MTV and HP Partner on TV Series Around Digital Art

For years, MTV has been bringing together eclectic groups of young adults to live together in loftlike spaces on the series “The Real World.” Now, with the backing of a major technology marketer, the network has gathered 16 youthful creative types in a loft in Brooklyn for a contest that can be watched on TV or online. Beginning on Monday, MTV and its mtvU channel, which is aimed at college and university students, will join forces with Hewlett-Packard to present “Engine Room,” an original series that will follow the 16 contestants, divided into four teams, as they produce digital art using — of course — PCs, work stations, monitors and other products sold by H.P. Episodes of “Engine Room” run from five to seven minutes each, and the series is scheduled to last seven weeks. At the end, one team will win prizes that include $400,000 in cash and a chance to program the giant MTV screen in Times Square for a night.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/business/media/11adco.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin