marblemedia And History Channel Need You To Name This
marblemedia has announced that the studio has begun production on an original cross-platform series and website for History Television, which will take audiences through the naming of Canada’s most notable people, places and things. From Chef Susur Lee’s new restaurant to a new small-town beer to a team from the Women’s National Hockey League, the series will explore the history and origin of names. The original concept began as a website, and has expanded into a 13-part TV series. The yet-to-be named property will premiere on History Television fall 2011.
Parallel to pre-production, marble’s Gemini Award-winning interactive department launched Namethis.ca, a nation-wide contest allowing Canadians to submit name suggestions. Some of the most intriguing and thought-provoking names will be profiled in the forthcoming TV series. Even the TV show itself will be named through the contest. To date, nearly 45,000 Canadians have registered their unique name suggestions. The contest closes in April this year.
“This project truly allows audiences to leave their mark on history by naming the next big thing,” says Matt Hornburg, Executive Producer/Partner, marblemedia. “While the TV series will explore this process, the website will engage people in a more intimate experience on what’s most important to them, their name, allowing them to discover the roots of their first and last names as well as connect with others online in a sizeable social experiment.”
Each TV episode will take viewers through the process taken by corporations, entrepreneurs, and even well-known personalities in making a final decision on what to call their soon-to-launch product. The contemporary storyline launches into the fascinating history of where names have come from through the centuries. The project’s Series Producer is Maggie Sutcliffe, an award-winning factual producer who has worked for major UK broadcasters – BBC, Sky, Channel 4 and ITV. Maggie worked as Co-Executive Producer on Weird or What with William Shatner, which is a top-rated, primetime series airing on Discovery Channel in the U.S. and History Television in Canada.
“It’s surprising how much names affect us in our daily lives, and how they help shape our opinions about the people we meet and the products we use,” says Maggie Sutcliffe, Series Producer. “The series will explore the history of naming successes and failures over the centuries.”
marblemedia is building an immersive website that will extend the brand to new audiences with a fun, re-playable social experience. Visitors will be able to uncover the roots of a name, its place in history as well as its global popularity. They will also be able to share the fun through Facebook, helping friends to experience their own names in new and surprising ways, further extending the audience reach. Activities, quizzes and games will contribute to a dynamic, ever-changing dashboard that will use eye-catching design and creative visualizations to turn a name into an adventure.