WE ARE LOVERS

The trailer of “We Are Lovers,” a provocative series about young love and lust conceived, and executive produced by Nusrat Durrani at MTV. Considered too sensational to air by the channel in 2015.

CONCEPT

“We Are Lovers” (2015) is the first transmedia series created at Viacom, conceived by Nusrat Durrani, founder of MTV World. It featured couples (and in some cases threesomes) in real relationships and included gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and straight couples. It is shot in a new, hybrid format that combines reality, scripted, and fiction. The global project, based on extensive research, resulted in a provocative, intimate, poignant, and unflinching look at young relationships in the age of social media. The protagonists, who had the option to script their relationships, were also asked to articulate their fantasies, erotic or otherwise, and the resulting episodes intercut reality and scripted content in an entirely new and unique presentation of young love and lust. The series was directed by Matt Lambert and Eric Miclette and produced in association with Dazed, UK.

INSIGHT

Research and multiple focus groups revealed that millennials are cynical and unhappy with the way their relationships are presented on mainstream media whether it be “The Bachelor” or on MTV. They felt that the tenderness, awkwardness, confusion, pleasure, and thrill of being young and in love were not communicated authentically in most storytelling. “We Are Lovers” was created to present young relationships in a more inclusive, unfiltered, and inventive way than anything else on TV in 2015, and before Netflix, Amazon, and others began producing a slate of similarly bold shows.

FORMAT

The provocative and audacious series, shot in London, Berlin, New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Guadalajara was conceived to be experienced on the platforms where millennials consumed and interacted with most content- on the phone and social media platforms. The content was created to be programmed in a transmedia arc:

+Television/Streaming: Self-contained half-hour TV episodes, one for each relationship

+Instagram: Each protagonist is to have their show Instagram where they would post pictures of their relationship during and after filming. Main series Instagram

+Tumblr: used to cast the show, to feature content that did not appear on the TV episode and the platform where each relationship continued to play out

+Virtual: The fantasy portion of each episode was filmed in 360 so to be viewed through VR devices

+Book: A lavishly produced book of photos shot on set during production by the cast and crew and guest photographers would also feature unseen video segments

+Promotion campaign: Pre-release TV promotion would feature short films about love and sensuality by women directors from around the world, without featuring any video from the series itself. The campaign would also include a series of animations conceived to be experienced on the phone, similarly created by women artists.