Lonelygirl15
 | This article contains weasel words: vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. |
lonelygirl15 is an interactive web-based video series which began in June 2006, and ended on August 1, 2008.
The show began by focusing on the life of a fictional teenage girl named Bree, whose YouTube username is the eponymous "lonelygirl15", but without revealing its fictional nature to its audience. After the fictional status of the show was revealed in September 2006, the show gradually evolved into a multi-character show including both character videoblogs and action sequences, with a complex story universe involving "trait positive girls" who are sought by an evil organization called "The Order".
Lonelygirl15 first came to international attention ostensibly as a "real" video blogger who achieved massive popularity on YouTube, a popular video sharing website. The show was eventually outed by suspicious viewers as featuring a fictitious character played by American-New Zealand actress Jessica Rose.[1]
The three creators of Lonelygirl15, first revealed by the The New York Times, were Ramesh Flinders, a screenwriter and filmmaker from Marin County, California, Miles Beckett, a surgical residency dropout turned filmmaker, and Greg Goodfried, a former attorney with Mitchell, Silberberg and Knupp, LLP.[2]
The series began on June 16, 2006, and is slated to run through August 1, 2008. New videos currently appear regularly, at a clip of 4 to 5 a week, first on YouTube and lg15.com, also on MySpace. As of July 2008, the LG15 series has had more than 110 million combined views.
Lonelygirl15's first spin-off show KateModern, ran from July 2007 through June 2008 on Bebo, and took place in the same fictional universe. Kate's art on Bebo. While a separate series, KateModern and lonelygirl15 live in the same fictional universe.
Along with Amanda Goodfried, an attorney who worked with Creative Arts Agency (CAA), the creators of lonelygirl15 created LG15 Studios to produce original interactive content online. LG15 later morphed into EQAL, Inc. April 2008, with receipt of $5 million in venture capital to expand their offerings
Lonelygirl15 series finale took place on August 1, 2008, with three ambiguous episodes. The first showed Danial and Jonas heading their own ways as Sarah films everything and the rest go to the hospital. It was shot on a beach and was the previous scene in the finale from an alternate camera angel. When the camera person points to herself, its Lucy. The description of the video being "It WONT be that easy, JONAS", suggesting that the their Youtube account might have been hacked by Lucy. The scene left several unanswered questions, leaving fans frustrated. The last video was again a video which claimed that control had been taken, their numbers are growing and on the video clips of Jonas and Sarah said that they have chosen their leader and the first disciple. It also said that 'they' were now controlling and manipulating them. The video had a link to LG15theresistance. A reference or the channel for the new series that will be taking place in United States with old characters from the series along with characters from KateModern/ [3]. The finale will start at 8am and will include 12 episodes released over a 12 hour period in one day [4]
It has also been announced a new series that will take place in Italy [5] with a partnership between EQAL and CBS. [6]
History
Lonelygirl15 debuted on YouTube posing as a real 16-year-old video blogger with the eponymous username. At first, the videos covered normal, everyday subject matter, as the title character dealt with typical teenage angst, but quickly morphed into a bizarre narrative that portrayed her dealings with secret occult practices within her family and included the mysterious disappearance of her parents after she refused to attend a "secret" ceremony prescribed by the leaders of the family's cult. In lonelygirl15's earliest videos, she posted video replies to, and dropped the names of popular YouTubers, which attracted the attention of their fans. To further the initial illusion that Bree was a real girl, a MySpace page was set up for her and she began meaningfully corresponding with many of her fans. Several fans of lonelygirl15's video posts began to wonder if Bree was, in fact, a real person or if the posts were part of a teaser campaign for a television show or an upcoming movie[7] (similar to the viral marketing used to hype The Blair Witch Project or Cloverfield). Others felt that the blog might be part of an alternate reality game.[8]
In early August 2006, fans began an active discussion on the www.lonelygirl15.com message boards and instigated an all-out investigation into the details behind lonelygirl15, pointing to small inconsistencies within the videos as evidence that the story might not be genuine. Los Angeles Times reporter Richard Rushfield was the first to provide proof of a hoax, when he wrote of Shaina Wedmedyk, Chris Patterson, and an anonymous law student, who set up a sting on MySpace to reveal that the Creative Artists Agency was behind the videos. Eventually it was revealed that 16-year-old "Bree" was played by 20-year-old New Zealand actress Jessica Rose.[9][10]
Because of lonelygirl15's YouTube popularity, media sources seized upon the story, extensively covering both the search process and the eventual "outing" as a fictional series.
Afterwards, numerous news sources and talk shows featured interviews with the creators and actors of the series itself.[11][2][12][13][14][15][16][17]
New York Times reporter Virginia Heffernan expanded on the series of revelations on September 12 out with an article which confirmed Jessica Rose's identity, and revealed the identities of her "co-conspirators", Ramesh Flinders, a screenwriter and filmmaker from Marin County, Calif., and Miles Beckett, a doctor-turned-filmmaker. Software engineer Grant Steinfeld was also involved in this project, as a photographer. Amanda Solomon Goodfried assisted in their efforts to hide their identities as well as posed as "Bree"'s online alter-ego. Ms. Goodfried's father-in-law, Kenneth Goodfried, handled various legal matters. The personnel involved worked under a non-disclosure agreement, according to Grant Steinfeld. Steinfeld has verified most of this information to the Times, and provided photographs he took on set of Ms. Rose as proof.[2] Also on September 12, the three main creators gave an interview to the Los Angeles Times revealing the third major partner as Greg Goodfried.[17]
Since the fictitious nature of lonelygirl15 has been revealed, the storyline continued to develop via new videos posted to both YouTube and Revver. However due to the recent partnership with YouTube and Myspace, videos stopped being posted on Lonelygirl15's Revver account, and now are only viewable via Youtube and MyspaceTV. The relationships between future LG15 properties and various online video websites, what will be shown exclusively on which services etc. is not known at this time.
After the hoax was discovered
- Jessica Rose participated in a United Nations campaign in 2006, to fight poverty through an online anti-poverty video.[18] Rose portrayed the lonelygirl15 character as she sat by herself in her bedroom talking to the camera. The subject matter in the video focused on antipoverty, which breaks from the regular subject matter of the show. The video was posted on an alternate account, separate from the main channel.[19]
- Jessica Rose had a recurring role in the first episodes of the ABC Family show Greek.
- On November 20, 2006, lonelygirl15.com announced that the spin-off OpAphid was the official Alternate Reality Game of lonelygirl15.[20] OpAphid began in late September with what many speculated was a well-produced fan effort, and this announcement merges its characters OpAphid, Tachyon, and 10033/Brother, into the series storyline and continuity. In early February 2007, it was revealed that Glenn Rubenstein was the original Puppet Master behind the OpAphid Alternate Reality Game and also the creator of its characters, OpAphid, Tachyon, and Brother. Due to internal issues between the Creators and Glenn, OpAphid is no longer the official ARG.
- A 2006 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent was "inspired" by the lonelygirl15 phenomenon. The episode "Weeping Willow" featured a blogger named weepingwillow17, played by Michelle Trachtenberg. Willow and her boyfriend were kidnapped by men in black who demanded her fans donate money to a website to save their lives. The investigators did not know if Willow was real or fake. Various other video bloggers were also seen decrying weepingwillow as a fake, just like many did on YouTube. The site on the episode was named YouLenz.
- On November 9, 2006, DEE, a Montreal artist, released a song and a music video entitled lonelygirl.[21] The lonelygirl music video was shot in an almost exact replica of Bree's bedroom. In February 2007, it was featured by YouTube and got hundreds of thousands of views.
- Wired magazine ran a story on YouTube titled "YouTube Grows Up" in its December 2006 issue, featuring Jessica Lee Rose on the cover.[22]
- The lonelygirl15 blog won Biggest Web Hit Award on VH1's Big in '06 Awards.[23]
- Epic Movie released a series of trailers on YouTube in which Carmen Electra spoofed lonelygirl15. Electra portrayed lonelygirl362436. Yousef Abu-Taleb, the Danielbeast actor, even appears in one of them.
- In the "Best Series" category of the inaugural YouTube Video awards in March of 2007, the series "Ask a Ninja", "Ask a Gay Man", and "Chad Vader - Day Shift Manager" finished first, second and third, with the lonelygirl15 series finishing fourth.[24] The New York Times attributed Lonelygirl's finish to the YouTube community's ill will towards the series.[25]
- On Friday, August 3, 2007, Season One of lonelygirl15 celebrated its finale with an exclusive on MySpaceTV known as "12 in 12" where 12 videos were uploaded over the course of 12 hours from 8 am PST to 7 pm PST, culminating in the highest one-day viewership ever for the series. A "summary" video from the first season was offered as a part of the event, and it logged in over a million views on its own.
- In the last episode of the Season One finale, Bree's character was killed off by the order during the ceremony in the season finale and her trait positive blood was transfused into one of the order's elders. The reason for her character's death was attributed to Jessica Lee Rose not renewing her contract for Season Two.[citation needed] In a later episode of Ask a Ninja, The Ninja of the title claimed responsibility for Lonely Girl's death, apparently misinterpreting orders simply stating to kill "LG15". It seems he had been ordered to kill Large Gargoyle 15; the 15 signifying the number of the creatures' heads.
Marketing
lonelygirl15 was the first Internet series to introduce product integration when the episode Truckstop Reunion featured the characters eating and displaying Hershey's Icebreaker's Sours Gum.
In another example of a product integration first, lonelygirl15 landed on the front page of Variety for the integration of a character from Neutrogena in the storyline over the period of more than two months. Dr. Spencer Gilman became such a popular character that Neutrogena made him "Employee of the Month" and gave him his own e-mail account on the company's corporate website.
The newest form of brand integration was for the film Jumper, where several YouTube videos were posted by user watchyourjack. Many main characters watched these videos and visited associated site WhatWeird.com.[26]
Characters
Main Characters
| Name | Portrayed By | Links | Name | Portrayed By | Links | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Bree Lonelygirl15 |
Jessica Lee Rose (2006 - 2007) |
Bree on MySpace Bree on Youtube Bree on LGPedia |
|
Daniel Danielbeast |
Yousef Abu-Taleb (2006 - Finale) |
Daniel on MySpace Daniel on Youtube Daniel on LGPedia |
|
Jonas Jonastko |
Jackson Davis (2006 - Finale) |
Jonas on MySpace Jonas on Youtube Jonas on LGPedia |
File:LG15-Taylor.jpg | Taylor Soccerstar4ever |
Becki Kregoski (2007 - Finale) |
Taylor on MySpace Taylor on Youtube Taylor on LGPedia |
| File:LG15-Sarah.jpg | Sarah Skyisempty |
Alexandra Dreyfus (2007 - Finale) |
Sarah on MySpace Sarah on Youtube Sarah on LGPedia |
File:LG15-Emma.jpg | Emma Emma07 |
Katherine Pawlak (2007 - Finale) |
Emma on LGPedia |
| File:LG15-Jennie.jpg | Jennie Jenniethebear |
Melanie Merkosky (2007 - Finale) |
Jennie on MySpace Jennie on LGPedia |
File:LG15-Gina.jpg | Gina Gina2008 |
Crystal Young (2007 - 2008) |
Gina on LGPedia |
Secondary Characters
ARG Characters
lonelygirl15 has incorporated Alternate Reality Games into its storyline on more than one occasion. These characters are ones that are from the ARGs.
| Name | Portrayed By | Links | Name | Portrayed By | Links | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:LG15-OpAphid.jpg | OpAphid | Mari Devincenzi (2006 - 2007) |
OpAphid on Youtube OpAphid on LGPedia |
File:LG15-Tachyon.jpg | Tachyon | UNSEEN (2006 - 2007) |
Tachyon on Youtube Tachyon on LGPedia |
| File:LG15-Brother.jpg | Brother 10033 |
Glenn Rubenstein (2006 - 2007) |
Brother on Youtube Brother on LGPedia |
File:LG15-Jack.jpg | Jack Watchyourjack |
Eddie Asher (2007 - 2008) |
Jack on MySpace Jack on Youtube Jack on LGPedia |
Creators
Miles Beckett
| This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. (May 2008) |
Miles Beckett (born Miles Zajaczkowski[27] on February 15, 1978) is an American medical doctor turned filmmaker who is best known for his role in the creation of the lonelygirl15 video series.
The Los Angeles Times identified Beckett as a "Web-obsessed 28-year-old medical school drop-out[28]." The New York Times identified Beckett as a doctor turned filmmaker[29]. Miles graduated from medical school at UC-San Diego and was in a plastic surgery residency when he decided to leave after 1 year[citation needed].
After considering work as a consultant to transition out of medicine, Beckett instead decided to produce internet videos[original research?]. His first production was the internet mini-series "West Wingers," which spoofed White House press conferences.
The idea of creating the lonelygirl15 saga was Beckett's[neutrality is disputed][citation needed]. Beckett spent a lot of time on YouTube and noticed that the most popular original content were videobloggers. Beckett imagined creating a story around a videoblogger, and that people would not know if it was real or fake[original research?]. He met Mesh Flinders at a karaoke-bar birthday party in April 2006. Flinders had been working on a character, a shy but precocious homeschooled teenage girl, who would eventually become Bree. When the two met, they decided to collaborate on the project together. The two then enlisted the help of Greg Goodfried to oversee the business side of things.
Beckett is the editor of the lonelygirl15 videos, sometimes along with Kevin Schlanser. Flinders has credited Miles as the driving force behind the success of lonelygirl15. [citation needed]
Miles is also known for his art nouveau classic[who?] titled, "The Great Cloister Caper", completed in 2001-2002 while he lived in Bethesda, MD. Some[who?] cite this work as the inspiration behind his future success with lonelygirl15.
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (June 2007) |
- The series was developed under the working title The Children of Anchor Cove.[30]
- lonelygirl15 has various signature items/props that appear in its episodes. Recurring props include a pink feather boa, a safari hat, her beloved puppet Purple Monkey (a.k.a. "P.Monkey"), her bear Thor, and her green, stuffed animal turtle, Owen.
- Much of the music for lonelygirl15 has come from Magnatune and CC Mixter,[31] and is under Creative Commons licenses. Initial lonelygirl15 videos featured RIAA-controlled music such as Roy Orbison and Nelly, but the series quickly moved to only using music that could be used legally, largely all Creative Commons licensed.[32][33] lonelygirl15 has since teamed up with Amie Street to sell[34] music featured in episodes.[35][36][37]
See also
References
- ^ "SVW Exclusive: The identity of LonelyGirl15". Retrieved 2007-08-14.
- ^ a b c Heffernan, Virginia and Zeller, Tom (2006-09-12). "'Lonely Girl' (and Friends) Just Wanted Movie Deal". The New York Times. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "InsideLG15: LG15 Update". Retrieved 2008-07-04.
- ^ "Tubefilter News: Is 12 hours of LonelyGirl in One Day Too Much? No Way". Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- ^ "NewTeeVee: lonelygirl15 Goes to Italy". Retrieved 2008-06-03.
- ^ "EQAL Blog: KateModern, CBS, and LG15". Retrieved 2008-05-15.
- ^ Sternbergh, Adam (2006-08-28). "Hey There, Lonelygirl". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Cook, Lee (2006-09-29). "LonelyGirl15". Alternate Reality Gaming Network. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Flemming, Brian (2006-08-21). "Lonelygirl15 jumps the shark". Retrieved 2006-09-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Trademark Application
- ^ Rushfield, Richard and Hoffman, Claire (2006-09-08). "Mystery Fuels Huge Popularity of Web's Lonelygirl15". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "lonelygirl15 revealed : jessica rose aspiring actress". Top of the Tube. 2006-09-12. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ mgpapas (2006-09-12). Lonelygirl15 a.k.a. Bree a.k.a. Jessica Rose Exposed (YouTube video).
- ^ Foremski, Matt and Foremski, Tom (2006-09-12). "SVW Exclusive: The identity of LonelyGirl15". Silicon Valley Watcher. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Foremski, Tom (2006-09-12). "The Hunt for LonelyGirl15: Life in a blogger household . . ". Silicon Valley Watcher. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Foremski, Tom (2006-09-12). "How the secret identity of LonelyGirl15 was found". Silicon Valley Watcher. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Rushfield, Richard and Hoffman, Claire (2006-09-13). "Lonelygirl15 Is Brainchild of 3 Filmmakers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Suzanne Vranica (2006-10-09). "U.N. Enlists Internet Star for Antipoverty Pitch". charity. Wall Street Journal - online. Retrieved 2006-10-09.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2ETsRObMQI Youtube.com
- ^ lonelygirl15.com
- ^ YouTube - lonelygirl15 Song / Video parody / lonelygirl: DEE
- ^ Garfield, Bob (2006-11-26). "YouTube Grows Up -- But What Does It Mean?". Retrieved 2006-11-20.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://www.vh1.com/shows/events/big_in/2006/index.jhtml VH1.com
- ^ cnn.com
- ^ NYTimes.com
- ^ Greg Goodfried (2008-01-16). "Brand Integrations . . . My Two Cents". Retrieved 2008-01-16.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Miles Beckett's official bio". lg15.com's LGPedia. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
- ^ "Richard Rushfield, Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
- ^ "Virginia Heffernan, New York Times". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
- ^ Northjersey.com
- ^ Open Music Comes of Age - Creative Commons
- ^ Lonelygirl15 • Information
- ^ [1]
- ^ lonelygirl15's Amie Street Music Store
- ^ ]Van Buskirk, Eliot (2007-05-15). "LonelyGirl15 Soundtrack Will Use Amie Street Artists". Wired. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Asbill, Peter (treetops) (2007-05-22). "LonelyGirl15 featuring Chase Emery". Amie Street. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ modelmotion (2007-05-16). "LonelyGirl15 Soundtrack Will Use Amie Street Artists". LG15 Today. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
- Jigsaw, Media (2006-10-12). "Jessica Rose story on YourTubeNEWS". YourTubeNEWS. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
- Richards, Jonathan (2006-08-19). "Worldwide fame for a lonely girl". The Times. Retrieved 2006-09-20.
- Glaser, Mark (2006-09-12). "Matt Foremski's Sleuthing Leads to Jessica Rose". Mediashift. PBS.com. Retrieved 2006-09-20.
External links
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