telecom

Super-Natural: 'Valemont' Co-Brands With Verizon

MTV is launching a new short-form supernatural mystery series called "Valemont," which will combine TV, online and mobile story-telling. The collaboration with Electric Farm Entertainment, set to premiere today, features prominent brand integrations for Verizon Wireless, further highlighted by Verizon's role in the mobile distribution of the content.

The protagonist of "Valemont," Sophie (Kristen Hager) is determined to discover the fate of her brother Eric (Eric Balfour), who went missing while attending Valemont University, an elite East Coast school with Ivy League overtones. To do this, Sophie must infiltrate Valemont, where she makes a series of discoveries about the school, its student body and her own family's past.

For the first six weeks of the series, a succession of 2.5-minute segments will appear in place of ads in the commercial pods before MTV's show "The Hills" and after "The City," book-ending MTV's 10 p.m.-11 p.m. programming block.

The concluding 23 episodes will be posted on MTV.com, as well as on Verizon's V Cast Video.

advertisement

advertisement

Verizon phones are featured in the story line. Each episode begins with a video clip or text message from Eric's mobile device. The phones will provide clues to characters in the show.

Verizon will also get five-second billboards opening and closing each TV episode, promoting additional content available on V Cast. At the dedicated Web site, ValemontU.com, visitors can interact with the story in various ways, finding clues, performing tasks, decoding messages and drawing connections between maps, photos and fictive blogs maintained by various characters.

John Shea, executive vice president of integrated marketing, MTV Networks, said in a statement: "What's great about this integration with Verizon Wireless is how the mystery of "Valemont" unfolds for its characters across platforms, mirroring the way the audience receives information and interacts with the show."

Next story loading loading..