Fat Cow Motel (2002)

Cross-Platform Content Producer, Lead Interactive Writer

Fat Cow Motel was the world’s first interactive drama Alternate Reality Game (ARG) and Australia’s first interactive television series broadcast on ABC TV & Austar Television in 2002 and produced by Hoodlum Active P/L. In the spirit of Northern Exposure, Fat Cow Motel was a quirky, blackly comic mystery series and a narrative-driven ARG set in and around the fictional Australian town of Fat Cow.

Fat Cow Motel invited audience members to watch a television episode each week in which a compelling town mystery was posed and then access additional platforms including web, mobile, email, dial-up and iTV (via the Austar platform) to search for clues, interact with town characters and uncover town secrets and gossip to earn points and ultimately solve the mystery and win. Austar viewers also had the opportunity to interact with the television episode via their handsets to uncover additional ‘in-show’ clues and story material.

Role

As interactive content producer, scriptwriter and lead interactive writer for Fat cow Motel, Marissa was responsible for developing an immersive, 360 degree cross-platform experience including a narrative-driven ARG, writing and producing interactive rich media content across web, iTV, email, mobile and dial-up channels that delivered unprecedented results for the ABC becoming the most visited TV website ever for ABC Online.  

B&T Article: Fat Cow Motel Website Delivers Record Results for the ABC >>

Marissa also worked on an innovative pre-broadcast viral media campaign delivered via print, radio, email, SMS and web.

Awards

Marissa won the inaugural Australian Writers’ Guild Interactive Media Award for Best Interactive Writing in 2005 for her work on Fat Cow Motel.