| lonelygirl15 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | LG15 Lonely Girl 15 |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Miles Beckett Mesh Flinders Greg Goodfried Amanda Goodfried |
| Directed by | Marcello Daciano Colin Hargraves Glenn Rubenstein Amanda Goodfried Jackson Davis Kevin Schlanser Mesh Flinders Miles Beckett Yumiko Aoyagi |
| Starring | Jessica Lee Rose Yousef Abu-Taleb Jackson Davis Becki Kregoski Alexandra Dreyfus Maxwell Glick Katherine Pawlak Bitsie Tulloch Crystal Young Melanie Merkosky Raegan Payne |
| Voices of | Kevin Schlanser |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 547 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Amanda Goodfried Glenn Rubenstein Greg Goodfried Mesh Flinders Miles Beckett Yumiko Aoyagi |
| Producers | Amanda Goodfried Glenn Rubenstein Mesh Flinders Miles Beckett Yumiko Aoyagi |
| Production locations | Marin County, California |
| Editors | Amanda Goodfried Colin Hargraves Glenn Rubenstein Ian Schwartz Kevin Schlanser Miles Beckett |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | Varies |
| Original release | |
| Network | YouTube |
| Release | June 16, 2006 – August 1, 2008 |
| Related | |
| LG15: The Resistance KateModern N1ckola LG15: The Last LG15: Outbreak | |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
lonelygirl15 is an American science fiction thriller web series created by Miles Beckett, Mesh Flinders, Greg Goodfried, and Amanda Goodfried. It was independently released on YouTube from June 16, 2006, to August 1, 2008, and was also briefly released on Revver and Myspace. The series revolves around the initially mundane life of homeschooled 16-year-old Bree Avery (Jessica Lee Rose), who uses the username Lonelygirl15 online. She goes on the run with her friend Daniel (Yousef Abu-Taleb) after her parents' mysterious religion is revealed to be The Order, a blood-harvesting operation that wants her "trait positive" blood. The series is presented through video blogs, or vlogs, originally recorded solely from Bree's bedroom.
After discovering YouTube in 2005, Beckett, then a doctor, came up with the idea for a series of staged video blogs presented as though they were real, and set out to create Lonelygirl15 with Flinders, a filmmaker. The two wrote a script and came up with the character of Bree together. Greg and Amanda Goodfried, both lawyers, were brought on to handle the business aspect of the project and to manage Bree's online affairs, respectively. Bree's first few vlogs were posted to the Lonelygirl15 YouTube channel in June 2006, and they quickly gained popularity on the website, with users believing Bree to be a real person making videos about her everyday life. Lonelygirl15 eventually became the most-subscribed YouTube channel a position it held for 226 days in late 2006 and early 2007 during which it became the first YouTube channel to reach 50,000 subscribers.
As the series gained popularity, viewers began to question its authenticity, and users of the Lonelygirl15.com forum soon found proof that it was fake after messaging Bree on Myspace and tracing her IP address to the offices of Creative Artists Agency, where Amanda Goodfried worked. A story published by the Los Angeles Times revealing this information, as well as a post on journalist Tom Foremski's blog Silicon Valley Watcher revealing Rose's identity, led to the project being outed as a hoax in September 2006. Viewership for the series continued to grow after the reveal, and it experienced its highest viewership in 2007.
Bree has frequently been called YouTube's first viral star, and Lonelygirl15 became known for calling into question the authenticity of web content and for pioneering vlogging. Over the course of its release, Lonelygirl15 won a Webby Award and a VH1 Big in '06 Award, and was nominated for a YouTube Award. EQAL, a production company founded by Beckett and Flinders, produced several spinoffs of the series, including KateModern and LG15: The Resistance.
- ^ Sources that refer to Lonelygirl15 as supernatural:
- Blevins, Joe (June 20, 2016). "Lonelygirl15 is creepier than ever in her first video since 2008". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
- Heffernan, Virginia (January 24, 2007). "As Her World Turns, Lonelygirl15 Seeks New Thrills". The New York Times. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
- Dobbs, Sarah (August 6, 2007). "A tribute to LonelyGirl15". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ^ Sources that refer to Lonelygirl15 as a thriller:
- Heffernan, Virginia (January 24, 2007). "As Her World Turns, Lonelygirl15 Seeks New Thrills". The New York Times. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
- "Girl Uninterrupted". Indian Express. August 11, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
- Davis, Joshua (December 1, 2006). "The Secret World of Lonelygirl". Wired. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
- Heffernan, Virginia (August 24, 2008). "Serial Killers". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
- ^ Sources that refer to Lonelygirl15 as science fiction:
- Lakshmin, Deepa (June 21, 2016). "The Greek Actress Who Lied To Everyone Is Back On YouTube". MTV News. Archived from the original on June 23, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
- Hart, Hugh (August 27, 2008). "Lonelygirl15 Team Launches Sci-Fi Resistance". Wired. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
- Eames, Tom (October 13, 2016). "Lonelygirl15 started 10 years ago – what do the stars of the vlog-turned-sci-fi series look like now?". Digital Spy. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
- Dobbs, Sarah (August 6, 2007). "A tribute to LonelyGirl15". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ^ Sources that refer to Lonelygirl15 as a drama:
- Eames, Tom (October 13, 2016). "Lonelygirl15 started 10 years ago – what do the stars of the vlog-turned-sci-fi series look like now?". Digital Spy. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
- Dobbs, Sarah (August 6, 2007). "A tribute to LonelyGirl15". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- St. James, Emily (October 14, 2013). "How Homestar Runner changed web series for the better". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
- Siklos, Richard (April 1, 2007). "Push Comes to Shove for Control of Web Video". The New York Times. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
- ^ Sources that refer to Lonelygirl15 as a soap opera:
- Winder, Davey (May 2008). "Social Networks and Second Lives". Being Virtual: Who You Really Are Online. Wiley. pp. 137–138. ISBN 9780470723623.
- Gentile, Gary (September 17, 2006). "The actress behind the mysterious video soap opera 'Lonelygirl15' amazed by her sudden fame". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
- McNamara, Melissa (September 11, 2006). "Lonelygirl15: An Online Star Is Born". CBS News. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
- Gentile, Gary (March 28, 2007). "Ads turning up in 'Lonelygirl15'". NBC News. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved May 21, 2022.