Josh Schwartz plans to make good use of the indie rock bands
appearing in his upcoming online endeavor "Rockville," putting
their entire exclusive performances online.
Unlike on his former Fox series "The O.C.," which introduced bands
like Death Cab For Cutie to larger audiences, acts appearing on the
show will perform live during the taping.
Although only about 15 seconds of the performance will be
highlighted during each four-minute episode, viewers will be able
to watch the entire music performance of such bands as Phantom
Planet and White Lies separately online. The production also is
considering a DVD version of the series.
"Rockville," about the goings-on at a music club, is one series in
TheWB.com's effort to create shortform scripted series. "Rockville"
will debut March 17 with four episodes, then switch to about two or
three new episodes each week until the show ends.
Schwartz said yesterday (Jan. 12) at the Television Critics Assn.
press tour that he wouldn't rule out expanding the show to network
if it is successful, but he noted that "Rockville" was designed
with single-set and narrow story line focus appropriate for a
low-budget series with a short running time.
"I don't know this is the final result, that we're going to make
five-minute episodes of things," Schwartz said of the series'
next-generation format. "But that's what makes this exciting."
