'Black Mirror: Bandersnatch' and Tinder's 'Swipe Night' herald the beginning of interactive live-action television
When 'Black Mirror: Bandersnatch' won an Emmy for 'Outstanding Television Movie', beating HBO's 'Deadwood: The Movie', it was like a stamp of approval for an emerging genre — interactive live-action TV. It was a reminder that with better technology, it is now possible to step away from linear storytelling and jump into the exhilarating world of multilevel narratives crisscrossing each other with active audience participation. It opens up the possibility of having the same setup play out as a comedy, a serious drama or a whodunit, depending on who is watching it, catering to multiple demographics and target audiences.
When 'Bandersnatch' first came out in 2018, there was a barrage of articles around its format which was linked to the story's meta-commentary on free will vs determinism. With its immersive, choose-your-own-adventure format, the interactive movie's average runtime is 90 minutes. But easter eggs, the five dramatically different endings and the trillion narrative combinations means you could 'watch' Bandersnatch for anywhere between 40 minutes to over two hours, depending on the choices you make. The viewer also has to make both mundane choices and deeply moral ones to 'control' the protagonist (a video game programmer) who, as the story progresses, also becomes aware that someone is controlling his actions.
Comparisons were made to video games with elaborate storylines. In fact, we've already had videogames bleed into our movies with 'Assasins' Creed', 'Prince of Persia' and the use of the videogame trope of 'trying again' with movies like 'Edge of Tomorrow'. Netflix itself had experimented with interactive content before, like its children’s shows 'Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale' and 'Minecraft: Story Mode' and the 2019 Bear Grylls interactive adventure 'You Vs. Wild' while brands like Deloitte and Maybelline New York have also been experimenting with interactive branded content.
But what sets 'Bandersnatch' apart and the key to its success is how well its interactive technology was married to the Black Mirror's ethos as the TV series that brought high-tech near-future scenarios to life for its adult viewers. Bringing in a similar synergy is Tinder's dive into original content with their interactive 'Swipe Night' streaming video series -- a first-person, apocalyptic adventure where at key turning points Tinder members decide what happens to them next.
The series, written by Nicole Delaney (Netflix’s 'Big Mouth') and Brandon Zuck (HBO’s 'Insecure') and directed by Karena Evans (known for her music videos for Drake), the series will feature a group of friends played by Angela Wong Carbone ('Chinatown Horror Story'), Jordan Christian Hearn ('Inherent Vice') and Shea Gabor. Viewers will have just 7 seconds to make choices while the story plays out — and no way to reconsider — weighing both moral dilemmas and practical decision-making. It will premier on the Tinder app on October 6 at 6:00 pm local time and have new 'episodes' every Sunday.
Based on the premise that no one wants to be alone when the world is ending, the interactive series (with six episodes) will also simultaneously 'match' you to other Tinder users based on the choices you are making while watching 'Swipe Night'. Depending on your choices, you will experience different scenarios (and endings) and potential matches. The aim, according to Ravi Mehta, Tinder’s Chief Product Officer, is " to encourage new, organic conversations based on a shared content experience.” After its run on Tinder, the producers will be exploring the option to sell distribution rights to the two-hour-long series to a streaming service or TV network, hopefully retaining its user-controlled story options when it goes in for wider distribution.
Another player is the Walmart-backed interactive video platform Eko. Heralding the "future of entertainment", Eko has struck deals with companies like BuzzFeed, YouTube's FBE, Refinery29 as well as 'Avengers: Endgame' directors Anthony and Joe Russo’s digital studio, Bullitt, to produce interactive shows to be distributed on its free, ad-supported site and apps. It is using the $250 million that Walmart invested in the company to subsidize the production costs of these interactive web series and offering to share ad revenue with these publishers, similar to the other publishing platforms like YouTube and Facebook. As a taste of things to come it has released several original interactive series on its site, like 'That Moment When' (created in collaboration with Sony Pictures Entertainment and Olive Bridge Entertainment), which features 6 to 12-minute 'mini-episodes' that has the viewer-controlled protagonist, Jill, navigating several awkward social situations.
As interactive live-action content continues to gather momentum, it raises the question of how newer technologies will further augment this kind of storytelling. Facebook has acquired CTRL-Labs, a 4-year-old company, that is developing software and a bracelet that will allow people to control computers with their brains, which holds myriad possibilities in terms of non-linear, interactive storytelling. And if all this sounds too Black Mirror-ish, buckle up. The future is here.