Eqal Prepares Rollout Of New Serial Drama

Goodfried and BeckettThe pressure is on at Eqal--the digital studio that brought the world "lonelygirl15" and "KateModern"--as it prepares to launch its next original series, "LG15: The Resistance," in mid-September.

"As in any creative business, there's always that feeling of 'I hope people like it,'" said Miles Beckett, CEO and co-founder of Eqal. "But we're confident with our experience, our team, and our existing base of fans."

Appealing to those 50,000 to 100,000 devotes still flocking to lonelygirl15 properties online, the new serial drama shares the same mythology of competing secret societies behind lonelygirl15 and KateModern. Yet in its execution and distribution, "LG15: The Resistance" differs significantly from Eqal's previous projects.

For one, both lonelygirl15 and KateModern were distributed from single platforms online--on YouTube and Bebo, respectively. LG15, by contract, will be available on several social networks and online video-sharing sites, including MySpaceTV, imeem, Veoh, YouTube and Hulu.

LG15 will also reside on a completely redesigned Web site full of social networking features for fans to create profile pages, participate in live chats, discussion forums, comment boards, and groups. The format for the show will consist of one weekly episode posted every Saturday over the course of its 12-week season.

"We shortened the series from six to three months, and have created weekly installments of the show to make it easier for passive viewers to engage with the show," Beckett said.

Daily posts by the characters on LG15.com will include short videos and other multimedia content, such as text blogs and photos, for fans who want to be actively involved in the daily happenings, plot twists, and fan interaction that is natively built into the series.

The founders of Eqal, previously named LG15/Telegraph Ave. Prods., have come a long way since launching lonelygirl15 in June 2006. A great deal is expected from the self-described "social entertainment company" from fans as well as financial backers.

Earlier this year, Eqal raised $5 million in series-A financing from Spark Capital, along with Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen, Mark Burnett Productions producer Conrad Riggs, tech investor Ron Conway and Georges Harik, former director of product management at Google.

Still, the company has been profitable since 2007--making money from advertising, brand integration, and licensing and distributing deals. In one instance, Neutrogena partnered with lonelygirl15's producers to insert a Neutrogena scientist into the show's cast and plot.

As with the previous series, brand sponsors will be tightly integrated into LG15: The Resistance and woven throughout the narrative. Eqal is still looking for about three new brand partners for LG15. Along with brand integration, sponsors will also be featured via banner advertising on the new LG15 social network, as well as partner distribution sites.

"There's a lot of ways to get revenue," said Greg Goodfried, co-founder, president, and chief operating officer of Eqal. "There are international rights, DVDs, and other markets that are very new. But our first goal is to produce really compelling content, and to worry about the monetization later."

Along with LG15, Eqal has other projects in the early development stages. In addition, it recently entered into a development deal with CBS to either add to existing net shows with online extensions or new multi-platform series. While nonexclusive, the deal gives CBS a first look at EQAL ideas that would potentially run on TV, Internet or mobile.

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