On first sight, comedy quiz show “Psyche 101” and reality drama series “Hotel Franklin” appear to be part of a new fall TV lineup. Each episode of “Psyche 101” follows a couple on their first date, but the twist is that viewers get to guess at what psychological afflictions the would-be lovers suffer from-is it Agoraphobia or anger management? “Hotel Franklin” is a reality series detailing the trials and tribulations of guests in a “seductive” Hollywood hotel. Both will feature actors, sets, scripts and production budgets, but neither is aimed at TV viewers. Instead, “Psyche 101” and “Hotel Franklin” may soon debut on a cell phone near you.
Predictions that the mobile phone will evolve into society’s third screen-behind TVs and computers-appear to be coming true. As in the early days of TV and the Internet, startups are using the wireless medium to sell games, musicians are using it to promote their albums, and animators are using it to sell new, unique cartoons. Now, with the advent of wireless video, Hollywood is starting to take notice.
News Corp., the media giant behind the Fox TV station and movie studio, announced it will make a “direct-to-mobile” reality series called “Hotel Franklin.” The series will be broken into 60-second episodes that will air weekly.
“Fox’s innovative new reality series, created by our FoxLab production unit, has gotten a strongly positive reaction from wireless carriers and handset providers worldwide,” said Lucy Hood, News Corp.’s senior vice president of content and marketing. “We are looking forward to announcing an exclusive partnership for launch.”
Fox is not the only company looking to film exclusive content for the world’s new third screen. Hollywood comedy writer Frank Chindamo is also looking to make short films for mobile phones users through his company Fun Little Movies, and is currently developing “Psyche 101” with director Michael Medaglia and consultants Lubna Dajani and Bill Reilly.
“Fun Little Movies is thinking beyond the mobile medium. We’re thinking about the mobile `very small.’ Fox already owns the `medium,”‘ Chindamo joked. “It’s all kind of coming together.”
Such activity is directly a result of the industry’s move toward third-generation networks and handsets. Just a few years ago, wireless video was just an objective rather than a reality. Today, however, most of the world’s major handset makers sell at least a few video-capable devices, and European and U.S. carriers are in the process of launching networks and services that can support streaming video clips. Thus, media companies like News Corp. and Fun Little Movies can begin to dream up new entertainment for a potentially lucrative audience.
Chindamo said “Psyche 101” is only one of several projects kicking around Fun Little Movies. The company is also in negotiations to develop sponsored videos for sale to wireless carriers that would promote a certain brand or company. For example, Fun Little Movies has already produced one- and two-minute shorts plugging Internet dating service People2People.com. The key, Chindamo said, is that Fun Little Movies brings together the world of Hollywood with the world of wireless.
As for “Psyche 101,” Chindamo said he foresees a sort of video entertainment application, where users would pay to download short video clips of two people on a date, and then would have to guess whether Romeo is a schizophrenic or whether Juliet is obsessive-compulsive. Chindamo has long been developing short comedy films, first for cable channels and then for Internet sites. He said the company is looking at wireless as a new distribution channel.
Fox too is researching wireless. “Hotel Franklin” is just the firm’s latest dip into the industry; the company already offers wireless services and applications based on its “Simpsons” and “American Idol” TV shows, among others. When asked about the production costs for “Hotel Franklin,” Hood replied, “Well, I can say that a 60-second episode costs a lot less than 60 minutes.”
“Most people don’t like to watch TV on their phones, but little clips seem to do well,” said Steve Owen, vice president and solutions architect at video infrastructure vendor LogicaCMG.
Owen said a variety of carriers in Europe, including Orange and Vodafone, are highly interested in offering video content to their subscribers. Most such content is shortened, scaled down TV broadcasts featuring sports or entertainment news, but in some cases media firms are taking wireless more seriously. Owen said sports channel ESPN has developed sportscasts specifically produced for wireless users, and Orange has an exclusive video clip it plays to new video-phone subscribers. And, Owen said, the trend will only continue.
Already in the United States, several companies are looking to develop video content that is exclusive to the wireless medium. Aside from Fun Little Movies, BigDigit Inc., mFlix, Ananova Ltd. and even Naked News are looking to create specific video and animation content for wireless users. Naked News in particular just signed an agreement with Icemobile BV in The Netherlands to offer its broadcasts-which feature naked female newscasters reading the day’s news-to wireless users.
“This is just the next step in a logical progression,” said David Warga, Naked News’ executive producer. “We successfully crossed over from the Internet to television, and now we are moving into the new field of wireless. Wireless today is like the early days of the Internet and our product is perfect for this medium because it provides short clips of relevant information in a most entertaining package. Wireless is the next great frontier.”
Indeed, at some point in the future, the next Hollywood blockbuster may just skip the local cinema and go straight to the phone in your pocket.
