To begin, I’d like to say that DiVAS: The Halloween Special has been our most successful episode to date, fetching over 4,000 views in the first few hours of release on October 31st. Our website hit counts have steadily rose since it’s debut and continue to do so. I was given a copy (PDF) of the catalog from the Rinascimento Virtual Direnze 2008 (Virtual Renaissance Festival) - it is an exhibition currently on display in the Museum of Natural History in Florence, Italy. DiVAS appears multiple times in the 163 page catalog.
Season 2 had been scheduled for a November 28th release date. Unfortunately, because we have recently decided to film the majority of the season before we begin releasing them, we have to push back the release date until after the New Year when the majority of filming on all 6 episodes has been completed. Our goal is to improve both quality and raise our production standard for this season, and it would be impossible in such a small time frame. The episodes are all written out, the entire season has been planned for several months, it’s just a matter of reserving the time to film them and prepare them for distribution.
This time last year, we were preparing the release of our first episode of DiVAS for release, which hit the web on December 1st 2007. We are now on the cusp of our one year anniversary as content creators and we’ve come a long way, baby! For the last year we have been so fortunate that our efforts have been consistently well received and that our audience continues to grow. We are so deeply grateful for the community support we’ve gotten from people around the grid, and the DiVAS ExTRAS group. None of us ever anticipated that our little cartoon would be considered a critical figure in the molding of the face of SL machinima, or that our work would be shown in a Museum. We never imagined that our work would be covered by various media in every language around the globe. Above all, we are grateful, and we hope the next year allows us to expand, we plan to put more shows into production, and above all, we hope to be around for a very long time.
This past year saw the inception of our production entity, New Media Cinema, a studio which focuses on developing original, long term series with progressive characters and storylines with the intention of appealing to a vast and diverse demographic. Three new shows are in development as well as a reality show in partnership with Metaverse-TV. Perhaps most exciting is the opportunity to work with professional voice actors who will be bringing our virtual characters to life! One of these actors has been a staple on television and radio internationally as the voice of L’Oreal in television ads with Natalie Imbruglia. We’ll be introducing you to him soon along with the other cast members who will soon step onto sets and give a voice to some of our quirkiest characters yet!
The next year will see the release of The Gothlys - a bit of Dr. Suess and a bit of the Brothers Grimm, this dark, Burtonesque series will be filmed in Black and white and tells the story of nine year old Rubella Gothly and her search for a place to belong. Virtually Single tells the story of four real life profesional Women who, tired of the exhaustive search for Mr. Right, decide to explore a virtual life. Finally, Ctrl Alt Delete is a science fiction action/adventure mini-series about a man whose very awareness and being is trapped inside a virtual world by a sinister leader of a secret society - 200 years ago, before this place was occupied.
Also, you will see see I Wanna Be A SLebrity, a reality show where 6 men and women will compete for the opportunity of a second lifetime. We get to go on many adventures this year, and we hope you’ll be along for the ride.
Thank you all for a wonderful year!
DiVAS Cast & Crew
Phaylen Fairchild, Evie Fairchild, Kit Maitland, Stampshady Grimm & Bredero Jevon
