It’s a December day in Loyang, and the rain is hitting the roof so hard the crew is worrying it will be audible on the recording. But the brightly-coloured set and cheery personalities of the young cast form a very welcome contrast to the monsoon raging outside. And the Singapore version of format As the Bell Rings is to be Disney Channel Southeast Asia’s first made-for-mobile production. A short-form, live action series, it launches March 2008 on StarHub’s Disney Mobile Xtra service – priced at around S$5.35 (US$3.77) per month for unlimited content and wallpapers with no data transfer charges. “We wanted a consumer price point that made sense for families,” explains Laura E. Wendt, vice president and managing director of Walt Disney Television International (Southeast Asia). As for the revenue generation potential of the project, Wendt says the venture isn’t just about recouping the dollars spent on production – which she gauges as in line with the cost of producing linear content. “It’s about the value proposition and engaging with our audience,” she says, “as well as launching new (local) talent.” She adds that you can’t underestimate the value of good talent that can then be leveraged for on the ground events and to engage your viewers. Such has been the success of the format that some casts command star status in their home countries. The show originated on Disney Channel Italy, as Quelli dell’ Intervallo, where producers were surprised to discover how tweens warmed to the simple format and its quirky characters. Since its Italian success, localized versions have been produced for France, UK, Germany, Spain, Russia, USA, Australia, China and now Singapore. As the Bell Rings is a school sitcom featuring an ensemble of secondary school kids, who talk about their lives via ‘rapid-fire dialogue’ while hanging out in a hallway during breaks. Filmed in English, with a multi-cultural cast, episodes last 3-4 minutes and are targeting the 10-14 age group. The characters range from the beauty queen, the prankster, the sporty ‘jock’ and the smarty pants – all students at the fictional Lionsville High School. The one-camera shooting style was chosen to reflect a single point of view – as if the viewer is peeking through the window on the events unfolding within. Sometimes the actors directly address the camera, interacting with the viewer, and intermittent eye contact with the camera is allowed to increase connection between viewer and actors. To maintain that connection, special effects, simple cross-fades and changes of focus-level are all avoided. The window provides a natural frame for the action and is useful in immediately defining the comic situation so the action can commence. While in TV versions of the show the camera moves into inner corners of the set, Wendt says this is minimized for the mobile version. The number of characters, and the amount of background action, have also been cut down for the mobisodes. “We have also made the colours brighter for mobile than they might be for TV, and (due to the smaller screen size) we learnt from the pilot not to focus on any object that is too small,” she explains. At 3.5 minutes in length, episodes are slightly shorter than TV version of the show, “so that they buffer quicker. And each cast member is individually miked to ensure audio clarity.” As for ways in which the format has been customized for Singapore, Wendt says producers decided to opt for school uniforms, as well as lots of in-jokes – but not ‘Singlish’. “Although we decided against Singlish, we’re making it relevant with as many trade-offs as we can.” The waiver of data transfer fees is an important decision amid uncertainty over which mode of mobile TV delivery might prevail – with data usage currently proving highly profitable for the operator but a huge deterrent to consumer take-up of 3G services. “Our worst-case scenario was too much usage incurring high data transfer costs, we didn’t want any nasty surprises for parents,” says Wendt. As to whether take-up is expected on parents’ or kids’ own phones and what sort of consumption is anticipated, she says such questions will be more easily answered six months down the line. Wendt was unable to share the success, or not, of Disney’s first Mobile Xtra venture on StarHub back in the Autumn of 2007. Launched around the ubiquitous High School Musical 2 property, the marketing approach for As the Bell Rings on Disney Mobile Xtra is expected to be similar to HSM2. “It was a great example of our partnership with StarHub, across both above- and below-the-line marketing and events. With As the Bell Rings, we want to bark it as much as we can – as we do with all our franchises – increasing our value proposition. The Singapore version has a motley crew of characters that we are excited about because we feel kids in Singapore will be able to relate and connect with them.”