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)

 

 

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