If you haven’t watched the video on the HELP page, you might be confused by terms like “treasure hunt,” “TAVE” and our favorite “loony booty.”
A) The narrator for the 2 minute A block introduces three characters. The Hero, the celebrity guest host and the problem solver. We get to know the Hero for a short time and then they make a phone call to the Guest Host. The Hero presents a quality of life problem to the Guest Host. The Guest Host says they will work on it. The Guest Host calls the problem solver and they foreshadow the episode, competition and prizes.
a) All three characters can put a selfie light on a desk and record their side of the phone conversation anywhere at anytime using a regular cell phone to record and another to hold as a prop during the conversation. They post the raw or edited video on youtube and share the private or public link with the episode producer.
B) Comedy bumpers are inspired by volunteer missions. They are examples of good cheer and good deeds. Block B starts at the volunteer venue the Coach chose as the clubhouse for the episode. The cast and crew could be introduced sharing good cheer and good deeds. Examples of crowd sourcing comedy bumpers and how easy it is to create and upload comedy B-roll should be demonstrated. Explain it for 30 seconds then show one for 30 seconds.
b) If the volunteer venue is at a sports bar, B roll of fun at their sports bar should make the owner very happy. Keep in mind that the owner of the venue might want to donate great deals on food and events to be used for loony coupons recycled by the production team to fund their production. It is easy for anyone to upload B-roll for that Sports Bar or clubhouse that can be shared with the owner for their usual advertising. It also gives customers a chance to get on the production team for a block and earn crew share for their B-roll and having fun.
C) “In the next 5 minutes upload a picture of your pet wearing our flea collar. We will donate $5 to the hero, you will get a $5 off your next purchase and be entered to win this great prize….” [The rest of this explanation is for nerds. You can skip to D). (We will custom code the commercials for the episodes at no charge when any team qualifies for heat 6. Based on a first come basis for 30 teams plus the next 5 teams waiting to bump into a heat.)
Interactive commercials are something people have never seen so they have no idea of what can happen. With a little bit of coding many different versions can be created. There are too many possibilities to explain everything, so instead, here is a very broad description and example.
c) A small countdown timer runs in the corner of the screen. A small QR code appears for 5 seconds after the countdown. (The countdown timer trains the viewers to be ready to scan and get the reward.) It then counts down until the next QR code is displayed. If you are watching on your cell phone or computer links are posted below the video so you can click instead of scan. If there are no interactive segments there are no countdown timers. Every block could have one but this is primarily used for the interactive commercials.
Viewers logged into piratedivebar.com complete an online task as easy as a single check mark or uploading something specific such as a pet wearing a flea collar. Your entry has a time stamp that must be between the opening and closing of the contest. Some contests have an immediate time to complete and some are a second round chances for people who did not have the sponsors proof of purchase for their product.
Here is how it could be used in the flea collar episode. The Hero has told the Guest Host that he would like to have his own dog walking business some day. The Guest Host makes a call to a pet store owner. The pet store owner becomes the problem solver.
The store owner calls up one of their product suppliers. For this example it is a flea collar manufacturer. The store owner asks the manufacturer if they would sponsor an episode using a percentage of sales formulae. No sales, no cost. When they do pay, it is a tax deductible donation to a 501 c 3. For a sale to count the consumer must upload a proof of purchase during an interactive commercial. For example a picture of their pet wearing the flea collar. The picture must be uploaded within 10 minutes of the episode ending. If they don’t have the flea collar, they can make a check mark to enter a second chance contest during the next episode. They will have to go out and buy the flea collar and be ready for the second chance contest. The second chance contest is only available to people who made the check mark in the first round episode. In the background of the picture they may have to hold up fingers a piece of paper or show something else to prove it is real time.
All of the pets wearing the flea collar entered into the first and second round are shown at the piratedivebar.com website on the sponsors page. Click on a picture of any pet and you go to the home page to treasure hunt at the TAVE of the person that uploaded the picture.
If there are 100 pictures of pets, the sponsor makes a $5 donation per picture or $500 to our 501 c 3. The sponsor gets a donation receipt for a tax write off. The sponsor can now use the 2,000 loonies for anything in the national treasure chest as a donation reward.
The Hero is now 2,000 loonies closer to their 100,000 loony scholarship.
Back to the storyline of the flea collar episode. The flea collar manufacturer has sent hats, T-shirts, coffee cups, pens and especially stickers of different sizes and types with their logo so that comical and shameless brand placement can take place. Now the race is on to see how many times the brand can show up on things the actors wear or use. This can create some very comical relief and parody for the over use of a logo.
The sponsor and the problem solver help to form the sponsored connection to the dog walking business and get altruistic credit and patriotic brand loyalty for their product. The Pet Store owner can get their location listed for the episode and other contests at the store.
People will have too many questions trying to figure out how this works so skip the explanation and just have them scan the code, upload a picture and try to win a prize.
D) The local story is formed from the Coach’s interview and what you can create with how the problem solver will create a solution.
d) Visit people and places around the Hero’s location and get the producer to contact as many relatives and friends to comment on the interview questions as possible. The producer might have to enter the comments for them. Show the Hero doing regular activities.
E – O) These blocks are self explanatory.
P) Special Heroes on Medicaid typically do not go on exotic vacation adventures. You might show them examples of what tropical fun to expect and then the preparation, training, medicals, passports, inoculations travel and anything else that foreshadows the adventure.
Q) This is 3 minutes of as much fun and adventure as you can show. Include the clips from the cast party and the journey home.
R) Prepare for R by looking at the pages for all the sponsors and make sure you give the results of donations, participation and the “second chance” contests. These are people that did not have a sponsors product at the time of the first contest and went out and bought it to be part of the second chance constest. This is incredibly valuable data for the sponsor but even more so for other teams to show why a sponsor should be a part of this series.
S) Website results can feature B-roll from volunteer missions, pictures of volunteer venues, recycling results and who has the biggest loony booty.
T) The episode closing is the only section recorded live to tape. Be ready with clips where you have contacted all the other teams to get some interesting B roll cued up. Filming at your clubhouse with all your freiends and supporters watching the live broadcst is a great way to end the episode. Each episode has 2 versions. The live premiere and reruns. The live premiere is where very special timed contests for interactive commercials can occur. Show the guest host live by phone saying goodbye if possible or a recorded version if it isn’t possible.
