MuggleNet
| File:Mugglenet.jpg | |
| Type of business | For-profit domestic corporation |
|---|---|
Type of site | Harry Potter |
| Available in | English (U.S.) |
| Headquarters | LaPorte, Indiana, USA |
| Owner | [1] |
| Key people | Emerson Spartz |
| Revenue | Over $100,000/year[2][3][4] |
| URL | www.mugglenet.com |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | Fall 1999[5]; Incorporated in 2007 |
MuggleNet is a Harry Potter fansite founded by Emerson Spartz. The site is composed of news, editorials and synopses of the Harry Potter books and films, an encyclopedia of the books, an IRC network, in which the fans of Harry Potter can discuss predictions and share thoughts, a discussion forum, and media such as screenshots, theatrical trailers and book covers. There is also a fan fiction section, a weekly caption contest, and other occasional contests and polls. On August 9 2005, it launched a podcast, dubbed "MuggleCast", as well as its own line of clothing, toy wands, other merchandise. In 2006, MuggleNet released a best-selling reference book on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the series. As of 2008, MuggleNet is owned by Spartz, Inc., an Indiana corporation registered by Emerson Spartz in 2007.[1][6]
Author and corporate relationships
MuggleNet benefits from friendly relations with J. K. Rowling, the writer of the Harry Potter books, and the producers of the films. She has praised MuggleNet on her website and has awarded it her "Fan Site Award".[7]
Rowling recounts on her website that she occasionally visits the site and sometimes reads the comments left by visitors, while never commenting herself. The author also stated that she visited the site's chat room and was snubbed when she anonymously joined in a conversation about Harry Potter theories.[8]
In July 2005, Rowling invited Spartz and Melissa Anelli, of The Leaky Cauldron, to Edinburgh, Scotland for an interview at her home on the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.[9] A transcript of the interview was posted on Mugglenet.[10]
Warner Bros., the producers of the Harry Potter movies, regularly sends MuggleNet stills taken from the upcoming movies before they are released. The studio also provided MuggleNet staff with advance views of the new official website designs, as well as including staffers in a video conference to discuss the new Harry Potter theme park at Universal Studios Florida.
Podcast
 | This article contains promotional content. (May 2008) |
 |
| MuggleCast | |
|---|---|
| Presentation | |
| Hosted by | Andrew Sims Ben Schoen Kevin Steck Nick Myers Eric Scull Jamie Lawrence Laura Thompson Elysa Montfort Micah Tannenbaum Matt Britton |
| Genre | Harry Potter |
| Updates | Irregularly |
| Publication | |
| Original release | August 7, 2005 |
MuggleCast is a podcast featuring several staff members from MuggleNet, that discusses a large range of topics related to the Harry Potter series. The first episode was launched on August 7, 2005 and was made available through the Apple iTunes service.
The creation of weekly shows have ended, and MuggleCasts are now released periodically when there is enough news to fill a show.
The podcast is among the Top 10 podcasts of the month on Podcast Alley,[11] a site listing the most popular podcasts, voted by some listeners. The show also features on iTunes top ten list, traditionally on Tuesdays when the show was released.
MuggleCast was voted Podcast of the Year by the 2005 Weblog Awards, which are decided by popular vote. In late September 2006, it was awarded the 2006 People's Choice Award at the 2nd annual Podcast Awards in Ontario, California, as well as the Best Entertainment Podcast in October 2008.
Each show is approximately 90 minutes long. Andrew Sims, Ben Schoen, Jamie Lawrence, Laura Thompson, Eric Scull, Kevin Steck, Micah Tannenbaum, Penny Gershman, Mikey Bouchereau, Matt Britton, Nick Myers and Elysa Montfort all co-host the podcast. However, they are not always on the show: with Kevin Steck, Penny Gershman and Ben Schoen not a part of the regular panel.
The show begins with an introduction by Jim Dale and then the theme song, a heavy metal version of John Williams' "Hedwig's Theme," created by Kenneth Marut and Andrew Walker. The hosts state their names, and the show begins with a news discussion lead by Micah Tannenbaum about the latest news on the books, films, and other Harry Potter-related issues. The show is then handed over to one of the MuggleCasters, who goes on to read the listener rebuttals (MuggleMail) along with a voicemail section, in which listeners can send recorded questions to the panel about previous episode discussions and questions about the Harry Potter series in general. Many of their segments include "Chicken Soup for the Mugglecast Soul", " Make The Music Connection", and "Dueling Club".
Transcripts of the podcast are available on the MuggleCast website, and are typically posted five days after the episode's release.
Special episodes
MuggleCast has created a Wall of Fame on their website, featuring a few episodes they consider most special. It includes live podcasts, episodes recorded after book and movie releases, and episodes that discuss major Harry Potter news. Four members of the cast also host a literature podcast named "Imprint; A Twilight Podcast", which focuses on the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Many members are on their other podcast, SmarMouthsPodcast, also.
In September 2007, Mugglecast hosted a 12 hour live show on the hosting website, Ustream.tv The episode was highly successful, at one point there were over 900 people listening.
Mugglecast often record special live episodes of the podcast. This is generally done when there is a big story in the Harry Potter fandom. Former live shows have revolved around the news of J.K.Rowling revealing that Dumbledore was gay, the split of the seventh movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and J.K.Rowlings appearance in court over copyright issues involving RDR books. They also have live shows at book releases, such as a live episode at Waterstones Piccadilly at the release of the Tales of Beedle the Bard.
The Leaky Mug
MuggleCast has a friendly rivalry with The Leaky Cauldron and its podcast PotterCast. Hosts of PotterCast have appeared on MuggleCast on occasion and they have teamed up to record joint podcasts, which are titled "The Leaky Mug".
One joint podcast was recorded live in New York City on November 12, 2005 at the Union Square Barnes & Noble, coinciding with the United States premiere of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. During this show, the mother of PotterCast host Melissa Anelli, who was at the premiere after party, called in with Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), Katie Leung (Cho Chang), Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory), Jamie Waylett (Vincent Crabbe), Tolga Safer (Karkaroff's aide), and Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) on the phone.
Two joint live podcasts were held in the summer of 2006. The first was in July at the Lumos 2006 Symposium, a Harry Potter convention that was held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. A few days later, the LeakyMug team held another live podcast in New York City at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square, where the first live podcast had been held. The show was focused around JK Rowling's August 2006 visit to New York and the readings she did for the event "Harry, Carrie, and Garp" at Radio City Music Hall on August 1 and August 2.
A LeakyMug was also held in late September 2006 at the Borders in Westwood, California.
Summer 2007 road tour
During the summer of 2007, MuggleCast did a tour of live shows across America with the wizard rock band The Remus Lupins, discussing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with the fans. The tour traveled eight states: Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. This tour was held right after the release of the 7th Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. During the tour, they analyzed important characters and situations for their episodes, which took place at various bookstores.
Currently
On December 18, 2007, the hosts of the show announced that weekly distribution of the show would end by episode 140, after the completion of the chapter-by-chapter segment discussing all of the chapters plus the epilogue of "Deathly Hallows". Since then, episode production has slowed down dramatically, with new episodes only being released when there is enough content to fill them. The last weekly episode, episode 172, was released on March 7, 2009.
Episodes are currently being released when there are large news stories. For example recently discussions have involved the controversial announcement from the MPAA that the sixth film will be rated PG.
Also in MuggleCast, interviews are semi-regular. In episode 172, the artist of the American editions of the books, Mary GrandPre, was interviewed. The MuggleCasters asked a wide variety of questions about which book she enjoyed the most, which gave her the most difficulty, and what the process is like for every book.
In episode 170 (February 16, 2009), host Micah and Matt interviewed Goblet of Fire composer, Patrick Doyle. The two helped shed some light on what really goes on while composing scores for a movie.
MuggleNet Interactive
MuggleNet Interactive (often shortened to MNI) is a website spin-off of MuggleNet. It is an online forum, where users can interact with other users in a Hogwarts setting. In addition to the general chat areas, the site is known for its diverse offerings, including the Roleplaying area, the blog-style Chamber of Secrets, the high-speed trivia games of the Quidditch Pitch, and the professor-led classes taught in a Socratic method. Semiannual House Cup competitions encourage house unity and often allow "students" to compete for honors in contests with essays, graphics, or other media. The MNI community also celebrates many holidays, as well as the shared birthday of Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling, with a "Ball" in the otherwise closed Great Hall. Many "Site Secrets" are littered throughout MNI's pages and are often sought for their galleon rewards, but forbidden to be spoken of. There are currently 18 of the "Site Secrets". The many distinct components of the site contribute to the diverse community that it attracts.
The site was originally formed from "Personality Quiz" made in 2000, which was later adapted for the 'full' version of the site as a Sorting Hat. It eventually evolved into its current incarnation, over the years developing the a Diagon Alley shopping area, a Dueling Game, Flourish and Blotts fan fiction library, quizzes and other subsections outside of the forum structure. The staff hierarchy was originally modeled after the faculty structure at Hogwarts with Headmaster/Headmistress as the main site administrator overseeing moderating prefects and class-leading professors, but over time, non-canon positions such as programmers, artists, and quiz masters have been added in addition to other Harry Potter-themed appointments.
Merchandising
As of 2005, the MuggleNet network started generating a six-figure income through advertising revenue.[3][4]
Published works
In 2006, in advance of the arrival of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, five MuggleNet staff members (Emerson Spartz, Ben Schoen, Andy Gordon, Gretchen Stull, and Jamie Lawrence.) co-authored the reference book; Mugglenet.Com's What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Falls in Love and How Will the Adventure Finally End, which was a published collection of unofficial fan predictions.
As of July 21, 2007, What Will Happen sold 335,000 copies, totaling $5 million in sales, $2 million of which went to Ulysses Press of Berkeley, California.[12] Spartz and his co-authors launched a marketing campaign in June 2007 to promote their work. This included a tour of the United States where they stopped at many bookstores and discussed their various theories and revelations. Emerson went on this tour with Ben Schoen.[13]
Recently, the same authors penned another book, Harry Potter Should Have Died. A book tour will take place this summer.
References
- ^ a b ""Access Indiana - Business Services Seasrch - Spartz, Inc". Retrieved 2008-04-19.
- ^ ""The Twisted Economics of Harry Potter". Retrieved 2009-04-12.
- ^ a b Teigen, Megan. "Mugglenet founder chooses Notre Dame over Hogwarts"/ Notre Dame Magazine. October 2005.
- ^ a b ""The twisted economics of Harry Potter"". Retrieved 2008-04-22.
- ^ "MuggleNet - About Us".
- ^ ""The Official Website of Emerson Spartz - Resume"". Retrieved 2008-04-19.
- ^ "J. K. Rowling official site".
- ^ "www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=63".
- ^ "J.K. Rowling Official Site - Meeting Melissa and Emerson".
- ^ "MuggleNet and The Leaky Cauldron interview J.K. Rowling".
- ^ "MuggleCast on PodcastAlley.com - The place to find Podcasts".
- ^ Raine, George. "Potter spin-off a hit for tiny Berkeley publisher". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ "MuggleNet news".
See also
External links
- MuggleNet
- MuggleNet Interactive
- MuggleCast's website
- Chamber of Secrets Forums: The official forums of MuggleNet.
- The MuggleNet Fan Fiction Site