Creepysites.com Hacks Into Cyber Stalker Site fortheloveofjulie.com!

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE via COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--March 6, 2000--The Spark Factory, a Santa Monica-based production company, has created a new Internet experience with a Web site titled fortheloveofjulie.com.

In the spirit of Orson Welles` infamous radio broadcast of ''War of the Worlds,'' the site takes Web-surfers into the dark side of the Internet and plays on viewers` fears of invasion of privacy. The announcement was made today by Tim Street, president of The Spark Factory and site creator.

The site fortheloveofjulie.com appears to have been created by a man obsessed with a woman he has only casually met. The pages of the site are plastered with his affection for the young woman, Julie, an up-and-coming actress, played by newcomer Hallie Bird.

Through the use of ''hidden cameras'' placed in Julie`s home, clickable journal entries and even a trip through Julie`s underwear drawer, the site adds an interactive element to serialized content and brings Internet stalking and voyeurism to a heightened reality. In order to access fortheloveofjulie.com, viewers must enter through creepysites.com, another site created by the producers to enhance the experience.

The producers chose to take advantage of the success of other projects with similar themes in creating fortheloveofjulie.com.

''Since the beginning of time audiences have had a passion to be afraid. From the writings of Edgar Allan Poe to Shakespeare`s `Macbeth,` from `Psycho` to `The Sixth Sense,` theater- and filmgoers have always looked for an encounter that takes them to an uncomfortable and frightening place for a while, then brings them out the other side safe and in one piece,'' said Ted Schilowitz, one of the site`s producers and Spark Factory director of Development.

''Because our series is voyeuristic and on the Internet, people are thinking that it is real,'' said Gail Gillman, vice president of Creative Affairs and site producer. ''No one would ever question whether a movie about stalking is real, so we decided to explore the ambiguity the Internet allows, creating a creepy but hopefully entertaining experience.''

The Spark Factory increased the realism of fortheloveofjulie.com by password-protecting the site as if it were only set up for Julie to visit, once she had been given the password by her admirer. The site`s creators then used creepysites.com, whose fictional creators ''happened upon fortheloveofjulie.com by accident,'' to hack their way in to see Julie`s site.

''Creepysites.com not only makes Julie`s site look more real, it also enhances the Internet experience by giving the viewer a feeling of going somewhere they shouldn`t be going,'' said Street. ''We also have other ideas in development that need a portal for our Web audience, and for our more scary ideas, creepysites.com is that portal.''

The Spark Factory plans to expand creepysites.com with other netsperiences while keeping fortheloveofjulie.com as an ongoing interactive Internet drama that unfolds, twists and turns over the next year.

Founded in Fall 1995, The Spark Factory is a creative production company specializing in the creation of feature film trailers and commercials. Among the creative boutique`s clients are Artisan Entertainment, MGM, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal and Warner Bros.