Vancouver entrepreneurs take on reality genre with new interactive web series

A group of young Vancouver entrepreneurs has come out of apparently nowhere to launch a big-budget Internet drama series. Last week, TVSTARS Entertainment (http://www.tvstars.ca) opened a call to aspiring actors and actresses from across Canada to apply to star in an upcoming web-only series that will add an interactive twist to the now-familiar reality series formula. The show, with a budget that could reach as high as $1 million, will be making five stops across the country to audition potential stars for 20 finalist positions for eight actual cast spots on the show. The auditions themselves will make up the first five episodes of the series, with successful candidates flown to Vancouver all-expenses-paid for their call-back. Adam Toren, one of the partners in the venture, says it’s unlikely anyone in the industry has heard of TVSTARS or any of its principals, and says there is no affiliation with any of the big media companies such as Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. He says the group of 11 or so people who make up the production company are "up-and-coming" scriptwriters, actors, and web designers. The company is producing the show using out-of-pocket funds, as well as some angel financing, though plans for sponsorship should help offset much of the cost. The show will likely be shot principally on digital video (DV) and Toren says the various hardware and software considerations have already been put in place. The company is still in the process of selecting studio space from several Vancouver locations. "We’ve already gotten a call from a company that is hoping to bring this concept to Asia. It’s just amazing how we came up with the idea, how we’ve got everything organized. Everything’s ready to go. We’re ready for it." The group is still in the process of choosing several judges for the competition phase of the show. Toren says there are several well-known candidates who have expressed interest in the job, and that TVSTARS is in negotiations with their agents. The show itself will likely draw comparisons to another reality-based web series, U8TV’s The Lofters. Though it will have a reality-based feel à la The Lofters, it will offer the audience a chance to script how the plot develops. "A couple of us were just sitting around one day and we were brainstorming innovative ways of coming up with something of a twist – making it reality-based, but with a create-your-own-adventure style. Kind of bringing the 1970s- and 80s-style book and integrating it into a script and having it interactive as well," Toren tells Canadian NEW MEDIA. "Somebody will be acting out a scene, for example, and somebody will suggest for a possible scenario for Jane and John to become boyfriend and girlfriend. If it works with the scriptwriters, we’ll try to make this happen." To his knowledge, Toren says, the concept hasn’t been tried. The initiative isn’t the first time Toren and his brother Matthew have tried their hands at entrepreneurial pursuits. The pair were one-time owners of Vancouver’s Brosé Fashions, and Matt Toren is a founder of YoungEntrepreneur.com. Instructions for applying to the show’s audition process are available online. Potential cast must apply by August 31 and be Canadian citizens. The show is open to professional and amateur actors alike.

Vancouver entrepreneurs take on reality genre with new interactive web series

Broadcast | July 10, 2002

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