|
|
||
 |
Reader Survey
Take our Reader Survey and see your suggestions in future issues of Script magazine.Start here
HOME
| CBS Crosses Over With Harper’s Globe |
|
|
Sweet-faced girl next door Robin Matthews has been hired by Harper’s Globe, a small-town newspaper on one of the Puget Sound islands, just outside Seattle. As a member of a generation that lives online, she posts videos about her work, her relationships, and her discovery of a long-kept island secret -- a series of grisly murders from before her time. Meanwhile, a group of masked vigilantes post videos under the name “Dangerous Wreck.” They video themselves sneaking into a house, binding and gagging two young men, and dragging them away. Cut together, the effect is a Blair Witch-type of horrific inevitability. You know that when these two video bloggers eventually meet face-to-face, something really, really bad will happen. Chills.  This slow-building macabre is Harper’s Globe, a new Web series from EQAL (the creators of Web video icon Lonelygirl15), and, most interestingly, an integrated companion series to CBS’ upcoming Harper’s Island, a 13-episode murder mystery set to debut April 9. Harper’s Globe has the feel of a handcrafted independent film, but benefits from the backing of the CBS network juggernaut. The result is an immersive, artful experience that draws viewers into the world of Harper’s Island, and initiates fan involvement in a TV show like never before. We’ve seen Web series derived from TV shows before, with Kevin’s Loan from The Office and Face of the Enemy from Battlestar Galactica, but in this case, CBS is clearly leading the charge by creating Harper’s Globe to dovetail directly into the flagship network show. Dan Shotz, executive producer of Harper’s Island, says, “I wanted partners to serve our online fan base, especially after the outpouring of support we got from Jericho.” (To keep Jericho from cancellation, masses of online fans mailed packages of peanuts, a key story component to the show, to CBS executives.) He continues, “Harper’s Globe is truly a companion piece to [Harper’s Island], and they were involved from ‘day one.’” Shotz went on to explain that viewers can expect characters to cross over from the TV show to the Web, and vice versa. Perhaps the most telling sign of CBS’ commitment to Globe was that Jennifer Yale, a working TV writer, was brought on specifically to pen script for the online series. “I built the story with full disclosure,” Yale says, “I got to know the end before anyone else, because I had to tie it into the Web series.” Yale, an Emmy®-winning writer, wrapped her work on both Harper’s Island and Globe and is now working with Showtime’s Dexter. When asked about the differences between writing for TV and the Web, she says, “We had some standards and practices, but far less than TV, so we could do more.” The format itself was a new and dynamic element for all of the creators of the Web show itself. “We changed our format around a few times,” Yale admits, “but the exciting thing was that we were essentially creating a whole universe. Every news item, every blog post, and, of course, every line of dialogue was carefully written. On TV, there’s ‘the box,' but online, there is no box -- there are no limits.” The HarpersGlobe.com website features video episodes, blog updates, a social network, message boards, and a concise set of instructions on how to “watch” a Web series. For EQAL founders Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried, the layered levels of interactivity are essential. “We separate the experience for the casual viewer and the engaged super-fan,” says Goodfried, “you should have a good experience, no matter your amount of interest.” Beckett continues, “One fan said, ‘This feels like crack. I can’t leave.’” Now, that’s music to the ears of creators, producers, and executives alike. Harper’s Globe is live now with its first episode, and will run in tandem with Harper’s Island, premiering April 9 on CBS. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alec McNayr is a writer-producer for Space Shank Media. He recently launched the comedy Web series My Roommate the Cylon and was named to the International Academy of Web Television, the voting body for the Streamy Awards. Photo: Melanie Merkosky, as “Robin Matthews” Courtesy: CBS
Set as favorite
Bookmark
Email This
Hits: 789 Comments (0)
 Write comment
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
| |
Script magazine is published by
 |