The Hayley Project: lonelygirl Copycats?

When I was first sent a link to The Hayley Project, I watched the first episode before writing it off as a lonelygirl15 clone. But then, in the course of browsing the web one night, I came across creator Andrew Park’s blog, where he defended the series against that very allegation. I was so intrigued by his arguments about genre and format that I asked if he and co-creator Jato Smith would talk to me about how they approached coming up with a new cute-girl-talks-to-vlog-audience series, and what they felt set them apart from other web series. (As you’ll see, the title was their suggestion.) An edited transcript of our conversation follows.

NewTeeVee: When you knew you wanted to make a web series, did you look at what was already out before sitting down to come up with your own concept?

Andrew Park: Yes. This idea came about in late 2006 — at that time, LG15 was big, and Sam Has 7 Friends was also out there and popular. What we saw was an opportunity to take an emerging category and tell our own story. What I mean by that is LG15 really discovered that people are willing to follow fictional storytelling via vlog format, and that interaction over the web with viewers works great in this format.

So yes, there were a lot of followers who started producing a lot of these types of series. But just like any genre on TV, there are a million different stories out there. So we weren’t concerned about the other types of series out there at the time.

NewTeeVee: So how do you personally define, in simple terms, what I’ll call the “LG15 genre”?

Park: Well, when people start comparing shows to LG15, etc., usually they aren’t really thinking about what we call “genre,” what they’re really talking about is “format.” Vlog-style fictional storytelling is more of a format, and within that format, there are millions of stories to be told and types of genres. LG15 has created an overarching style of storytelling — you can call it a genre if you’d like, but the actual content can go in many different directions.

Jato Smith: If we’re talking genre, I consider it mystery/dramedy. I’m more of a purist, so I don’t really focus on the method of delivery as much. Vlog, or straight narrative, or a blend of the two…to me it’s about the story itself.

NewTeeVee: Were there lessons you feel like you learned from those other shows? Do’s and don’ts, so to speak?

Park: Well, LG15 definitely showed the power of an interactive rabid fan base. The commenting back and forth between fans and the character was certainly a great way to enhance storytelling. The vlog format is cheap and an easy set-up as well, from the practical production side of things.

Smith: I almost feel like it’s a bit early for do’s and don’ts. Communication over the web is ever-changing, so you can never really break rules. You can’t necessarily even create them as you go. It’s kind of awesome, this lawless universe!

NewTeeVee: But the pre-existing community does have expectations for this sort of programming. You’ve already encountered some criticism for being an LG15 clone — to which Andrew responded quite eloquently — but I still want to ask: Was that a critique you were prepared for when you launched?

Park: Yes. Absolutely. Here’s the thing: Our content, characters, plot, etc. is nothing like LG15. If people watch our series, they’ll see that, but it’s easy to see a cute girl vlogging and make assumptions, and I can understand why. It’s fair, but it’s similar to seeing a trailer for an action movie and saying, “Oh, didn’t they do that movie before?” The content could be completely different, but the overarching action genre might be similar.

Smith: True. All car explosions are NOT the same.

Park: As an aside, actually being compared to programming is NOT a bad thing, especially when something is as successful as LG15. It provides an immediate frame of reference for people. That’s why Hollywood pitches are always about “Jaws on land” and comparisons to previous hits.

NewTeeVee: So what’s the pitch for Hayley? LG15 meets XXX?

Park: Veronica Mars meets LG15. We share LG15-style interactions with viewers, but the story is centered around a murder mystery, and quirky characters that reside in the narrative world.

NewTeeVee: Would you count Hayley herself as a quirky character?

Smith: Oddly enough, I feel like Hayley is about as normal as any of the characters get. As unique as she may seem, she’s the emotional anchor for the series.

NewTeeVee: My reason for bringing it up is that the “cute girl” element of the story is clearly one of the biggest causes for any LG15 comparisons. And that can become a kind of generic plot element, with character development getting shortchanged as a result. I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t engage with Hayley in the first episode, because I didn’t grasp what made her unique from other “cute girl” protagonists.

Park: That’s fair. I think you make a good point. Our challenge as serial storytellers is how quickly we can get an audience up to speed on characters, background, etc. Starting around Episode 3, you start to really get a sense of who Hayley is.

Smith: I like to think that Hayley is the kind of character that will grow on you. Like a lot of shows that come out, it takes time to settle into them, and that happens because you get layers and layers of their personality as you go.

Park: I will say that some people have found Hayley a little abrasive — viewers have been commenting “Hayley kind of has an attitude problem.” These sorts of comments are coming up in Episode 3 and 4 a lot.

Smith: There are times when we all have an attitude problem. But there’s more than one side to us.

NewTeeVee: What, at the end of Episode 1, do you hope draws people in?

Smith: The promise of a good mystery and the chance to help.

Park: I agree with that. It’s the inciting incident to our series. That said, I don’t think Episode 1 does a good enough job letting the audience know what type of series this will be. To understand her as a character and the tone (dramedy), our next few episodes get to that.

NewTeeVee: Do you worry about the risk of centering your series on a character who your viewers are already responding to as unlikable?

Park: Not at all. She’s coming across as a character who doesn’t know how to deal with people. She’s rough around the edges, but that’s who she is. I think what makes our series interesting is that Hayley is realistic that way and where she starts isn’t where she’ll end. People don’t hate her. They’re just maybe surprised with her “direct” approach.

Smith: You don’t ride the subway with people you like all the time, but it’s cool.

Park: One viewer commented: “I like you. I’m the same way.”

NewTeeVee: How have your numbers been?

Park: Numbers have been OK. Across all sites, we’re probably around 6K in aggregate right now. But we’ve only just started to promote the show, and we’ve started to see some uptick in the last few days as we’ve joined the YouTube partner program, so we’re hoping to see more growth.

But given we’ve only been out two weeks, we’re pretty happy that viewers are starting to find us.

NewTeeVee: Well, congrats to you both!

Park: Thank you! We look forward to “lonelygirl Copycats: The Hayley Project.”

NewTeeVee: Hey, I’ll put in a question mark!