Sputnik Media Reworks wtFOCK Amid COVID-19

The Benelux production company Sputnik Media has created #wtFOCKdown, a social distance drama that takes viewers into wtFOCK characters’ respective quarantine situations.

An adaptation of NRK in Norway’s SKAM, wtFOCK was in the midst of filming new episodes of the popular series when the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to production. The team behind the series came up with #wtFOCKdown, which enables the show’s actors to film themselves at home and the director and post-production team to also work from home to piece the clips together.

All of the characters in wtFOCK have their own social media accounts through which the story world continues. They also interact with each other and even pop up in real-life situations, blurring the boundary between fiction and reality. In #wtFOCKdown, clips of the characters’ stories are posted online throughout the week, with the scenario adapted daily to match the situation of the day. In the videos, viewers see the main characters and how the lockdown impacts them and their living environment and how they’re coping. They also try to convey the importance of the stay-at-home measures to the show’s younger-skewing audience.