So … Bree’s dead, then. Or, that should be “Bree’s dead” since her character supposedly had all of her blood transfused to someone else, but you’re not dead on television, or in videoblogs (which, in this case at least, looks like they want to be television) until your head comes clean off! If you’ve no idea what I’m on about, LonelyGirl15, the poster-child for videoblog commercial success in the YouTube era, has come to an end for this ‘season’. To be honest, I never thought the creators of LonelyGirl15 would be referring to their work in ‘seasons’, in the same terms as a TV production; for some reason it seem like a backward step to use this terminology when half the point of the project was to expand the bounds of where meaningful drama could be found, made and enjoyed! That said, since the creative property of LG15 seems to have been the heart of many a sales pitch recently, perhaps a first season (of 260 episodes, no less) is a useful way of packaging a product.
For those joining the game late, LonelyGirl15 shot to fame after the seemingly innocuous clips of 16-year old, home-schooled Bree raised the eyebrows of a few viewers who noted the slightly-too-professional look of a few episodes. There were a few tears when fans who thought Bree was real discovered she was just a character, but after the controversy died down, the series has continued to engage viewers and command a loyal following in its format of 3 to 5 minute episodes. The LG15 ‘gang’ expanded recently to include another 4 people (originally only Daniel was a regular character, and the ‘explanation’ for the show’s neat editing), and it seems that “season two” will continue the drama in the aftermath of Bree’s death (and, I wouldn’t be surprised, her shock, not-so-dead return somewhere toward the end of season two). Jessica Lee Rose who played Bree has gone on to bigger and better things (proving that videoblogs could be a jumping on point to ‘make the name’ of an actor), so her departure was inevitable.
On the commercial front, LG15 seems to have become a very successful commercial project. The rights to distribute (but not control production) of LG15 were finally won by MySpace for the 12-part season finale (and subsequent season), and as Liz Gannes this shows the robustness of the videoblog as a commercial model.
I can’t say I’ve watched the last 100 or so episodes of LonelyGirl15 that closely, or at all in many cases, and I certainly thought Bree’s demise was a little over-the-top (which you can now view on YouTube, too, here) but the overall endeavor points to a very viable alternative production model which could well see many creative teams get their feet wet before taking on the mainstream media world!
