The Tail Section

“The mysteries of ABC’s “LOST” are about to get bigger — and smaller. The Emmy-winning hit is spawning a second series for mobile phones in a deal soon to close with a major U.S. carrier, sources said. About 20 episodes — each several minutes long — are being shot next month in Hawaii to hit phones sometime early next year,” Andrew Wallenstein reports for The Hollywood Reporter. “The project is not being produced by ABC or Touchstone Television but is under the oversight of ‘LOST’ executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. The Walt Disney Co. declined comment.”

Wallenstein reports that the series will be called “LOST Video Diaries” and is expected to introduce two new characters said to be stranded alongside regular cast members featured on TV / iTunes version of the show. Verizon is the likeliest partner, according to the report, through their $15/month VCast service which employs Microsoft’s Windows Media format at 15 frames per second (fps) or half the framerate of broadcast television’s 30 fps (Apple’s iTunes Music Store’s “LOST” videos are MPEG-4 (.m4v) at 24 fps, the iPod is capable of 30 fps). “The phone carrier would have exclusive rights to the new mini-”LOST,” which eventually could get an iPod [read: iTunes Music Store] window after that exclusivity expires,” Wallenstein reports.