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Featured, Industry News

A modest proposal: How to get Canadians to watch Canadian television

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The news that Canadian network executives will be speaking on an Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television panel on how to get Canadians watching Canadian TV gave me a flashback to the Canadian Media Production Association’s proposal that caused me to be more enraged than engaged.

I’ll be interested to hear the Academy webcast and from people attending the session — the panelists are smart people who’ve worked in the industry for ages — but first here’s my modest proposal for them (non-Swiftian version). Consider it a checklist for networks before they ponder more transmedia extravaganzas, online games that gamers would ridicule, sharing more effing “success stories,” or putting the responsibility of basic promotion onto the audience.

The Basics

  • Make more shows. Why are Canadian networks full of American shows we can watch on another channel? Most shows — American, Canadian or Ukrainian — fail, so if you’re only making a couple a year, odds are good you’ll only get a hit every several years.
  • Invest more in their quality. This means you, broadcasters, not the funding agencies. More writers than executives? Higher production values? More marketing? Consequences to continued failure?
  • Schedule regularly and well. The Listener is the rare show that’s managed to find a large, steady audience despite being bounced around from timeslot to timeslot, and with long, unpredictable gaps between seasons. And consider the compatibility of lead-ins and timeslot competition, unlike City and its beleagured Seed.
  • Create exciting promos to launch the series. See the striking difference between ABC’s jazzy Motive promo and CTV’s sedate promo for example.
    • Promos is plural – don’t play the same one over and over and over and over again or audiences will flee from it over and over and over again.
    • If it’s a comedy, make the promo funny. Actually funny. If it’s a drama, make it dramatic. This applies to the shows too, by the way.
    • Put the promos online and make them embeddable so other websites can help do your marketing for you. Show promotion shouldn’t be treated like a state secret.
  • Create episode-specific promos
    • See above – exciting, embeddable.
  • Have episode-specific photos available to media and fans. How many times do we have to use the same group cast shot, with all of them standing and staring at the camera?
  • Populate the show’s website well up front, and keep it updated.
    • At a minimum, I should be able to easily tell when the next episode will air and what’s exciting about it.
    • Use your promos, make all other content you do embeddable or copy and paste-able (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to grab an epsiode description only to have it be Flash or part of an image and therefore not grabbable).
  • Make sure the show’s IMDb page and Wikipedia page are updated.
  • Social media the hell out of your show… but not in a spammy or smarmy marketing way.
    • Teach everyone involved with the show the mores of the social media channels they’re using.
    • Get your cast and key creatives (showrunner, director, whoever) to not just live-tweet shows but respond to fans – set up a search for the name of the show and the star and respond to comments and questions.
    • Find out where your audience is and go there. Think beyond your own official channels. Tumblr? Pinterest? A Facebook page other than the official one? Forums? Fansites?
  • Research before getting interactive. See what your fans do online, or fans of similar shows … especially before you try to make them do something else. Are they making videos, or fan art, or discussing issues? Tap into that. Go where they are, and support them in doing what they do. Tap into a competitive spirit or a desire for recognition.
  • Cut the BS. Don’t get ridiculous parsing the ratings, or call everything a hit.
  • Respond quickly to journalists on deadlines. Treat credible bloggers like online journalists. Offer actual stars for interviews.
  • The usual marketing suspects: ads, billboards, bus ads, banner ads on the network’s family of sites and other targeted websites, etc.

The rest

  • Get creative, think outside the box, be the first to do something new and shiny, and I’ll cheer you on. But first make sure you’ve got the basics covered. Few Canadian shows do.

I’m sure I’m missing some basics – any others you can add?

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Continuum, Featured

Interview: Rachel Nichols of Continuum thinks scifi fans are the most intelligent of all

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Continuum returns to Showcase today for a second season. TV, eh?‘s Martha Marcin spoke to star Rachel Nichols about  algorithms, corporatocracies and other fun

Martha Marcin: I took a look at your resume and it looks like you did a double major in math and economics, then took up modelling, then acting, so I have to ask, did you envision yourself as the bad ass futuristic cop on Continuum while you were studying algorithms at Columbia?

Rachel Nichols: Oh heck no! My first year at Columbia I had visions of Wall Street and power suits and briefcases, I really had these grandiose ideas about I would go do. Everybody was reading Liars Poker, watching the movie Wall Street and it all seems pretty glamorous  So when I told my parents, three weeks into Columbia, that I was going to graduate school they went, “Good for you but we’re going to be out of money so you’re going to have to pay for that yourself,” and I legitimately started modelling to pay for graduate school and then ended up … well, here. (Laugh).

That’s interesting that you were enraptured by that Wall Street culture and now you are star in TV series that is rather ambiguous about whether or not the corporatocracy is good or bad. But I’m getting ahead of myself, we’ll get to that later.

Of course I’m ahead, I’m from the future, remember?! (Laugh).

So what drew you to the character of Kiera initially?

You know I started reading the script and I was about 10 pages in and I thought, “Holy cow! I have to play this role,” because there was everything: she’s smart, she’s got a family, she’s travelling in time, she’s doing fight scenes, she’s forging her way 65 years into the past. There were so many elements to the script and I just thought, “Wow man, there are not a lot of female characters like this on TV.” There are not a lot of female characters like this in general.

You’re right, there is a definite lack of good strong female characters on TV now, and when I find one I tend to latch onto the show.

We see Kiera’s journey from the hard ass “Protector” of the futuristic corporate government, defending them against the alleged “Terrorists”, to someone conflicted about her beliefs and what side she should fight for. Can you could give us a little sneak peak; does she pick a side in season two?

You know season one was very much about, “I got to get home. I got to get home. I’ll team up with the bad guys, I don’t care. I have to get home.” Season two is very centred around the idea of responsibility and at the end of season one Kagami had this speech where he asks, “If you drop a pebble in the ocean does it create a tsunami on the other side of the world?” That ripple effect, and it’s the idea of what I do now changing the future entirely, and it’s very much about responsibility. So yeah, Kiera this season doesn’t necessarily choose a side but really has to identify the ramifications of her interactions in 2012/13 might be.

There is an inherent ambiguity in the philosophical leanings of Continuum. Is the show pro-capitalism, right wing, left wing, who is the terrorist, who is the freedom fighter? A lot of that is left up to the viewer to fill in. Do you agree and if so why does this help or hinder the story?

You know I love the scifi genre because you can get away with a lot, you know what I mean? You can make some “social commentary statements” and some “sorta-kinda political statements,” and yeah it is a very important part of the show.

Scifi fans are very intelligent and they are very articulate, and if you do something well they will love you forever. If you do it half assed they will have your head on the end of a stick and I completely support that. It’s like inquiring minds want to know, they have ideas, they have thoughts, and on Twitter after every episode you got people being like, “Oh it’s so capitalistic!” or “It’s such a leftist show!” or “That is so political!” and they are saying all of these different things, and that’s what we want.

Ideally you want people to be interactive and ask questions and have opinions about your show. I don’t think we are one way or the other, we’re just making people ask all the right questions and maybe apply it to what is happening in the world today. And if you can do that with a show I’m all for it.

I think you’re absolutely right, that having the conversation started, even if people are disagreeing, and especially if they are disagreeing passionately, it shows that you’ve done something right.

Absolutely.

As a Vancouverite it is not a novelty to watch a show filmed in my city, but it is a novelty to watch one where the story is based in Vancouver as well. Do you like our city? Fair warning, before you answer, that we still haven’t forgiven David Duchovny for complaining about the rain.

Listen, I LOVE it here. I have a realtor here. I’m looking to BUY here! I can’t say enough good things, I love the people, I love the restaurants. My parents were so excited when the show got picked up for a second season so that they could come back. The first weekend they were here I walked 14 miles with them.

I’m in love with Vancouver, it’s an unbelievable city!

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Dramas and Comedies, Featured, Lost Girl

Lost Girl Season 3 Finale and Mobile App

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For all you scifi fans out there, the season finale of Lost Girl aired Sunday night on Showcase. Now in its third season, this Canadian scifi drama explores the world of a succubus named Bo who embarks on a quest to find her origins and winds up embroiled in the world of the Fae, a race of creatures known mainly to folklore and kept secret from humans.

If you’re a fan of Lost Girl, you’ll love this action packed season finale. Bo, caught between the dark Fae and the light Fae, is on a quest to save Dyson (a werewolf) from a sociopathic scientist. Bo risks enlisting the help of the Valkyrie Tamsen, whose loyalties are in question. When Bo and Tamsen “storm the castle” they find a little more than they bargained for, and struggle to keep up with the twists and turns that are thrown at them.

The finale kept me interested from start to finish with lots of twists and turns. The setup for the story points made sense, and the payoffs throughout the episode didn’t fall flat. The one thing that struck me a bit odd was the confusion in tone. The moments of hard emotion came through on the heels of a light-hearted joke. The stormy backdrop would give way to light, bright scenes, leaving me uncertain of how I was supposed to feel. It seemed as though the viewer wasn’t given enough time to digest the weight of any heartfelt emotion from Bo before she turned her frown upside down and headed into a new emotional state. That being said, I haven’t been an avid watcher of every episode so perhaps this tonal setup has been a staple of the show that the established fan base finds no fault with.

The main reason I watched this week’s finale (out of order) was so I could try out the accompanying game. The Lost Girl App was released for iOS and Android devices for fans of the show to enjoy some additional content.

I gamely (yep, I said it) downloaded the app to my iPad and launched into personal Fae-Dom … for about 20 minutes. When I had to leave the game for a time, I couldn’t get it to reopen on my iPad. Certainly this could be an Apple issue, but I left it, shut the game down and have yet to have success getting it to operate again.

What I did experience in my limited playtime was a puzzle/search game tacking on some pseudo role-playing elements. Though the advertisements say “interaction” with characters from the show, I would classify it more as listening to what they tell you, and continuing on in your objective, which primarily involves sussing out items that adorn the wall of the first level (the bar).

Though the moments of searching for items is enjoyable and certainly belongs to the type of mobile game that would be easy to get addicted to, the long loading screens and lack of instructions make it less worth the wait. The great thing about Fruit Ninja is that you spend 90% of your play time slicing through watermelons. I spent the majority of my play time waiting here on loading screens and trying to figure out how to get to the next puzzle.

While it was cool to start my own Fae character and customize it (mine is a Succubus named Pax) the atmosphere of the game didn’t match the play style. Then again, who knows, maybe once you get more than 20 minutes in, things pick up.

The show certainly did its job in making me want to get caught up right quick, and overall it wasn’t the worst effort I’ve seen from bonus content in app form, but I’d prefer to see shows able to use this money in a way that truly benefits them. If the show demands a mobile game app – great, but maybe it’s not a bandaid to be used on every show. Wouldn’t it be great to have a working customized digital plan that fits each individual show and caters to what the show and audience demands? I’m no stranger to the importance of a digital strategy, but with the extremely high caliber of games that exist today you really have to nut up or shut up when it comes to a mobile app and game content, even if it is in a really cool universe where I get to be a succubus. Or you know, they could just let them use the cash to make more content.

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Dragons' Den, Featured

Interview: David Chilton on life as a Dragon and his adorably appalling appliances

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DragonsDen_david_chilton-gallery-thumb-638xauto-242674The season finale of Dragons’ Den aired last night — if you missed it, catch it tonight on CBC as well. TV, eh?’s Martha Marcin chatted with David Chilton, celebrated author of The Wealthy Barber and one of the Dragons.

Martha Marcin: You are the newest Dragon, with two seasons under your belt. What’s it like to be a Dragon, and how has your life changed, if at all? 

David Chilton: It’s changed fairly dramatically on three weird fronts. Number one: As the “Wealthy Barber” everywhere I have gone in my life people have recognized me and asked me one question: should I pay off my mortgage or max my RRSP? And now everywhere I go people say, “Can I ask you one question? Is Kevin really like that in real life?” I get that question 30, 40 to 50 times a day, and often it’s not phrased that politely. The second is that you get pitched non-stop; there was one week where I got between 300-400 pitches. The final thing is that you get your picture taken constantly, so I always have to have a nice shirt on now. In the old days I just wore whatever (laugh).

In the final episode of the season we are given a backstage pass to the life, the loves, the drama that is David Chilton… 

I don’t have a lot of drama!

Sorry, let me rephrase. We get to see you in day to day life, how you run your businesses, and your amazing golfing prowess…

Oh yeah, I think I hit like one good shot on that trip and they happened to catch it on camera. It was a very big coincidence.

I’m sure you’re just being modest. 

Honestly I was shocked when I hit a good shot on camera because I was very nervous. But it worked out well.

But seriously, what are the new and shocking secrets are your fans going to learn about you after seeing you at home and away from “the Den?” 

In my case not a whole lot — people know that I live a very modest life. I live in a very small house, and that might catch some people off guard because they think of Dragons being ultra wealthy and living in gigantic mansions. I’m a huge home body. When I’m not on the road travelling for speaking or for business I almost never leave my house. I think people will be happy to learn that I’m very much the same guy I’ve always been. I hang around with the same friends from high school, I see my parents 4-5 days a week when I’m home. My life is fairly normal.

We did see your home, and yes it is very modest. But I have to say, I was appalled by your kitchen. 

A lot of people are (laugh).

David, you have a half size stove and laminate counter tops. I’m all for frugality, but really? 

Ok, I’ve got to tell you a story, and I don’t ever tell this story, but it is so funny and embarrassing. I lived in my house for months and I had two people over. And one of the wives said, “Oh isn’t this the cutest little dishwasher.” And, I’m telling you the truth, I didn’t even know I had it.

OMG!

I know! It was to the left of the garbage — I never even noticed it. I know, my kitchen is very, very humble. I don’t do any cooking at all. I know, I’m horrible in the kitchen.

It is a modest kitchen, but that stove is appalling.

Well appall is a little strong! It’s like an Easy Bake Oven. It shouldn’t appall you, it should take you back to your youth. You need to use your words more diplomatically. Maybe you can mix your language up and say, “I was appalled by his adorable appliances.”

Ok, the stove is cute and adorable. In fact the whole thing felt a bit like an episode of MTV’s Cribs — all that was missing was the bedroom tour and you turning to the camera and saying “This is where the magic happens.”

You know why? Because everybody would know it was a lie, so there is no point there.

On the final episode they showed a clip of Mary McQueen of Hand and Beak,  a rather eccentric woman who created unique cards with strips of paper her lovebird Luigi shredded for her. It might have been the editing, but some of your cohosts seemed to think the lady was a bit of a joke (COUGH Kevin O’Leary COUGH), yet you took her on and successfully launched her with Hallmark. What did you see that they didn’t?

She had such a quick wit and I will never forget how she was talking about the back-up bird Binky as an apprentice to Luigi. And she looked at Kevin and said, “Oh, I should let you know Kevin, that they are not unionized.” And I loved that, it caught my attention. But the biggest thing was the quality of the cards. I actually don’t like the greeting card business for entrepreneurs, it’s just so tough on the distribution side. But I loved her cards; she had such a great eye. The fact that Arlene loved the cards impressed me because she’s got good instincts in that area. But all that being said, to be honest, I was not confident that it was going to work out as it has.

You won’t believe this but Luigi was hired as the spokesperson for shredding company. He is now on the side of a truck. Mary is very sharp — the more I get to know her the more I am impressed by her.

Do you feel that your criteria is different from the other Dragons in how you choose someone to invest in? Or is it a matter of taste?

You know it’s funny, I think one of the reasons Dragons’ Den works is that there is no checklist because every pitch is so different. I do want someone who has a good attention to detail. I think that is the common denominator in those that I ended up partnering with. One thing I did last year was gravitate towards dog deals. Holy smoke, I’m a sucker for a dog. In fact as soon as a dog came down the stairs all the Dragons would look at me a say, “Oh here goes Dave.”

I also look for an opportunity to take advantage of our contacts. It hit me last year in Dragons’ Den that I didn’t realize how many people I knew. I’m so old now that throughout 30 years on the road speaking to people, you make a lot of contacts.

To be able to share those contacts with those people working on their dream must be very satisfying for you. 

Honestly it sounds corny, but that really is one of the most delightful parts of this. You get a good product and they can’t get it in front of the right people. And that’s the thing you can do, you can open those doors.

It’s been almost 25 years since The Wealthy Barber was first published, you’ve had 2 seasons on Dragons’ Den, what’s next for you?

You know in my whole career I’ve never really had a 5 year plan or anything. I never really know where I’m going myself and I kind of like it that way. I don’t know what I want to do next. I know I’ll never retire. But I love what I do and I enjoy my work.

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Arctic Air, Featured

Arctic Air’s transmedia finale explained

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When I read the media release about Arctic Air’s transmedia extravaganza finale, I had two thoughts:

  1. This media release needs to calm itself down a whole lot. (“Leading the charge in social television history and second screen experiences in North America, ARCTIC AIR has developed a transmedia storytelling event…”)
  2. Why is this THAT much more special than “there’s additional web content”?

After sitting on it for a day I decided to post anyway and let the reader decide how exciting they found this, whatever this was. And of course I made a snarky twitter comment expressing the above sentiments in 140 characters. One of CBC’s highly responsive (no sarcasm there) interactive team responded and offered to get my questions answered. So here is CBC’s Nick Mcanulty explaining the concept in slightly less hyperbolic and jargony language than that media release:

So first of all, in one sentence and without using the word transmedia, can you explain what’s unique about the Arctic Air finale?

What’s unique about the finale is that it’s 100% focused on the main story, continuing scenes and revealing more about the plot and characters at each commercial break.

What kind of content are we talking about? Video? Written? Images?

The Arctic Air finale will unfold over multiple screens with a parallel part of the story from another characters perspective taking place online. The majority of the elements are video with interactive components such as audio and branching storytelling. These segments were written as part of the finale script and were produced by the Arctic Air production as part of the episode. There will also be a web version that airs after the broadcast framed as a police interrogation that jumps into these segments as well as an epilogue to the episode that reveals and teases more for season 3.

Can you explain the ideal user experience as they watch the show and interact with this content? As in, if I choose to follow along on my iPad, what will I be doing and what will it add to my viewing of the show?

Audience members will watch the broadcast of the episode with their device (iPad, phone, laptop). Right before each commercial break, they will be prompted to go to the Arctic Air site where the scene that just ended in the broadcast will unlock and continue online. After the broadcast, viewers can go and experience a complete version that takes place after the episode that has entry points into these scenes and contains new story elements and a conclusion to the episode that wasn’t seen in the broadcast.

How do you balance having enough in the broadcast for the majority of the audience but having the second screen content compelling enough for that group of viewers?

The balance comes from working with the story department from the beginning. Instead of shoehorning something into the finale, the story team developed storyline that allowed for an exciting story to take place from multiple perspectives. Those just watching the episode will still get a satisfying experience as we’re not aiming to take anything away from the broadcast, but those that go through the online component will get a lot more insight, story and reveals.

What is the expectation — higher ratings for the broadcast, or simply more engaged with it?

Higher ratings are always good for everyone but for this we really want to offer a richer viewing experience that’s rewarding the viewer for exploring past just the broadcast.

Given the “Leading the charge in social television history and second screen experiences in North America,” how does this compare to shows doing live Q&As on social media while an episode airs, or audience-responsive episodes like Hawaii 5-0’s choose your own ending, or the X-Factor and Glee second screen experiences? What makes it so leading-edge?

The difference between this and other second screen experiences is that this is 100% story related, giving an overall 60 minute episode instead of the standard broadcast 45. Things like the Hawaii 5-0 experiment deal with one off characters with no consequence to the series (situations dealing with characters whom we’ve never seen before or again) where this focuses on characters we’ve been following for 2 seasons with real consequences. There are no Q&A’s, no stats, no info on the cast – the experience is all story from the episode.

Are you daunted by research that’s showing audiences aren’t engaging with show-specific content like this? Is it still too early to tell how audiences will adapt or is this simply niche marketing for those who do enjoy it?

It’s too early to tell – there are always going to be super fans who want to get every piece of content for a show and there will always be audience members who want nothing more than to watch the show in a completely passive manner. But there is a lot of room to explore between the two so we’re really aiming to give something truly rewarding to the audience to make it worth their time. Our aim is to expand how we tell a story this is a test for us that we’d like to explore further in the future.

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