MTV and Verizon Wireless have partnered to launch ?Valemont,? a scripted television series that will air on V Cast.

Each episode starts with a character?s Verizon mobile device that gives viewers clues and insight into the character. The series is coproduced Electric Entertainment and Fuel Industries is behind the faux Valemont University interactive Web site.

?The strategy developed by Electric Farm and MTV for the series ? and its marketing ? stems from a radical shift in the way consumers want to enjoy entertainment,? said Sean MacPhedran, director of creative strategy at Fuel Industries, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. ?It?s not enough to create a series, set up a Web site and run some trailers on television ? people want to experience and interact with entertainment via their mobile device.?

Fuel Industries is an advertising and entertainment company that covers animation, design, film and video production, sound design, music and online programming.

Electric Farm Entertainment is a digital studio for the development of multiplatform properties.

MTV is a youth-oriented American cable TV network.

Verizon Wireless claims to be the United States? largest wireless carrier with more than 87 million customers.

Mobile: a mystery enhancer
Valemont follows the story of 18-year-old Sophie (Kristen Hager) as she investigates her brother Eric?s (Eric Balfour) disappearance from Valemont University.

The series launched with MTV hits ?The Hills? and ?The City? and aired as two-and-a-half-minute pieces for six weeks starting in late September.

Valemont episodes begin with a video clip or text message from Eric?s mobile device.

The phones will also provide clues to viewers about characters in the show through SMS alerts that fans have to opt-in to receive.

In addition, a five-second Verizon Wireless ad will end each new episode of Valemont in the hopes of driving viewers to get additional content on V Cast.

Mr. MacPhedran said that in every place where viewers naturally spend time in media, Valemont characters are there thanks to fans, media buys and Nina Bargiel, the show?s digital content writer.

According to Fuel Industries, Verizon provided the means for the multiplatform world to exist.

Mr. MacPhedran said that there are two important reasons for the mobile aspect.

?First, a mobile device is an integral part of the Valemont narrative,? Mr. MacPhedran said. ?Second, and almost more importantly ? everyone has a cell phone.

?The MTV audience is about as attached to their phones as old people are to Matlock ? they?re inseparable,? he said. ?It?s only natural to extend the experience into one of their primary media devices, and it was done in a way that made the alternate-reality experience even that much richer.?

In addition to the episodes airing on V Cast, Verizon customers received character profiles and prequel episodes before they were released to the online audience.

The target audience for this was MTV?s audience, teens and young adults who love their mobile devices.

Ms. Bargiel said that the inclusion of mobile to the mix was an obvious choice.

?The question now should be ?Why wouldn't we integrate mobile as part of it??? Ms. Bargiel said. ?Mobile platforms are an integral part of our lives - how often to you go somewhere without your phone? 

?Narratively it just made sense - our main character, Sophie Fields, is learning about the mystery of what happened to her brother through his mobile phone,? she said. ?It was a natural extension of the story.?