Business in Vancouver's "How I Did It" feature asks business leaders to explain in their own words how they achieved a business goal in the face of significant entrepreneurial challenges. This week, Michael Hefferon, the new president and executive producer for Rainmaker Entertainment Inc. (TSX-V:RNK), talks about his decision to revive ReBoot – a computer-generated 1990s animated TV series made by Mainframe Entertainment Inc., which the company is also reviving for the TV side of its business. As Hefferon points out, in this multimedia era, there's more to recreating a TV show than just getting it on TV.
"We just relaunched Mainframe this October as our television division. We wanted to distinguish the theatrical side [from the TV business]. It really was a pioneer and represented instant brand awareness for television, whereas Rainmaker has never been known for television. Everyone knows that Rainmaker is in the feature business and that Mainframe is in the TV production business. So Mainframe will do cross-platform productions along with the television productions.
"Of our 200 people at Rainmaker, probably a third of them have come up through Mainframe and had been around during the ReBoot days. I've always been a really big fan of ReBoot. It's an iconic property that deserves to have a fresh take. It developed a following as a show but never developed further as a brand, and those are things we're looking at as we bring ReBoot back.
"ReBoot was a first of its kind. It was the first CG-animated series. It was all about these characters that lived in this mainframe computer world. There are a lot of core elements from the original series that we're moving forward. A lot of great characters are coming back. The exciting thing about ReBoot is that it's a natural fit for all the technological devices that are out there now, with a strong gaming tie-in.
"But you're talking about a time where kids are no longer just watching linear content [on TV]. They're multitasking on mobile devices while they're watching TV, so we're approaching it not just as a linear TV property, but as a cross-platform experience.
"We're working very closely with input from our potential broadcast partners, licensing companies and toy companies to have input into it. We see ReBoot as an entertainment experience, not just selling it as TV series.
"Kids want to be engaged in content, so even when the show's not on air, they're still engaged with that show. We think there's a great educational way to teach kids about the world of computers and the Internet with our characters. We want to integrate into the content of the show a coding academy where we teach kids how to code.
"We want kids to be able to create digital avatars, and the selected avatars could win to appear in next season's show. Kids will be able to download characters and with a game engine will be able to create their own little mini stories and submit them to us.
"We see ReBoot as an entertainment experience, not just selling it as TV." •Q&A
