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

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’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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Todd & The Book of Pure Evil’s Ian Malone on his WGC Screenwriting Award Nomination

IanMaloneThis year’s Writers Guild of Canada Screenwriting Award winners will be announced on April 22. We’ve been catching up with many of the writers nominated in the comedy and drama categories. Todd and the Book of Pure Evil‘s Ian Malone is nominated (along with Craig David Wallace and Charles Picco) for their episode “B.Y.O.B.O.P.E.”

Can you describe the episode “B.Y.O.B.O.P.E.” and how it fit into the Todd & the Book of Pure Evil season?

The episode started out as a chance to see what our heroes are like after hours.  What do they like to do when they’re not fighting monsters?  How do they relax?  We thought a great place to take them (a quintessentially high school place) would be a house party.  I think this was the longest period of time we got to see our kids outside of the high school, so it was exciting if you were a fan of the show.  It opened up the world a bit.  We also knew that this was always going to be a mythology-heavy episode, with some big answers to lingering questions, so that stuff was serviced.  Those reveals launched the story toward the events of the finale (an awesome episode written & directed by Craig).

What was the biggest triumph in this particular episode?

On top of getting all the mythology stuff into the story and making it surprising and satisfying, it’s an episode about a house party, and a house party needs to look and feel like jam-packed non-stop good times. Usually it’s one kid a week using the book, but we thought, “If the house is packed, let’s have a million kids use the book!” That’s hyperbole. But we did end up having the book fall into three or four different hands. I’m particularly proud of how we kept the various story threads intertwined. There’s everything going on with our gang, and everything going on with the kids at the party, and all the stuff with Atticus pretending that he’s a teenager named Scooter. And it all tracks! I hope.

What does this recognition mean to you?

It means a lot to me. A couple years ago I was a sweaty, nervous story coordinator trying to find the courage to pitch lines in a story room. Now I’m a sweaty, nervous WGC Award nominee for my second produced script ever! It’s nice to be recognized by other writers, and if nothing else it’s a pat on the back that says, “Hey you, you’re alright.”

If there was one Canadian show that is no longer on the air that you could see honoured at this year’s awards, what would it be? (If you have a specific episode, even better).

How about a show that’s still on the air? Degrassi has been running for thirteen seasons and they’re still finding compelling character-driven stories to tell. I think people probably take it for granted because it’s been on for so long, but they shouldn’t. Ramona Barckert wrote two amazing episodes in season twelve (“Bitter Sweet Symphony” 1 & 2) that are up there with the most riveting hours of drama.

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Heartland’s Leila Basen on her WGC Screenwriting Award Nomination

LeilaBasen2psThis year’s Writers Guild of Canada Screenwriting Award winners will be announced on April 22. We’ve been catching up with many of the writers nominated in the comedy and drama categories. Heartland‘s Leila Basen is nominated for her episode “Life is a Highway.”

Can you describe the episode “Life is a Highway” and how it fit into the Heartland season?

“Life as a Highway” marks the return of Chase Powers, a charismatic but incorrigible cowboy who makes an unexpected visit to Heartland and puts Amy and Ty’s relationship to the test.

What was the biggest triumph in this particular episode?

Showing the human side of a basically unredeemable character.

What does this recognition mean to you?

Heartland has been going strong for six years on the CBC, and it’s great that this year we got two WGC script nominations.

If there was one Canadian show that is no longer on the air that you could see honoured at this year’s awards, what would it be? (If you have a specific episode, even better).

My vote would be Mental Block, a tween comedy that ran two seasons, 2002 to 2004 on YTV. (Full disclosure – Mental Block was a show I co-created and wrote with David Preston.) It was a WGC Awards finalist twice in the Youth Category, but didn’t win either time because (according to one of the jurors) it was too funny for Youth and should have been in the Comedy Category. It would be great if it could win an award, even posthumously.

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