Independent Lens: World Without Oil (2007)
Ken Eklund
Independent Lens: World Without Oil took the format of Alternate Reality Games and applied it to a real-world problem. Unfolding online in 2007, Independent Lens: World Without Oil simulated a global oil shortage. Over the 32 days the game ran, each day played out one week of events, charting worldwide ramifications of a global oil shock. The game invited players from around the world to tell their own stories of how the oil shortage was affecting their lives, through blog posts, voice recordings, pictures, video, and other user-generated content. It invited them to collaborate and brainstorm potential solutions to a global crisis. Together, the players helped create a fictional documentary, raising important questions of sustainability and resiliency.
Presented by Electric Shadows, Independent Lens on PBS, and Independent Television Service (ITVS) with funding by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Independent Lens: World Without Oil receives a Peabody for its groundbreaking fusion of Alternate Reality Games with Serious Games and its fostering of creativity and community for the public good.
PRIMARY PRODUCTION CREDITS
Electric Shadows, Independent Lens, ITVS Interactive, Writerguy official credits: http://writerguy.com/wwo/metacontact.htm
Unfolding online in 2007, Independent Lens: World Without Oil simulated a global oil shortage. Over the 32 days the game ran, each day played out one week of events, charting worldwide ramifications of a global oil shock. The game invited players from around the world to tell their own stories of how the oil shortage was affecting their lives, through blog posts, voice recordings, pictures, video, and other user-generated content. It invited them to collaborate and brainstorm potential solutions to a global crisis. Together, the players helped create a fictional documentary, raising important questions of sustainability and resiliency.