We are delighted to hear that The Memory Dealer, written and directed by Rik Lander, has won the Royal Television Society award for Digital Innovation.

This noteworthy award makes a nice addition to our 2013 award winning apps Soho Stories and Curzon Memories.

It is great news for the entire cast and crew involved in The Memory Dealer. They managed to create an evocative piece of interactive drama around the streets of Bristol. As a participant you are guided by the app to meet with various characters at different locations around the city – the dubious character in the hotel lobby, the clandestine rendezvous in a side street and several more encounters in different sites as you follow a trail and unravel the drama.

The producers Vanessa Bellaar Spruijt and Laura D’Asta, managed to co-ordinate players through the experience so that the live encounters were personal and intimate and the settings dramatic and compelling. I can still remember the smell of the clapped-out car that I had to rummage through looking for clues!

The app that unlocks the digital elements of the story and synchronises the path through the adventure was created using AppFurnace. Calvium were engaged to make sure that the game logic worked as planned and that players received critical parts of the story at the right time and in the right place.

     
This digital and physical combination of app and live drama is a winning combination that we hope to see more of.

Photo by Paul Blakemore

For more information about the project and a full list of credits please see The Memory Dealer at Mayfest