lonelygirl15
lonelygirl15 (also called LG15) was a fictional webdrama produced by EQAL, which ran from May 24th, 2006 to August 1st, 2008. A Japanese dub was slated for release in 2009 but ultimately never materialized. It debuted on YouTube under the guise of a 16-year-old videoblogger named Bree and a group of her friends coined TAAG. The show gained popularity by posting video responses to and name-dropping other popular YouTubers.
The series was followed by a sequel LG15: The Resistance in late 2008. On June 16th, 2016 (the ten year anniversary of Bree's first video blog), the series was revived under the title LG15: Anchor Cove.
Contents
Cast of characters
- Jessica Lee Rose as Bree Avery, a bubbly teenage girl whose trait positive blood makes her the target of a dangerous cult called the Order. She gained a large following on YouTube due to her quirky video blogs.
- Yousef Abu-Taleb as Daniel, Bree's best friend who only wishes to protect her, but is often distracted by romantic engagements. He can often jump to conclusions, and battles with an alcohol addition along with his parents.
- Jackson Davis as Jonas Wharton, a boy who meets Bree online and discovers that his family has more ties to the Order than he realizes. He can be too willing to trust others, which often leads the TAAG into unfortunate situations.
- Alexandra Dreyfus as Sarah Genatiempo, a misunderstood 19-year-old who develops a crush on Daniel and travels with TAAG. While she struggles to figure out what to do with her life, she harbors a dark and dangerous secret.
- Becki Kregoski as Taylor Genatiempo, Sarah's younger sister who has an impressive amount of computer hacking skills. A passionate soccer player, she has more social skills than the rest of her family and is often upset by their actions.
- Maxwell Glick as Spencer Gilman, an employee at Neutrogena with connections to the Order's science division. Chosen as a good role model for Bree, he sets out to help engineer a Trait Negative Serum.
- Katherine Pawlak as Emma Wharton, Jonas's trait positive younger sister. She grows up significantly during her battle for her life against the Order, and goes out of her way to try and protect her friends.
- Melanie Merkosky as Jennie, a former Lullaby Project employee who becomes friends with Sarah. She begins a romantic affair with Jonas and gives the TAAG an insight on how the Order's structure works.
- Crystal Young as Gina Hart, Bree's trait positive older sister who was taken from her at birth and used as a lab rat most of her life. She is quiet and reserved, and feels more comfortable with art supplies than with other people.
Theme and plot
- Main article: lonelygirl15 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 appearance of Aleister Crowley on Bree's bedroom wall seemed improbable.
- The lighting, along with other cinematic elements, also seemed improbable.
Media reports of fictionality
- 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.
- On September 11, 2006, a commenter on the website TMZ.com said that he recognized Bree, and posted a link to her MySpace account. At 1:41 a.m. Sept. 12, members of The Children of Anchor Cove used Google cache to discover that the account belonged to New Zealand actress Jessica Lee Rose. Several other blogs quickly uncovered cached photos of Jessica Lee Rose and took credit for her discovery.<ref name = Applause>Heffernan, Virginia. "Applause for lonelygirl15, and DVD Extras", Screens, New York Times, 2006-09-12. Retrieved on 2006-09-13.</ref>
- 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
Mini-series
- Nikki Bower Report videos were posted from November 1st, 2006, until February 4th, 2008. The main character, Nikki Bower, investigated the Order and helped fight it. Nikki appeared in several videos in the parent series, as well.
- Watchyourjack ran from November 19th, 2007, to February 10th, 2008, was a mini-series for lonelygirl15 that involved many parts of it -- including the main character Taylor. Watchyourjack's plot centered around the character of Jack. Watchyourjack was product placement for the movie "Jumper."
Spin-offs and others
- 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.
- Inspired by the lonelygirl15 series is the LG15 Franchise line-up, which includes lonelygirl15, KateModern, LG15: The Resistance, N1ckola, LG15: The Last, and LG15: Outbreak
- Heavily promoted by lonelygirl15 is Harper's Globe, another EQAL show.
External links
- lonelygirl15 on LG15.com
- lonelygirl15 on YouTube.com
- lonelygirl15 on MySpaceTV.com
- lonelygirl15 on Revver.com
- Behind the scenes of lonelygirl15
| LG15 Franchise | |
|---|---|
| Primary Series | lonelygirl15 · KateModern · LG15: The Resistance · N1ckola · LG15: Anchor Cove |
| The Show Is Yours | LG15: The Last · LG15: Outbreak (Masonishappy) |
| Additional Content | OpAphid ARG · Nikki Bower Report · Watchyourjack |
| Cancelled Projects | LG15 in Italy · LG15: The Misfits · LG15 in Japan |
| See also | Lonelygirl362436 |
