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By Stuart Volkow

[Note: a long-time [itvt] reader, Stuart Volkow is a Los Angeles-based new media analyst and consultant. He can be contacted at svolkow@gmail.com]

The American Film Institute’s Digital Content Lab (DCL) held its Semi-Annual Production Wrap Showcase Tuesday February 7th, on the AFI campus in Hollywood, California.

Formerly known as the AFI Enhanced TV Workshop and renamed in 2004, in order to reflect the fact that the projects that it fosters are being designed for an ever-broader range of digital devices, the DCL brings together owners of media properties with interactive technology and production experts–whom the DCL refers to as "mentors"–in order to create interactive prototypes for television and other platforms. Whereas it previously produced those prototypes once a year, it now produces them year-round, in quarterly cycles. The DCL is often touted as America’s premier research and development program for interactive digital media. In his comments to the Showcase’s media industry audience, AFI executive vice president, Jonathan Estrin, described the DCL as "the Switzerland of this world, as AFI has been the Switzerland of film and television. This is a place where all corporations can participate in inventing the future," he added.

Most of the projects presented were consistent with the DCL’s focus on practical implementations of interactive digital media. In contrast to presentations at some past showcases I have attended, which were more conceptual and design-oriented, this showcase’s presentations all had an eye on real-world distribution issues and audience acceptance. Of the seven projects presented, five were on-demand centered while two had a gaming element. The prevalence of VOD this year reminded me of a comment I heard from Josh Sapan, the CEO of Rainbow Media: "Interactive TV is a fancy name for VOD." An oversimplified statement, perhaps, although it often seems true. The AFI DCL’s move to year-round production and its focus on inventing a viable near-future is a good thing. It is attempting to move the industry forward realistically, while avoiding some of the blue-sky efforts of the past, which left so many ITV companies in the pixel trash. In general, this year’s prototypes seemed to focus on audience appeal–which is as it should be–and, in fact, three of them ("Mystery Online Theater," "Reuters One," and "Moment in Time: WWII") appear to have a very good chance of seeing commercial release this year. Advertising and sponsorship models were mentioned, but for the most part the presenters seemed to leave the economics for others to work out. Here is a brief review of three of the prototypes. [Note: the AFI Digital Content Lab's events serve not only as showcases of creativity and innovation in interactive and multiplatform TV, but as major networking opportunities for the industry. Volkow confesses that he was outside in the lobby, making new contacts and discussing possible collaborations during the presentations of the other prototypes. Those other prototypes were: 1) "Moment in Time: WWII," a broadband portal that was designed to leverage the History Channel's large library of video, audio and text. It allowed visitors to access archives, interact with other visitors via a social network built around their common interests, and play an immersive--and, supposedly historically accurate--first-person shooter game. 2) "TOYO Virtual Pet," a set-top box "tamagotchi" application that allowed viewers to use their remote to interact with their virtual pet. 3) "Def on Demand Personals Interactive," an interactive, on-demand personals show. And 4) "Reuters One," a multiplatform news service that worked on mobiles, Windows Media Center PC's, and portable audio and video players.]

Telemundo’s prototype, a broadband VOD offering entitled "Mystery Online Theater," appears likely to roll out sometime this spring. It received technical support from Zetools. It was presented at the Showcase by Mimi Belt, Telemundo’s VP of artistic development, and William Via, formerly Telemundo’s VP of digital media.

The prototype is an episodic whodunit, set in Miami, that invites daily armchair sleuthing: taking a cue from telenovelas, a new episode will be made available each day. The action begins when private investigator, Barbara Luna, is invited to participate in a talk show that suffers the tragic demise of several guests. Who is the killer? The hip, acerbic hotelier? The boyfriend? The sexy sirens?

Shot on a shoestring budget in the course of a few very long days and nights, "Mystery Online Theater" is the DCL’s first original, scripted program. I asked William Via about the genesis of the project: "We really spent a lot of time on the script and made sure we got the storytelling right, letting the design and other elements come from that," he explained. No repurposing here–and it shows! Notable features of the project include 1) a cross-promotional element with broadcast–the talk show in the mystery is an actual daily program on Telemundo featuring a popular, vociferous host; and 2) the manner in which supplemental material is layered in: viewers can see security camera footage (at one point, for example, the security cam reveals that several characters have been lying about their alibis), interviews with the show’s main characters, secondary video clips, and character bios. Live chats are planned with the show’s characters, and there will be an SMS update that viewers will be able to opt into.

The prototype’s format should be easy to apply to other episodics, since it was developed as a template. The backend is menu-driven, so that non-technical staff can easily plug in alternative programming and release schedules. "We now have a format to replicate," Via said. The team behind the prototype also stated that the format will allow plenty of opportunities for sponsorship and advertising.

WWE’s prototype–presented at the Showcase by Jim Brown, WWE’s director of operations, and by WWE producer, Steve Finkelstein–is an OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP) service that is designed to leverage a cable operator’s VOD infrastructure. Its goals are to 1) promote WWE’s live, pay-per-view offerings, such as its annual "WrestleMania" event, 2) increase traffic to its Web site, and 3) drive subscriptions to its SVOD service, WWE 24/7. It attempts to do this by enabling self-provisioning via the remote control, and by providing exclusive interactive and on-demand elements before, during and after the live event that is to be promoted. For example, viewers who used their remotes to order "Wrestlemania" during a commercial for the event would first receive a reward for their advanced purchase in the form of access to on-demand video showcasing upcoming WrestleMania matches; then, during the event itself, they could participate in a WWE Trivia Challenge for a chance to win prizes such as ringtones and wallpapers, redeemable on WWE’s Web site; finally, after the event, they would receive access to additional on-demand footage from WWE 24/7 and from WWE’s 75,000-hour video library (on-demand content on offer before and after the event would include highlights, interviews, promos, classic moments and behind-the-scenes featurettes).

WWE’s partners on the prototype included Ensequence (whose on-Q Create suite was used to build it), Softel-USA (whose MediaSphere platform served as the app’s distribution and transmission solution), and cable MSO, Cox Communications. The prototype features a two-tier organizational approach and simple five-button navigation (arrow buttons and select). A vertical thumbnail menu of features leads to a secondary thumbnail menu of sub-clips, which viewers have the option of watching in full-screen mode and of playing in sequence automatically.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s prototype was entitled "Consider This…," and was presented at the Showcase by Robert Sain, director of the LACMALab. He explained that the purpose of the prototype was to extend the museum experience out of the museum and to make it more appealing to a younger audience. It allows the user to view video clips and hear audio commentaries selected from a simple menu. The goal is to eventually allow the audience to participate by recording their own podcasts via a phone call. The team behind the prototype determined that developing for smartphones would provide the prototype with the widest range of functionality and flexibility. The prototype was designed with help from Playground Media Group. It was developed for Web 2.0 with an architecture that encourages plug-in development.

The showcase’s closing panel attempted to put some perspective on the day. Lori Schwartz, director of the Inter Public Group’s newly opened Emerging Media Lab, commented that media buyers want a packaged solution that covers traditional and interactive television. John Canning, producer for Yahoo’s Digital Content Group, meanwhile, provided a reality check: "The Yahoo audience is 300 million," he said. "We are still stuck in the world of: How quickly do the pages load and how quickly can somebody get to what they want? What works are bite-sized chunks [of content] so people can catch a quick glimpse at work between tasks." I would add, however, that with Yahoo To Go and other initiatives, CEO Terry Semel appears to be leading Yahoo well beyond page loading into mobile and ITV integration.

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