Social TV

When I met Miles 'LG15' Beckett last summer, prior to the launch of Kate Modern, one part of our conversation stayed with me.  Discussing the launch of the Bebo drama that was to go on and become so successful, I asked him what the plot line for the show would be like.  To my bemusement he responded in the vaguest terms, as if it wasn't terribly important.  I followed up with an enquiry about where the web drama would be shot.  Once again Beckett mentioned a few different places almost as if he hadn't considered details such as location.  Finally, I requested information about budget and commercial deals and he said they were a few pending, some of which looked more promising than others.  Putting the lack of specifics down to an embryonic plan, I asked Miles when it would be possible to launch the show.  'Next Monday', he replied precisely.  The degree to which this differs from normal production planning and scheduling outlines the different mentality required to operate online in networked media.  Miles went on that day to describe to me that almost nothing could be pinned down finally until the community was up and running and feeding back into the plotline.  I was reminded of this chat today whilst watching this Tech Confidential interview with Beckett and his partner in the LG15 universe, Greg Goodfried, as they prepare to extend their online universe of 'social shows' with the launch of The Resistance.  Here's a snippet : "The way that you actually construct the narrative, the way that the plot points flow over the course of the week, the way the site interplays with the video, the way the community works together and talks to the videos and talks to the characters, is all different."