The Spot
Encyclopedia
The Spot, or thespot.com, was the second episodic online story (1995-1997), after an earlier experiment by AOL's QuantumLink Serial
, and pioneered the underwriting of bandwidth
and production costs by offering paid advertising banners on the web pages and product placement within the journal entries. The site earned one of the original Webby Awards
.
, California
. Some of the actors depicted online were also writers and behind-the-scenes production staffers on the site, while some later appeared in independent films or in broadcast television series as on-screen performers.
The characters, called Spotmates, would keep near-daily online diaries (similar to what later came to be called blogs), respond to emails, and post images of their current activities. In addition the site boasted short videos, as well as photos relating to the diary entries. The fanbase on the site, which called themselves 'Spotfans', interacted on a daily basis with the Spotmates and each other, discussing the newsworthy events.
The Spot engaged the audience by allowing them to become part of the storyline and give advice to characters--sometimes succeeding in changing how characters responded to the in-story situations. Viewers were encouraged to post on the message boards (the 'Spotboard'), send e-mail to the various characters offering them insight, advice and even arguments to their posted life dilemmas and dramas based on loosely orchestrated story arcs and different character viewpoints of the same storyline. The audience opinion was used by the writers to affect storyline directions, allowing the writing staff a maneuverability not possible in traditional media outlets.
, who at the time was an aspiring filmmaker from New York who had been directing television commercials for advertising agency Fattal and Collins. He convinced his employer to back the idea of an interactive fiction site, and the result was the most successful interactive fiction site to date. According to Zakarin, at its height the site received over 100,000 hits a day, a tremendous response for its time.
In the spring of 1996, buoyed by intense media interest in the project, Zakarin sold his interest to minority investors, who sought venture capitalist backing to create an online network called American Cybercast, a spin-off from Fattal & Collins. Fattal & Collins asked their Vice President, Sheri Herman to bring in venture capital as The Spot was not being monetized and draining Company resources. In a matter of weeks, Ms. Herman brought in Intel who led additional investors into an initial 7 million dollar round of financing. The new investors wanted a larger number of webisodes created under the umbrella name American Cybercast.
Zakarin was later fired by American Cybercast, and the production continued under different head writers/management.
The Spot continued producing original content through the late spring and early summer of 1997, when American Cybercast fell into bankruptcy as the site's drawing power was diluted somewhat by a wave of imitators, some professional and some amateur. The company's resources were also drained by three parallel "online soaps" (Eon-4
, The Pyramid and Quick Fix) introduced by the company to exploit the success of The Spot. Each of those additional webisodics, like the Spot before them, attracted a significant following. But none of them could generate sufficient advertising or product placement revenue to sustain them financially. The Spot closed its initial production run the night of June 30/July 1, 1997, although it remained available online with archives of the 1995-97 episodes, and kept its live message boards open, for about two years after the last original episode went live. The Spot also spawned a number of fan-related online message board communities. At least one of those sites (elgonquin.com) remains online with archived entries available for view, 12 years after The Spot itself ceased its initial original production run, although its message board was closed and taken offline early in 2009. Some of The Spot's original creative team are also active today online, including original cofounder Scott Zakarin through his Iron Sink Media family of websites and multimedia series which continue in production and air online through ironsink.com.
The Spot was brought back to life for a relaunch in 2004 by Stewart St. John, the original 1995-97 series' final executive producer, and Todd Fisher. It enjoyed some initial success in its relaunch and included a wireless aspect that was exclusive to Sprint, but has since gone dark once again. St. John and Fisher remain active in other film and online projects through their Stewdiomedia firm.
The initial (1995-97) cast featured;
QuantumLink Serial
The QuantumLink Serial by Tracy Reed on AOL was the first episodic online story. The series was also known as the PC-Link Serial and the AppleLink Serial before all three services were unified when Quantum changed its name to AOL....
, and pioneered the underwriting of bandwidth
Bandwidth (computing)
In computer networking and computer science, bandwidth, network bandwidth, data bandwidth, or digital bandwidth is a measure of available or consumed data communication resources expressed in bits/second or multiples of it .Note that in textbooks on wireless communications, modem data transmission,...
and production costs by offering paid advertising banners on the web pages and product placement within the journal entries. The site earned one of the original Webby Awards
Webby Awards
A Webby Award is an international award presented annually by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for excellence on the Internet with categories in websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile....
.
Overview
The Spot was likened to "Melrose Place-on-the-Web" and featured a rotating cast of attractive actors playing trendy and hip twenty somethings who rented rooms in a fabled southern California beach house called “The Spot”, in Santa MonicaSanta Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Some of the actors depicted online were also writers and behind-the-scenes production staffers on the site, while some later appeared in independent films or in broadcast television series as on-screen performers.
The characters, called Spotmates, would keep near-daily online diaries (similar to what later came to be called blogs), respond to emails, and post images of their current activities. In addition the site boasted short videos, as well as photos relating to the diary entries. The fanbase on the site, which called themselves 'Spotfans', interacted on a daily basis with the Spotmates and each other, discussing the newsworthy events.
The Spot engaged the audience by allowing them to become part of the storyline and give advice to characters--sometimes succeeding in changing how characters responded to the in-story situations. Viewers were encouraged to post on the message boards (the 'Spotboard'), send e-mail to the various characters offering them insight, advice and even arguments to their posted life dilemmas and dramas based on loosely orchestrated story arcs and different character viewpoints of the same storyline. The audience opinion was used by the writers to affect storyline directions, allowing the writing staff a maneuverability not possible in traditional media outlets.
History
The site was started in June 1995 by Scott ZakarinScott Zakarin
Scott Zakarin is an American writer, film producer and new media entertainment pioneer.-Career:In 1995, while directing commercials and early interactive television tests for the Fattal & Collins advertising agency, Zakarin became fascinated by the Internet. He spent time in chat rooms and quickly...
, who at the time was an aspiring filmmaker from New York who had been directing television commercials for advertising agency Fattal and Collins. He convinced his employer to back the idea of an interactive fiction site, and the result was the most successful interactive fiction site to date. According to Zakarin, at its height the site received over 100,000 hits a day, a tremendous response for its time.
In the spring of 1996, buoyed by intense media interest in the project, Zakarin sold his interest to minority investors, who sought venture capitalist backing to create an online network called American Cybercast, a spin-off from Fattal & Collins. Fattal & Collins asked their Vice President, Sheri Herman to bring in venture capital as The Spot was not being monetized and draining Company resources. In a matter of weeks, Ms. Herman brought in Intel who led additional investors into an initial 7 million dollar round of financing. The new investors wanted a larger number of webisodes created under the umbrella name American Cybercast.
Zakarin was later fired by American Cybercast, and the production continued under different head writers/management.
The Spot continued producing original content through the late spring and early summer of 1997, when American Cybercast fell into bankruptcy as the site's drawing power was diluted somewhat by a wave of imitators, some professional and some amateur. The company's resources were also drained by three parallel "online soaps" (Eon-4
Eon-4
EON-4 was the first sci-fi episodic website. The story, created by Rockne S. O'Bannon was based around the mysterious Groom Lake or Area 51 site as the point of contact with an alien race. Three explorers from earth, U.S. Navy Captain David M...
, The Pyramid and Quick Fix) introduced by the company to exploit the success of The Spot. Each of those additional webisodics, like the Spot before them, attracted a significant following. But none of them could generate sufficient advertising or product placement revenue to sustain them financially. The Spot closed its initial production run the night of June 30/July 1, 1997, although it remained available online with archives of the 1995-97 episodes, and kept its live message boards open, for about two years after the last original episode went live. The Spot also spawned a number of fan-related online message board communities. At least one of those sites (elgonquin.com) remains online with archived entries available for view, 12 years after The Spot itself ceased its initial original production run, although its message board was closed and taken offline early in 2009. Some of The Spot's original creative team are also active today online, including original cofounder Scott Zakarin through his Iron Sink Media family of websites and multimedia series which continue in production and air online through ironsink.com.
The Spot was brought back to life for a relaunch in 2004 by Stewart St. John, the original 1995-97 series' final executive producer, and Todd Fisher. It enjoyed some initial success in its relaunch and included a wireless aspect that was exclusive to Sprint, but has since gone dark once again. St. John and Fisher remain active in other film and online projects through their Stewdiomedia firm.
Characters
The characters were chiefly "played" by models, with their diaries written by Zakarin, his assistant Laurie (Shiers) Plaksin, staff writer Dennis Dortch, and staff writer/ombudsman Jeff Gouda and Melanie Hall.The initial (1995-97) cast featured;
- Tara Hartwick - Laurie Plaksin
- Michelle - Kristin Herold
- Jeff Benton - Tim AbellTim AbellTimothy Shawn "Tim" Abell is an American film and television actor.-Early Life:The youngest of three children, Tim came from the Maryland and Virginia area, where summers were spent fishing on the Chesapeake for striped bass, blue fish, blue crabs and oysters in his father's fifty-year-old 47-foot...
- Lon Oliver - Armando Valdes-Kennedy
- Carrie Seaver - Kristen Dolan
- Chase, Becker - Jeff Gouda
- Caldwell, Emily - Melanie Hall
- Wulf - Rich Tackenberg
- Fedex Kim - Lynn Elliot
Further reading
- Digital Babylon: How the Geeks, the Suits, and the Ponytails Fought to Bring Hollywood to the Internet, John Geirland, Eva Sonesh-Keder Roman (Arcade Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1559704837)
External links
- TheSpot.com (Archive)