Ultimate Classroom, a new Paramount ANZ Original Series, is set to premiere on Sunday, 11 September, on 10 Shake and 10 Play.
Paramount Australia and New Zealand partnered with the Australian Government and Defence Force Recruiting via UM Australia and Mediabrands Content Studio to create the new brand-funded television series.
This four-part series will test 18 of Australia’s best and brightest high-school STEM students.
Harnessing their skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, the students will need to fly drones, build bridges, and decipher codes in order to become the 2022 Ultimate Classroom champion.
Guiding them will be maths teacher extraordinaire and WooTube creator Eddie Woo, TV presenter and gaming guru Stephanie Bendixsen, and the very best STEM specialists from the Australian Defence Force.
Brigadier Duncan Hayward, director general defence force recruiting, said: “Defence Force Recruiting are excited to partner with Paramount ANZ to produce the Ultimate Classroom TV Program.
“For DFR, this partnership aims to address misperceptions that the ADF is an employer of ‘brawn over brains’, holding back prospective candidates from considering a STEM career in the ADF. DFR’s partnership with the Ultimate Classroom will raise awareness of ADF STEM capability and the variety of roles available.”
Eddie Woo and Stephanie Bendixsen
Two years in the making, Ultimate Classroom is a Paramount ANZ Original Series created and produced by Paramount ANZ’s in-house creative and production team, Imagine.
Michael Stanford, head of imagine and national creative director, Paramount ANZ, said: “Ultimate Classroom truly demonstrates the power of long form content to tell a story that informs, engages, entertains, and even challenges misperceptions.
“Teamwork is an overused word, but in this case, it couldn’t have been more accurate – not just for how well the students worked together but also the team at the DFR, Mediabrands Content Studio and Paramount ANZ who brought this program to life,” Stanford added.
Emma Wood, senior client director, UM added: “A campaign like this needed a different approach to engage our audience and allow us to showcase the range of opportunities on offer to work within a cutting-edge environment, using some of the world’s most sophisticated tech.
“Brand funded content offered the perfect solution: working in close collaboration with Paramount ANZ and Mediabrands Content Studio we were able to organically build the Australian Defence Force story into the fabric of the show, creating authentic long-form, bingeable content allowing our audience to discover something unexpected about the ADF and at the same time challenge misconceptions they may have about a possible career in the ADF.”