I have thought deeply about the future of social media, and right now my thoughts are consumed by a wonderfully inventive new television series that is shaping my perspective.
This groundbreaking show is called LOOK, and it is awesome. It’s addictive, sexy, social, and stands up well to multiple viewings. In short, it’s a hit.
LOOK airs Sundays at midnight this fall, starting THIS SUNDAY 10-10-10, so please set your Tivos!! To everyone who asks me I tell them that
LOOK is definitely worth getting Showtime for!
The main theme of LOOK is that we are always being watched by surveillance cameras, smartphones, FLIP’s, and webcams.
In the post-9/11 United States, there are now 40 million surveillance cameras and 160 million camcorders.
The average American is captured on camera more than 200 times a day, and we really don’t think much about the implications of that…
Don’t let the creepy Saw vibe of the teaser fool you: this is neither horror nor fantasy. This is a well-written drama in the tradition of Dexter and Weeds, that has some parts comedy, some parts crime / mystery, some parts sex, and like an onion (or an ogre) it has layers that peel back as more is revealed about the characters in each scene. The first episode is good, the second episode is great, and the third episode is exceptional… and it just gets better from there!
The show has lots of subtle and interesting things happening in the background since all shots are taken from the perspective of a surveillance camera or mobile device. As a result, the interconnected relationships between the many characters unfold over time as in a Robert Altman movie or the film Crash, and although I’ve seen the first four episodes I want to go back and LOOK at them again to see things I didn’t see before. One LOOK is not enough.
In 37 U.S. states it is legal to have cameras in dressing rooms and toilets. The series regularly showcases characters who aren’t watching when they should, or who are watching when they shouldn’t.
Mobile devices and social media — such as Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, and especially Facebook — accelerate the spreading of information about us, and the series (like the award winning LOOK movie) always reminds us of this reality without making a judgement call about whether it’s better for security or worse for individual liberties. The more I LOOK, the more I internalize that privacy is an illusion; it is a throwback to the time before Y2K — before ubiquitous Internet and cell phones with cameras.
I say “especially Facebook” because Facebook’s mission is to “make the world more open and connected” and so despite increasingly improved privacy controls, Facebook’s mission taken to its illogical extreme is still to make us all comfortable sharing as much as possible with as many people as possible.
Memo to Facebook audience: I LIKE LOOK.Memo to Twitter audience: I ❤ LOOK.
In LOOK a colorful cast of characters cheat, lie, and commit crimes that are all revealed by the winking but watchful eye of the every-camera.
Warren Buffett once gave me the advice to never do anything I didn’t want to see appear on the front page of the New York Times; LOOK wears this sentiment proudly, and reminds me of an excellent line from The Social Network…
The Internet offers a substrate for the permanence of everything we do. Because cameras are capturing everything, what we do in life echoes in eternity, and thanks to LOOK, everyone can now see that. LOOK is Gladiator-Good.
LOOK was conceived and c
reated by my hero Adam Rifkin, and it is already a critical success like other Showtime series Dexter and Weeds. It has Emmy-worthy writing, directing, and editing.
reated by my hero Adam Rifkin, and it is already a critical success like other Showtime series Dexter and Weeds. It has Emmy-worthy writing, directing, and editing.
I happen to think it will be a popular success too, because the acting is superb — and I give tremendous, fabulous shout outs to Sharon Hinnendael and Ali Cobrin, two bona fide stars in the making.
I was so enthused about their performances that I sent them accolades on Facebook, and we had some great discussions. Both Sharon and Ali strike me as down to earth, smart people who are great actresses, too.
Sharon is a huge fan of Wisconsin and the Packers, and she genuinely appreciates her family’s support in her career.
Like Sharon, Ali looks like she’s having a great time playing her role in LOOK. She grew up training to be a classical ballerina in Chicago and New York, and it really seems like she misses ballet school. However, the rest of us should be thrilled that she transitioned from ballet to acting so gracefully, because she owes all of that poise and confidence to her years spent in tutus.
In her free time, Ali is a yoga enthusiast, and she dabbles in arts and crafts as well. She keeps LOOK’s surveillance theme in her Maxim interview with Carlos Nunez, and her photo with Tyler Shields (below) is timeless and cinematic, just like Ali.
Sharon and Ali’s brilliant performances portray the ethical challenges of being a teenager living in a world where there are cameras everywhere to capture what happens when our own instincts aren’t right.
Their scenes are compelling to watch and fabulously sexy, but the implications are very serious and quite disturbing:
It’s no wonder the show is so good, since the people who worked on it are so good. Sharon and Ali lead a very talented ensemble cast, and everyone from Adam Rifkin to producers Brad Wyman and Barry Schuler are humble, hardworking, and very creative. The show took them only 4 weeks to shoot but a year to edit, and that incredible attention to detail pays off as the stories unfold excellently in interconnected fashion.
On Tuesday, we screened LOOK for the fabulous people working at the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco (including new CEO Dick Costolo!!), and everyone in attendance loved it. Especially the scenes where Twitter and YouTube are themselves ancillary characters that move the story along!
I give tremendous kudos to Showtime for sponsoring this series, and please consider this vote to have a season 2, 3, and beyond, just like with the very excellent Dexter and Weeds.
The more we LOOK, the more we see. So LOOK closer!
Personally, I can’t wait to LOOK again!
For more analysis, see:
- Jon Swartz of USA Today,
LOOK at this Clever, Interesting Showtime Series - Sarah Lacy and Paul Carr of TechCrunch,
You Don’t Need Permission from the Gat
ekeepers - Sarah Lacy of TechCrunch,
Our Lives Caught on Tape - Jessica Guynn of LA Times,
LOOK, You’re Being Watched - Elizabeth Snead of Zap2It,
Caught on Cam with Mystery Blonde - Media-ite, Being on at Midnight Lets Us Be True
- FOX News, Big Brother is Watching
- Monsters and Critics, LOOK is Shocking
- Wikipedia about Adam Rifkin
- Barry Schuler, A Look Behind LOOK
For more content and conversations, see:
No exaggeration: LOOK is worth getting Showtime for…
If you believe it, tweet it!
Two Adam Rifkin’s give LOOK three thumbs up, and around the world!!!
ifindkarma. elegance is refusal. 