The pop culture prophets have spoken of it for years now ­ the 500-channel universe and the massive scramble for programming. As broadcasting morphs into narrowcasting, Ken Nickerson, director of technology at Microsoft Canada, predicts the emergence of virtually millions of channels through digital streaming. This, of course, begs the question, ‘What will fill those millions of channels?’

‘Stories,’ says Nickerson. ‘As a culture, with the saturation of radio and television, we’ve lost our oral traditions of telling stories. That’s why we’re so enamored of people who tell stories.’

Microsoft is betting that interactive software will revive the concept of storytelling. Of course, its goal is not simply philanthropic. It stands to make a lot of money in this venture. A lot.

Nickerson met recently with Bill Gates and Prime Minister Jean Chretien to discuss the goal of placing Canada among the top multimedia content producers worldwide. The projection is 20%.

That’s a lofty goal considering we currently export only 2.4% of the world’s computer software. But the flip side of the equation is that we export 14.7% of the world’s graphics software. If we can couple the tremendous capacity for content production in Canada with the graphics software which is becoming widely available, reaching that 20% goal is well within reach.

‘Canada has an advantage going into this multimedia world and creating content,’ says Nickerson. ‘Most stories come out of culture, and because of the cultural diversity and the cultural encouragement in Canada, people will now be able to dig into their culture, find the rich stories, and add production values comparable to that of a large movie studio right in their home.’

And who will these technology-enabled yarn-spinners be? They’ll be the least techno-phobic people in your house, most capable of setting the vcr and programming the cd player. They’ll be your kids.

Since last year’s purchase of Montreal-based SoftImage, the people who gave life to the long-extinct creatures of Jurassic Park, Microsoft has been working to produce software that allows the average person with a quality pc to create broadcast-quality images and special effects on par with what the large movie studios can produce.

Turns out, kids are really into it.

In early December, Microsoft released a graphics software package in the SoftImage vein intended for kids. Called 3-D Moviemaker, it gives kids powers usually reserved for the techies at a movie studio for the street price of about $65.

Kids can create high-quality, digital animated shorts (or a two-hour drama, for that matter) with computer-generated graphics. They get full creative control, choosing or creating actors, camera angles, voices, scripts and sets.

Nickerson says the package has initially sold above the company’s expectations. Microsoft thought it would take more time to educate the market about the possibilities of home moviemaking, but as it turns out, the market, especially the kids’ set, was ready for it.

Digital from start to finish, 3-D Moviemaker has the high production values necessary to compel media-savvy kids, and is open-ended enough to maximize their creativity. As for sharing their creations with the world, Nickerson says kids end up e-mailing their cinematic masterpieces to friends.

Nickerson believes this is the first step in bringing the story and plot back into prominence. ‘Over the next five years, what will occur is the neutralizing of eye candy,’ he says. ‘With tools like 3-D Moviemaker, and SoftImage as well, the infrastructure cost of creating eye candy g’es from $50 million five years ago, to $5 million last year, to $50,000 next year, to eventually $5,000 or less.

‘You lower the cost of the effects and the graphics, and you lower their importance. It becomes homogeneous. Everyone will have the ability to blow up a planet on their own pc.’

So as the quick visual kick that comes from graphics and effects becomes accessible to everyone, we’ll expect more compelling stories. At least that’s Nickerson’s philosophy.

And his vision extends not only into homes, but into small production companies as well. Microsoft has just announced a version of SoftImage which will run on Windows nt, bringing the price point down considerably for smaller producers wanting access to the newest graphic noise.

It may be another step in a reversion to storytelling fueled by software, but will it be the cornerstone in a revolution of programming by the masses, for the masses? That’s yet to be seen. However, it might seem a little more real to you when the kids on your block start churning out their own versions of Jurassic Park ­ for about 60 bucks.

jenn kuzmyk is a second-year media writing student in the School of Radio and Television Arts at Ryerson Polytechnic University, Toronto.