Social networking giant MySpace is taking advantage of its entertainment-focused audience with the premiere of a new online video series called “Quarterlife.”
The new series marks MySpace’s entry into network-quality programming aimed exclusively at the Internet, as the television set merges with the Web. Under this model, viewers interact with the production process.
“This is the most exciting project I’ve worked on in a very long time, and part of that is the level of creative autonomy we can have on the Internet,” said Marshall Herskovitz, one of the show’s creators, in a statement.
The show targets the online generation, and aims to engage its users through this network. Members of the Quarterlife community will be invited to help create the series through writing and video submissions contests. The show is centered around six creative twenty-somethings.
MySpace does not pay a license fee for the episodes. It will be involved in selling advertising spots to run alongside the content.
As the exclusive international distribution partner, MySpaceTV will create a Quarterlife video channel and a MySpace profile page to be home to the exclusive series content. This content will include the programming, as well as character profiles, behind-the-scenes video footage and storyline secrets. MySpaceTV will have the exclusive global rights to premiere 36 original episodes of “Quarterlife.”
The new series will be owned and controlled by creators Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, creators of “My So-Called Life,” “Thirtysomething,” “Legends of the Fall” and “Blood Diamond,” and will debut on MySpaceTV on November 11.
Herskovitz and Zwick have also created a dedicated social networking site at www.quarterlife.com to exist concurrent with the Internet series. The episodes will be available on quarterlife.com a day after their debut on MySpace.
“Quarterlife” will be immediately available across MySpaceTV’s 20 international territories and its approximately110 million global active users. Localized versions of MySpaceTV are available in seven different languages in countries including the UK, Japan, Australia, Germany, France, Mexico, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Latin America, Sweden and Finland.
