Smokescreen

2010, March 15th

Smokescreen ( www.smokescreengame.com), Six to Start’s game for Channel 4 Education about life on social networks, has won the BEST GAME category in the 13th SXSW Interactive Web Awards.

Commissioned by Alice Taylor at Channel 4 Education, Smokescreen is a cutting edge 13-episode web game that explores what it’s like to live life online on a new social network called White Smoke. Players explore websites, search for clues, receive phone calls, chat on IM and tackle puzzles and minigames, all the while working out who they can trust across the cast of five core characters.

Alice Taylor, Commissioning Editor, said: “We wanted to help teens learn about data issues through play, while exploring big ideas such as privacy and surveillance, Orwell and CCTV. The response to Smokescreen has been fantastic. Because our game puts players in a simulation situation, we can give them an experience that is both powerful and immersive, and that has lasting impact.

Adrian Hon, Exec Producer and Chief Creative at Six to Start said: “Smokescreen is the world's first game about life online. Every time you hear about a teenager being hauled up at school because of their Facebook profile, or someone being conned out of their password on Twitter - that's what Smokescreen aims to explore. And because our game puts players in a simulation situation, we can give them an experience that is far more powerful and immersive than any other media. Winning an SXSW Web Award is a fantastic recognition of this.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

About Six to Start

Six to Start is an award-winning entertainment production company that uses the internet to turn the world into a platform for stories and games. The company creates original entertainment for clients such as Disney Imagineering, Penguin Books, the BBC and Channel 4 and in 2009 won the Best of Show and Experimental SXSW Web Awards for WE TELL STORIES, their online storytelling production for Penguin Books. 2010 marks Six to Start’s third SXSW award in two years.

About Channel 4

Channel 4 is a public service broadcaster funded solely from commercial revenues. It receives free spectrum in return for fulfilling its public service obligations as set out in the 1990 and 1996 Broadcasting Acts and its licence, issued by Ofcom, which was last updated in December 2004.

The channel's licence obligations include annual quotas on original, independent and regional production and weekly quotas governing news and current affairs and schools programmes. Year-to-date at end 2009, Channel 4 had an 8.2% share of the total TV audience.

Channel 4's portfolio of digital channels (E4, More4, Film4, and 4Music) are distributed on the UK's main digital TV platforms. Channel 4 also offers time-shifted +1 services for its TV channels.

Channel 4 offers a free catch-up service for its commissioned output and some acquired programmes via 4oD Catch Up which is accessible via channel4.com and to Virgin Media subscribers.

About the 13th Annual SXSW Interactive Web Awards

The SXSW Web Awards uncovers the best new websites and celebrates those who are building tomorrow’s online trends. The Web Awards Ceremony took place on Sunday, March 14 at 7pm at the Hilton Austin Downtown. Winners in the 20 different categories were announced at the premiere evening event during SXSW Interactive.

For more information about the SXSW Web Awards contact webawards@sxsw.com or visit http://sxsw.com/interactive/webawards

PR contact

Adrian Hon

Email: Adrian@sixtostart.com

Tel: +44 33 3340 7490