Case Study: Terminal City
Lights, camera, satisfaction
The product: Terminal City, a 10-part TV mini-series mixing family strife and reality TV with death and wisecracks.
The mission: To create a captivating online gateway worthy of an award-winning television drama.
Film and TV production company Crescent Entertainment are masters of the moving image. But when the Vancouver-based company decided to develop a tie-in website for their promising mini-series Terminal City, they let Mastermynde lead the way.
The production team knew they wanted to incorporate visual elements of the show but they were unsure about what content and features they needed to do the show justice. Mastermynde researched all the options and came up with a plan to create a sophisticated website within a reasonable budget.
“These days it is typical for new TV shows to have websites but we are not very savvy when it comes to website applications and web design,” admits Nathan Tichenor, Managing Director of Crescent. “It really is a different language but Leif made it a pretty easy process and he suggested the designs and the technologies that would work well.”
Together with Macaulay Media, Mastermynde created a content-rich site that blended the visual elements of the show with web interactivity to create a stylish online presence. The striking home page features embedded flash transitions and the site is stocked with fan-friendly downloads including wallpaper, screensavers, photos, video and music clips. Terminal City online also features a secure press area with additional collateral.
Taking care of business
First and foremost, Crescent needed a web professional with a designer eye. But they also needed to hire someone they could trust to collaborate independently with the TV networks. “We co-coordinated with the TV networks on our client’s behalf and it allowed them to step back once the website was launched,” says Leif Jason, Creative Director at Mastermynde.
The show was premiered on Movie Central and later broadcast on a number of channels including City TV and Sundance TV in the States. Before each channel aired the series, the standalone Terminal City website had to be reconfigured so that it would mesh seamlessly with the individual TV network sites.
When the program ran on a new channel, the original version of Terminal City was re-purposed to carry the relevant channel branding. The site architecture was also tweaked to ensure that visitors could click through to the Terminal City pages without having to leave the network site.
Uploading time-sensitive collateral to tie-in with the various TV schedules was another essential element of the project says Jason. As a new episode appeared, new content was uploaded to the site, to ensure that the different audiences had access to the latest information to match the program schedule.
A stellar performance
For Crescent, it all worked flawlessly and allowed them to get on with the business of making feature films and TV series. “We have had a lot of complimentary feedback from users and partners,” says Nathan Tichenor. “There were very few problems and Leif made it a very smooth and easy process.”
Terminal City has enjoyed critical acclaim and won numerous awards since it was first aired. The dynamic website has also won admirers. “We wanted to visually portray the show but also make it compelling,” says Leif Jason. “It is a design I’m very proud of and we’ve had a lot of great feedback about it.”
Mission Accomplished: The site was nominated in the Most Popular Website category at the 2006 Gemini Awards.
To find out how Mastermynde can help your company, contact us today.