SamHas7Friends

infobox television
show_name = SamHas7Friends


caption = SamHas7Friends logo
rating =
format = drama, internet video
runtime = 90 seconds
creator = Douglas Cheney
Chris Hampel
Chris McCaleb
Ryan Wise
Marcus Blakely

producer = Marcus Blakely
director = Douglas Cheney
Chris Hampel
Chris McCaleb
Ryan Wise

starring = Stephanie Marquis
country =
filmed = California
related = Prom Queen
network = YouTube
Revver
iTunes
first_aired = August 28, 2006
last_aired = December 15, 2006
num_episodes = 80
website = http://www.samhas7friends.com

SamHas7Friends was a 2006 internet-based serial drama made by the production company Big Fantastic. The series appeared on YouTube, Revver, iTunes and its own web site. The show revolved around its tagline, "Samantha Breslow has seven friends. On December 15, 2006, one of them will kill her," with each episode bringing Sam one day closer to her death.

History

The series was created as an experiment by a group of young Los Angeles-based filmmakers, Marcus Blakely, Douglas Cheney, Chris Hampel, Chris McCaleb and Ryan Wise, in their spare time. The project was self-financed on a budget of around $50,000.Cite web| url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BJDsc1XOI4 | title = "Sam Has 7 Friends" yourLA Feature Interview | work = [http://www.canal22.tv/KNBC/YOURLATV/knbc.htm yourLA] on KNBC | date = 2006-11-03 | accessdate = 2007-04-30 ] Chris Hampel and Chris McCaleb were also working on Michael Mann's film "Miami Vice"; Hampel as Mann's assistant, McCaleb as an assistant editor.

The group formed a production company called "Big Fantastic, LLC" and set about creating a series of webisodes. The producers believed there was an untapped market for people with short attention spans, or office workers with only sporadic free time, who would watch a short-form scripted, serialized drama. [Cite news | url = http://www.miamiherald.com/277/story/83355.html | title = Webisode: Think 60 seconds, not 60 minutes | author = Glenn Garvin | work = The Miami Herald | date = 2007-04-23 | accessdate = 2007-04-30 ] The series was distributed for free on YouTube, Revver, iTunes and its own site, samhas7friends.com. The series was produced with no business model, and only minimal support from advertising via post-roll Revver ads.

Story

SamHas7Friends is variously described as a soap opera or murder mystery. The story follows an attractive cast of young actors around LA with the knowledge, throughout the series, that one of them is going to kill Samantha Breslow, an aspiring actress.Cite web| url = http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2006/10/31/clip-culture-gets-clipped.aspx | title = Clip Culture Gets Clipped | author = Rick Aristotle Munarriz | date = 2006-10-31 | accessdate = 2007-04-30 | work = The Motley Fool]

The seven "friends" that appear in the series opening credits are Sam's boyfriend Patrick, her ex-boyfriend Willie, her best friend Dani, Dani's boyfriend Chivo, her neighbor Scott, Patrick's other girlfriend Vera, and Sam's agent Roman.

The characters get in various fights with each other over the course of the 80 episodes. With webisodes of only 90 seconds a piece, each episode focused on the most interesting minute and a half of the characters' days.

Throughout the series, Sam has a bad run of luck, going through two break-ups, struggling to find acting work and getting in fights with her best friend, her agent and her sister. After attempting various reconciliations, she decides she has had her fill of LA

On the December 15, 2006 episode Sam is murdered while preparing to move out of her apartment and leave L.A. forever. The murderer cannot be seen in this final episode, leaving the mystery up in the air.

Reception

Critics had mixed reactions to SamHas7Friends. Virginia Heffernan of the New York Times described the series as "respectably viral."Cite news| url = http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30B11FE3A5B0C758DDDAD0894DF404482 | title = Who Is the Player King Behind 'Prom Queen'? | author = Virginia Heffernan | work = The New York Times | date = 2007-04-16 | accessdate = 2007-04-30 ] Television critic Andrew Wallenstein was perplexed by the series, and suggested that "maybe drama remains the domain of traditional mediums."Cite news | url = http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6619297 | title = Online TV Series Has Drama, Lacks Staying Power | author = Andrew Wallenstein | work = NPR's Day to Day | date = 2006-12-13 | accessdate = 2007-04-30]

The series received small audiences of several thousand viewers at YouTube, Revver and its own site. At iTunes the show was more popular, receiving more than 10,000 downloads a day through the show's run.Cite web| url = http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2006/11/07/can-youtube-me-now.aspx | title = Can YouTube Me Now? | author = Rick Aristotle Munarriz | date = 2006-11-07 | accessdate = 2007-04-30 | work = The Motley Fool]

After Sam's Death

While the show attracted less views than many of the most popular Web serials, SamHas7Friends caught the eye of the United Talent Agency, one of the big 5 Hollywood talent agencies, which operates a unit to scout for online talent.Cite news| url = http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/newmedia/la-et-goldstein23jan23,1,1347880.story?coll=la-headlines-entnews&ctrack=1&cset=true | title = Hollywood is seeing fans pull a power play | author = Patrick Goldstein | date = 2007-01-23 | accessdate = 2007-04-30 | work = Los Angeles Times ]

After shopping the series around, United Talent Agency and the producers of SamHas7Friends caught the eye of Michael Eisner, the former CEO of Walt Disney who was creating a studio to produce content for the internet. Eisner purchased the rights for season 1 of SamHas7Friends as well as an option to produce any future seasons. Eisner's also hired the producers through his production company Vuguru to create his first internet series.Cite news| url = http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117960952.html?categoryid=1236&cs=1 | title = Eisner unveils Web studio | author = Dade Hayes | work = Variety | date = 2007-03-12]

The series Prom Queen debuted on MySpace on April 1, 2007.

References

External links

* [http://www.samhas7friends.com samhas7friends.com] — Official site