Chas will be setting the record straight about her motives and answering your questions. Do you have a question you’d like answered tonight? Leave it in the comments below.
I hope you are all as excited as I am about the launch of LG15: The Last! The trailer looked awesome and the first episode was really great. The team in Australia is working hard to produce an amazing show for the LG15 community to enjoy so we hope you will all show your support by watching it and rooting them on.
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, but Greg and I and the entire team at EQAL have been super busy gearing up for the launch of some exciting new projects. As you all know, we’re rapidly approaching the launch of Harper’s Globe, which will run in conjunction with CBS’s new show, Harper’s Island. HarpersGlobe.com will be hosted on the latest iteration of our software and will offer a ton of new features that I think you’re all going to be very excited about. The show page, profile pages, and forums have a received a MAJOR overhaul and will make it much easier for you to enjoy the show and discuss with your friends.
Despite this, we haven’t forgotten about the LG15 community. We can’t “flip a switch” and upgrade LG15.com, but we’ll be working rapidly to upgrade the database schema to match the new framework and re-launch LG15.com with the new features. That’s right, all the features you see on HarpersGlobe.com will make their way to LG15.com in the near future. Finally, I know that it’s been tough for Zoey to run the LGPedia without a lot of help, and it’s particularly frustrating for me because I love using it as a resource. We don’t have someone inside the company dedicated to the job, but we’re very fortunate to now have user “FH14″ (Andrew IRL) who will work with Zoey as an admin on the LGPedia. We’ve spent some time thinking about the best way to run the LGPedia and have prepared a mission statement to guide admins and community editors to make it the best resource for all members of the LG15 community:
“The goal of the LGPedia is to compile the most accurate and thorough knowledge base of everything in the LG15 Universe. It is a community-editable wiki and will contain both official information and photos released by the LG15 team and other material created and edited by the community. At times, we may need to lock pages and/or make “official” edits in order to correct mis-information or protect the privacy of members of the various productions. We’ll work with the community to keep the LGPedia branding consistent with the LG15 Universe and various productions. This may mean providing official photos for actors and crew, official logos, and other elements that will improve the information offered in the LGPedia. Although we’re big fans of every great web series out there, because the LGPedia is dedicated to the LG15 Universe, it should only include information about shows in the LG15 Universe or featured on LG15.com. For instance, “Harper’s Globe” will have it’s own wiki on HarpersGlobe.com where you can compile information relevant to the Harper’s Island/Globe Universe. If unrelated shows are included in the LGPedia, it should only be as a reference or link to the appropriate external website (e.g. to reference other productions LG15 cast/crew are a part of). Thanks for working with us to make the LGPedia the best resource for members of the LG15 community around the world.”
Wondercon 2009: Exclusive — We Talk ‘Harper’s Globe’ with Creator Miles Beckett
“The story of Harper’s Globe,” he said, “is about a girl named Robin, with a very mysterious past, who’s gone to Harper’s Island to work for the newspaper, Harper’s Globe, and to digitize articles from the newspaper and to create a community online for the Harper’s Globe newspaper and the citizens of Harper’s Island. And then she gets pulled into the story as it begins to unfold on the island.”
Here’s your first look at LG15: The Last, the exciting new LG15: The Show Is Yours series from Down Under. The full series will launch on Monday, March 9, 2009. In the meantime, begin discussing the show at www.LG15.com/TheLast and check out the website’s new look designed by the creators of the show.
I will be using the stickam account “eqal” for the chat at 4:00 pm. Thanks
Update from Greg:
We understand that many of you are disappointed and so are we. But please understand that we did not mean for this to happen. When we created the pilot process we did not mention anything about financing the pilots.
We imagined that you, the community, would submit shows like lonefox, the facility, the coalition . . . shows that many of you are already doing for fun as a creative outlet in your spare time. We never imagined that at any time any applicants would be “giving up their day job” or produce a show that would take up their whole life. We imagined this as something that many of the talented creators in this community were already doing in their spare time, after school, or on the weekend and that your production teams would be made up of family and friends (just like we were in the beginning).
We only asked for two videos per week (16 total) because we knew from experience that this could be done over a couple of weekends. This was never intended to be a full time job/commitment for the TSIY winning producer.
When we saw The Misfits, we expected that they got the actors and other friends to participate for the exposure. We expected that they would take a couple weekends and shoot a bunch of videos - just like we used to in the early days.
We never expected to be asked for money as we never promised giving money for the productions.
I think that all of the other pilot contestants did not think they were getting financing. If I am wrong, I apologize, but we were NEVER asked by any of the entrants if we would finance any of the shows. I know for a fact that LG15: The Last didn’t expect financing. We tried to set up a cool experience for producers who before TSIY were making shows without any promotion. We wanted to take one of these shows, or a new show, and give it great promotion.
If it will help mend wounds, I would be happy to do a live chat with everyone and answer as many questions as you have.
The last thing we want is to upset anyone.
Also, with all that being said, we are REALLY excited to watch LG15: The Last and we hope that you will support them as much as you would have supported The Misfits.
Thanks
Greg
Earlier Post:
There have been a few changes to “LG15: The Show Is Yours” and we will now be featuring “LG15: The Last,” the talented group from Sydney, Australia. We are SO excited about the new cast of characters, international location, and story that “LG15: The Last” will bring to the LG15 Universe. We are confident that with their amazing creative concept, ingenuity, and community participation, “LG15: The Last” will be AWESOME!!!
This change was brought on by “The Misfits” production team’s decision to back out of “LG15: TSIY.” The production team incorrectly believed that EQAL was going to fully finance their show even though we made it very clear in the rules that we were not going to finance the chosen pilot. This project is about giving you, the community, a chance we never had – a platform to showcase your talent and gain experience and exposure. This was never about financial reward, but rather an opportunity for the best community show to be featured front and center on LG15.com and to become part of the ever expanding canon. In our minds, and the other producers who submitted pilots, this is a fantastic opportunity.
So please join us in welcoming The Last to the LG15 Universe and we hope that you embrace their show with same passion and fervor you have shown us.
Alli D., also known as the fabulous Nikki B, is using her new blog www.365daysofgoodness.com to highlight the good deeds each of us can do every day. For the 365 days of 2009, Alli will write about the simple things she is doing — such as starting a recycling program in her building (and at EQAL too!), making soup for a sick friend, and establishing a “Good Deed Program” with a second grade class. By using her humor and documenting each good deed, Alli demonstrates how easy it is for one person to make a difference.
Where did Alli get the inspiration for her new project?
“[O]ne day, a few weeks ago, I did something small… I bought flowers for a friend for no reason at all (other than I thought she needed a sweet little pick-me-up). It turned out that she had to cancel our dinner plans and I never got to give her the flowers. But from that little flower purchase, an idea hit me (literally had a light bulb moment): I would do something “nice” for friends and family every day for an entire year, starting January 1st 2009. Then I thought, “ Well, I guess it doesn’t just have to be nice things for friends and family. I should include nice things for strangers, charities, animals, the world… and anything else I can think of.” And so the idea of 365 Days of Goodness was born. 365 Good Deeds in 365 Days. A challenge that I am ready to take on.”