Owen Gibson
Thursday November 11, 2004
The BBC has signed up bestselling author Matt Beaumont to create its first drama to appear exclusively online and on mobile phones.
Jamie Kane is aimed at a teenage audience and aims to involve them in the search for a missing popstar.
Commissioned by the BBC's interactive drama and entertainment department, the project a cross between a computer game and a television drama.
Beaumont, who has written the script for Jamie Kane, is the the author of E: A Novel, an acerbic take on life in an advertising agency written in the form of a succession of emails. It prompted much debate in the ad industry about the inspiration for the various fictional characters.
The video drama will be available online and hints about the location of the missing popstar will be hidden on fictional websites.
Extra clues will be available by playing online games and signing up for daily email and mobile phone alerts that will also tie in with the plot.
Video footage on a fake fansite for the missing star will include mock Top of the Pops performances and media interviews with Jamie Kane.
The ambitious project is the BBC's latest attempts to create interactive drama that blurs the lines between television and the web.
The corporation has previously commissioned special online episodes of Dr Who for the internet, while short-lived Tony Garnett dotcom drama Attachments had an independent website supposedly produced by the characters in the show.
Rob Cooper, the head of the interactive drama and entertainment department, said the project was its most ambitious to date.
"We're moving away from static sites to create a rich audiovisual experience for our users, which should keep them on their toes as they search for Jamie Kane."
The BBC new media chief, Ashley Highfield, told MediaGuardian.co.uk earlier this week that the corporation's online service was entering a new era that would involve far more audiovisual content.
The strategy follows the publication of Philip Graf's government-commissioned report into BBC Online, which said the division should concentrate on areas that best served the public interest.
Mr Highfield also promised a new approach to working with the independent sector in an effort to meet the 25% quota for external content production imposed on the department by the BBC governors.
Much of the content will be produced by external agencies as the corporation attempts to counter accusations that it has been too insular.
The mini-games and hidden puzzles for Jamie Kane will be produced by interactive agency Preloaded, while internet chat specialist Creative Virtual will create artificial intelligence conversations with other "fans" looking for the star.
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SOURCE: http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,7496,1348010,00.html
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