The L Word’s Online Video Efforts Impress

The L Word, the hit Showtime drama about a web of lesbians, has been innovative in extending its social network online, with the nicely designed and actively used OurChart launched at the beginning of this year. We recently spoke with The L Word creator and OurChart CEO Ilene Chaiken and OurChart President Hilary Rosen (yes, the former CEO of the RIAA), and were further impressed by what they’re doing with online video.

The two take a highly experimental approach, with Chaiken calling in her connections in the entertainment world to play around on the internet. They also have tried posting behind-the-scenes footage from The L Word and public appearances by its stars, and later this month plan to add user video uploads.

The most ambitious OurChart video project is Girltrash, a commissioned webisode series from director Angela Robinson that Rosen described as “Lesbian Pulp Fiction without the blood.” The highly anticipated series, which is of course behind schedule, is in previews on the site (embedded above).

Chaiken says she cut Robinson a deal for an “exclusive first run of the project,” with a budget “in the tens of thousands as opposed to the millions that she’s used to.” The instructions were minimal. “We went into this saying this is a really new medium, we don’t know how it’s going to work,” says Chaiken. “We want to give these creators an opportunity to do something in a new medium in an unfettered way.”

The series seems to be resonating before it’s even started, with Robinson’s blog posts about the project drawing hundreds of comments from OurChart members eagerly anticipating the series.

In addition to making appearances in videos from live events, The L Word star Kate Moennig has also gotten involved in original video for the site, creating a compelling multi-part documentary about gay youth homelessness called My Address.

CBS-funded OurChart plans to commission two more shows in the near future, most likely one fiction and one documentary, according to Chaiken. She said the biggest holdup may be guild negotiations about writers and actors appearing online.