There were plenty of celebrations when the team behind interactive online TVNZ drama Reservoir Hill won the country’s first ever International Digital Emmy in Cannes earlier this year. And there were a few more last week after mobile marketing company Run The Red and KHF Media took home the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand (TUANZ) Innovation Award for best mobile application of the year. Reservoir Hill followed the complicated life of teenager Beth Connolly and explores issues faced by teens. And by combining several types of media (TV, SMS and the internet), the show allowed the tech-savvy ‘Twilight generation’ to communicate with Beth via text and online messages.
The TUANZ judges commented: “A highly interactive multi-platform product with significant export potential and a high level of telecommunication input.”
Run The Red developed the mobile functionality that was pivotal to the show’s interactive success (more than 5,000 viewers engaged with the show by text or by online mobile phone simulator). Not only did the text and web comments help create the ‘alternate reality’, but viewers actively drove the storyline with selected text messages being integrated into the weekly storyline.
KHF Media created the web-based show in association with TVNZ and New Zealand on Air. And Reservoir Hill screened online in New Zealand on TVNZ Ondemand from October to December last year. The second series (called Everyone Lies) starts on 13 September on TVNZ Ondemand.
“The mixture of drama and SMS technology is highly innovative and Run The Red were a great partner in developing this quite unique application,” says KHF media director David Stubbs. “It was crafted in a way that integrated our story and video post-production process with Run The Red’s technology.”
You can check out all the TUANZ award winners here.
