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.”