In a bid to capture the market on some of the popular Social Networks, Hollywood’s studios are trying to engage younger audiences on social media websites that have now become prime sites for film competitions, TV shows and other forms of entertainment.
Warner Bros Digital Distribution has launched what it claims to be the first social series from a Hollywood studio in Aim High. Today it will unveil this new Web show from Charlie’s Angels director McG and will seek to create a new genre the studio calls a Social Series by taking pictures, music and information from a viewer’s Facebook page and putting it in the video. What?
[pullquote]The social networking innovation is that viewers can supply their Facebook profile information, with photos and text, and see it worked into scenes, from a photo appearing on a student body election poster to a name scrawled in graffiti on a wall.[/pullquote]Is this a gimmick or a true interactive programming innovation?
Aim High’s first series, which will debut on October 18 and run for six episodes, stars Jackson Rathbone of Twilight fame as a high school student turned government operative named Nick Green who goes on weekly, top-secret adventures. It’s supposedly an action comedy series created and written by Heath Corson and Richie Keen. It has McG among its producers, and is directed by Diary of a Wimpy Kid helmer Thor Freudenthal. The other stars include Friday Night Lights’ Aimee Teegarden and Ally McBeal’s Greg Germann.
Thomas Gewecke, president of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution intimated in a statement that;
Facebook is an increasingly influential destination for discovering and acquiring movie and television content. This effort takes video distribution to a whole new level by making the actual viewing experience personal and social in a truly innovative and entertainment way.
But what separates “Aim High” from other Web series? According to Gewecke;
It’s the Facebook component! You’re tapping into why Facebook is so popular, which is the experience of creating your own personal profile.
Warner Bros also expects the series to do well among women between the ages of 14 and 34, due in no small part to Rathbone’s popularity stemming from the “Twilight” romances.
The company’s President of Home Entertainment, Kevin Tsujihara added that they are also working with McG to explore other ways to make this even better for future digital productions.
***Original article from Reuters.
What do you think? Is it going to work?
