Written by Liz Gannes
Posted Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 9:00 PM PT

 

Gemini Division: More Than Rosario

Gemini Division, a.k.a. that web show with Rosario Dawson, debuts Aug. 18th. Yes, it’s yet another sci-fi series, perfect for reaching that “niche” audience of web geeks and for integrating interactive storytelling in a sensical way. But in that regard, it’s a savvy production that may just draw a big audience.

This week we met Brent Friedman, executive producer and head writer of the show and a co-owner at web production company Electric Farm, and got more details on how Gemini will be released and promoted. We also shot a short clip with Friedman (embedded above) where he speaks specifically about the interactive features of the show and how they compare to Electric Farm’s last online effort, Afterworld.

Gemini will be released on NBC.com and promoted on-air by the network. The first four of 50 episodes will be embeddable, said Friedman, as a sort of promotional aid. So not exactly the superdistribution we’d hope for, but better than Afterworld, which was scattered haphazardly on different platforms, including the doomed Bud.tv.

Gemini stars Dawson as a detective living five minutes in the future who discovers and subsequently joins a mysterious organization called Gemini Division. It’s told through missives to her PDA. Friedman explained that during the production process the team shot a “slew” of extra footage with a storyline that’s parallel and additive to the main one, and that will be influenced by ARG-style fan participation.

NBC has also brought on the producer of the Heroes web site and a team of web writers to build out this interactive experience. That upfront investment isn’t something every web series can afford, but eliciting and fueling people’s obsessions with the show will be the ticket to turning Rosario Dawson-gawkers into superfans.

One other interesting thing that Friedman emphasized in our conversation is that Electric Farm ensures that its productions are profitable before they even start — in Gemini’s case, via selling distribution rights to NBC and Sony and product integration sponsorships to Microsoft, Cisco and Intel. So even if the public evaluates the series by the number of views it gets or whether it gets picked up on TV, that’s not necessarily Electric Farm’s measure of success.

Friedman elaborated,

“One of the mantras going in in terms of when we developed Afterworld, when we developed Gemini, was: Let’s do what TV wouldn’t. Let’s not aspire to television. If somehow a version of this ends up on television, great, but we imagine this more as we’re incubating an intellectual property on the Internet. And if the story as we lay it out is so compelling that someone wants to see it as a TV show, let somebody buy the rights and do a large-budget TV show.”

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Comments & Trackbacks

  1. Please, please, Internet gods make this one work. Make it so good that it becomes a household name.

    Tim Street on August 7th, 2008 at 9:36 pm - Permalink

  2. I don’t know Tim, that’s a lot to ask for.

    How about: please, please, Internet gods make this more watchable than Afterworld.

    SR on August 8th, 2008 at 12:00 am - Permalink

  3. I wasnt a huge fan of Afterworld’s animation style, but the writing and sound were great! thats what made it watchable for me. With rosario in Geminni i think you wont be able to take your eyes off it!

    also cant wait for all the interactive stuff – if they really pull it off

    Patty Masters on August 8th, 2008 at 9:02 am - Permalink

  4. [...] executive producer of the web series Gemini Division, told NewTeeVee that he deliberately aspired not to create a TV property. On the other hand, there are creators like Yuri Baranovsky of Break a Leg, who freely admitted at [...]

    I’ll Take That TV Deal, Please! « NewTeeVee on August 9th, 2008 at 12:01 am - Permalink

  5. YES! awesome. I’m glad they are specifically NOT shooting for a TV venue. It gives them more opportunities and widens their scope.

    I can’t wait to see how the ARG part plays out.

    TC on August 9th, 2008 at 1:45 pm - Permalink

  6. [...] Farm Entertainment, the production company behind NBC’s new Web-only show Gemini Division, has already earned themselves a profit on the production. How? By lacing the show with consumer-electronics product placement from Intel, Cisco, and [...]

    NBC bungling Rosario Dawson’s Web show [Gemini Division] : VCsAndAngels - Venture Capital / VCs, Angel Investors, Startup News, Etc on August 13th, 2008 at 3:15 pm - Permalink

  7. Do not work for Alex Reed and Stan Rogow because they won’t pay you. My fiancee Pete Evans worked around the clock for six weeks on their crappy show Gemini Division and now they won’t pay him the $14,720 that they owe him for his time and effort. Pete missed out on nearly all of his time with this son this summer and this is how they repay him? I don’t know how Stan Rogow, J. Alex Reed, and Duane Loose can live with themselves after what they have done to Pete and our family. They must truly be evil people with no souls! We will be lucky if we can manage to keep our home without that pay. Stan, Alex, and Duane you will have to live with this for the rest of your life, and I will make sure you never forget what you have done! KARMA will make you and those close to you suffer endlessly for what you have done to Pete and our family. Stan Rogow, J. Alex Reed, and Duane Loose your horrible actions will come back to you three fold until you make this right and PAY PETE EVANS every penny that he is owed!

    Marsha Sorce on August 17th, 2008 at 9:02 am - Permalink

  8. Its so important for the interactive TV genre that Gemini Division puts on a good showing. This is the kind of innovative product that exploits the interactivity of the internet and changes the lean back viewing experience of traditional TV into something far more engaging. Its success would bring much needed attention to the indie interactive web scene.

    Signing Rosario Dawson is a great choice, a neo sci-fi plot is a great choice, the one gripe I have though is geo-blocking the show limiting it only to a US audience, I think its a cop out and a failure to fully embrace the internet. NBC, why get only half pregnant?! In mitigation, I suppose with a huge marketing budget, Gemini Division does not have to rely on viral distribution like indies do. And it probably has found revenues in international distribution.

    $1.75M is HUGE for the web TV world but my hope is that a nice chunk of that is allocated to marketing (and you can count Rosario’s paycheck in that) to bring attention to the nascent interactive web series genre … indies like ours will gladly ride this coat tail.

    Deleted: The Game on August 19th, 2008 at 5:12 pm - Permalink

  9. [...] The Secret World of Sam King. Electric Farm also did this with Afterworld and the brand-new Gemini Division (and NBC says brand participation was the deciding factor for their distribution deal with that [...]

    Trendwatch: No-Risk Web Video « NewTeeVee on August 20th, 2008 at 8:40 am - Permalink

  10. @Liz – I really like the idea that viewers can in some way affect the storyline and I’m very keen to see how EFE manages the “illusion” Brent refers to in your interview. Having already shot their 250mins of footage, I wonder if they’ll get the cast and crew back in to do remedial footage or use non-acted scenes, i.e graphics etc.

    On our own indie project http://www.deletedthegame.com we shoot act-by-act (i.e. 4 episodes at a time) in order to incorporate viewers inputs in a ridiculous attempt at non-binary interactivity (like in American Idol … on/off). Puts the team on a mad treadmill but, hey, whoever said it was going to be easy, lol.

    Deleted: The Game
    http://www.deletedthegame.com

    Deleted: The Game on August 24th, 2008 at 9:14 am - Permalink

  11. [...] a deal to only produce web shows with web studio 60Frames if sponsors can be secured. This fall it distributed and promoted the big-budget project Gemini Division (our review). NBC is also developing its own shows — [...]

    ABC: Original Online Shows Not Our Thing « NewTeeVee on November 28th, 2008 at 9:19 am - Permalink

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