On air from tomorrow, “Via Verdi 49” is the first “convergent” multi-media format created for Alice Home TV and for TIM mobile phones
The guests will include Dolcenera, i Fichi D’India, Max Pisu, Ugo Conti, Luca Dirisio, Rocco Barbaro, Dado, Mauro di Francesco and the Zero Assoluto, directed by Riccardo Recchia
A new sit-com, “Via Verdi 49”, will debut tomorrow on Alice Home TV and TIM mobile phones. Produced by Einstein Multimedia, it is the first example of a “convergent” multi-media format, created for transmission via Internet TV and mobile telephone platforms.
Each programme will consist of two episodes lasting about six minutes each and the series will total 104 episodes. It will be transmitted free of charge from Monday to Friday at 09.15 pm. Each episode of “Via Verdi 49” will be available on demand and can be called up according to the protagonist or in chronological order.
“Via Verdi 49” is comedy based on the daily lives of the inhabitants of an apartment block where the protagonists are apparently the unknowing “victims” of an irreverent and pratical joking porter. He is an odd and difficult character, represented only through his voice and gesticulating hands and whose face is never seen. The events take place in the apartment’s courtyard and shot from a fixed camera inside the porter’s office.
The porter is the “director” and cause of all the gags involving the various characters and including comedians from the Zelig TV show and one or two guests stars playing themselves.
The guest stars of “Via Verdi 49” will include Dolcenera, the Fichi D’India, Max Pisu, Ugo Conti, Luca Dirisio, Rocco Barbaro, Dado, Mauro di Francesco and the Zero Assoluto.
The direction is innovative and original, based on a fixed camera and narrow framing, and will give the impression that the various members of the cast are crossing the TV screen and mobile phone display to interact with viewers.
Viewer interaction will be one of the characteristics of “Via Verdi 49”. Via Rosso Alice, Telecom Italia’s ADSL portal, it will be possible to send video-messages to the porter, which will be selected and inserted into the programme in post-production. In this way, using typical web community communication, viewers will be able to “partecipate” in the sit-com, inserting themselves into the script.
Rosso Alice will also include a section dedicated to the sit-com containing news about the programme, character profiles and video-clips extracted from past episodes.
The TIM mobile portal will also include a space dedicated to ”Via Verdi 49” with the possibility of seeing videoclips of past episodes.
Riccardo Recchia is both the programme’s Director and Artistic Director, while the script writers are Georgia Roseano, Alessandro Pondi, Riccardo Irrera, Gianluca Belardi and also Riccardo Recchia.
Alice Home TV is Telecom Italia’s TV via Internet (IPTV) service which, through the regular telephone connection and with an ADSL line, permits one to see film, sport, news and music on one’s TV, while also offering the possibility of Broadband Internet navigation.
Rosso Alice is Telecom Italia’s Broadband portal and is a true “Online Shopping Center”. It is open to all Internet navigators enabled with an ADSL connection of any type. Rosso Alice (http://www.rossoalice.it/) is mainly dedicated to the acquisition of live and on demand content for PCs.
The TIM mobile portal, which one accesses by clicking the ”i.tim” icon on UMTS mobile phones, offers a wide range of video, visual and text content for the UMTS world. The portal’s home page contains various theme-based areas including TV & reality shows, music, games, news, main sporting events, new film releases and other useful information.
Milan, 13 June 2006