Village Gamer

Award-winning creator, producer and distributor Shaftesbury (Life with Derek) and its acclaimed digital media division, Smokebomb Entertainment, have announced the launch of the first original mobile App series for kids and tweens, Totally Amp’d. Targeted to kids aged 8 – 14 and starring Ashley Leggat (Life with Derek) and Cristine Prosperi (Degrassi: The Next Generation), Totally Amp’d tells the story of five talented teenagers who are brought together to become the next big pop group.

Featuring a 10-appisode live-action music comedy series, an original soundtrack and a suite of interactive activities designed to fully immerse kids in the action, Totally Amp’d will launch worldwide via the Apple App Store on Thursday, January 26^th and is published by XMG Studio. The first appisode and related activities of Totally Amp’d will be available for free download, and the remaining content can be unlocked for a one-time fee of $4.99 (U.S./Canada).

“Totally Amp’d is the first App of its kind for the underserved tween mobile entertainment market – we see this as a brand new category,” said Daniel Dales, CEO and Executive Producer, Smokebomb Entertainment. “Focusing on an aspirational story and very real characters that kids will fall in love with, Totally Amp’d offers hours of interactive entertainment that will put viewers in the middle of the action, delivering a creative and emotionally immersive experience.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIkR63M91NY]

“Looking at the habits of today’s teens and tweens, always on their phones texting, messaging and emailing on the subway or the bus, the decision to work on Totally Amp’d was a no-brainer,” said Ray Sharma, founder and CEO of XMG Studio. “There’s huge potential in the ‘appisode’ space – no one wants to watch half of a made-for-television episode on their phone when commuting.”

Featuring 10 six to nine-minute “appisodes,” Totally Amp’d tells the story of five teenagers with raw talent who come together in the hopes of becoming the next big pop group. When XMP! Music announces a contest for an up-and-coming band to win a spot opening for pop sensation Charlie Fever, the label’s savvy receptionist-turned-manager, Zoe (Ashley Leggat), taps a group of teens to form the band Totally Amp’d in order to bring home the prize – and show up her arrogant boss, Archie. Through the course of the series, Zoe and her handpicked crew navigate the rocky – and hilarious – road to fame while trying to make their dreams come true. The dynamic young cast also includes Cristine Prosperi and Demetrius Joyette (Wingin’ It) as members of the aspiring band.

With each Totally Amp’d appisode, interactive content is unlocked that turns iOS devices into sophisticated Music, Movie and Design studios. Creating posters and album covers, customizing the band’s look, directing music videos, remixing and uploading their own vocals to the original songs, and much more, kids will have endless hours of artistic activity at their fingertips as they create their own custom content within the Totally Amp’d narrative.

Totally Amp’d is executive produced by Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie and Shane Kinnear; produced by Daniel Dales, Jarrett Sherman and Jay Bennett; and published by XMG Studio. 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 has been funded with the participation of the Canada Media Fund’s Experimental Stream and the OMDC’s Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit.