''Guidestones'' is a Canadian award-winningBanff World Media Festival /ref> thriller web series created by Jay Ferguson. It premiered in February 2012, distributed via email subscription as a real-time, interactive mystery series. In June 2012, the series launched a linear, on-demand version. The episodes are also available through CTV, a
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
application and
Hulu
Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
.
Season Two is currently in post-production, and will debut in 2014.
''Season One'' follows Sandy Rai (Supinder Wraich), who is living in Canada on exchange from India, and Trevor Shale (Dan Fox), a fellow
Ryerson University
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District in downtown Toronto, although i ...
School of Journalism student, as they become embroiled in the mystery of the
Georgia Guidestones
The Georgia Guidestones was a granite monument that stood in Elbert County, Georgia, United States, from 1980 to 2022. It was tall and made from six granite slabs weighing a total of . The structure was sometimes referred to as an "American St ...
. An unsolved murder starts them on a search for the truth, which leads them to the mysterious monument in rural Georgia. Sandy and Trevor begin to realize that the conspiracy they are unraveling may have apocalyptic repercussions.
''Season One'' was shot on location in Canada, the United States, and India on a budget of $300,000.In the expanding TV universe, webisodes look for a foothold The Globe and Mail
The series was produced by 3'oclock.tv and
iThentic
iThentic is an online and mobile video content production and distribution company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. iThentic concentrates on production of original content as well as aggregation of content created solely by independent video pr ...
in association with the
Independent Production Fund
The Independent Production Fund (IPF) is a Canadian private independent foundation that supports the production of Canadian dramatic digital media entertainment content and television series. It also provides professional development services and ...
(IPF) and the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC), and with help from corporate and organizational sponsors, including
Pizza Pizza
Pizza Pizza Ltd. is a franchised Canadian pizza quick-service restaurant with its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. Its restaurants are mainly in the province of Ontario while others are located in Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoun ...
,
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
,
Samsung
Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...
,
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...
,
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
, Karbon, and William F. White International.Guidestones – Interactive Online Thriller - Launches February 14, 2012 PR Web
On 18 June 2012, the
Independent Production Fund
The Independent Production Fund (IPF) is a Canadian private independent foundation that supports the production of Canadian dramatic digital media entertainment content and television series. It also provides professional development services and ...
announced funding approval for a second season.IPF announces funding for 15 web drama series Independent Production Fund
Format
''Guidestones - Season One'' was created in two versions: the first, a 50-episode "push" version, was launched online in February 2012 at and asked viewers to enter their email address in order to receive episodes in ‘real-time’, so that they could experience the events of the series in the same time frame as the characters. The "push" version could also be experienced on
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
through an official ''Guidestones'' application.
The second, launched in June 2012, is a 34-episode "on-demand" version, which allows viewers to watch the series at their own pace, and can be seen on
Hulu
Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
and the official ''Guidestones'' website.
Cast
*
Supinder Wraich
Supinder Wraich ( ) is an Indian-born Canadian actress. For her starring roles in the web series '' Guidestones'', she won the Canadian Screen Award for Performance in a Program or Series Produced for Digital Media at the 3rd Canadian Screen Aw ...
Rosemary Dunsmore
Rosemary Dunsmore (born July 13, 1952) is a Canadian TV, film, and theatre actress, director, and educator. She was awarded a Dora Mavor Moore Award for her 1982 performance in ''Straight Ahead/Blind Dancers''. In 2009 she won the ACTRA Award fo ...
Arnaud Binard
Arnaud Binard (born 18 January 1971 in Bordeaux) is a French people, French actor and producer mainly known for his roles in many romantic or detective Television in France, television hit-series broadcast throughout the French-speaking world s ...
as ''Brooklyn Cott''
Reception
''Guidestones'' won the Rockie Award for Best Webseries - Fiction at the 2012
Banff World Media Festival
Founded in 1979, the Banff World Media Festival (formerly known as the Banff World Television Festival) is an international media event held in the Canadian Rockies at the Banff Springs Hotel, Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canad ...
, and was chosen as an Official Selection at the Marseille Web Fest.Marseille Web Fest /ref> In November 2012, the series was nominated for five
International Academy of Web Television
The International Academy of Web Television (IAWTV) was founded in 2008 and is devoted to the advancement of the arts and sciences of streaming television and web series production.
Since 2011, the academy has hosted an annual awards ceremony ca ...
Awards, including Best Directing, Best Cinematography, Best Female Performance, Best Editing, and Best Supplemental Content.International Academy of Web Television Announces Nominees for the 2nd Annual IAWTV Awards IAWTV Awards
At the 2012
Digi Awards
CelcomDigi Berhad ( d.b.a. CelcomDigi), formerly known as Digi.Com Berhad ( d.b.a. Digi), is a communications conglomerate and mobile service provider in Malaysia. Its largest shareholders are Axiata and Norwegian-based Telenor, who hold equal ...
, held in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Guidestones was nominated and won for Best Web Series: Fiction. Digi Awards
In 2013 ''Guidestones'' received the award for Best Original Series Produced for Digital Media at the
1st Canadian Screen Awards
The 1st Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 3, 2013, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2012. Canadian Screen Awards
The series won the 2013
International Emmy Award
The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York City, New York–based International Academy of Televisi ...
for Best Digital Program: Fiction, awarded at the
MIPTV Media Market
MIPTV () is an event which takes place annually in Cannes, France, using the facilities and infrastructure which the town has developed over the years to host other important events such as the Cannes Film Festival amongst other events.
It is e ...
in Cannes, France. International Emmy Awards
Additionally, the series has received a positive response from Wired (magazine), Wired.Guidestones Web Series Explores Mystery Behind Georgia Landmark Wired