The document outlines a proposed transmedia project called "The Idea of Europe, an open dialogue" which would adapt George Steiner's lecture on the idea of Europe into multiple pieces including a book, play, documentaries, webseries, and interactive webdoc to engage the public in a discussion on European identity. The project is led by Montecarlo and actor Oscar Intente and aims to explore what ideas unite Europe and whether the idea of Europe remains valid through these various storytelling forms.

1. Montecarlo - 2015
The Idea of European open dialogue

2. 1
The Idea of Europe
The Idea of Europe– an open dialogue
Information Sheet ....................................................................................................................................... 2
Concept ....................................................................................................................................................... 4
About George Steiner ................................................................................................................................ 6
Pieces
Book - The Idea of Europe ............................................................................................................... 8
Theatre Play - The Idea of Europe .................................................................................................. 9
Feature-Length Documentary - The Idea of Europe .................................................................... 11
TV Documentary (50’) - The Making of the Idea............................................................................ 13
TV Documentary (25’) - The Last Coffee ....................................................................................... 14
Website - The Idea of Europe Official Website............................................................................... 15
Webseries - Shaping Europe.......................................................................................................... 16
Webdoc - The Voices of Europe ..................................................................................................... 17
SM, UGC and more ....................................................................................................................... 19
Infographics
Schedule ........................................................................................................................................ 20
References ..................................................................................................................................... 21
Market ........................................................................................................................................................22
Rights ......................................................................................................................................................... 23
Team
Montecarlo ......................................................................................................................................24 ..
Òscar Intente ..................................................................................................................................25
Ferran Audí .................................................................................................................................... 26
Contact ...................................................................................................................................................... 27

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The Idea of Europe
TITLE: The Idea of Europe, an open dialogue
GENRE: Non Fiction (Documentary / Essay)
FORMAT: Transmedia project composed of a book, a the-
atre play, a feature-length documentary, a TV documen-
tary, a webseries, a collaborative webdoc and various SM.
STORYLINE: In 2004 George Steiner gave a lecture at the
Nexus Instituut (NL). Its title was “The Idea of Europe”.
He reflected on the basics, the core ideas that constitute
that which we call Europe.
Steiner went through History, Politics, Religions and
schools of thought, but also through Geography, Litera-
ture, Music and popular traditions that, over the centu-
ries, have become the pillars of our society, though often
enough we aren’t able to recognize these ideas as our
roots.
All this happened before the crisis, in a moment when
European Social and Identity values where asleep, and
people thought that money and welfare would always be
granted.
But, even then, Steiner asked himself and kept asking us
about the meaning and sense of all this.
TAGLINE: Is the idea of Europe still valid?
LOGLINE: Europe, as small as it is, is big enough to con-
tain many different cultures and ideas. This diversity is ex-
Information Sheet

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The Idea of Europe
perienced at the same time as a communication obstacle
and as an unusual richness.
Do we, the European people, really feel we are part of the
same collective? How much do we have in common, and
how much keeps us apart? And, in the end... Do we really
know ourselves? Who are we? Who do we want to be?
THEME: Identity as a personal and collective subject. The
past as a foundation of an unwritten future.
TARGET: Young and adult (+18), although some pieces (ie
the webseries) are classified as +12 and can be watched
independently.

5. 4
The Idea of Europe
“The Idea of Europe, an open dialogue” is a collaborative
transmedia project.
Its starting point is the conference from which it takes its
name.
George Steiner is, undoubtedly, one of the great thinkers
of our time, and in this text he presents the ideas that, to
him, are the guiding principles on which Europe is built.
The conference provides a wealth of intellectual depth, a
passion for the issues it tackles and sincere concern for
our way of thinking (which ultimately makes us one way
or another).
This project’s proposal (and what justifies the use of mul-
tiple platforms), is to provide a kaleidoscopic view of Eu-
rope.
In doing so, Steiner’s text transforms into a map to guide
us, a starting point, but never an endpoint.
The idea is to open up the debate, arouse questions from
those attending the narrative. To invite all the citizens of
Europe to the construction of this project given that, if the
idea of ​​Europe may be valid, it will be as a result of the
collective construction that endorses it.
Thus, the narrative as a whole is intentionally polyhedral
since it supports pieces of an informative, educational
and documentary tone, but also speculative ones.
If all the pieces that make up the project revolve around
“The idea of Europe” (the original text), around the ideas
that are exposed there, it also serves to return them to the
Concept

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The Idea of Europe
street, so that each and every one of us can rethink them,
defend or question them, put them into context and, ulti-
mately, contribute in his unique voice to create a choir of
voices that will give meaning to the project.
The use of digital technologies allows a dialogue that until
recently, would have been difficult to carry out: to gather
all those who want to express their views freely in one
place (although it is a virtual space).

7. 6
The Idea of Europe
Professor George Steiner was born in Paris on April 23,
1929.
His family moved to the United States in 1940 and he was
educated at the Universities of Paris, Chicago, Harvard,
Oxford and Cambridge.
He was a member of the editorial staff at The Economist in
London during the 1950s before beginning an academic
career as a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study at
Princeton University in 1956.
He was appointed Gauss Lecturer at Princeton in 1959.
He has been a fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge,
since 1961 and was Professor of English and Compara-
tive Literature at the University of Geneva between 1974
and 1994.
George Steiner, Emeritus Professor of the University of
Geneva, is an internationally renowned scholar of West-
ern culture, language, and intellectual history. He was ap-
pointed the 2001-02 Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at
Harvard University and is currently an Extraordinary Fel-
low of Churchill College at the University of Cambridge.
Steiner is experienced as a writer in many forms, but he
is best known as a piercingly intelligent and shamelessly
intellectual critic and essayist.
His non-fiction books include “The End of Tragedy”; “After
Babel”; “Grammars of Creation”; “No Passion Spent”; “In
Bluebeard’s Castle: Some Notes Towards the Redefinition
About George Steiner

8. 7
The Idea of Europe
of Culture”; “Antigones: How the Antigone Legend Has
Endured Western Literature, Art and Thought”; “Errata: An
Examined Life” an “My Unwritten Books”.
George Steiner has also given the Massey Lectures for
the CBC, later published as “Nostalgia for the Absolute”
and some lectures at the Tilburg’s Nexus Instituut “The
Idea of Europe” and “Universitas?”.
Information extracted from the following sources:
http://literature.britishcouncil.org/george-steiner
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Steiner

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The Idea of Europe
TITLE: “The Idea of Europe”
FORMAT: Book.
CONTENTS: Transciption of the original conference.
In 2004, before the Netherlands took on the presidency
of the European Union, the Nexus Instituut organised a
lecture by George Steiner. The issue to be addressed was
the idea of Europe, its validity, importance and political sig-
nificance.
The text, of strong emotional and intellectual density, has
been subsequently published and translated into many
languages (Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English,
French, Portuguese, Galician, Spanish...).
Pieces - Book

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The Idea of Europe
TITLE: “The Idea of Europe”
FORMAT: Stage Play.
CONTENTS: In 2010, Òscar Intente, a catalan actor, found
a copy of George Steiner’s lecture. The text inmediatly
captured his attention, as it was so full of ideas and im-
ages.
And an idea crossed his mind: why not turn this same text
into a monologue?
He started working on it. His aim was to bring the text to
the theatre, to interprete it and to turn the lecture into a
true theatre piece, without changing a word.
And so he did.
He converted an academic text into the chit-chat of a
sympathetic “clochard” on the terrace of a cafe.
Ocassionally, a mute accordeonist helps him trough the
show but, in the end, he uses Steiner’s very same words.
A different situation, a different medium, the same emo-
tion. You only have to attend one representation to feel it
in the air: the public gets hypnotized by this profound and
compelling work.
The play has been on and off stage since its first day. Each
time the text has been respected, and the staging has
been adapted to local conditions, creating a unique and
unforgettable experience. It has been shown in theaters,
Pieces - Play

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The Idea of Europe
cafes, auditoriums, university classrooms, private gar-
dens and cultural centers and associations.
Òscar Intente speaks the text in Catalan, his native lan-
guage, because, as Steiner himself says: “There are no
minor languages”.
The play is always ready to be represented anywhere.
Furthermore, the possibility of incorporating a stage cap-
tioning system allows it to be represented in front of any
audience of any country.

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The Idea of Europe
TITLE: “The Idea of Europe”
FORMAT: Feature-lenght documentary (80’ aprox).
CONTENTS: Òscar Intente enters an auditorium and pre-
pares his theatrical adaptation of “The Idea of Europe.”
We attend the performance, that serves as the storyline
for our documentary. The staging of the text marks the dif-
ferent parts and clearly shows the development of Stein-
er’s ideas.
It is important to understand that this is not “filmed the-
atre”, but “a film about the contents of a theatre play”
which, in this case, reflects upon many important subjects
related to the origin, the meaning and the sense of Europe.
Is the idea of Europe still valid? That is something we all
must answer.
The footage of the representation is combined with other
images, showing Intente continuing his discourse, where
the theatre set is replaced by real settings related to the
text, adding a totally new dimension to what he says.
As he gives his speech and adresses the audience, we
can see how he walks through the streets of different
European cities, showing the original landscapes that in-
spired Steiner’s ideas.
The images also include additional material: still photog-
raphies, graphics, paintings, drawings and newspapers
as well as archive footage from TV news, documentaries,
Pieces - Feature-length Documentary

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The Idea of Europe
old film features and scenes from other representations of
the play.
Anything that helps to illustrate the text and to give a cin-
ematic dimension to the film is allowed, because this is a
big screen experience and it wants to take the audience
to an emotional peak.
Here is a link to the teaser:
http:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5H-RzBq9eE

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The Idea of Europe
TITLE: “The Making of the Idea”
FORMAT: TV Documentary (25’ aprox.)
CONTENTS: This documentary shows the process of the
creation of the text, the stage play and the feature-lenght
documentary.
The follow-up of the action serves as a guide to the audi-
ence, from the seminal idea to the public delivery.
Structured along a long conversation between Òscar In-
tente and Montecarlo, the documentary works on two dif-
ferent levels.
The first one is the text itself (Steiner’s discussion of the
Idea of Europe) and how the author was invited by the
Nexus Instituut to deliver his speech.
It includes interviews to members of the Nexus board, to
Steiner himself and to other relevant names of European
insitutions that can helps us clarify the questions posed
by the author.
The second level shows the struggle of Intente and Monte-
carlo to adapt the text to different media and to bring it to
wider audiences.
The TV documentary ends with an open question (“Is the
Idea of Europe still valid?” and a call to action to the audi-
ence to collaborate in the webdoc.
Pieces - TV Documentary (50’)

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The Idea of Europe
TITLE: “The Last Coffee”
FORMAT: Documental televisivo (25’ aprox.)
CONTENTS: The piece is a creative documentary that
combines historical elements with fiction ones to
create a single, coherent speech.
Set in the present, it has as its background the Syrian
tragedy, and it is both a reflection on the history of
Europe and on the drama of immigration, forced dis-
placement, frontiers and bureaucracy as a tool of
power.
The plot is structured around a fictional encounter
between Òscar Intente, the actor playing “The Idea of
Europe”, and Walter Benjamin, German philosopher.
When the former gives a performance at a memorial
event for the second, he decides to go to Portobou,
place where Benjamin, feeling hopeless by the inabi-
lity to escape the advancing Nazi troops, killed him-
self in 1940.
There, in a cafe (which functions as the timeless ele-
ment that allows the simultaneous presence of both
characters), takes place a conversation between Òs-
car and Benjamin, in which the latter will present the
main ideas of his critical thinking, and which will ari-
se the question about if we have been able to im-
prove our conditions since the days of World War II
or, on the contrary, we remain stuck in an endless
barbarism.
Pieces - TV Documentary (25’)

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The Idea of Europe
TITLE: “The Idea of Europe Ofifcal Website”
FORMAT: Website
CONTENTS: This is the offical site of the multiplatform
project.
It contains general information about it and the main menu
will include access to all the pieces that shape the trans-
media narrative. (In a way it will be similar to the Table of
contents to this dossier).
Every section will give a detailed explanation about its
subject, with additional information (trailers, reviews,
etc...).
It will also contain the entire webseries and the collabora-
tive webdoc (see respective sections).
It will be completed with links to other websites of special
interest (such as cultural institutions related to the main
subject, forums and more).
Pieces - Website

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The Idea of Europe
TITLE: “Shaping Europe”
FORMAT: Webseries (5’ min x episode)
The number of episodes is undefined, due to the nature
of the subject.
CONTENTS:
George Steiner’s “The Idea of Europe” is full of ideas that
keep crossing all over the text. Here are some names and
concepts that appear in it:
Edmund Husserl, Soren Kierkegaard, J. P. Sartre, Walter
Benjamin, Max Weber, Charles Peguy, Schubert, Mahler, II
World War, Athens, Jesuralem, Mathematics, Speculative
Thinking, Music, cafes, anti-Semitism, religion, monothe-
ism, the sense of an ending...
Each video is a short-feature documentary, a kind of mon-
ographic clip about the selected subject.
Although all of them are autonomous pieces, some ideas
run in a transversal way.
The pieces are meant for an audience of +12, and they are
oriented towards education.
Pieces - Webseries

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The Idea of Europe
TITLE: “The Voices of Europe”
FORMAT: Interactive Video
CONTENTS : The idea is to ask the audience to contribute
to the development of this interactive documentary send-
ing a video scene (which will correspond to a line-shot
from the original documentary ) .
This contribution can be shot as no matter where and
when, and in any (European) language. (Minimum techni-
cal requirements will be indicated) .
All contributions will be accepted under a Creative Com-
mons license, in order to have proper authorisation for
their use and distribution.
The basic idea is to create interchangeable parts, scenes
that can replace the original scenes from our documen-
tary.
Each upload will be properly tagged (for language, sex,
age and any other relevant information).
These contributions will be accompanied by the authors’
comments explaining their point of view or why they have
chosen this particular line . They may include links to
blogs or sites that expand the experience.
Steiner’s original text has to be respected to its full extent,
as has been the case throughout the entire project. (And
yes, it can be heard in any European language).
Pieces - Webdoc

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The Idea of Europe
Later, through an interactive menu, any visitor can request
a free viewing of the documentary, by personal choice of
viewing criteria. Thus, despite that the original text is pre-
served, the user experience will be different in each view-
ing .
Furthermore, the contribution of reviews, comments and
links will ensure the possibility of opening up the dialogue
beyond the borders of our own project.

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The Idea of Europe
This project will have extensions on social networks (Fa-
cebook, Twitter ...) seeking direct communication with
both the audience and potential contributors.
The use of each network will optimise its corresponding
characteristics (Twitter: realtime dialogue / Facebook:
news broadcast...).
An important part of the project is the user generated
content (UGC) which, as we have seen, will be channeled
through the webdoc, and from there, expanded to other
websites.
One option we keep in store would be the live use of so-
cial networks as back channel and space for debate at
theatre representations.
This is a live project, and therefore provides possibilities
for expansion beyond those indicated in this document.
Pieces - SM, UCG and More

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The Idea of Europe
This is a first approach to the order in which the different pieces will be launched, and indicates which of them will offer
ROI and which will be non-profit.
Infographics - Schedule

22. 21
The Idea of Europe
This image, extracted from the collaborative webdoc “The Jonnhy Cash Project”, gives an approximate idea of what
the webdoc’s navigation menu will look like.
To view this project o-line, please visit: http://www.thejohnnycashproject.com (Sub Menu “Explore”).
Infographics - References

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The Idea of Europe
The project focuses on two different lines of apporach,
working in a complementary fashion.
The first line is a documentary one, and it evolves around
Steiner’s text. Basically, it reflects on the great issues of
the construction of Europe, from a variety of different ap-
proaches (Art, Culture, Religion, Politics, Economy).
This line also includes educational elements: not only in
implicit ways (the project itself, in a sense, works as a
teaching tool) but clearly explicit ones too, like in the web-
series, the case chapters of which are sorted and grouped
by themes that represent the ideas which are scattered
along the original speech.
The second line is participatory: not merely as an add-
tion of materials (User Generated Content), but also as a
contribution of viewpoints and opinions on all these big
issues.
By adding other documentaries that reflect on the idea of
Europe (even if they don’t dig as deep as Steiner’s does),
this collaborative webdoc will bring a new insight to a de-
bate that is already open and vibrantly alive.
Thanks to the technological possibilities that the webdoc
offers to the users, we are returning the voice of the peo-
ple to the people.
This double approach widens our target: we can reach a
more conventional audience through the book, the stage
play, the website and webseries, the feature-lenght doc-
umentary and the tv documentary, and we can connect
with more active audiences through the SM, the webdoc
and the conections people establish with it.
Market

24. 23
The Idea of Europe
Rights
The Nexus Instituut, the current rights holder to “The
Idea of Europe”, knows about and endorses this project
by signing over the rights.
Química visual SL [filmmaker]
Montecarlo
Carrer de la França Xica 1
08004 BARCELONA
Tilburg, 7 februari 2012
RE: Right to use the text of The Idea of Europe
Dear Montecarlo,
During our meeting of January 31, 2012 in Tilburg we herewith agreed the following:
1. The Nexus Institute [hereafter called the Publisher] owns all rights to the publication The
Idea of Europe by George Steiner.
2. Montecarlo and Química visual SL [filmmaker] [hereafter called the Artist] can make use of
the abovementioned text in all visual ways. The text can be quoted but not used in full length
in any written manner.
3. The Artist will, whenever the text is used in any visual way, add the following credit line: The
Idea of Europe by George Steiner. Published by the Nexus Institute in 2003. All rights
reserved.
4. The Artist will inform the Catalan publisher (Arcadia) when using the Catalan translation and
also add a credit line mentioning the original publication.
5. The Publisher is free to use the visual material made by the Artist and will of course give the
right credits.
We look forward seeing this project materialize and we hope to stay in touch.
Good luck and best regards,
Kirsten Walgreen
Vice-president Nexus Institute

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The Idea of Europe
Filmmaker, Storyteller, Transmedia Architect
Born in Barcelona, Spain. He holds a BA in Fine Arts
and an MBA in Film and TV. (PhD expected winter 2014).
He started his career as a comic-book artist and video
maker.
Since then he has written features for Spanish produc-
tion companies and has script-doctored other projects
(both fiction and non-fiction).
He has scripted, storyboarded and directed short films
and 3D animation series.
He also has worked in transmedia narratives (interacti-
ve games, exhibitions...).
He is co-Founder of StoryCode BCN and Transmedia
Week.
He is the author of “The Director’s Job: Filmmaking Te-
chniques” (FUNIBER) and co-author of the novel “El
consejo” (The board/The advice), a story about the
power of Storytelling (Alienta Ed.).
Currently he is working on several transmedia projects
and in the organization of events related to the subject.
He also teaches these same subjects at several schools
and universities.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/montecarlo
Team - Montecarlo

26. 25
The Idea of Europe
Actor
Òscar Intente has developed his work as an actor for
over ten years, mostly in theatres, showing his chama-
leonic capacity incarnating all kinds of characters.
He has also worked in film and tv, with special stress
on catalonian television series that have brought a wide
public recognition to his work.
He collaborates with the IT (Institut del Teatre, the cen-
tenary school for theatre studies in Barcelona, Spain).
You can find more details here: http://www.miquelfolch.
com/oi/oscar_intente.html
Team - Òscar Intente

27. 26
The Idea of Europe
Team - Ferran Audí
Executive Producer
Born in Barcelona, Ferran was trained as an actor
at the Institut del Teatre de Barcelona. He made
his debut as a stage director in 1987 in Spain and
received the Adrià Gual Award (Generalitat de Ca-
talunya) for the Best Stage Direction Project of the
Year.
In 1988, he moved to London and took a postgra-
duate course at the Royal Academy of Dramatc Art.
He was a founding member of the company
Heightened Reality in London (1997) and of Alta
Realitat in Barcelona (2003).
Since he graduated in 1984, Ferran has taken many
parts as an actor in a wide range of productions for
the stage, film and TV.
He has combined his acting career with directing
and, since 1997, he has directed regularly in both
Spain and Norway.
In 2005 he scripted and directed his first short film,
Teresa and the Undead and, in 2008, Alta Realitat’s
first full‐length feature film: The Frost, starring
Aitana Sánchez Gijón, and Bibi Andersson, among
others.
He has taught drama in Scotland, Paris, Barcelona
and Noeway.
He is also a member of the Catalan Cinema’s School
of Directors, the Catalan Film Academy and the Di-
rectors Guild of Great Britain.
h t t p : / / e s . l i n k e d i n . c o m / p u b / f e r r a n -
aud%C3%AD/6/3a/654

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The Idea of Europe
Contact person: Montecarlo
e-mail: mc@montecarlo-storytelling.com
Street address:
Montecarlo
C/ França Xica, nº1, 2º 2ª
08004 Barcelona
Spain
Contact
All images used in this dossier are intended for illustration purposes only. All rights belong to their respective copyright holders.
No copyright infringement intended.

29. Montecarlo - 2015
Is
the Idea of Europe
Still Valid?