second screen

Fast Company's Co.Create talks to the creative team behind App, the Dutch cinematic thriller that provides second screen information to its audience via a synchronized mobile app.

Says Robin de Levita, chief creative officer of Imagine Nation who produced the film, "We were skeptical a bit ourselves, but it’s much less disruptive than you would think. The film is about how communication has changed our lives completely--maybe even for the worst. Even if it is distracting, it’s sort of what the movie is about."

Read more here.

Alan Ball's new Cinemax series, Banshee, is inviting viewers to unlock exclusive show content by punching in a code that can be found during the show's opening credits.

Says executive producer and show runner Greg Yaitanes, "For me it opened up the question: Why hasn't anyone really used that real estate to tell a story? That's more than a minute of storytelling that could be used to enrich the viewers' experience."

Adds title sequence creator (and Twitter founder) Biz Stone, "We wanted the title sequence to extend the universe of the show onto the Web and beyond. Every week there is something new: a clue, a twist or some kind of complexity."

Read more and watch the title sequence here on the L.A. Times.

In this interview with Beet.TV, Dan Sacher, SVP for Digital at VH1 talks about the social viewing habits of their demographic. He says, "Our audience, which is generally women 18-35, we've seen from various studies that they are the most social audience on the web...We know our audience is hungering for second screen, third screen content to share with friends."

Watch below.

APP just might be the first film to ever encourage cell phone use in the theater. The Dutch thriller, from director Bobby Boermans, is about a student who discovers a mysterious app on her phone which ultimately leads to death and destruction. The film is meant to be watched in tandem with a coordinating app on your phone, giving you a parallel experience to that of the movie's main character.

Watch the first teaser below.

APP, an upcoming Dutch feature film, will be bringing the second screen experience to movie theaters. As the film's heroine receives cryptic text messages and updates from a mysterious new app on her phone, the audience member will have the same content pushed to their smartphones while they're watching the film.

The film is directed by Bobby Boermans and written by Robert A. Jansen. Read more here on Slashfilm.

In an interesting research study, cable network Bravo has discovered that viewers are less likely to skip commercials if they are also using other devices while watching television.

Web series creator Greg Ash talks to Beet.TV about his show Super Chill and how it uses second screen content to give extra insight into the show's characters. Says Ash, "I do think the second screen thing does offer interesting options for the filmmaker or the storyteller. I mean I'm certainly inspired by literature as well as films. I like the way in literature that you will get glimpses of what different characters are doing.

Beet.TV spoke to Kenneth Lagana, senior VP of CBS Interactive Sales, at the Beet.TV Advertising Leadership Summit about the social and second screen experiences that CBS will be rolling out in the next two quarters. The network will have second screen experiences tied to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, the Grammys, and the Late Show with David Letterman as well as extra digital content tied to its primetime shows.

Says Lagana, "We are almost looking at each TV show as a live event."

Zach Wigon of Indiewire writes a comprehensive article on the pros and cons of second screen television-watching and whether it enhances the experience or actually takes away from being fully invested in the storyline.

CNN reports on the increasing number of people who interact with a different device while watching television and how showrunners are trying to leverage that multitasking into a more engaged audience. They write, "With so many viewers intent on using a second screen while watching TV, what's a showrunner to do? Networks are in the midst of experimenting, but a few refrains are starting to emerge: Know your audience, less really is more, and above all else, keep the content king."

Tonight at 7:30 PM, MTV and the Flaming Lips will attempt to break the world record for most concerts in 24 hours and the entire thing will be live-streamed across various platforms. Sporadically, awards will be handed out too as part of MTV's groundbreaking digital awards show, the OMAs.