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Source: Courier Mail
Liam Walsh
October 07, 2009 11:00pm
FOR Hoodlum, a Brisbane-based entertainment company working with hit TV shows, the gloom of the recent economic slowdown seems to be lifting.
The company helps design interactive entertainment which mixes with on-air storylines of US and UK-made TV shows such as Lost, Spooks and the latest hit Flash Forward. It has won a swag of awards and last night added the top gong at the 2009 Lord Mayor's Business Awards.
Hoodlum's clients are big international broadcasters, such as the ABC network in the US and the BBC and ITV in the UK, so it works in a medium tied heavily to advertising spending.
Hoodlum commercial director Kerrin McNeil said the past 12 months had been challenging for everyone, with commercial spending down.
"While I wouldn't say it was as dire as some of the (stories out there), we certainly felt the effect of the slowdown and the lack of decision-making ... because we were working in the UK and US," she said.
But Ms McNeil said the mood now was far more upbeat and a lot more conversations were occurring about projects.
Hoodlum was started in 1999 by Tracey Robertson and Nathan Mayfield. Almost eight years later, the commercial, government-supported iQFunds took an additional stake in the business which now employs 25.
An example of how Hoodlum's product works can be seen with the new US drama series Flash Forward, which pitches a story of people worldwide blacking out for two minutes and seeing visions of their future. In the show, FBI agents constructed a website for people to file stories about their visions.
So Hoodlum has actually created that site, which also lets users write their own stories and contains special videos.
There are associated websites with Twitter connections and hints.
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