Alliance Atlantis Communications is gettin’ jiggy wit’ it, interactive-style.

When Drop The Beat, a 13-part half-hour hip-hop drama – produced by the Toronto-based company in partnership with Back Alley Film Productions – makes its Feb. 7 debut on CBC, it will be supported by both Web and interactive TV (iTV) initiatives.

Viewers will be able to experience the program in three different ways, says Todd Goldsbie, vice-president, new media with Alliance Atlantis. They can watch it on television, visit the Web site (www.dropthebeat.com) or participate in a WebTV-enabled interactive experience.

Both the Web site and the iTV components have been developed by Toronto-based ExtendMedia.

Drop The Beat’s central characters are DJs on a campus radio hip-hop show. So the Web site is designed to appear as if it’s the actual site for the radio show. Visitors will be able to listen to portions of the show, download music, purchase the soundtrack for the television series, check out message boards and participate in interactive chats.

‘This particular show, because of its musical content was very appropriate for this,’ says Goldsbie. ‘The way that we were able to use the Web site as a metaphor for the radio show, as opposed to the TV show, provided us with a unique opportunity.’

The other interactive component of the show is WebTV-based. Consumers who subscribe to Microsoft’s WebTV will be able to follow on-screen links during the program, comment on the narrative, register their opinions on the moral issues raised in episodes, and read additional information about the characters and situations – all via their television screens.

The project is funded in part by the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund.

This isn’t Alliance Atlantis’s first such interactive venture. The Web site it developed previously for Life Network’s Dish It Out program (www.dish-it-out.com) also incorporates a number of interactive components. (ExtendMedia, again, was the developer.) The Drop The Beat project, however, is a much more ambitious step down the same road.

‘As we slowly move toward some kind of converged universe, there will be increasing opportunity to integrate the Web and TV,’ Goldsbie says. ‘And as those opportunities further the objectives of our programming, we will go as far down that interactive road as we can. The learning we will experience with this particular project can be applied to the grand bank of our television knowledge.’

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Strategy is on the ground in Cannes, bringing you the latest news, wins and conference highlights all week long. Catch all the coverage here.

Thursday’s batch of Silver and Bronze winners included the Creative Business Transformation, Creative Effectiveness, Creative Strategy, Luxury Lions, Brand Experience & Activation, Innovation and Creative Commerce Lions categories. Canadians were recognized with three Lions today: a Silver in Brand Experience & Activation, a Bronze in Creative Commerce and a Bronze in Creative Effectiveness. Rethink was awarded twice on Day 4, while Weber Shandwick rounded out the Canadian agency wins with one Lion. Below is a look at the work. Catch the Gold winners later this afternoon when they’re revealed at the gala in Cannes.

Creative Commerce (1 Silver)

1 SILVER: “U Up?” by Rethink for IKEA

IKEA’s “U Up?” campaign has legs, it turns out. The campaign is getting major love at Cannes. The IKEA work, created in collaboration with Rethink Toronto, added to its Cannes Lions tally with a Silver medal in Creative Commerce. That now makes five total Lions for the work, including two Golds on Wednesday night, for Direct and Socal & Creator. The campaign has been lauded by jurors for its dexterity, contextual timing and humour.

Creative Effectiveness (1 Bronze)

1 BRONZE: “Heinz Ketchup & Seemingly Ranch” by Rethink for Kraft Heinz 

Both Rethink and Kraft Heinz picked up another Lion, this one a Bronze in Creative Effectiveness for their collaboration on “Heinz Ketchup & Seemingly Ranch.” Not only did the work capture a culture moment spurred by Taylor Swift, but it also created a new product, “in under 24 hours,” to match. The latest two Lions makes 10 total wins for Rethink. Kraft Heinz and Rethink also picked up a rare Gold Lion for Media a day earlier.

Brand Experience & Activation (1 Bronze)

1 BRONZE: “Airbnb Icons” by Weber Shandwick for Airbnb

The Weber Shandwick work, “Airbnb Icons,” won Bronze on Thursday in Brand Experience & Activation after claiming a Bronze in Media Wednesday. Airbnb turned media brands into a destination, partnering with the likes of Marvel and Disney to offer travellers experiences like drifting off in the Up house or crashing at an X-Men mansion. The first 11 experiences rolled out mid-2024, and most of the experiences were free or under $100, with over 4,000 tickets sold by the end of the season.