First Media is teaming up with multimedia platform Eko to create an interactive DIY video series. This is First Media's initial move into serialized, short-form content for platforms other than its own.
First Media owns So Yummy, Blusher and Blossom, brands that live on social platforms and focus on “lifehacking,” DIY and food content. The company claims it reaches 115 million monthly viewers, who primarily consume content on Facebook and YouTube.
The new series is called “Make or Break." It will transform content inspired by Blossom’s social channel into immersive narratives.
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“By partnering with Eko, viewers will be drawn into an evolving narrative that blurs the lines between creativity, play and inspiration,” stated First Media president Sharon Rechter.
In each of the 10 episodes, users will be able to turn an everyday item into a new household object. Users will be given options to choose tools and decide how to use them to build other designs out of that item.
Episodes will run three-to-five minutes long. The series will live on Eko’s channels, with a release date scheduled for late August.
“The future of entertainment is driven by choice, interactivity and personalization,” stated Daniel Laikind, vice president of development and production at Eko.
Eko's technology allows viewers to change and control the outcome of video content.
A cooking video created for BuzzFeed’sTasty brand, for example, pauses at certain intervals to let users click to choose from two options: make a cupcake from a box mix, or from scratch? Chocolate or cream-cheese frosting? Sprinkles or chocolate chips?
Emmy Award-winning producer Bayan Joonam, who runs video production company Soul Pancake, will be the showrunner of “Make or Break.”
In June, First Media announced a partnership with Captivate to distribute short-form content from So Yummy and Blossom to 12,000 screens in office elevators and lobbies.