inside LG15

Howdy,

I mentioned a few posts ago that we took some cast photos on set last month. Here’s the first set; Daniel and Jonas, and the rest will be coming later this week, so stay tuned!

Click on each photo/thumbnail to view the higher resolution version on Flickr. If you want to download the original super high res photo, click “all sizes” on Flickr and then “original.”

These photos were taken by myself, Miles, and of course Kevin on the set of the show, “Jonas’s house.”

“>Amanda organized the shoot, with help from Zoey from the LGPedia. She’s been eager to get some updated cast photos for our fan-run “official show compendium,” so we are super excited to fulfil her wish Look for these photos on the ‘pedia. Zoey is always looking for editors and contributors, so if you are interested, check out the “Ways to Help” page she set up here.

I’m definitely encouraging you creative folks out there to take these photos and use them in wallpaper, buddy icons, MySpace badges, etc. When you do, you can post them here or email them to me (casey@lg15.com), and maybe we’ll feature some of our favorites on this blog!

Happy holidays!

–Casey

We saw Greg’s latest video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAtXEQ2yKZw where he announced he’d been fired from his job as a result of posting videos. We would like to officially say that this is completely ridiculous. Greg’s videos were not only hilarious, but actually made his employer look pretty darn cool. It would be wise for corporations to actually look to their employees for thoughts on how to market themselves and embrace emerging communities like Youtube. There is no way they could come up with something that connected to people like Greg’s videos. Sorry this happened to you, but we know you are creative and resourceful and will make something great out of this situation. Like a wise young girl once said, “when life gives you lemons…”

Good Luck! - LG15 Team

Yousef Abu-Taleb, Amanda Goodfried, Kevin Schlanser, Marcello Daciano

This is what it looks like when it rains in Los Angeles. Yes, that’s a plastic bag over the camera!

-Amanda

I’m a “Christmas Person” so for me to choose which one is my favorite is tricky because I love them all but to honest, as cheesy as is sounds, I have to say this year’s Christmas (holidays) will be topping them all. Just the thought that a couple months ago my family and I were ready to deal with the possible loss of my brother and now - not only is he in full remission but he is out of the hospital, gained 3lbs and he is ready to “concur the world” or at least Paris on NEW YEARS - that makes it my little Christmas Miracle!

I love my family more then anything in the world, they are my true riches of my life and having the chance to spend another holiday Season surrounded by them [The Daciano’s Full Cast and Crew ] make this my favorite holiday. This is… And will be my favorite holiday memory.

Since I can remember, The Nutcracker Ballet has played a major role in my Christmas memories. When I was four years old I went to my first performance of the production and from that moment on I wanted to become a ballet dancer and be a part of that magical world.

After many years of waiting, the day came when I was allowed to audition. I was nine years old and it was my big chance to show the world and my parents what I was capable of. There was a lot of competition, but I danced my little heart out and ended up winning the role of a mouse. It was the best day of my life! I was so excited that I had been cast and that I was going to be dancing with Julie Kent, a prima ballerina that was a guest star in the production and also my idol.

I was very dedicated to the role and spent a lot of time perfecting my mouse moves. Spending hours in front of the mirror wriggling my nose and my fingers, practicing running as low to the ground as I possibly could and mimicking the quick shuffling of a mouse’s feet. The choreographer even encouraged us to make mouse squeaks as we learned the dance steps. I knew I was doing my job well when I made the director laugh at how seriously I took the role.

I danced in every performance that Christmas. My parents were very proud of me, even if they didn’t know which little mouse I was running around on the stage.

I am a Christmas Freak. Truly. As soon as December 1st rolls around, I get completely obsessed, shamelessly forcing everyone around me to listen to Christmas music compilations, participate in ridiculous winter activities, and eat my terrible “baking.” It’s obnoxious. I blame my family. Christmas traditions are kind of a defining feature of the Merkosky’s. We have all sorts of them; perhaps most embarrassingly - watching National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, and seeing who can yell out the next punch line first. Happy Holiday’s Everybody!!

Alexandra Dreyfus and Melanie Merkosky

Joe Rubin and Amanda Goodfried

Carly Jones and Casey Klebba

Katherine Pawlak, Amanda Goodfried, Alexandra Dreyfus, Melanie Merkosky

Joe Rubin and Jackson Davis

Joe Rubin, Yousef Abu-Taleb, Amanda Goodfried, Jackson Davis

the whole crew

Over tapas and sangria, the lonelygirl15 cast and crew celebrated their successful year.

-Amanda

No Longer Lonely - Forbes.com

Cool article about our developing company. Of course the press can’t always get it right, there was actually a major increase in the community after we were “outted.” Also, Jessica, Yousef, Jackson, Lexie, Becki, and Katherine all deserve to be on the Top 25 Web Celebs. Name any other actors of their caliber that spent the last year starring in an on-line show. And what, no honorable mention for Lucy? It takes her all day to pick out her wardrobe.

- Amanda

The Christmas Bet - a short story based on real events
by Yousef Abu-Taleb

Okay I don’t know if this is a good memory or a bad one, but I remember when I first found out the truth about a jolly man in a red suit that we all know and love named Santa. You see it was about mid-day, Christmas eve when my slightly older and bratty cousin came over. We were playing He-Man (because it totally rocks), when we got into a very intellectual conversation about good ol’ Saint Nick. It went something like this:

Me: Omigosh, santa is coming tonight!
cuz: no he isnt
me: ya huh, it’s Christmas eve
cuz: soooo?
me: omigod doo you know anything? That’s when he brings presents!
cuz: He’s not real, he’s your mom and dad, I know.
me: you think my mom is a big red man with a white beard?
cuz: no, I think your dad is too.
me: nuh uh.
cuz: ya huh.
me NUUH UHHH!
cuz: YAAA HUUUHH!!
me: you’re so stupid
cuz: you wanna bet?
me: that you’re stupid?
cuz: nooo, I’m not stupid, that santa isnt real. You’re stupid!
me: fine, we’ll go ask my mom and then we’ll see who’s the stupiderist!

We both run into the other room. The adult room where no living child may stay in for over 2 minutes without being spanked and ridiculed for “breaking” something or being too loud. (Stupids! That was the coolest room and I couldn’t ever play in it. I hate it when …) I shout out to my mom while knocking over the lamp

Me: MOOOOOM!
Mom: honey, you two need to play in the other room.

I guess my best Christmas memory is one year my mom and dad took me and my sister into NYC for the Tree lighting and then ice skating at Rockefeller Center. We spent the whole day there walking around in the cold and snow, and it was amazing.

Hey guys,

I just set up a sweet player for lonelygirl15 using the YouTube “Custom Video Player” tool. Just copy and paste the code below into your MySpace page and voila! Now the whole series is embedded right there!

You can really help us promote the show and gain new viewership this way. You can use this embed code anywhere too, on your blog, website, etc. Not sure what took us so long to do this one, busy busy I guess If you have other creative usage for the player, post a comment!

–Casey

In early December, Miles, Greg and I went to London to visit the KateModern team. We took the redeye on Virgin Atlantic Airlines - the same flight we were on eight months ago when we flew to London to do preproduction for the show. During that first flight we were full of fear and anxiety as to whether we could create and produce a show 6,000 miles away without any deep connections in London. Now, eight months later, we sat down on the plane opened up the inflight magazine and saw that KateModern was listed under television dramas alonside the Sopranos and Entourage. WOW!!! You can imagine how exciting it was for us to have come so far in such a short time. Thank you to all the fans for making this happen!

While in London, we attended the KateModern Holiday Party, where we danced and drank with the cast and crew. The KM team were amazing hosts and sure threw a good party! I also visited the crew on set and watched them tape their holiday message.

- Amanda

I remember when I was like 5 or 6 and I was really sick…in Connecticut…I wanted to sleep on the couch in the living room so I could sleep next to the X-mas tree. I eventually fell asleep…but woke up in the middle of the night to X-mas music, with the lights still lit on the tree and snow falling on ground. As sick as I was…I was soooo happy and so excited for X-mas morning. I think I fell back asleep again and was woken (again) by Santa (aka my dad) making noise under the tree. My older brother and sister were there and my mom was watching in the kitchen…at the time I thought Santa was real and didn’t notice that my dad wasn’t missing from the bunch. I think they did it for me because they knew I was sick and wanted to make it special.

The best part about it was I got to be with my whole family on a white X-mas just like the holiday songs make it out to be. It has been years since my whole family has been together for X-mas and those childhood memories are always the best.

When I was twelve my mother decided to “adopt” a family for Christmas. At first I didn’t quite understand the impact this experience would have on me.

My mother and I were out shopping for Christmas presents for the family and I noticed my mother had not bought anything for the father, upon this realization I inquired why? She looked at me with very sad eyes and said “they don’t have a daddy.” When I replied, “what happened to him?” my mother stopped in the middle of the store and said, “he passed away Alexandra, he had cancer.” Suddenly my heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach and I felt so sad for this family.

Two days before Christmas we went to their house, they lived in a very dodgy area that was less than clean. We walked into their home and they only had two bedrooms for the Mum and four kids. I learned that they were barely getting by and the oldest daughter had leukemia. I was so worried about this family and so sad for them, I remember wanting to do something, something more than we already had. And then it hit me, I had received $500 dollars that morning for Christmas in the mail from my granny and I had it with me… I realized I didn’t need it but they did, so I talked to my Mum and we ended up giving them the money. I know this sounds like a very sad Christmas story, but it was the only Christmas where I felt like I was serving the purpose of the holiday, to help those less fortunate. I remember feeling as if for once in my life I did something that made a difference for someone else. I have never forgotten that Christmas because it really taught me so much.