A group of high-powered women, including the creator of lesbian drama “The L Word” and the former head of the RIAA, hope to transform the lesbian drama’s informal social net into a formal online business. On the show, the chart is a wall-sized, handwritten whiteboard that tracks connections. In real life, OurChart.com is scheduled to launch in January as a full-fledged social network with bells and whistles as well as a showcase for original material and ties directly to the show. Founders include creator and executive producer Ilene Chaiken and stars Jennifer Beals, Katherine Moennig and Leisha Hailey; Hilary Rosen, former RIAA chairman/CEO and an LGBT political leader, as president; Beth Callaghan, formerly a senior exec at PlanetOut Inc., as COO. The joint venture with Showtime is played down a bit in the press release but is vital to the site’s potential success and should be a boost for the show as it heads into its fourth season. In fact, the idea spun out of a promo brainstorming.
The site mirrors the show in another way: just as “The L Word” is about and for gay women, it’s also meant to attract a broader audience. The founder hope the site does that, too—connection tools should work the same no matter your orientation—but they are clear about creating a destination for gay women, their friends and their family.
The tie-in: HR: The site actually will launch as part of the show, when Alice, the character who created the whiteboard, puts the chart online. Chaiken said the storyline came first, then the idea for the real site.