numerous industry festivals and events including: Whistler Film Festival in Canada; Cartoons on the Bay in Italy; Power to the Pixel in London; London Film Festival; Slamdance; Documentary Organisation of Canada’s Reboot; DIYDays; Destination Film Festival; Revelations Film Festival; the Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment, and the First International Conference on Cross-Media Interaction Design in Sweden.

She has been featured in ABC’s 7.30 Tonight, The Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, The Sacramento Bee, Vancouver Sun, Filmmaker Magazine, Australian Financial Review, The Age, Herald Sun, Encore, and others.

She co-wrote the Australian Literature Board’s Writers’ Guide to Making a Digital Living and worked for four years on the Literature Board’s Story of the Future Initiative. Christy has published chapters or been quoted in numerous books, including Cross-Media Communications: an Introduction to the Art of Creating Integrated Media Experiences; Pervasive Games: Theory and Design; Think Outside the Box Office: The Ultimate Guide to Film Distribution and Marketing in the Digital Era;  Space, Time Play; and New Perspectives on Narrative and Multimodality.

Christy has written the first PhD on ‘Transmedia Practice’ (University of Sydney); has a Postgraduate Diploma in Creative Writing (University of Melbourne); and a Bachelor of Arts in Visual and Performing Arts (Monash University).