Bree Avery and Jessica Lee Rose: YouTube's First Star Was a Hoax

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In June 2006 a 95 second video appeared on YouTube, shot on a Logitech webcam in a bedroom dressed with thrift store furniture and a pink feather boa. Its star, a homeschooled 16-year-old named Bree, talked about her strict religious parents and her purple monkey puppet, and viewers adored her. She became the most subscribed channel on the site and the first to reach 50,000 subscribers. She was also entirely fictional, played by 19-year-old film school graduate Jessica Lee Rose.

This episode tells how Miles Beckett, a doctor who had left a plastic surgery residency, and filmmaker Mesh Flinders built Bree for $130 and hid their actress from the world. They cast Rose through a disguised Craigslist ad, bound her with a strict nondisclosure agreement, and paid her to stay indoors for three months. Then the plot swerved into cult thriller, fans turned detective, and by September 2006 the creators confessed, calling their work the birth of a new art form.

• The creators gamed early YouTube by replying to every single comment, since the site ranked videos by raw engagement, and they planned shots so the automatic thumbnail would draw clicks.
• When the three month script ran out, Bree's religion became a shadowy cult called the Order that wanted her blood, and the series turned into an alternate reality game with puzzles for fans.
• Viewers spotted a photo of occultist Aleister Crowley on her wall, identified a hiking trail plant as native to the Los Angeles area, and matched her bedroom furnishings to Target inventory.
• In August 2006 forum users sent Bree's account a message with a hidden IP tracker. It traced back to a major Hollywood talent agency, and an archived MySpace page soon revealed Rose's name.
• The audience tripled after the reveal. The show ran paid product placement for Hershey's gum and Neutrogena, killed Bree off in August 2007 at Rose's request, and earned her a Webby Award for Best Actress.