• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, October 20, 2014

YouTube stars are helping Lionsgate bring "The Hunger Games" to life through the fictional world of Panem. Using Google's Art, Copy & Code project, allowing brands to reach consumers ages 18 to 34 years old, the District Voices campaign brings the characters to life for the movie "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1."

District Voices, a five-episode YouTube series presented as programming from Capitol TV, highlights a fictional government-run station in the Hunger Games universe of Panem. Some of YouTube's top personalities come to life in the series based on channel content that supports one of the district specialties within Panem. The movie opens in theaters Nov. 21.

Mockingjay Part 1 is the third film in the Hunger Games franchise that has already grossed more than $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office.

"Our mission has always been to engage our Hunger Games fans in the most innovative and authentic ways possible," said Lionsgate EVP of Digital Marketing Danielle De Palma in a statement. "We cannot think of a better partner than these incredible YouTube stars, who truly bring new content to life in the world of Panem and extend our storytelling to online audiences in exciting new directions."

The videos were developed with the team from the YouTube Space LA and filmed on location and around Los Angeles. They provide a window into an expanded world of The Hunger Games and provide original content to fans.

Fans are watching more than 9 billion hours of video each month on YouTube, and the creators who participated in District Voices have a combined base of over 4.9 million subscribers and more than 550 million video views, per Google.

"YouTube is the best place to build a fan base," said Ben Malbon, director of creative partnerships at Google. "This collaboration with Lionsgate showcases how brands can harness the power of Google and YouTube to reach their core audience when they are engaging with the content they are most passionate about and where they are spending the majority of their time.

Five days of content takes viewers from the Threadbangertextile experts of District 8 to District 2's Shane Fazen to Derek Muller from District 5, Panem’s center of power generation, to The Grain District's Feast of Fiction that shows how to bake one of beloved victor Peeta Mellark's most special treats. On Friday, iJustine, District 6's liaison to the Capitol, will provide an exclusive glimpse into the majestic and powerful peacekeeper vehicles in action.