Shaftesbury's digital media division, Smokebomb Entertainment, is launching its first original mobile App series, Totally Amp'd, at MIPCOM 2011.
Built for smartphone and tablet devices and featuring an original soundtrack, Totally Amp'd will be available online for consumer purchase in November 2011 via iTunes. Totally Amp'd will also be offered to buyers as a standalone property for other platforms at MIPCOM.
Targeted to kids 8 - 14 and starring Ashley Leggat (Life with Derek), Totally Amp'd combines a live-action broadcast-quality comedy series (nine x 7 minutes) with interactive activities designed to immerse viewers fully in the action.
In addition to watching the Totally Amp'd appisodes, viewers will be able to interact with the story and its characters and create their own content through a variety of activities including remixing original songs from the series and creating their own tracks in the App's Music Studio; designing outfits, posters, album covers and logos in the App's easy-to-use Design Studio; and directing their own music videos using songs from the series in the Movie Studio feature.
Totally Amp'd is the first of its kind for the digital generation," said Daniel Dales, CEO and Executive Producer, Smokebomb Entertainment. "By combining a traditional storytelling approach with interactive activities, it raises the bar for kids' entertainment by immersing viewers in the action like never before."
The App is to be published by XMG Studio Inc
Featuring nine seven-minute live action "appisodes," Totally Amp'd follows five teenagers with raw musical talent who are brought together by a rogue receptionist-turned-manager (Leggat) in the hopes of becoming the next big musical supergroup. If they can work together to get past their differences and the obstacles they face at every turn, they just might have a shot at winning the musical competition of their lives. The dynamic young cast also includes Cristine Prosperi (Degrassi: The Next Generation) and Demetrius Joyette (Wingin' It) as members of the aspiring band.
Totally Amp'd is executive produced by Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie and Shane Kinnear for Shaftesbury; produced by Daniel Dales, Jarrett Sherman and Jay Bennett for Smokebomb Entertainment and published by XMG Studio Inc. The live-action series is directed by Benjamin Weinstein (Life with Derek, Baxter) and written by Karen McClellan (Being Erica). All original music performed by the cast was written and composed by award-winning composer Jared Gutstadt, CEO and co-founder of Jingle Punks (The Voice).
Totally Amp'd is a joint initiative of Shaftesbury and its award-winning digital media division, Smokebomb Entertainment, and has been funded with the participation of the Canada Media Fund's Experimental Stream and the OMDC's Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit.