In 2003, the online world was forever changed with the creation of Myspace, one of the first social media platform. Twenty years later, a documentary about the website that helped launch the music careers of several bands and artists as well as celebrities, is in the works.
Gunpowder & Sky is the company behind the new documentary, and also behind the upcoming boy band documentary. Tommy Avallone will be directing this dive into the website created by Tom Anderson. Avallone has previously worked on a “Barney” docuseries, “I Love You, You Hate Me.” He also directed “The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned from a Mythical Man.”
Anderson will be reunited with Myspace co-creator Chris DeWolfe, and the current owners of the site Tim and Chris Vanderhook. The Vanderhooks are operating the site through Viant Technology. The documentary will also feature some of the original crew running the site. We will also hear from a slew of the stars who got their start on the platform.
Myspace was huge when it launched and was the “go to” website until the rise of Facebook in the late 2000s. Teenagers and music fans would rush to the site, updating their profiles and uploading playlists of their favorite songs. We miss the days when all that mattered was choosing your Top 8 friends and coding a hidden song into your profile. Did anyone else know that for a time Myspace was owned by Justin Timberlake and Specific Media?
Gunpowder & Sky CEO Van Toffler will be producing this documentary with Trent Johnson. Interesting fact: Toffler was working at Viacom during the time the company was beaten out of the purchase of Myspace. That was in 2005 when News Corp beat them with a $580 million bid.