Hey everyone!

YouTube just celebrated their 5-year anniversary; part of their celebration was highlighting the stories of people that made the site so successful. We're honored they chose Jessica Rose and lonelygirl15 as of one their landmark stories. Our very own Bree shot a great video describing her experience on the show, and what it was like to be one of the first YouTube stars. Finding Jessica was a stroke of luck, I still remember how exciting it was watching her bring Bree to life. We couldn't be more proud of her!

It's great to see those early videos on the homepage of YouTube again, and it's truly amazing to think it's already been five years since lonelygirl15 came into the world.

Hope you like the video!

Thank you!

-Miles

Hey everyone, I wanna share a really cool project that a member of the LG15 family created.  Kevin Schlanser was our DP on lonelygirl15, LG15: The Resistance, and Harpers Globe and was an editor for many of the lonelygirl15 videos.  He's an incredibly talented artist and I'm thrilled to share with you his directorial debut... "The Ataxian."  This is an incredibly emotional and powerful documentary and we loved the trailer so much that we wanted to share it with you so you can share it with your friends and help support the project.  Here's a note from Kevin and the trailer, enjoy!




Dear EQAL Community,

My time with EQAL has provided me with some of the best memories and experiences of my life. It was thrilling to be there at the beginning, when Bree was still in her bedroom, when the views on YouTube started to climb and when the first national news article hit. The journey would continue all the way through Harper’s Globe, leaving me with much new knowledge, friendship and a stepping stone to the next level of my career.

As you all know, community plays a key role in the success of any project, and that is truly epitomized in the likes of those who have been a part of the lg15/EQAL community these past years. Which is why I would like to share with you the next stage of my journey. There are many compelling and extraordinary stories that play out every day, stories that are unbridled in their intimacy and honesty. They are true tales that no Hollywood screenplay could best. I have had the honor of coming across such a story.

Kyle Bryant has Friedreich’s Ataxia (FA), a debilitating progressive genetic neuromuscular disease, and it’s slowly killing him. Faced with his reality, Kyle overcame fear and depression to dedicate his life to finding a cure. To this date he has singlehandedly raised almost a million dollars. To further raise awareness, Kyle will depart from Oceanside, CA on his recumbent tricycle in the Race Across America, renowned as the most difficult cycling event in the world. He and a team of three friends will have to ride over 3,000 miles...in 9 days.


‘The Ataxian’ is a feature length documentary film and an emotionally charged triumph of the human spirit, re-defining what it means to have a disability of any kind and perhaps, what it means to be truly alive. I invite you to view a trailer for the film and join our community focused on spreading Kyle’s message and inspiration around the world! Thank you for your support.


Sincerely,


Kevin Schlanser

So, I wrote this post on the Friday before the Streamy awards. Meant to post it, but wanted to make some tweaks. Then the Streamys... happened... and I wanted some distance from it before making this post. I was considering revising this in light of recent events, but decided to just post my thoughts in their original form. You'll notice some overlap with my post-Streamys post… clearly I was already thinking about some of the growing pains we're feeling right now.

Here it is:

Congratulations to Austin and his entire team for the successful conclusion of LG15: Outbreak. I hope that you all enjoyed it as much as I did. We've been thrilled by the response to LG15: The Show Is Yours over the past couple years. There is such an amazing amount of creativity in the LG15 community. It started in a bedroom with lonelygirl15 and around the country with shows like Rocketboom, Ask A Ninja, and more, but now there's a huge international community of people producing fantastic shows online. Over the past few years, the amount of creativity and innovation has exploded; there's even a professional organization and an awards show!

And that got us thinking. Why limit TSIY to the LG15 Universe?

The more we thought about it, the more it made sense. TSIY should be for everyone. Now, this isn't a well-formed idea right now, it's more the beginning of an idea, but we'll be working on the details over the next couple months. I guess you can think of this as a pre-announcement. Anyways, in the near future we'll be announcing the launch of a new website focused on finding the absolute best social shows the web has to offer... scripted, reality, non-fiction, whatever it might be.

And, yes, I said "social show." I have a pet peeve about the monikers used to describe our art. Web series. Webisodes. Viral videos. They're so limiting.

A social show isn't just video. And, it most certainly isn't static. A social show, just like the internet, is interactive. We MUST embrace this interactivity if we want to push the medium forward.

A social show is like a blog on steroids with multimedia content and interactive "calls-to-action" that bring the audience inside the creator's world. If you've experienced lonelygirl15, Harpers Globe, or the Real Women of Philadelphia, you've experienced a social show. If you've experienced Philly D, iJustine, Epic Fu, or HotForWords, you've also experienced a social show. And if you have, you know that it's addictive. Ever since we uploaded the first lonelygirl15 video to YouTube, we've become addicted to the magical energy that forms between a team of interactive producers and a passionate audience, and we want to encourage everyone to become addicts just like us :)

Okay, that was the sugar. Now for a little medicine. Because we're spinning out "The Show Is Yours" as an independent brand, we're going to stop running an LG15-specific TSIY and will not be producing any new LG15 series in the forseeable future. Obviously this was a very difficult decision for us, but we think it's best to close this chapter in the LG15 Universe and focus on the future. So, in the next few months we'll be rolling out a re-design of the LG15 homepage to focus on improving the discoverability of all the current LG15 shows, episodes, and characters. We're also continuing to transfer shows from our legacy system into Umbrella, including KateModern and OpAPHID.

So, stay tuned. A new website for "The Show is Yours," and a fantastic opportunity for independent producers to partner with EQAL and create the next lonelygirl15.

It's been a long, yet interesting 11 weeks since 'Outbreak' first premiered in January, and I feel all the more better for it.

It's hard to believe it was just last December when I got the call that I had won TSIY2, and the show was actually going to become a reality.

Fast forward a few months later, and Outbreak has finished...going beyond what a lot of us expected.

I want to stop for just a moment and thank everyone who took the time to follow the show, and to play along. The response we received in terms of followers during 'Outbreak' was incredibly encouraging, and I'm glad that so many people decided to log in and experience the new season for themselves.

To everyone who was on the site day after day, week after week, commenting and interacting: thank you. You're the reason why social shows like LG15 work. If it weren't for the fans who sit by their computers, following the story and playing along, the show wouldn't work at all. It's because you all make the choice to WATCH the show that helps it to thrive.

From the bottom of my heart, again, thank you all for making 'Outbreak' a wonderful experience that I won't ever forget. I've learned a lot from putting the show together with EQAL, and I wouldn't trade a moment of the time I spent working on it.

There are a couple of people that need to be thanked specifically for their time, effort, and support they offered to make the show a reality. Rather than fill your screen with a novel of text explaining why they need to be thanked, you can simply check out the videos below. Nevertheless, I feel it would be necessary to include the names of everyone who helped out in the show. Some helped in small areas, some in large portions, but it took the culmination of everyone's resources to put the show together.

A Special Thanks To:

Greg Goodfried
Miles Beckett
Glenn Rubenstein
Jason Matthews
Matt Seigel
Tasha Carey
Lance Little
Dani Martin
Vincent Rouse
David Nichols
Maxwell Glick
Mitchell Wright
Jordan Bush
Jessica Johnston
Bree King
and Jenni Powell

for their contributions in helping 'Outbreak' see completion.  

There's a lot of different things going on in the LG15 Community right now, but the times when it really flourishes are when we come together and support each other. I'm glad to have hopefully left my mark on this franchise, and I bid the best of luck to whomever decides to pick up the torch after me.

For the past few months, I got to put together an actual season of one of my favorite web show franchises. To think that last year I was just a fan watching along, and yet today I can stand up and say that I was able to contribute an installment to the show is just a testament to how incredibly lucky I am, and how incredibly cool this 'online video' thing is becoming.

I don't know exactly where this whole medium of entertainment is heading, but I hope I'll be able to witness it when it arrives at it's destination...

...and I hope we can all be a part of it.









Thanks again for an awesome 3 months! See you down the road.

- Gregory Austin McConnell
- Executive Producer, 'LG15: Outbreak'

This Wednesday, the second installment of LonelyGirl15's "The Show Is Yours" will come to a close. Over the course of twelve hours, "LG15: Outbreak" will end its run, and conclude in an exciting and interactive experience. Each hour, a new video will be released, bringing with it much-awaited answers, surprises, twists, and turns.

How will it all end? Log on to LG15.com on March 24th, and experience the 'Outbreak' finale for yourself!

Hey everyone!

Hope you're enjoying LG15: Outbreak so far.  I've been watching and I think it's great!  Austin is doing a fantastic job.  I am thrilled to see how you're engaging the show, and getting involved in the community.  My favorite post so far is 'I Got Jacked'.  It reminded me a lot of when Bree and Daniel's hotel was ransacked.  What has been your favorite post so far?








I'm also really excited because Liz Shannon Miller wrote a fantastic review of the series on newteevee.com, which you can read HERE. Here's an excerpt of the review:

"The result, Outbreak, is a mystery-laden new entry focused around Crystal (Dani Martin), a mysterious and attractive young woman who refuses to discuss her past with her new YouTube friends, but appreciates the support they offer when, her first week in her new apartment, she experiences a strange break-in and advances from a creepy neighbor."

Congratulations, Austin.  I can't wait to see how Crystal's story plays out.

- Miles

The newest addition to the LG15 Universe is now live!  LG15: Outbreak, the winner of our second “The Show is Yours” competition, was created by Austin McConnell and is a worthy follow-up to our first TSIY winner, LG15: The Last.  Fans just like you submitted pilots and treatments for social shows based on characters and ideas in the LG15 Universe, and one winner was given $5,000 to produce their series. 

So, what is LG15 and how did we get here?  Well, it all started with a show called lonelygirl15 that we produced over three years ago (wow, it’s been that long?!?!).  Over the years, the LG15 mythology has been extended by shows that we’ve produced (KateModern, n1ckola), and most importantly through numerous unofficial shows created by the fan community.  We’ve always appreciated the passion and creativity in the community, and we formalized this process with “The Show is Yours” competition last year so that we could induct fan created mythology into the official LG15 canon.  So, lean forward and enjoy LG15: Outbreak. 

You can watch the series, but you’ll have even more fun if you join the community and participate.  There will be puzzles and challenges that YOU can take part in during the course of the show, and you can visit all of the character profile pages and interact with them.  If you have any questions, you can PM our community moderator, Jason. 

Enjoy!




Miles and Greg