What’s all the fuss about Being Victor?

What’s great about the show is that although the drama is standalone, the audience can decide how much they want to engage with the content. Victor’s Blog was launched in character 10 weeks before the show. We’ve also created behind the scenes videos, competitions, online survey, and Facebook and Twitter pages to enhance the online experience. It’s a space where viewers can discuss and engage with the issues raised in the show. We partnered with MTV (our official online broadcaster) and STV, who will broadcast the show in October. Neither have done a project like this before, so we really are in new territory!

We keep hearing people say the word multiplatform – what does it actually mean?

Multiplatform does what it says on the tin – it delivers content on a variety of platforms: online, terrestrial, digital channels, mobile, events and so on. For us, it’s all about storytelling. We try to come up with clever ways to utilise different platforms and create different levels of engagement in order to tell stories. Online is a perfect platform for this.

Is online drama a new thing, or has it been done it before?

It’s been done before, but it’s constantly evolving. I think broadcasters are now having a more digital perspective with all of their content and are more open to seeing the potential of cross-platform.

What does digital do that telly doesn’t?

Digital can offer a more immediate and deeper level of engagement that TV can’t. However, they often work in a complimentary way – many people only watch X Factor to see people’s Twitter responses to it.

How does producing drama online differ from TV?

You get less money – that’s about it. The biggest challenge is that I have to produce TV-quality drama for online consumption on a much smaller budget. The audience doesn’t expect to see a crappier version just because it’s online. Their experience is key. You need to consider what they’ll get out of it.

Will digital kill the TV star?

I see all TV as digital already, but now we’re much more flexible about how and when we consume it and more imaginative about how we can engage with it.

What does your job involve on a day-to-day basis?

A million and one things, as well as plenty of cake.

What’s your advice for people wanting to break into online drama?

It depends what you want to do. It you want to write, start a blog. If you want to work in production, try and get some work experience.

If you had a Big Brother-style “best bits” from your Being Victor experience, what would it include?

We shot 20 pages a day on a 12-day shoot to produce three hours of drama. It was phenomenal what we got through. The biggest high was seeing it all in the edit suite and realising that despite budget and time restrictions, we hadn’t produced a pile of shite. People loved the show and the rest is history…

Kat Hebden was talking to Kirstie Swain.

You can watch Being Victor at http://www.mtv.co.uk/beingvictor, follow him on Twitter or read his blog.