ABOUT THE SERIES

“The Book of Jer3miah” is a groundbreaking web series and Alternate Reality Game created by 2 professors and 30 college students at Brigham Young University, with a budget of only $6,000. Dubbed “a spiritual thriller” by the creators, it the first university-sponsored web series, as well as the first Latter-day Saint themed web series. Merging short films, video blogs, social media and an interactive mystery, “The Book of Jer3miah” provides viewers a fully immersive transmedia experience. All of this revolves around Mormon college student Jeremiah Whitney, who reluctantly accepts a charge to protect a mysterious Meso-American box, making him the target of a terrifying conspiracy.

NewTeeVee.com, a leading authority on Internet content, named “The Book of Jer3miah” one of the top 10 web series of 2009. The New York Times called it “a tight, suspenseful little series” with “real drama, real stakes and real consequences.” Not only does it boast “quick dialogue, [and] funny supporting characters”, the show is also “a pretty big leap forward in terms of university-sponsored transmedia content.”

“The Book of Jer3miah” was launched in February of 2009 with $6,000. It consists of 20 five to ten minute episodes, also called “webisodes”. But unlike traditional television or movies, the story extends into Web 2.0. Viewers interact with the story’s characters through Facebook, blogs and video blogs (“vlogs”). One of the most groundbreaking aspects of the series is The Davenport Papers, an Alternate Reality Game (ARG). Here, viewers collaborate virtually and in the real world by deciphering clues hidden in webisodes, solving online puzzles, and finding physical evidence on the BYU campus. All this combines to shed greater light on the characters and the mysterious organization pursuing Jeremiah and his box.

“The webisodes alone total two hours, or the length of a feature motion picture,” says executive producer Jared Cardon. “Considering our budget and one semester time constraint, this is amazing. But the ancillary video content amounts to another hour. The online mysteries and real-world interactive components provide countless other opportunities for viewer participation.”

“We had many reasons for creating “The Book of Jer3miah”: we wanted to tell a story that would only be possible with New Media, that would allow for a more immersive viewer experience than traditional film or television,” says Jeff Parkin, executive producer. “We wanted to tell a story about Latter-day Saints that was authentic to our cultural and spiritual experiences. Finally, we wanted to tell a story that was entertaining, thoughtful and engaging enough to keep viewers on the edge of their seats, coming back for more. We feel we were successful beyond our wildest dreams. If viewers liked season one, they’ll be blown away by season two.”