EQAL Takes lonelygirl15 Creators from YouTube to CBS
KateModern—the
British offshoot of interactive online drama lonelygirl15—concludes
its storyline on June 28, 2008, after two season spread out over twelve
months and fifty million video views. While not quite the success of
its predecessor, the series still established itself as a significant
pioneer in the online video evolution, while likewise establishing creators
Miles Beckett, Mesh Flinders and Greg Goodfried as top innovators in
the budding industry.
Intrigued
by the rise of the Internet as a social forum, Beckett came up with
the idea in 2006 of using networking websites like MySpace and YouTube
as narrative mediums. He teamed up with Flinders and Goodfried shortly
thereafter and the three developed an interactive dramatic series about
a group of teenagers fighting against a mysterious secret society called
“The Order.” Known as lonelygirl15 (or LG15
for short), the series featured a scripted style that blended comedy,
romance, teen angst and sci-fi drama. Combined with forums and chat
rooms that allowed fans to directly communicate with the characters—as
well as “live events” where fans could physically interact—lonelygirl15
became a pop culture phenomenon.
“It
was a War-of-the-Worlds type thing,” Beckett explained to The
London Paper of lonelygirl15’s
initial success. “There’s a blurring of reality, just as
radio was new then, Internet video is new now. Now, with social networking,
we’re taking that a step further.” He added that the biggest
challenge “was a question of how we use the platform. We have
quizzes on the characters, blogs as part of narrative, whiteboard drawings
that become important later in the story—everything we do feeds
back into the narrative. It’s totally interactive—that’s
what people expect now.”
In addition
to popularity, LG15 has also found financial success through
the use of brand integration. Beginning with the incorporation of Hershey’s
Ice Breakers Sours gum into an episode of the original series, both
lonelygirl15 and KateModern have blended products
from the likes of Neutrogena, Toyota and Cadbury into the narratives.
The producers were initially afraid of viewer backlash over the use
of such seemingly blatant monetization efforts, but were put at ease
when they asked for fan feedback on a LG15 forum. “Ninety-two
percent of the people said, ‘Yeah, go ahead. Do it. If I get to
see another lonelygirl video it’s fine if someone’s
chewing a piece of gum,’” Beckett said
at the 2007 NewTeeVee Pier Screenings event in San Francisco.
While not
entirely abandoning LG15, Beckett and Goodfried have nonetheless
embarked on the next phase of their careers by launching a new social
entertainment company, EQAL,
and raising $5 million in capital funding from the likes of Spark Capital,
Ron Conway, Marc Andreessen, Georges Harik and Conrad Riggs. “We
had so many opportunities after the hugely surprising success of lonelygirl15,
but we realized pretty quickly that it was most important to stay true
to the impulse that inspired us to launch lonelygirl15 in the
first place: our desire to create new forms of entertainment,”
Beckett and Goodfried wrote
on the EQAL website.
When the
announcement was first made, NewTeeVee
initially questioned the wisdom of the financial arrangement. “The
pesky thing about VCs is they pressure you for a return on their investment,”
the weblog commented while adding, “Is this really a business
opportunity?” The site also noted that one of the new investors,
Sparks Capital, had a representative at a panel discussion in November
2007 who questioned the wisdom of investing in content. “I think
most VC shops should stay out,” Dennis Miller said
when asked about the financial viability of such investments. He went
on to explain that it was the infrastructures built around the content
that was most important as they provide the vehicle for advertising
and metric data analysis.
The founders
of EQAL seem to understand this as well, for while their website promises
to establish “partnerships with independent producers, traditional
media companies, and multinational brands,” it’s the building
of online communities that lies at the center of the venture. “We
believe that the community is just as important as the content we create,”
the EQAL site states.
“With this as our blueprint, we construct interactive shows that
transform passive viewers into active participants. Our shows entertain
and enlighten, driving discussion and encouraging viewers and participants
to immerse themselves in a shared entertainment experience.”
While the
formation of EQAL and the acquisition of $5 million in capital means
that fans will see even more lonelygirl15 episodes, it has
also allowed Beckett and Goodfried to expand their social entertainment
reach. CBS announced on May 14, 2008, for instance, that it had formed
a partnership with EQAL. Although non-exclusive, the pact gives CBS
“first look” at any new shows the duo develops. Of more
significance, however, is that EQAL will work with existing CBS shows
to produce original online content, and not merely as extensions.
“Until
now, online content associated with TV shows has had virtually no real
connection to the show’s narrative experience,” Beckett
explained in the official press
release. “What CBS and EQAL
are coming together to create is groundbreaking and will be the first
time that television stories will be extended and amplified online in
a way that takes full advantage of the Internet’s capabilities
for interaction and community. The extended narratives online will give
fans and viewers the opportunity for a whole new level of engagement
both in between airings of the TV episodes and as standalone plot lines.”
CBS has
remained tight-lipped since the announcement in regards to which of
its series will be involved in the partnership, as well as the specifics
of the online content to be produced. “I can’t comment on
specific shows,” CBS Interactive President Quincy Smith told NewTeeVee.
“We’re keeping it pretty closes to the vest; we want to
remain mysterious.” He did, however allude to the ABC drama Lost
and its effective use of three-to-four minute online video shorts. Entitled
Missing Pieces, the collection of thirteen webisodes helped
fill in the overall narrative of the show for fans on the Internet while
not diminishing the entertainment value for those who merely watched
the actual broadcast episodes.
Despite
branching into network television, EQAL is still committed to lonelygirl15.
On June 4, 2008, the company announced yet another partnership, this
time with Italy-based M.A.D. Entertainment, for an Italian expansion
of the LG15 universe. “Expanding into new languages and
creating another original LG15 sister series that appeals to
an international audience is an exciting next step for us,” Beckett
said.
Whereas the KateModern British version was still closely overseen
by the creators—Beckett actually lived in London for a short time
to oversee production—EQAL will serve strictly in the executive
producers roll while having “final creative oversight” on
the project.
With the
formation of a new social entertainment company, the raising of $5 million
in capital, a partnership deal with CBS and new installments of the
lonelygirl15 universe, Beckett and Goodfried have certainly
had a busy first half of 2008. And with as many pieces of the larger
puzzle now in place, one can expect an “EQALLY” busy second
half as well.
Anthony
Letizia (June 16, 2008)
