Grassroots Transmedia: Alias to Google I/O
This week’s Google I/O was a whirlwind of AI innovation. They unveiled over 100 AI advancements, including Gemini 2.5 Pro, the insane new Veo 3-powered Flow video editing tool, and Project Astra, a universal AI assistant capable of real-time visual interactions. Tools offering to empower creators, offering unprecedented capabilities to create cool stuff.
Watching these announcements, I was struck by the contrast to the early 2000s when we were crafting the ARG for the spy series I was working on called Alias.
At J.J. Abrams’ request, fellow scribbler Rick Orci and I were tasked with designing a new kind of audience experience, an interactive puzzle layered onto the show’s mythology. The result was the Alias ARG: a handcrafted, real-time, story-driven mystery that extended the world of Alias into the internet and beyond.
We weren’t outsourcing this to marketing or digital. We were making it. We built the ARG ourselves, using the tools we had access to. We didn't have sophisticated AI or expansive budgets. So our approach was rooted in our Super-8 filmmaking ethos: assess your resources, then build a story that fits.
Photoshop
HTML
Email servers
Freeware like JPHide (to hide files inside images)
A basic understanding of crypto and steganography
A whole lot of creativity
We looked at what we could actually use, then asked: What kind of spy story fits inside these constraints?
ARG as Narrative Engine
This wasn’t a side project. It was an extension of the story engine. And it remains one of the most immersive, hands-on storytelling experiments of my career.
We treated the Alias ARG like a parallel spy mission. While Sydney Bristow was chasing Rambaldi clues on screen, players at home were digging through fake corporate websites, decrypting JPEGs, and emailing SD-6 fronts like creditdauphine.com.
Rick and I would write and act out scenes in real time via online chat, playing characters embedded in the storyline.
We seeded puzzles using steganography via MP3s and hiding files in JPEGs that required JPHide to unlock.
We wrote auto-responder logic for in-world email addresses that would deliver clues based on what fans sent in.
We mirrored plot turns in the ARG with what was happening on TV, syncing drops with key episodes like “The Prophecy,” “Cipher,” and “Phase One.”
Because we were storycrafting in the scribble room, we didn’t have to guess at narrative direction, we were the direction. That allowed us to do something very few ARGs have managed: total narrative integration.
Players Became Part of the Adventure
We weren’t just watching fans solve our puzzles; we were learning from them. Players like ZeroSum and RulerFrog emerged as consistent solvers and community leaders. So we did something insane: we made them part of the show’s canon.
If you were a major player in the Alias ARG, there’s a good chance your screen name or alias made it into a character name, password, or file reference on the show. It was our way of saying thanks and keeping a tight loop between fiction and reality.
What Creators Can Learn from the Alias Model
Transmedia isn’t just about spreading content across platforms. It’s about crafting meaningful continuity between formats. Here’s some stuff that worked, and still works:
Keep it in the hands of the storytellers
We weren’t feeding an external agency “show bible” pages. We were building the ARG with the same brains crafting the core narrative.
Mirror the world, don’t echo it
The ARG didn’t rehash story points. It added context, mystery, and interaction that felt like spy work. Your transmedia format should reflect your genre.
Let players contribute
The best ARGs don’t just feed fans information. They respond to participation. Our live chats weren’t just scripted, they were reactive.
Close the loop
When you bring ARG names into the show or acknowledge players in-universe, you let fans know their time and attention matter. It becomes more than content. It becomes canon.
Before there were studio pipelines for interactive storytelling… before “transmedia” was a buzzword… we were building it with free tools, craft-service candy, and a DIY mindset.
The Alias ARG was one of the first to tie a broadcast narrative directly into a digital one, with zero gap between creators and the audience. We didn’t just tell a story. We invited you in. If you played the game, you could change the show from the outside.
You Already Have Everything You Need
We didn’t launch the Alias ARG because we had a big idea and a bigger budget. We did it because JJ thought it would be cool. He understood the potential of all these scrappy new tools and believed that if he was ready to play with them, other people were too.
Google just introduced more insane tools than we ever dreamed of. Don’t wait for them to be perfect. Don’t wait for funding. Or permission. Check out what you already have, and ask the simplest, most DIY question of all:
What rad story can I tell with this?
