When readers last met Posey County native Jill Wilderman (“Hollywood Lights,” November/December 2007), the Emmy-nominated producer of the monster courtroom series hit Judge Judy had jumped onto the other side of the camera as a reporter for a celebrity news outlet. Now, she says she’s “come full circle.”
2010 is her first full year at Fanlala.com, a website she helped found last October as a senior producer and field director. The website — a mix of teen celebrity news and social media — reminds Wilderman of the beginning of her broadcast career, covering the teen beat for a television station in Evansville.
Fanlala covers teen sensations such as pop singer Miley Cyrus, actor Zac Efron, and Nickelodeon superstar Miranda Cosgrove. The celebrity news earns millions of hits for the website each month, says Wilderman.
Fanlala functions “like a social community,” she says, where users post messages to other fans and bond over shared interests. It’s a concept Wilderman would have loved as a teenager when she liked pop bands New Kids on the Block and NSYNC, she says.
Her hope is Fanlala serves as “an Access Hollywood for teens.” While interviewing young celebrities, she “never talks down to them,” she says. “We have a lot of fun.” The thrill comes from frequent nights on red carpets or days on Disney movie sets, and those moments make it easy for Wilderman to feel passionate about her new venture. “My heart is in this website,” she says. “It’s something I plan to grow and grow.”
To see more of Wilderman on her new website, visit www.fanlala.com.
