Today's digital media is defined by not only the latest technical innovations but also cutting-edge story solutions. This session provides the essential concepts of "story," and you don’t even have to take a course in scriptwriting. It covers how conflict, plot, character, and setting interact; from Hero's Journey to Kishōtenketsu (Asian story structure). Attendees will take away an understanding of the universal narrative structure of today's content (i.e., setup, inciting incident, rising action, crisis, climax, resolution, etc.). Understanding will include how stories are developed as well as the ability to evaluate levels of confict (i.e., internal, external, environmental), turning points, cause & effect, archetype vs. stereotype, inciting incident, and how choice defines character. In all stories, there are narrative questions that must be answered - What is at stake (i.e., survival, safety, love, esteem, etc.)? What motivates the main character (protagonist) to take action? Will that incident move them from their ordinary life (where they are comfortable) to a different world (where the action occurs)? What “changes” (setting or character) are necessary for the content to engage the audience/player dramatically? This session uses extensive visual clips to illustrate how story concepts have been implemented in recent movies, games, and interactive media. At the end of the course, attendees will be familiar with universal story concepts and the specific benchmarks directors and writers use in connecting emotionally with audiences, players, and immersive participants.