SCREEN SCENE: 'FreshmanJulie' marks Lebovitz brothers' Web debut

By Robert K. Elder | Tribune reporter

March 6, 2009

"It's everybody's dream to go home and make a movie at one point. It's a first very positive step to making the dream come true," said director Nolan Lebovitz, a Highland Park native.

The "it" in the above sentence is "FreshmanJulie," a new Web series from Lebovitz and his producer/brother, Adam.

Column readers may remember previous mention of the project, which shot in Chicago and Indiana, when I profiled the Lebovitz brothers on the DVD release of their feature thriller "Tortured," starring Laurence Fishburne, Cole Hauser and James Cromwell, among others.

"FreshmanJulie" is part "LonelyGirl15," part "Alias" as it follows a college Web diarist Julie (Lindsay Rathert) through her first days in her dorm room.

"And her experiences aren't quite what they seem," says Nolan.

Using actors from Northwestern and Roosevelt Universities, the project returns the brothers to the suspense genre. But more suspenseful still: Will it work on the Internet?

Comedy and music videos go viral, but will viewers return every other week for a 12-part serial? Given the viewership for YouTube's breakout hit "LonelyGirl15," there is promise.

"Adam and I have always had an interest in new media, as it presents itself as the new frontier," says Nolan.

The story, Adam says, was inspired by their own experiences in college.

"Going to college, you think that everyone has the same background as you. But when I went to college, I heard a story about a kid we went to school with and one day his room was raided by the FBI," Adam remembers. "It made me think: Who was this guy, really?"

To watch the first episode of "FreshmanJulie," visit youtube.com/freshman julie.

relder@tribune.com