The Leaky Cauldron (website)

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The Leaky Cauldron (LeakyNews.com)
URL www.the-leaky-cauldron.org
Slogan "The Most Trusted Name in Potter"
Commercial? Unknown
Type of site Harry Potter
Registration None
Available language(s) US English
Owner Leaky Inc.
Created by Kevin Murphy
B.K DeLong
Melissa Anelli
Launched July 2000
Current status Active

The Leaky Cauldron, often called simply Leaky, is a Harry Potter fansite. It features news, a video gallery, image galleries, interviews, reviews, fan graphics, widgets, essays, a chat room, forums, a podcast called "PotterCast," and more. The current webmaster is Melissa Anelli, a former journalist for the Staten Island Advance. John Noe is the creative director of the site, and Sue Upton is the senior news editor.

It has good relations with J. K. Rowling, the writer of the Harry Potter books and producers of the Harry Potter films, interviews the actors, and was the first fan site to gain such access, visits the sets and posts information straight from those involved in the production of the franchise. Rowling has praised The Leaky Cauldron on her Web site by awarding it her "Fan Site Award." The Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet were granted an interview with Rowling immediately following the release of her sixth novel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Rowling recounts on her Web site that she visits the site and sometimes reads the comments left by visitors, while never commenting herself; she once wished a reader a happy birthday based upon their postings on Leaky 1. Rowling gave her approval and endorsement to the Web site's and its forum, the Leaky Lounge 's, strong anti-spoiler campaign prior to the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The Leaky Cauldron's Masthead
The Leaky Cauldron's Masthead

Warner Bros., the producers of the Harry Potter movies, regularly sends Leaky pictures taken from the upcoming movies before they are released, and gave the site a special preview of the new designs of the Harry Potter official Web site on two occasions: before the release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and before the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It sent Leaky to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as the first and sole representative of fans in 2004; in 2005 it visited again for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, with other sites. It also invited Leaky first and exclusively to the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets junket, a practice it opened to other fan sites for the subsequent films.

The Leaky Cauldron produces a podcast called "PotterCast." The first show was launched in August, 2005, and features discussions about the books and films, a voicemail section for listeners to send questions, and unlike any other Harry Potter podcast, frequent interviews with those involved in the books and films as well as other entertainment professionals. They have interviewed many actors such as Rupert Grint and Matthew Lewis, directors and crew members, as well as M. Night Shyamalan, and more. Transcripts of the show are available on the PotterCast Web site, and are released shortly after each episode.

In addition to PotterCast, The Leaky Cauldron sponsors an online essay project called Scribbulus where writers from around the world can have their Harry Potter related essays published and read.

The Leaky Cauldron also goes by the name of "LeakyNews" after its renovation that lead to improved functionality of the site including AJAX technology, better incorporation of features, and a neater design.

Contents

[edit] History

The Leaky Cauldron (TLC) Web site was started by Kevin C. Murphy on July 5, 2000, as a Geocities Web site managed through Blogger. It moved to its own domain on December 4, 2000. Today the site is also accessible at LeakyNews.com.

B.K. DeLong took control of the site in 2001. Later that year, Melissa Anelli joined as an editor. In 2002, she became Managing Editor and took full editorial control of the site in 2004.

On January 28, 2005, LeakyLounge.com, Leaky's own forum, was released to the public for fans to discuss Harry Potter. Currently, the forums have over 53,000 members.

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Please improve this article if you can. (May 2008)

[edit] 2003 April Fools Joke

The 2003 April Fools Day joke featured TLC pretending it had received the famous "93-word card" that they had attempted, unsuccessfully, to win in December. The fake card said: "Things I can tell you about book five: It's thirty-eight chapters but Harry might change his clothes again...if he does it will be the longest volume of the series...Ron dyes his hair blonde...Harry uses his broom to sweep the Chamber of Secrets...Petunia is sacked as Dudley's Mum�Draco becomes a house-elf...Voldemort becomes the new teacher by disguising his tattoo and unibrow - wait, wrong series...Harry dies of laughter when Trelawney belly-dances...and on 1 April Harry gets fooled by an April Fool's Day joke...sorry..."

[edit] 2004 April Fools Joke

The 2004 April Fools Day joke featured actor comedian and musician Jim Tavaré, who would appear later that year in the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban film as Tom the Barman. The character in the film runs The Leaky Cauldron, so Jim posted on the site, pretending to oust all the "muggles" from the space and take it over himself. Staff protested throughout the day while Jim managed his reclaiming of the bar.

[edit] 2005 April Fools Joke

The Leaky Cauldron closed down on April Fools Day 2005, posting instead a note that said how tired the Web masters were of dealing with all the stupid questions their readers send them every day. It then opened "Ask Peeves," a spoof on popular Web site Ask Jeeves. The site was a search engine; each search resulted in answers jargonized to match the speech of the mischievous poltergeist from the Harry Potter books. A graphic of Peeves spouted out rude sayings and limericks on the page as well.

[edit] 2006 April Fools Joke

On April Fool's Day 2006, Harry Potter fansites Mugglenet and The Leaky Cauldron shut down their sites temporarily and redirected all visitors to a new website titled The Leaky Mug, a play on the combination of the two sites' names. The new site's first announcement was the marriage of Mugglenet's webmaster Emerson Spartz to Melissa Anelli, the webmistress of The Leaky Cauldron. They were merging their sites, they said, as they had merged their lives. Both sites were running normally and separately the next day, and soon after, JK Rowling herself discussed the joke on her official website. It should be noted, though, that LeakyMug.com is now a perfectly-functional merged website that runs independently of The Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet. Its prime function is to house past episodes of TLC and MuggleNet's joint podcast, The Leaky Mug. To this date, both websites still refuse to admit that it was an April Fools' Joke, saying instead that they forgot to do a joke because of their 'marriage.'

[edit] 2007 April Fools Joke

On April Fool's Day 2007, The Leaky Cauldron posted a news item that it had reconsidered its original intention to stay online after the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Melissa Anelli, the webmaster of The Leaky Cauldron, commented that after looking at the cover art of the last book, the staff of The Leaky Cauldron had decided to shut down soon after the last book release. Minutes after midnight on April 2nd, Anelli posted again, revealing that it was, in fact, a hoax and that The Leaky Cauldron would not be closing after Deathly Hallows came out. It was also commented that they had received many letters of thanks and support from fans, and that their other plan was to post a fake news story about a blip in the recycling plant pushing the publication date for Deathly Hallows back a bit, as Deathly Hallows would be printed on recycled paper.

[edit] 2008 April Fools Joke

On April Fool's Day 2008, The Leaky Cauldron announced that Sybill Trelawney, a teacher at Hogwarts, would become a new news editor. She would be able to predict news items in advance, which was seen as a great benefit to the site. Leaky also announced that Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry Potter in the movies, would appear in Equus, a play starring Radcliffe and to open on Broadway Spring 2008, fully clothed. Leaky also announced that the wizard rock band Harry and the Potters was disbanding and the brothers Joe and Paul DeGeorge would be releasing solo albums, each of them subsequently portraying Harry in different years of his time in Hogwarts.

[edit] Awards

In 2005, The Leaky Cauldron won the Yahoo! Search Find of the Year People's Choice Award, as well as a Fan Site Award from J.K. Rowling. It has also been awarded a Lovemark [1], a 2002 Bloggie, an a Fan Favorite Award from Movies.com in 2004 and 2005. On May 9, 2006, the site won a 2006 Webby People's Voice Award, becoming the first fan site of any variety to ever win a Webby.

[edit] Significance

In addition to awarding Leaky the "Fan Site Award," J. K. Rowling, the author of the books, also once called the site "my favorite fan site." [2] After the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Rowling invited Anelli (along with Emerson Spartz, the editor of fellow fansite MuggleNet) to her home in Edinburgh, Scotland for an interview. [3] The website receives information from other important sources in the Harry Potter world, including Arthur A. Levine Books, Bloomsbury, and Warner Bros..

Leaky is the only Harry Potter site to consistently interview those involved in the books and films. It has attained exclusive interviews with many film actors and directors/crew, as well as the editors of the books and J.K. Rowling herself.

[edit] Charitable initiatives

One of Leaky's most distinguishing characteristics among Harry Potter sites is its charity work. It regularly raises funds to aid world literacy, a project that started in 2002. Leaky holds a charity drive every holiday season and has donated more than $30,000 to charity to date. It started in 2002 when author J. K. Rowling auctioned off a hand written card with 93 words that related to the plot of the following Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. They did not acquire the card but donated all the money raised to the charity that would have benefited had they won the auction.

[edit] PotterCast podcast

 This article or section is written like an advertisement.
Please help rewrite this article from a neutral point of view.
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PotterCast
Hosting Melissa Anelli
John Noe
Sue Upton
Frak
Other regular hosts
 RSS feed://feeds.feedburner.com/potter-cast
Updates Weekly
Debut August 22, 2005
End date Ongoing
Genre Harry Potter
Website http://www.pottercast.com/

PotterCast is the official podcast of The Leaky Cauldron based in the United States. This weekly hour-long podcast incorporates book and film discussion as well as fan feedback and interaction pertaining to the larger Potter experience. It's noted for its interviews with people involved in making the Potter films, books, and video games. Launched on August 22, 2005, PotterCast regularly hosts contests, and has presented theme shows, such as a special Wizard Rock video edition and one for Banned Books Week 2005, in which staff interviewed representatives from the American Library Association. It also covers breaking news, such as the press conference hosted by Warner Brothers before the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. With episode #130 PotterCast became the first podcast to interview the author of the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling.

[edit] Segments

  • Intro - Originally just Melissa Anelli, but features the whole PotterCast Trio. Pre-recorded intro by J.K. Rowling, followed by a rundown of what you'll hear in that week's show.
  • News Talk - Led by Sue Upton. As of September 2007, this replaced Sue's News and the Newswrap - combining them into one seamless segment that follows the Intro without any discernible break.
  • Sue's News - As of September 2007, no longer a separate segment. Quick wrapup of the hot Potter news that has occurred in the last week.
  • Leaky Lowdown/Newswrap - As of September 2007, no longer a separate segment. Analysis and discussion of the latest film, book, and world Harry Potter news items.
  • Fan Thoughts - Began October 2007. Listener voicemails with thoughts about current or previous week's discussion topics.
  • Canon Conundrums/Canon Conclusions - Began April 2006. Picks apart one unanswered question from the Harry Potter series each week, such as "How does the Fidelius Charm work?" Features Steve Vander Ark, of the Harry Potter Lexicon.
  • Bit by Bit - Began October 2007. Discusses the Deathly Hallows book in order, one chapter or one scene at a time. Different guest host each week with the PotterCast Trio.
  • Phoenix Files - Began August 2007. Similar to the Bit by Bit segment, but discussing the The Order of the Phoenix film.
  • Scribby 5 - Began March 2007. A five-minute discussion on a recent essay or two that have been submitted by Leaky Cauldron readers. Hosted by a different threesome of Scribbulus (essay project) editors each week. May also include discussion about the essays of www.harrypotterseven.com. Features: Melissa Wall, Sloan de Forest, and Nina de Boo.
  • Fan Interview ("In the Fan Corner") - One-on-one interview with a fan who has an interesting perspective on the Harry Potter series, usually having used the books as personal inspiration (such as for art or music), or to inspire others (such as in the classroom or in their community).
  • In the Know - One-on-one interview with an individual that has NOT been involved in creating the books and films, but has expertise in these or related industries.
  • Extendable Ears - Interviews with filmmakers, editors, actors, etc. who have been directly involved in the Harry Potter industry.
  • Modcast - Discontinued as of August 2006. In-depth discussion of one character or theme from the Harry Potter books.
  • Mailbag - Segment near the end of the show where the PotterCast trio answered and commented on listener voicemails. As of October 2007, this segment appears to have been replaced with the Fan Thoughts segment. As of April 2008 (Episode 149) this segment was re introduced to discuss the events of the J.K. Rowling .vs. RDR Books trial, & fan thoughts surrounding it.
  • Wrap-up - The hosts tie up the show, closing off loose ends and fooling around. Includes announcements of upcoming events, shout-outs to those who have blogged about the podcast, and a "listener challenge" for the next week (usually asking for fans to create videos, filks, blogs, or voicemails on a certain topic, and usually done talking over "The Drums").
  • Bloopers - Occasional short segment played after the show close. Features outtakes from the recording of the episode in question.
  • Are YOU Smarter Than John Noe? - A segment which began on Episode 140 which is based upon Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?. Listeners call in and compete with John by answering Harry Potter trivia questions.
  • PotterCast Acting Troupe - A segment that which began on Episode 149, which will be separated into multiple PotterCasts. The segment will be similar to skits on the radio where chosen actors will act out different characters. The script will be written by the Fan Fiction writers at "The Sugar Quill". The story will be focusing on the next generation of the Potters, very similar to Fan Fiction. Each week there will be different soundbytes and listeners can vote afterwards on the site for the best one.

[edit] Current Hosts

Main Hosts, aka "The PotterCast Four":

  • Melissa Anelli - Webmistress of The Leaky Cauldron
  • John Noe - Creative director for The Leaky Cauldron websites
  • Sue Upton - Senior news editor for The Leaky Cauldron
  • Frankie Franco III (Frak) - Started out as guest host while John finished school, but ended up being invited to become a permanent host in episode 144.

Regular Hosts:

  • Kimberly Blair - In the Fan Corner, Fan Thoughts, website editor
  • Kristin Brown - Mailbag
  • Doris Herrmann - In the Fan Corner
  • Steve Vander Ark - Canon Cunondrums co-host
  • Melissa Wall - Scribby 5 co-host
  • Sloan de Forest - Scribby 5 co-host
  • Nina de Boo - Scribby 5 co-host

Other staff participants include audio editors, transcription "elves," Scribbulus editors, and moderators from The Leaky Cauldron's forums who've occasionally joined Canon Conundrums and the old Modcast.

[edit] Notable Interviews and Appearances

  • J.K. Rowling - interviewed in episode #130 and 131
  • Arthur A. Levine - Editor of the American editions of the Harry Potter books and the person widely credited with bringing Potter to America.[1][2] Episode #22 -#24
  • Cheryl Klein - Continuity editor of the American editions of the Harry Potter books. Often mentioned as "Hottt Cheryl" in throwaway references. Appeared as a co-host, participating in all segments of the show. Episode #47
  • Matthew Lewis - Actor who plays Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter film franchise. Matt appeared for an extended interview that was spread out over three weeks. He also spoke to fans via a call-in show. He voiced the intro for a time before Deathly Hallows was released. Episode #51- #53
  • Rupert Grint - Actor who plays Ron Weasley. Voiced the intro for episodes 112-129.
  • Jamie Waylett - Actor who plays Vincent Crabbe. Appeared as a co-host of the show, spending the entire hour with the PotterCasters. Episode #31
  • Bonnie Wright - Actress who plays Ginny Weasley.
  • Evanna Lynch - Actress who plays Luna Lovegood. Participated in a call-in discussion show. Episode #69
  • Chris Columbus - Director of the first two Potter films.
  • Alfonso Cuarón - Director of the third Potter film.
  • Mike Newell - Director of the fourth Potter film.
  • Stuart Craig - Art director on all Potter films
  • Chris Rankin - Actor who plays Percy Weasley. Chris has appeared on the show a few times, including hosting a game show and appearing as a live call-in guest.
  • M. Night Shyamalan - Director of "The Sixth Sense," and "Unbreakable." Discussed, amongst other things, what he would do if offered the chance to direct a Potter film. Episode #48
  • Matt Birch and Justin Manning - Producers for the Order of the Phoenix computer game from EA Games.
  • Danny Bilson - Producer, writer, and director. Worked on the initial creation of the Harry Potter video games.
  • Laura Mallory - Georgia woman attempting to ban Potter books from school libraries for religious reasons. Episode #119
  • Duff Goldman - Owner of Charm City Cakes, who created a cake for the LA premiere of Order of the Phoenix.

[edit] The LeakyMug

PotterCast and its friendly rival, MuggleCast, often co-produce a podcast called The Leaky Mug for special events. These are primarily live podcasts, with the occasional "traditional" pre-recorded LeakyMugs used to get the word out about the upcoming live LeakyMugs. Typically, the Pottercast Trio participates as well as three or four MuggleCasters.

[edit] Live Shows

[edit] Audience

The show has spawned several fan groups - SQUEE (Sue's Quite Unnervingly Excitable Enthusiasts), The John Noe Fan Club, MAFIA (Melissa Anelli's Fans In Action), Guru's Fans, and PCAA (PotterCast Addicts Anomynous). It has also inspired the creation of a few wizard rock bands, including Sue and the Hufflepuffs, Melissa and the Anellis, and MC Dawlish. Listeners frequently create elaborate videos and filks for PotterCast contests and fan challenges.

[edit] Awards, Nominations, & Rankings

  • iTunes Best of 2007 Podcasts - In the "Classics: Audio" category. One of 63 podcasts to receive this honor.[3][4]
  • 2007 Parsec Awards - Nominee for Best (Speculative Fiction) News Podcast, Best Audio Production, and Best Fan Podcast.
  • 2006 Parsec Awards - Nominee for Best Fan Podcast
  • 2006 Podcast Awards - Winner of Best Entertainment Podcast[5]
  • 2006 Podcast Awards - Nominee for Podcast of the Year (People's Choice)
  • iTunes - Around August 24, 2005 it held the number one position on the list of highest rated podcasts. As of March 12, 2007 it is #10 on the list of top Arts podcasts. Shortly after the publication of PotterCast 130, with J.K. Rowling, PotterCast achieved number 13 on the list of overall podcasts, and has maintained a spot as the number one arts podcast through the first week of January, 2008. It is still in the top 100, and is now the top-rated Harry Potter podcast.
  • Podcast Alley - Usually ranked in the top 20 each month.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ TLC Interviews Arthur Levine, Part I - The Leaky Cauldron
  2. ^ The Wizardly Editor Who Caught the Golden Snitch - washingtonpost.com
  3. ^ PotterCast - The Harry Potter Podcast
  4. ^ http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewCustomPage?name=pageBestPodcasts2007
  5. ^ Podcasting News: People's Choice Podcast Awards Announced
  6. ^ PotterCast: The Harry Potter Podcast on PodcastAlley.com - The place to find Podcasts

[edit] External links