Lost: Missing Pieces is a series of thirteen video clips ranging in length from one to four minutes that aired during the hiatus between the third and fourth seasons of the television show Lost, from which this series is a spin off."Lost: Missing Pieces ", ABC. Retrieved on January 2, 2009. They generally became available to Verizon Wireless users on Mondays from November 2007 to January 2008 and were uploaded onto ABC's website a week later for free streaming.Jensen, Jeffrey "Doc", (November 8, 2007) "Lost "Mobisodes" Will Release as Webisodes Nov. 12 ", Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on January 26, 2008. The "mobisodes", or "webisodes", were shot in Honolulu, Hawaii, and produced by the same crew with the same cast as the television series; thus, all content is considered to be canonical.ABC, (November 12, 2007) "About Lost: Missing Pieces ". Retrieved on January 26, 2008. Lost: Missing Pieces were included as special features in the fourth season's 2008 DVD releases.Spurlin, Thomas, (December 6, 2008) "Lost: The Complete Fourth Season", DVD Talk. Retrieved on January 2, 2009.
The project was announced in November 2005 as the Lost Video Diaries; however, production was delayed several times due to contractual restrictions. Losts writer-producers originally proposed the mobisodes as a self-contained story that would focus on two previously unseen characters of the Lost fictional universe. These characters would be played by actors who were not part of the Screen Actors Guild; however the entertainment guilds refused to support such a project. After months of unsuccessful negotiating, the series was seemingly shelved by ABC. In June 2007, it was announced that the mobisodes, which would be renamed Lost: Missing Pieces, would star the regular characters of Lost in thirteen short video clips unrelated to each other.Strause, Jackie, (January 31, 2008) "Lost is Found ", New York Post. Retrieved on January 2, 2009. Twelve scenes were newly shot; one was a deleted scene from the television series. Critical response to Lost: Missing Pieces was mixed. The series was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2008.
Production
Conception In November 2005, while the early second season of Lost was airing, The Hollywood Reporter reported that twenty-two mobisodes—each spanning several minutes—were expected to be produced in December for a January 2006 release.Wallenstein, Andrew, (November 17, 2005) "Lost Deal Hatched for Mobile", The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved on January 5, 2008. Zap2it reported that they would later be present on the second season's DVD set and that six would be exclusive to the DVD.Zap2it, (November 21, 2005) "Lost Goes Mobile with Video Diaries ." Retrieved on January 5, 2008. Unlike the television series, it would not be produced by ABC Studios (then named Touchstone Television) and would star non-Screen Actors Guild members; however it would be produced under the oversight of Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, like the television series.Serpe, Gina, (November 17, 2005) "Lost Finds Its Calling", E!. Retrieved from the Internet Archive on January 6, 2008. In response to fan inquiries about Losts approximately thirty background characters, the Lost Video Diaries would focus on a self-contained story about two survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 who had not previously been introduced.Keith McDuffee, (November 17, 2005) "Lost Video Diaries, Coming to a Cell Phone Near You", TV Squad. Retrieved on January 6, 2008. The Los Angeles Times confirmed in January 2006–the month scheduled to launch the seriesAndreeva, Nellie, (January 23, 2006) "Touchstone Offers Lost Cast a Raise," The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved on August 5, 2007.–that the mobisodes would be broadcast on V CAST from Verizon Wireless and that each mobisode would span only two minutes.Fernandez, Maria Elena, (January 3, 2006) "ABC's Lost is easy to find, and not just on a TV screen", Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 2, 2017. Verizon would ultimately pay ABC $400,000 for the mobisodes.Manly, Lorne, (October 1, 2008) "Running the Really Big Show: Lost Inc.", The New York Times. Retrieved on January 2, 2009.
Postponement Production was delayed when the actors, directors and writers guilds refused to support the spin-off. A deal previously unheard of was negotiated in April,ABC Medianet, (April 24, 2006) "Touchstone Television Finalizes Agreements to Partner with Guilds on Lost Video Diaries." Retrieved from The Futon Critic on January 5, 2008. which allowed guild members involved to collect residuals.Screen Actors Guild, (April 24, 2006) "Guild Reaches Groundbreaking Mobile-Content Agreement for ABC's Lost." Retrieved from the Internet Archive on January 6, 2008. This agreement prompted Lindelof and Cuse to develop a storyline for the Video Diaries that would include Losts regular characters, although not all of Losts regular cast signed contracts. According to Touchstone's executive vice president for production Barry Jossen, who would eventually serve as an executive producer on the mobisodes, "They seem to be under the impression that we'll make millions of dollars and they won't". Variety reported that the mobisodes would be produced and aired alongside the third season of Lost.Fritz, Ben, (April 24, 2006) "Guilds Map Deal for Lost", Variety. Retrieved on January 5, 2008. At San Diego Comic-Con in July, Lindelof and Cuse announced that only thirteen mobisodes would be produced. They would run during the third season's winter hiatus, with none saved exclusively for the third season's DVD set.Lindelof, Damon & Cuse, Carlton & Burk, Bryan & Garcia, Jorge & Kim, Daniel Dae, (July 24, 2006) "Lost Season 3 Panel", Comic-Con International. Transcript retrieved from Lostpedia on January 6, 2008. A sneak peek of the Video Diaries was also shown at Comic-Con. The new premise featured Hurley Reyes (played by Jorge Garcia) finding a functional Dharma Initiative video camcorderCotton, Mike, (September 4, 2006) "Lost: Season Three Secrets", Wizard. Retrieved on September 6, 2008. that had Dharma orientation films on it.Lachonis, Jon "DocArzt", (November 2007) "Lost Mobisodes Unraveled ", UGO Networks. Retrieved on January 26, 2008. In the clip, he films Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) and James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway).Reha, John, (July 25, 2006) "More Lost Than Found ", Comic Book Resources. Retrieved on January 6, 2008. During the hiatus, no mobisodes were to be found and clips from upcoming episodes called Lost Moments aired instead, on television and then ABC.com.Carabott, Chris, (December 20, 2006) "Lost Moments", IGN. Retrieved on January 6, 2007. In January 2007, Wizard discovered that ABC was still negotiating the actors' contracts; thus, no mobisodes had been produced, aside from the Comic-Con teaser.Caylo, Mel, (January 15, 2007) "Lost Mobisodes", Wizard. Retrieved on January 6, 2008. In February, Losts script coordinator, responding to a fan question, suspected the mobisodes had seemingly been put on hold indefinitely due to an inability to reach a contract agreement.Nations, Gregg, (February 27, 2007) "Any Information on the Lost Video Diaries? ", The Fuselage. Retrieved on January 6, 2008.
Revamp
In June, Lindelof and Cuse were interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter and they revealed the ultimate plan for the mobisodes. The mobisodes would air during the hiatus between the third and fourth seasons and would give viewers interesting information that would probably not be found in the show; the average mobisode would only be one and a half minutes long.Gough, Paul J., (June 14, 2007) "Lost Won't End 'With a Blackout'", The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved on January 6, 2008. In the third season, the writers tried to integrate two previously unseen crash survivors named Nikki Fernandez (Kiele Sanchez) and Paulo (Rodrigo Santoro) into the story, but the pair was negatively received for their abrupt appearance and the writers killed them off after seven appearances.Jensen, Jeff & Snierson, Dan, (February 8, 2007) "Lost and Found", Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on April 3, 2007. Lindelof and Cuse learned from their mistake and decided that the mobisodes would focus on the regular Lost cast.Littleton, Cynthia, (October 12, 2007) "The Weight of the Wait", Variety. Retrieved on January 6, 2008. The writers were paid $800 per mobisode, whereas the actors received $425 per mobisode. Actors were contracted to receive more money if the mobisode were reused in another medium.
Release In regard to writing, co-executive producer Edward Kitsis said that "sometimes it was a scene we always wanted to do, a scene that never got shot, sometimes it was just something interesting".Lachonis, Jon "DocArzt", (December 11, 2007) "Lost Executive Producers Eddy and Adam Talk Missing Pieces ", UGO Networks. Retrieved on January 27, 2008. "Buried Secrets" revisits the first season storylines of sexual tension between Sun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim) and Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau) and the mutual detestation between Sun's husband Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) and Michael.Lachonis, Jon "DocArzt", (January 27, 2008) "UGO Talks with Yunjin Kim ", UGO Networks. Retrieved on January 27, 2008. These conflicts were going to be further explored in the first season; however, positive fan reaction to Sun and Jin as a couple and good chemistry between the actors playing Michael and Jin led to the abandonment of the love triangle.Goldman, Eric, (July 22, 2006) "Comic-Con 2006: Lost Season 3 Revelations", IGN. Retrieved on April 11, 2008. Reuters announced in November that the mobisodes would premiere that month.Tourtellotte, Bob, (November 5, 2007) "Quarterlife Highlights Web Role in Writers Strike", Reuters. Retrieved on January 6, 2008. This proved to be true, with "The Watch" appearing suddenly to Verizon customers as the first of the Lost: Missing Pieces. A new mobisode would generally become available each Monday and would be released a week later as a free webisode on ABC's website. The Writers Guild of America strike occurred as the mobisodes were released, due to television writers wanting a deal similar to that achieved for Missing Pieces.Wyatt, Edward, (November 20, 2007) "Webisodes of Lost: Model Deal for Writers? ", The New York Times. Retrieved on January 6, 2007. Filming was completed in late November.Garcia, Jorge, (November 9, 2007) "Strike and Stuff... ", The Fuselage. Retrieved on January 26, 2008. The mobisodes were later released as special features on the DVD and Blu-ray sets of Lost: The Complete Fourth Season – The Expanded Experience in the second half of 2008.
Crew