Hollyoaks praised for Maxine project as the show wins another award
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Hollyoaks' immersive short film 'The Long Walk Home' has been praised for its "innovation" as the Channel 4 soap wins another award.
For the second year in a row, Hollyoaks has won the award for Best Digital Support for a Programme at the Broadcast Digital Awards, which celebrate the UK's best digital content, creators and channels.
Judges were particularly impressed with 'The Long Walk Home', an immersive VR experience that allowed viewers to step into Maxine Minniver's shoes as she made her way home after a night out.
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The film, which was hailed as a "standout entry" by the judges, highlighted the threatening behaviour women often experience on the streets, while including informative statistics throughout.
It had over two million views across Facebook, YouTube, and Oculus, and reached a male-skewing audience by appearing in Quest's 'Must-See Immersive' and 'VR for Good' playlists.
Hollyoaks was also praised by judges for the "real-world impact" of its digital support, as well as its "purpose, innovation and clever strategy" and "potential to be a real force for good".
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Matt Littler, who played Max Cunningham on Hollyoaks from 1997 to 2008, heads up the VR production house that worked with the soap to create the film.
Discussing the project with Digital Spy, Littler explained: "I'd been looking at ways to use our technology at ARK Immersive to help fans engage with property – in particular, TV sets.
"It just so happened that Hollyoaks had this amazing Long Walk Home storyline planned that deals with serious issues, especially for young people. It felt like a really good fit, because the demographic that owns those VR headsets is skewed towards males."
Hollyoaks streams first online via Channel 4, with new episodes dropping each weekday morning. The show airs Mondays to Fridays at 6.30pm on Channel 4, and at 7pm on E4.
Selected omnibus episodes are available via Prime Video.
Read more Hollyoaks spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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