[press release from Hoodlum]
Australian digital entertainment company Hoodlum and US broadcast partner ABC have won the inaugural Global Media Award for Outstanding Website/ Entertainment for the project, FIND815.
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced the winners of the first annual ceremony of the Global Media Awards (GMA) in Las Vegas on January 8.
“The digital revolution of media has forged a bond between creative talent and leaders in technology who are pioneering the frontiers of a new age in communications,” said David Wertheimer, Vice-Chairman of the Global Media Awards. “No other ceremony has recognized and rewarded the achievements of individuals and companies leading the transformation of the media industry in quite this way.”
FIND815, starring Australian actors Rodger Corser, Marshall Napier and Aden Young, was a five-week interactive broadband drama, the centrepiece to ABC’s marketing strategy for Season Four of LOST. Designed to appeal to both loyal fans and to those who had followed earlier seasons of the show, the experience utilized multiple mediums to tell a story that was compelling and entertaining.
Launching on New Years Eve 2007 in the lead up to the debut of Season Four of LOST in January 2008, the story integrated with storylines from the TV show and seamlessly combined TV-quality video sequences with the newest web technologies.
A huge, highly active global community grew around FIND815 with fans working together to solve the puzzles posed in the online drama and to make the links between the world of FIND815 and their favourite TV show.
FIND815 was a complex, stylish and suspenseful online adventure and a new benchmark for accessible and compelling multiplatform drama. The project was a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy ® Finalist in 2008.
Hoodlum has been leading the way in multiplatform entertainment since they launched Fat Cow Motel, a cult web and TV drama in 2003. Their successes continued with the online drama series PS Trixi for Yahoo!7; the International Emmy ® nominated Emmerdale Online Channel for ITV and the two time BAFTA winning Spooks Interactive for the BBC.
In 2008, Hoodlum produced the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy ® Finalist FIND815 for ABC. From their Brisbane studio, they worked closely with the creators and producers of LOST to create an online drama as a precursor to the popular series.
FIND815 led to a second project with the ABC/ LOST team in 2008, the Alternate Reality Game Dharma Wants You which attracted an even greater number of followers.