First it was “Lonelygirl15,” then it was “Prom Queen” and now it’s “Roommates,” a video series from MySpace and Iron Sink Media/Los Angeles that launched Oct. 18 and is playing five new episodes a week. The series is sponsored by Ford to promote the 2008 Ford Focus.
“Prom Queen” debuted on MySpace but was not exclusive. “Roommates” is airing exclusively on MySpace, which co-produced it, which enhances the quality, according to Scott Zakarin, co-founder of Iron Sink Media. “This is a whole new level, with higher production value,” he said. “It’s shot in high definition with multiple cameras and it’s lit more like a movie. We’re taking more time with individual episodes and spending more time editing and in post.”
He also said, “We scripted it pretty thoroughly.” “Roommates” tells the story of a group of young adult women from Los Angeles who went to college together and now share an apartment. “It’s a high quality reality show telling the satirical story about smart women that plays against footage from their college years. You see how the characters changed over four years and watch them change during the show. They keep the party going, but realize adult life is different,” Zakarin said.
The show was cast with actors Zakarin worked with and others he found in auditions.
The increased production budget was also due to the growing popularity of the medium, which explains MySpace’s, which is owned by News Corp., interest in controlling the show. “If you can get cable numbers on a webisodic show, the audience will come to expect a certain production value,” Zakarin said. The first episode, “Life After College,” has received over 400,000 plays since October 18.
The Ford advertising hasn’t started yet and it’s unclear what kind of ads will play. A Ford spokesman said he doesn’t think traditional TV-style spots will run with the show. Instead, the show will be branded with a Ford nameplate that can be clicked to take viewers to a Ford website and product placement shots of the Ford Focus will appear in the series. “We’re venturing into uncharted waters in terms of these types of shows,” he said. “They’re low cost to produce and have a different kind of audience. We’ll see if it drives the traffic we think it will.”
Zakarin also said there will be integrated product placement advertising in the show, but he said it hadn’t occurred in the first seven episodes. “There are hints of things to come, which the story lines will help to introduce,” he said. “It will positively effect the story.”
“Prom Queen” used post-roll ads as well as product placement advertising. There is no indication that “Roommates” will use post-rolls yet. MySpace declined to comment for this story.
“Atropia” and “Twinless” Win Marquee Prizes At Sundance Film Festival
The war satire “Atropia,” about actors in a military role-playing facility, won the grand jury prize in the Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. dramatic competition, while the Dylan O’Brien movie “Twinless” got the coveted audience award.
Juries and programmers for the 41st edition of the independent film festival announced the major prizewinners Friday in Park City, Utah.
Other grand jury winners included the documentaries “Seeds,” about farmers in rural Georgia and “Cutting Through the Rocks,” about the first elected councilwoman in an Iranian village. The Indian drama “Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears),” about a city dweller mourning his father in the western Indian countryside, won the top prize in the world cinema competition.
“It’s for my dad,” said writer and director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade. His late father, he said, was the one who encouraged him to pursue filmmaking.
Audiences also get to vote on their own awards, where James Sweeney’s “Twinless,” about the bromance between two men who meet in a twin bereavement support group, triumphed in the U.S. dramatic category. O’Brien also won a special jury award for his acting.
The U.S. documentary audience award went to “André is an Idiot,” a life-affirming film about dying of colon cancer. Other audience picks were “Prime Minister,” about former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and “DJ Ahmet,” a coming-of-age film about a 15-year-old boy in North Macedonia.
Mstyslav Chernov, the Oscar-winning Associated Press journalist, won the world cinema documentary directing award for his latest dispatch from Ukraine, “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” a joint production between the AP and PBS Frontline.
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