lonelygirl15

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Lonelygirl15
Cast BW season 3.jpg
Created by Miles Beckett, Mesh Flinders, Greg Goodfried, and Amanda Goodfried
Cast
Bree Jessica Lee Rose
Daniel Yousef Abu-Taleb
Jonas Jackson Davis
Sarah Alexandra Dreyfus
Taylor Becki Kregoski
Emma Katherine Pawlak
Jennie Melanie Merkosky
Gina Crystal Young
Spencer Maxwell Glick
Carl Craig Coyne
Production Crew
Director Amanda Goodfried, Colin Hargraves, Glenn Rubenstein, Greg Goodfried, Jackson Davis, Jennifer Roth, Kevin Schlanser, Marcello Daciano, Mesh Flinders, Miles Beckett, Yumiko Aoyagi
Executive Producer Amanda Goodfried, Glenn Rubenstein, Greg Goodfried, Mesh Flinders, Miles Beckett, Yumiko Aoyagi
Producer Amanda Goodfried, Colin Hargraves, Glenn Rubenstein, Marcello Daciano, Mesh Flinders, Miles Beckett, Yumiko Aoyagi
Production Manager Greg Goodfried
Production Assistant Jenni Powell, Ian Schwartz
Camera Operator Amanda Goodfried, Brad Haley, Colin Hargraves, Glenn Rubenstein, Jennifer Roth, Justin Thompson, Kevin Schlanser, Mesh Flinders, Miles Beckett, Yousef Abu-Taleb
Editor Amanda Goodfried, Colin Hargraves, ElizKM86, Glenn Rubenstein, Ian Schwartz, Jennifer Roth, Justin Thompson, Kevin Schlanser, Miles Beckett
Head Writer Mary Feuer, Miles Beckett
Writer Alli Danziger, Amanda Goodfried, Colin Hargraves, Dwayne Smith, Glenn Rubenstein, Greg Goodfried, Jan Libby, Jennifer Roth, Marcello Daciano, Mary Feuer, Mesh Flinders, Miles Beckett, Ross Berger, Vanessa Roveto, Yumiko Aoyagi, Jim Campolongo
Vidplays by Amanda Goodfried, Colin Hargraves, Dwayne Smith, Glenn Rubenstein, Greg Goodfried, Jan Libby, Jennifer Roth, Marcello Daciano, Mary Feuer, Mesh Flinders, Miles Beckett, Ross Berger, Vanessa Roveto, Yousef Abu-Taleb, Yumiko Aoyagi
Music Supervisor Colin Hargraves, Darren Boling, Seth Jacobs
Animator Ian Schwartz

lonelygirl15 was a fictional webdrama produced by EQAL, which ran from May 24th, 2006 to August 1st, 2008. It debuted on YouTube under the guise of a 16-year-old videoblogger named Bree. The show gained popularity by posting video responses to and name-dropping other popular YouTubers.

Fans ultimately exposed Bree as a fictitious character played by New Zealand actress Jessica Lee Rose. The Creators of the show were then identified as Miles Beckett, Mesh Flinders, Greg Goodfried, and later, Amanda Goodfried.

Theme and plot

Main article: The Story So Far...
For a complete synopsis of the plot, see The Story So Far...

In the beginning, Bree's videos were similar to those of many other popular vloggers on YouTube, making brief videos out of her bedroom about her life, her best friend, Daniel, and her conflicts with her parents.

Bree was home schooled and lonely. Her only friend, who introduced her to YouTube and video editing, was Daniel, whom she met during a brief stint in public school two years earlier. Daniel's crush on Bree and the strictness of Bree's parents were a part of the tensions behind many of the early videos.

Eventually, it was revealed that Bree was a member of a secretive religion, originally believed to be Thelema, but later recognized as the fictional Hymn of One. Selected to perform a mysterious ceremony, she was, at first, ecstatic by the honor, but soon found herself with many unanswered questions as to the motives of the Deacons who insisted she perform it.

The show gradually abandoned its premise of being a highly-realistic story about a young vlogger, taking the story out of the bedroom and on the run, as Bree and Daniel attempted to escape the Ceremony Bree was being forced into. Finding out that The Hymn of One was nothing more than a front for the Order, a powerful society who want the Trait positive blood of young girls like Bree, propelled them further into a journey full of secret codes, evil henchmen, and dark adventure. Although their path has been littered with treachery and danger, the two were able to find unexpected help in the form of an orphan boy, two very different sisters, and a self proclaimed lab rat. Amid tragedy and manipulation, the teens vowed to continue fighting the Order by assisting the young girls desperately in need of their help. They eventually find themselves traveling across America trying to overthrow their powerful enemy and going forward to meet their shadowy future together.

Notes about the series

  • Although the series was originally posted through YouTube, in September of 2006 the Creators signed a promotional deal with Revver, another popular video sharing website. The first LG15 video seen through Revver was A Change In My Life. In late 2007 the website switched back to using YouTube to broadcast their videos.
  • lonelygirl15 won the VH1 "Big in '06" award for Biggest Download
  • The show remains the eightteenth most-subscribed channel on YouTube, with over 100,000 subscribers as of July 6, 2008.

Revelations of fictionality

Initial speculation

Although, her blogs quickly became very popular, viewers grew suspicious that lonelygirl15 was not real and began to wonder if Bree was, in fact, a real person or if the posts were part of a teaser campaign for a television show or an upcoming movie. Others felt that the blog might be part of an alternate reality game.

Fans pointed to small inconsistencies within the videos as evidence that the story might not be genuine.

  • The website lonelygirl15.com, supposedly created by a fan named Bukanator, was registered in May 2006, several weeks prior to Bree actually uploading her first video.
  • Bree had several fights with Daniel on webcam. It seemed unlikely a girl who just endured real fights with her only friend would upload those fights to YouTube.
  • The lighting, along with other cinematic elements, also seemed improbable.

Media reports of fictionality

For the full story of how fans unearthed the truth behind lonelygirl15, see The Hunt For Bree.
  • Richard Rushfield of The Los Angeles Times reported in an article dated September 8, 2006, that three lonelygirl15 fans - Shaina Wedmedyk, Chris Patterson, and an anonymous law student (these three fans are known as the Phorum 3) - set up a sting operation using IP address tracking software that showed that e-mails sent from a lonelygirl15 MySpace account were traced to the offices of Creative Artists Agency, a powerful Hollywood talent agency based in Beverly Hills.
  • Virginia Heffernan of The New York Times, on September 12, confirmed that the Creators of the series are represented by CAA and that CAA was one of several locations used by the Creators of the series to send emails from lonelygirl15 accounts. She identified Miles Beckett and Mesh Flinders as the Creators of the project. One main source for her story was Grant Steinfeld.
  • The Los Angeles Times, on September 13th, featured the first interview with the Creators of lonelygirl15, confirming the link between the Creators and the CAA. This story also identified Greg Goodfried as one of the Creators.

Other shows

  • KateModern, which ran from July 16th, 2007, to June 28th, 2008, acted as the first spin-off or "sister series" of lonelygirl15. As well as this, KateModern and lonelygirl15 characters were able to interact with each other and merge storylines in what the Creators called a crossover. KateModern and lonelygirl15 had one crossover.
  • LG15: The Resistance acted as a spin-off of lonelygirl15 and ran from September 20th, 2008, to December 12th, 2008. It built upon the derivative nature of the LG15 Universe and featured both old and new characters.
  • N1ckola, a Polish retelling of the lonelygirl15 story, is set to premiere on January 26th, 2009.

External links

EQAL Shows
Primary Projects LG15 Franchise · Harper's Globe · Level 26 · Get Cookin' · The Kind Life · Voltaggio Brothers · Real Women of Philadelphia · Paula Deen Online · Tails Pet Media Group, Inc.
Diminutive Projects Lonelygirl362436 · Jack In A Onesie