REBOOT, the groundbreaking classic series which is being reinvigorated for a new generation by Rainmaker Ent., has won the New Media BC Digital Campaign PopVox Award for its digital marketing campaign.
The campaign, which was developed in conjunction with Zeros 2 Heroes Media, debuted in July 2007 and utilizes the latest technology to take advantage of web 2.0 applications. The REBOOT relaunch began with a series of writers pitching ideas with one being chosen to work with Rainmaker's animation team to create a comic that would evolve with the help of REBOOT fans' ongoing input.
The new REBOOT comic premiered on the official website www.reboot.com, on May 30.
"Winning the PopVox award for our REBOOT relaunch is terrific," says Paul Gertz, Exec VP of Rainmaker Ent. "It validates what we'd already realized: that REBOOT is as vital today as it was cutting edge 14 years ago when it first came on the scene. We're very excited about the creative direction the property is following with the comic that's about to be unveiled, and the feature film that's starting up right after."
The winning REBOOT comic, entitled "Paradigms Lost," was the brainchild of Jeff Campbell (writer), Shea Wageman (producer), Shaun Martens (artist), and Kelly Schmidt (designer). In the comic, two mortal enemies, the heroic Guardians and merciless Codemasters, set aside their differences to battle a viral outbreak that threatens the stability of cyberspace. Will the unlikely allies cooperate - or stab each other in their backups?
The concept was chosen from ideas presented by five undiscovered writers who worked with the professionals at Rainmaker to develop their individual and separate pitches for the beloved series' new storyline. The winning team was selected October 1, 2007. Throughout the continuing process, Rainmaker, in alliance with Zeros 2 Heroes, a social network for fans of comics, drew upon the fan base to help drive the creative while empowering the fans' voices in the comic's direction.
REBOOT is also being redeveloped as a trilogy of feature length films by Rainmaker. Jon Cooksey (THE COLLECTOR, RUGRATS, OUTER LIMITS) has been signed to write the script for the first feature.
REBOOT, produced by Mainframe Entertainment, was the first computer animated TV series produced in the world. Originally seen on North American television in September of 1994 (more than a year before the release of TOY STORY) on YTV in Canada and on ABC Television in the U.S., the series ran four seasons (47 half-hour episodes) and was eventually seen in over 70 countries around the world.
The show remains one of YTV's top-rated programs and garnered impressive U.S. audiences in a daily strip on the Cartoon Network. The success of this series helped establish Mainframe Entertainment (now Rainmaker Ent.) as one of the pre-eminent computer animation studios in the world. Information: www.reboot.com.
