Earlier this year I reacquired MovieViral.com, which I co-founded in 2009 along with some close internet friends. The idea for MovieViral’s creation came in the aftermath of Cloverfield, the 2008 film that embraced online viral marketing by creating websites for in-universe corporations like Slusho and MySpace profiles for characters from the film. Cloverfield’s celebrated viral marketing campaign launched with a teaser trailer attached to the first Transformers movie in the summer of 2007.
The teaser trailer didn’t end like a traditional trailer that, as you would expect, revealed the movie’s name—instead, the teaser ended with a date: 1-18-08. Immediately after the teaser, these five numbers lodged themselves into my brain. Even as I watched Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox team up with giant car robots to battle some bad guys, all I could think about was the mysterious teaser trailer and those five numbers. 1-18-08.
The moment I got home, I Googled “1-18-08.” I quickly found a world of people who, like me, wanted to know what the hell this was all about. I joined the 1-18-08news.com forum and quickly fell down the viral marketing campaign’s rabbit hole. And so began my interest in these immersive stories, more commonly known as alternate reality games (ARGs) or unficiton, and less than two years later MovieViral.com was created.
MovieViral was sold in 2015 while I was an undergraduate at the University at Albany. I had been removed from the site’s day-to-day operations for some time, and honestly never truly appreciated the power of the publication and brand. From 2009-2015, a dozen or so dedicated contributors helped build the brand as a truly respected and trusted source of film and entertainment news. Unfortunately, I was focused on my own personal goals and aspirations, and felt that I no longer had the time or energy necessary to continue maintaining a fully operating entertainment news website.
A short time after selling the site—within a few weeks or months—I regretted the sale, realizing it had been a mistake and that I had all but destroyed a brand which so many dedicated contributors helped create. Still, I was focused on my education and career goals, so I had to push past the regret and move forward—but in the back of my mind, I always dreamed of buying the site back.
After years of maintaining a friendly relationship with the British investors who bought MovieViral in 2015, I sensed an opening. In April 2023, I decided to start Sometimes Weekly, a multimedia publishing company that would combine my interests, primarily humor and American politics, and serve as my personal creative outlet. But along with this new venture, I really wanted to be able to tell the story of MovieViral.com and its strange early-internet history, created at a time when a kid in high school could start an online publication and, six months later, end up on the phone with an LA Times reporter and a Sony marketing executive. Sure, they didn’t know I was 16-years old. But that was half the fun!
So when I sensed an opening to buy the site back, I immediately focused on getting a deal done. It was clear to me that the British investor’s vision for the site had never fully taken off, so I always maintained hope that reacquiring the site was a real possibility. After a few weeks of conversations, a deal in principle was reached, and on July 4th, 2023 the sale was finalized, the domain was transferred, and the brand was back in my control.
Now, the hard work begins: rebuilding the brand and positioning MovieViral for the future.
First, a return to our place as a community-run news publication.
What made MovieViral’s content so compelling, in my mind, was the fact that it was run by true fans of films and viral marketing. At the time, contributors were not paid, because I started the site in high school and never sought to truly monetize the website. Instead, people wrote to hone their craft and establish their name within the film blogging community—they contributed because of their love for the art of films and the joy of immersive storytelling through viral marketing, ARGs, and unfiction.
Over time, the viral marketing side of our coverage subsided, as the campaigns for films became more corporate and less engaging, and we moved toward a more general approach to entertainment news. Our contributors attended press conferences and movie premiers, and we covered conventions and broke exclusive stories.
It was a hell of a time, and I hope we might be able to get back to that—except this time around, I’m committed to ensuring contributors are compensated for their creative work.
Second, a return to our place as a community hub.
When MovieViral launched, the site’s role as a news publication was secondary. The primary focus was sustaining the community that had developed on the 1-18-08news.com forum, which, after the release of Cloverfield, understandably began to collapse. We sought to establish a brand that could follow viral marketing campaigns for all films, instead of just one, while maintaining the community that had coalesced around Cloverfield. So we launched MovieViral.com along with the MovieViral Forum.
That community was central to our early success. It felt as though we were writing and covering these campaigns for one another instead of trying to get a click or promote our personal brands. Clickbait hand’t descended upon the world yet and the idea of a 16-year old being in the LA Times was so absurd, it never could’ve been among our intended goals. Instead, we were a collection of fans who had come together and built a meaningful online community. Yes, there were flame wars and yes, the forum moderators were sometimes compared to German leaders in the 1930s. But for the most part, the community was supportive and creative, a respite from the world around us which took itself so seriously. So, MovieViral’s future will include an intentional focus on building and sustaining meaningful online community. This is central to its continued success.
Third, and most ambitiously, establishing a studio that produces viral marketing/ARG campaigns for films and beyond.
The third aspect of MovieViral’s imminent return is also the least developed idea, because it will take significantly more time and thought to ensure it’s done right. But, I know there is a community of creators out there who ready and willing to be tapped into, and there is also a need for better marketing solutions as the traditional avenues are increasingly saturated and expensive. With that in mind, I’m beginning to explore the idea of establishing MovieViral Studios to connect these two groups together, to enable community creation and enhance the experience of moviegoers, for example, who are interested in an immersive story beyond the four walls of the theater. But in order for this to happen, the first two elements must be satisfied. MovieViral must return to its roots before it looks to the future.
What’s next? A site redesign, along with some other technical updates. Then, I will be working to resume our role as a publication and community hub. This will take time. Until then, I hope you’ll remain in touch, and I’ll keep you posted as to the site’s progress as we march toward our imminent return.
Interested in being a part of MovieViral’s return?
Send me an email at nick@movieviral.com