Bolton Storyworld: Codename Winterhill is a live-action interactive transmedia thriller that went live in its final form in April 2016. The experience takes place on a participant's smartphone and involves receiving text and voice messages, exploring websites, participating in puzzles, and watching filmed videos. Lasting five days, the experience operates on a Participant Activated Release Schedule (PARS): as soon as participants activate the experience by texting a code to a promoted mobile number, they initiate the release of media to their smartphones according to a pre-set schedule.
Setting and Plot
The thriller is set in Bolton, United Kingdom, and follows a missing-person investigation by three students: Spoon, Lizzie, and Derek. As the narration progresses, the experience opens up to explore themes of truth versus fiction through conspiracy theories, alien abductions, and secret societies—ultimately leaving the participant in a disturbing open-ended situation where "they could be next."
Production and Development
The project was produced by Bellyfeel, with film, multimedia, and transmedia artist Krishna Stott—whose previous project was the award-winning interactive film Crimeface (2008)—acting as creative director and showrunner.
The project evolved through three major iterations:
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Here and Now (2011): The project began when Stott was asked to consult on a project at Bolton University. This created a series of characters who posted on Facebook in character, creating drama through their interactions.
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Bolton Storyworld (2012–2013): With funding secured in 2012, the project was renamed Bolton Storyworld. Students at Bolton University began making short films based on the lives of the characters and sharing them on YouTube. This was considered a prototype for creating an interactive, transmedia environment.
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Codename Winterhill (2014–2016): In 2013, Bellyfeel took full creative control. Using the archive of prototypes, they created a narrative from the disparate elements of the storyworld, forming a thriller and adding the subtitle Codename Winterhill. The experience first ran in October 2014 and, after refinement during 2015, attained its final form for release in 2016.
Cast
- Natalie Biggs as Spoon
- Kate Cansdale as Lizzie
- Rick Bithell as Derek
- David Crellin as Justin McManus
- Tracey Sheals as Aunt Flo
- Abdullah Afzal as Will Spender
- Joanne Barrett as Annabel Jones
- Phil Novak as Sonny Purcell
Credits
- Directed by: Ashok Baker, Phillip Shotton, Amy Cookson
- Written by: Lee Robinson, Holly Roberts, Anna Zaluczkowska, Jamie Coles, Jane Collard, Courtney McGrail, Amy Louise Cookson, Ashok Baker
- Produced by: Krishna Stott
- Cinematography: Chris Forshaw, Conall Ranaghan, Mohammed Osman, Magdalena Schedler
- Edited by: Abby Trotter
- Production company: Bellyfeel
- Distributed by: Conducttr
- Release date: 2016
- Running time: 5 days
- Country: United Kingdom
- Language: English
BSW:CNW Artefact (2019)
In 2019, Bolton Storyworld: Codename Winterhill - Artefact (2016) was released. This 55-minute film follows the narration of the 2016 event, organized into chapters covering the five days. The film includes much of the video footage, text messages, and website puzzles experienced by participants during the event.
Awards and Recognition
The 2016 production won the Premier Award at the Learning on Screen Awards (UK). The judging panel described it as "an outstanding production," "an innovative and immersive piece of digital storytelling," and "unlike anything the jury have seen before." The production was also selected for the Seattle Transmedia and Independent Film Festival in 2016.
