Tonight Live With Paisley Beebe HBO Director of “When Strangers Click” 1000 Avatars Project & Trueblood!

Photo Bliss Windlow Paisley Robert Kenner and Bara Jonson

Yesterday’s Show (Despite the Salad Bowl on at the same time)…was Packed!

We started the show talking to Gracie Kendal about her 2 recent projects in Second Life the Gracie Kendal Project, and her very popular 1000 Avatar Project. She had a lot of support in the audience from people who loved what she was exploring in here our releationship with our avatars, and who had in fact been one of her photographed subjects as part of the 1000 avatar project. Gracie has learned a lot about ourselves and our avatars during these 2 projects and has more interesting working coming up!

We also met Enoch Mildor our Resident Spotlight this week who talked about his Trueblood Role playing Sim and the opening of a new Ballroom there, sounds like they have some great ideas coming up for those of us that like the bitten edge of life!

It was wonderfull to finally meet Robert Kenner the Director of the HBO Documentary “When Strangers Click” find out more here and to interview both him and Bara Jonson the Swedish Musician Featured on this Documentary about people who find love online. The Second Life part of the Documentary is only one of 5 stories featured in the new documentary which will be shown on HBO in the USA starting with a premier on the 14th February 2011. It will then be shown on HBO from the 14th Feb – 23rd Feb at different times during the day .

General feedback on the web chat, and in the studio about the interview about the HBO documentary was positive, the clip we showed which is also on this video above hadn’t been seen publicly up until now, and seemed to allay many people’s concerns about this documentary showing Second Life in once again a bad light, as a place where its all about weird sex, and smut.

DO YOU HAVE A STORY YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE? CLICK HERE

The Full Show!

The HBO “When Strangers Click” Interview Only.

Synopsis:

WHEN STRANGERS CLICK profiles five people in search of love: Finding love has never been easy. But it’s also never been easier. Online dating sites thrive on the promise that dates and mates are just a “click” away. But are they?

WHEN STRANGERS CLICK: FIVE STORIES FROM THE INTERNET, from Robert Kenner (the Oscar®-nominated “Food, Inc.”), tells the revealing stories of people whose lives were transformed in unexpected ways by online encounters. From a woman turning 30 who’s starting to fear shell never get married, to a failed Swedish businessman who finds love and fame in the 3D virtual world Second Life, to a young gay man for whom the Internet becomes a lifeline, the stories in WHEN STRANGERS CLICK span the range of human emotions, from loneliness to elation, from confusion to fulfillment, from humiliation to hope.

The acceptance of the Internet as a way to meet, develop and maintain relationships has mushroomed, with an estimated one in five heterosexual couples in the U.S. having met online. This video Valentine’s Day card demonstrates how profoundly the search for intimacy has changed in today’s Internet-centric world, challenging the assumption that finding a partner online is shallower than in-the-flesh courting.

• Kim, who packed a wedding gown and flew to Prague to marry a man she had never spoken to.
• Dave, who met scores of women before having to reveal a physical shortcoming.
• Beth, who nearly gave up on love before going online at age 30.
• Ryan, who Googled “gay” and received a big surprise.
• Jonas, whose real life was changed forever when he entered the world of Second Life.

The documentary also incorporates footage shot by two of the protagonists. One segment chronicles the moment Kim meets her boyfriend in person for the first time; in another, Beth tries to come to terms with the possibility she may never get married. In addition, the film captures the stunning beauty and bizarre leaps of imagination of the entirely human-constructed world of Second Life through the video technique machinima.

The stories in WHEN STRANGERS CLICK were selected from hundreds submitted via the Web, including Twitter, Facebook and Second Life. Starting in mid-January, people can submit their own online love stories. Visit hba.com for details.

Director and producer Robert Kenner wrote, directed and produced the feature documentary “Food Inc.,” which was nominated for an Oscars, as well as Independent Spirit and DGA Awards, and won the 2009 Gotham Award for Best Documentary. Producer Marc N. Weiss founded the PBS documentary series “P.O.V.” and Web Lab, a nonprofit think tank dedicated to using the web as a transformative force in people’s lives.

WHEN STRANGERS CLICK: FIVE STORIES FROM THE INTERNET was directed and produced by Robert Kenner; produced by Marc N. Weiss and Melissa Robledo; cinematographers, Don Lenzer, Jay Redmond, and Chris Baron; editor Leonard Feinstein. For HBO: supervising producer, Lisa Heller; executive producer, Sheila Nevins.

There is also a FAN PAGE on Facebook where you can share your stories of finding Love online!