Emma Approved

A world beyond the videos.

Emma Approved follows Emma Woodhouse as she builds a matchmaking and lifestyle business—and learns that other people’s lives rarely follow her plans.

The series brought its fictional company to life through videos, an in-world blog, fashion photography, character social accounts, and music. Each medium added something to the story.

The project won a 2015 Primetime Emmy for interactive media, extending the approach Bernie developed with The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

Participation through character.

Fashion reflected changing character arcs. Blog posts made Emma’s business tangible. Harriet’s music invited fans to make covers and contribute their own creativity.

The result was an interconnected fictional world, designed around the interests and habits of its audience.

Watch the work.

▶Watch Emma Approved

Open on YouTube ↗

Further reading.

• Backstage The Wild, Viral Success of Web Series 'Emma Approved' Contextualizes the series as the next evolutionary step after The Lizzie Bennet Diaries↗
• Television Academy Emma Approved — Emmy Recognition The Interactive Emmy that validated transmedia storytelling as a legitimate format↗
• Mic "Emma Approved" Is a Feminist Triumph On the modern entrepreneurial reinterpretation of Emma and its social-native storytelling↗
• Rome University Emma Approved: Social Media Platforms and Interactive Storytelling Multi-platform narrative design · audience interaction · fictional/real-world blurring↗
• Rome University Expanded Chapter Version Analyzes the eight-platform architecture, fan participation, and low-budget interactive production — likely the strongest academic examination↗
• ResearchGate Austen Approved: Pemberley Digital and the Transmedia Commodification of Jane Austen Directly analyzes fashion integration, commerce aesthetics, and the evolution beyond LBD↗
• Wikipedia Emma Approved — Overview Awards, production history, platform structure, and citations↗