Each Friday through March 7, fans can watch a new episode of Ghost Whisperer: The Other Side II, the online companion series to CBS’s hit television show Ghost Whisperer, that continues to explore the underground world, as seen through the eyes of Zach (Mark Hapka), an earthbound spirit. Ghost Whisperer executive producer Kim Moses says that the idea to do a companion series was sparked by the fans of the show about a young woman, named Melinda Gordon (Jennifer Love Hewitt), who communicates with ghosts that cling to the living because they have unfinished business that prevents them from moving on.

“This is Ghost Whisperer’s gift back to our fans,” Moses tells MediaBlvd Magazine. “We had been receiving thousands and thousands of emails, from around the world, asking us what it’s like on the flipside of Melinda’s world, which is from the ghost’s point of view. So, we had a discussion with CBS to talk about how we would like to do a companion series on the Internet that let the audience experience something beyond what they experience with Melinda, from week-to-week, on television.”

Having worked on the Internet for the last five years, Moses was confident that they would be able to attract an audience for the companion series. “Every time we had gone into a meeting with network or studio executives to pitch television shows, they would bang the table and say, ‘Where are those eyeballs of 18- to 34-year-olds? Why aren’t they on network television?,’” says the executive producer/writer/director, who is one half of Sander Moses Productions, along with Ian Sander. “But, we knew they were on the Internet, so Ian and I went over there and started studying it and doing some pro bono work, and eventually worked with some other companies on the Internet, so that we could figure out what the sensibility was over there, and why those 18- to 34-year-olds were going to the Internet and not coming back to television. And, what we discovered is that the storytelling is very different. On television, Ian and I do a lot of talking with our characters. It’s a way to tell a story. There is some action and there is some visual, but there’s also a lot of dialogue. When you go to the Internet, the audience isn’t there to have a television experience. So, what we did was figure out a way to tell a story in a very visual way with very little dialogue, so that it’s more of an experience, as opposed to just watching a flat experience on television.”

“We know that people have tried to do this kind of thing,” continues Moses. “They’ve taken some leaps into this world, from the television side, to try to do that kind of storytelling on the Internet, but it was more about taking a television show that was a busted pilot, or something like that, and breaking it up into pieces and putting it on the Internet. That doesn’t have the same dynamic. I wasn’t surprised that, at that point, the attempts at dramatic storytelling on the Internet hadn’t worked really well. I think the values that we had learned weren’t being applied.”

Born in Buffalo, New York, Mark Hapka, who plays earthbound spirit Zach, says that the lead role on the webisodes was only the second audition that he had with his agency, the Gage Group. Having started out in theater, in the sixth grade, Hapka made the move to Los Angeles from Syracuse about two and a half years ago.

“I was in New York, visiting friends and family, when my agent called me, the night before the audition, and said, ‘We have this web thing, if you want to audition for it,’” Hapka tells MediaBlvd Magazine. “They told me the time slot they had for me, and I said, ‘That’s not going to work. I don’t fly back to L.A. until later in the afternoon, and that will be too late.’ So, they said, ‘Okay, let us work on it. Maybe we can change the time.’ And then, I didn’t hear anything back, so I went out with my friends that night, one last time in New York City, and jumped on a red eye. I never ended up going to sleep. I flew in, got to my lay-over and checked my voicemail and, sure enough, there was a message from my agent saying, ‘We changed your timeslot, and it’s this time now,’ which was about 15 minutes after I landed. I landed, and then went to the bathroom to freshen up a little bit. I was still wearing the clothes from the night before. I went to the audition, picked up the sides, read through them and really had no idea what was going on. It wasn’t labeled, so I had no idea it had to do with Ghost Whisperer.”

That initial audition went well enough that Hapka was asked to come back again, later that same day. “I was in this haze because I was so exhausted, at that point. I had to work soon, and coffee wasn’t doing it for me anymore. So, I went in and read for the producer, Nichelle Protho, and the casting director, and I thought I bombed it. I thought it was the worst read ever. I walked out of there thinking, ‘Wow, that was terrible. I wish I would have just went home and went to bed.’ I left and forgot about it, and decided to just work harder on the next thing. A couple days went by, and I got a call from my agent saying, ‘They liked you and want to bring you in for a third callback. You’re going to go to Universal Studios and read for the producers.’ It was between me and two or three other guys. So, I went in again and read for the casting director, Nichelle, Kim Moses and Ian Sander, and Claudio Fah, the director. And then, right there, in front of everybody, the casting director sent the other guys home. It wasn’t until I started filming it that I realized it had anything to do with the TV show Ghost Whisperer.”

In a rather unprecedented move, Moses and Sander took the concept of the web series one step further, by bringing Hapka’s character, Zach, onto last season’s Ghost Whisperer finale. “We’ve always had a blueprint, from the very beginning, of taking an original concept that the audience was looking to be answered, and spinning it off from the TV show onto the Internet, and then taking that lead character, which Mark Hapka plays, and bringing him onto the television show, at the end of last year, when his character met Melinda Gordon,” explains Moses. “Our blueprint was always to take that journey, and then go into a world that Ghost Whisperer hasn’t gone into yet, which is the dark side, and show what happens after Zach gets sucked down there. In the television show, ghosts have crossed over from the dark side into the world of the living and intersected with Melinda. But, neither she nor any of our ghosts have taken us over to the dark side. We thought it would be really cool because that’s one step even further, beyond what the audience has experienced in the show.”

Hapka admits that he was excited to be the first actor to have created a character on the web that crossed over onto primetime television. “For those who follow the web series, it was a treat when they saw my ghost come onto the actual show. They could say, ‘Oh, I know all about that ghost. I know what happened to him. Hopefully, Melinda can help him.’ And, for those who didn’t see the web series, it still made sense that the ghost popped up. When I found out that I was going to be on the actual show, I was pretty surprised and excited.”

Once Zach is sucked into the dark side, he meets a variety of new characters, including Luke (Peter Douglas), a dark mysterious spirit collector who is suddenly fixated on Zach; Haley (Marie Westbrook), a spirit seductress who makes disingenuous attempt to befriend Zach; BJ (Lucas Alifano), an urban skateboarder who has been stuck in the dark side for nearly 20 years; Lost Spirit (Braden Lynch); and Girlfriend (Tara Hunnewell) and Boyfriend (Gabriel Praddo), who are both haunted by the spirit world.

 Idaho native Marie Westbrook says that playing the dark seductress, Haley, was really fun for her. “I portrayed her as a person that had done some things in her mortal life that led her to where she is right now,” Westbrook tells MediaBlvd Magazine. “I portrayed her as a manipulator. She did some bad things. But, I didn’t go to a dark place inside myself to get there. I had fun with it. When she first meets Zach, she’s supposed to be playful. She’s not supposed to be intimidating or daunting, at all. We didn’t want to take it down an ultra-sexy route because we didn’t want it to be intimidating. We wanted it to be very casual, but still have her be able to pull him in. And then, she turns into the dark ghost/zombie creature. Once I got all the make-up on, I felt creepy and dark, which was definitely helpful. It was a lot easier to play that role because of all the make-up and stuff. It got me into that character.”    

Hapka says that Westbrook was a great edition to Season 2 of the web series because she brought such an interesting added element. “With Zach becoming more of a man, even as a spirit, it was great because this was the first time we got to see a flirtatious side, where she seduces him and he gets caught up in the attention of a female spirt. Then, she turns on him. Marie is a very attractive girl, and a very good actress. She was also very fun to work with.”

Westbrook was equally complimentary to Hapka, saying “When I got the part, Mark sent me a message on MySpace that said, ‘Congratulations on getting the part. The crew is great. We’re going to have tons of fun.’ I thought that was really cool. He just welcomed me. We talked for a long time and I got to know him, and he’s a great choice for this role. He has a little bit of that innocent quality that is needed for Zach, but he can also bring what he needs to the role. I really enjoyed working with him.”

A former dancer and model, Westbrook had the benefit of watching the first season of webisodes, before auditioning for Season 2, and had no hesitation, in regard to doing an Internet series. “For a time, I actually hosted a web series, so I had been a little bit familiar with that sort of thing. But, I hadn’t seen anything as professional, or quite at the level of this web series. I knew it was going to be a good project, and I was actually really excited about it. I was also really excited about the character.”

“As a non-working actor, you really don’t hesitate too much to take any job that isn’t porn,” adds Hapka. “You do have to be selective with what you choose, early on in your career because, later on, it can turn around to bite you in the butt. But, there was nothing wrong with this concept. I knew the future of entertainment was going in the direction of the web, and I knew that it would be a big thing. And, sure enough, after we created our web series, other web series started popping up everywhere and everybody was doing them. They’ve become quite a big thing.”

  Hapka says that the crew on the first season of webisodes was so great that he immediately wanted to know if they’d be returning, once he found out there would be a Season 2. “The director, Claudio Fah, was great because he wasn’t an arrogant director that just had his vision set in his mind, where you’re not even allowed to talk to him. He would take the ideas that I came up with, and do with them what he wanted. He’d say, ‘That doesn’t work because of this,’ or ‘That’s a great idea,’ and use it. It was fun working with him because it was more of a collaborative effort. What we would do on set would turn out to be something so much more than I thought it would be. He’s so smart with what he does while on set that we would have no idea how it was going to turn out, but knew it would make sense later on. He’s been great to work with, and he’s really nice. I don’t remember anyone ever fighting or getting angry, or there being any stress on set. Everybody was so professional. Even if things did get a little stressful, Claudio would make light of the situation to keep everybody normal because he knew that he wasn’t going to get anywhere by getting everyone worked up.”

The most notable thing about the webisodes is the high quality of the production, thanks, in part, to GM being the sponsor. “The interesting thing about GM is that they had nothing to do with Ghost Whisperer, but they sponsored the web series last year,” explains Moses. “CBS brought them on board, we met with them and pitched the idea, and they loved it, so we went forward. And, that first round of webisodes was so successful that GM then crossed over to the television show and began sponsoring that. All of our main characters now drive GM cars. Melinda used to drive a Jeep, but she drives a Saturn now. It’s the first time a blue chip sponsor has test-driven a television series through an original web series on the Internet, and then crossed over to sponsor the entire television show.”          

Much to everyone’s surprise, as they were up against Heroes, Lost and Jericho, Ghost Whisperer: The Other Side won the TVGuide.com Online Video Award for Best TV Drama Webisodes. The success of Season 1 made Season 2 a given, and both Hapka and Westbrook are thrilled to be a part of something that is the cutting edge future of television.

“It’s amazing,” declares Hapka, who is hoping to continue to work on great film projects that capture a glimpse of humanity. “I couldn’t ask for more. I’ve been blessed with many things, throughout my life, and this came at a good time. I hadn’t really had too much experience in the business. I had been in Los Angeles for only a short while, making my connections. And, to be handed such a unique experience that no one has really gotten to enjoy yet, and to be the first in something this creative, has been great.”

“It’s really cool to be a part of something that’s at the beginning stages,” adds Westbrook, whose is hoping to play a female action character, sometime in her future film career. “They won an award for this web series, so it’s really exciting to be a part of that, and see all the promotions for it. It’s definitely fun. We don’t know what will be in the future, but it will be exciting to see what evolves out of all of this.”

Moses says that she and Sander have every intention of continuing to do original web content, while crossing it over into television. “Zach, the ghost, is going to encounter Melinda again. He’ll cross back over into the television series. There are also embedded messages, in every webisode, that are messages from the spirit world, and those messages come into play on the CBS.com Ghost Whisperer website because the car that is being haunted in the web series is going to be given away by Saturn, in a contest that’s posted on that website. That’s a cool thing. That car is going to have a longer life because it’s going to cross into the TV show, and then into somebody’s garage.”

“The other thing is that the journey on the dark side is going to come full circle for Zach and BJ. There’s a challenge that’s issued that Zach is answering, and he doesn’t even know that he’s answering it. With the journey on the dark side, the ghosts are very scary. If you don’t march in step with them, Zach is going to see what the consequences of that are. The web series is darker and spookier than the television series. Our ultimate goal with the blueprint is to take the concept that is getting so much traction on the Internet, that is answering what the fans are looking for, and cross it back over into TV, as an original series. It would be an amazing journey to spin off from a television series, cross over to the Internet, and then cross back over into television, as a new series.”