Gemini Division and the New Frontier – An Introduction

Posted by Samuel Walters

Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2

Introduction

It certainly should come as no surprise that the internet is inspiring wildly innovative new forms of entertainment – particularly when compared to traditional outlets such as television and film. For years now, the internet has been a source for a growing grassroots entertainment medium, spawning short films primarily in the cheap and flexible flash video format. Countless online-only series have sprung up, with varying levels of notoriety (long-time web surfers may or may not know of the likes of Foamy, Salad Fingers, badgerbadger and so forth). Fan films easily find their way through the web, creating small, but loyal fanbases (the Star Wars Cops! spoof, titled Troops, is a legend). A few shows like Battlestar Galactica provide web-based short episodes to supplement the traditional television episodes. But to date, there have been very few incursions by big time entertainment entities into the medium.

With the August 2008 release of Gemini Division on NBC.com, that is beginning to change.

Of course, corporate sponsorship doesn’t imply that any creative endeavors that already exist on the internet are, somehow, illegitimate. But the fact is, with its numerous commercial tie-ins, support from a major broadcast network, and a big-time lead actress in Rosario Dawson, Gemini Division carries an authority that is, at least for now, unsurpassed on the web. Not surprisingly, the creators of Gemini Division have a plan to take full advantage of the internet as part of not only the distribution of the show, but also in terms of taking advantage of the interactivity of the web. The result is not just a groundbreaking new show, but an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) and a concerted effort by the Gemini Division crew to engage with its viewers and see them not just merely as passive consumers, but also as partners in a creative enterprise.

In and of itself, this approach isn’t brand new. In 1994, Pink Floyd unleashed the Publius Enigma on its fans as a means of not only promoting their album, called The Division Bell, but also as a means of allowing fans to become emotionally and intellectually invested in their product in ways that had never before been attempted. It’s this idea that has slowly evolved into the modern ARGs. And in the course of the following two articles, we will examine not just Gemini Division as a show, but also how its current strategy to treat its audience as an intelligent collaborator not only has its roots in the Publius Enigma, but also portends a much grander future in terms of cooperative entertainment.

To help shed some light on the process of creating a web-based series, DauntlessMedia.net will be sharing the insights of Brent Friedman, the creator, writer and producer of Gemini Division, who graciously offered to help take part in this series of articles by answering (in great detail) many of my questions about not just Gemini Division, but also its place in the ever developing world of online entertainment.

Part 1 will focus on the development of Gemini Division as a show. Through these questions and answers, we will see how Gemini Division is both similar and quite unlike any television show you’ve seen before. This is important because in order to understand how Gemini Division fits into the broader scheme of online entertainment, it’s necessary to take a look under the hood and see how it’s put together. And, too, Mr. Friedman’s responses are so in depth that they will be of great interest not only to fans of Gemini Division, but also to anyone who might want to continue the grassroots tradition of online entertainment by building a similar show on their own. It can be done. Mr. Friedman’s prior web-series, called Afterworld, is a testament to that.

Part 2 of our series will more closely examine Gemini Division’s current release and its promotional and interactive strategies, draw connections backwards to the Publius Enigma, and speculate on where things may be headed in the immediate and distant futures. Once again, we will make use of Mr. Friedman’s input and insight into not only his own series, but also the very idea of using the internet as part of collaborative creative enterprise. And it’s here that things become most interesting because, as we have seen, the internet is a powerful tool for bringing people together – just look at the preponderance of MMORPGs, such as World of Warcraft. We may indeed be looking at a Matrix-like collaborative simulation sometime in the not too distant future (voluntarily, of course – I hope).

Future installments of this series will take a look at the philosophical and psychological roots of these kinds of online paradigms. To do this, we will be examining two books. The first, which is closely related to Pink Floyd and the Publius Enigma, is called Cybernetics: The Human Use of Human Beings, by Norbert Wiener. The second book was referenced on more than one occasion in The Matrix Trilogy, and is called Simulacra and Simulation, by Jean Baudrillard. These installments will, necessarily, be a bit more abstract and are currently only in the planning stages.

It is my sincerest hope that through this series of articles, readers will not only discover a little bit about Gemini Division as both a show and a step in a long progression of collaborative efforts, but also understand how these kinds of endeavors say something about us, about who we are as people, as a society, and as a civilization. Such a commentary is at the very heart of DauntlessMedia.net’s mission and I look forward to you joining me on this journey.

Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2

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Topics: Interview
Filed under: Gemini Division, Modern Myth