A star is launched - at christopher-meloni.com
By Sophie Vitkovitsky
National Post, June 3, 2000

Brian Rodgers, a Hamilton, Ont., accountant by day, Webmaster by night:
Last year, he launched the official Web site for actor Christopher Meloni.
Christopher Meloni's star is on the rise -- the New York actor has played the sexual opportunist Chris Keller, on the gritty HBO prison drama Oz, as well as upstanding family man, Detective Elliot Stabler, on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He was Julia Roberts' spurned fiancé in Runaway Bride.

But who knew his official Web fan site -- the Christopher Meloni Official Home Page -- is the work of Hamilton, Ontario, accountant Brian Rodgers, who describes himself on the site as "55 (yikes!), Canadian born and raised." Rodgers had long admired Meloni's work -- "Here was an actor whom most people didn't know, but whom I was sure was ready to become a standout" -- and decided to start an unofficial site (http://www.christopher-meloni.com) for fellow fans. Launched last August, it has received almost 43,000 hits from ardent "Melonians," and is jam-packed with buzz, opinions, links and delightfully steamy photos.

But how does a fan go about establishing his site as the "official" one?

"I started out with his agent, got referred to his publicist and spent a few months phoning and emailing," Rodgers explains. "Then by luck, I was able to get info directly to Chris himself," who agreed that Rodgers' site could be the official one.

"I gave my blessing when I saw how enthusiastic, honest and organized Brian was," says Meloni.

The icing on the cake, or rather the tiramisu (Meloni's preferred dessert, so says the site), came when the actor offered to "chat with his fans." Rodgers suggested that Meloni answer e-mails rather than participate in rare online appearances: "No way I could afford a chat server," the Web host says with a laugh. Now, Rodgers regularly forwards questions -- both intelligent and inane -- to the actor who answers them in his spare time.

Rodgers spends "well over 15 hours a week" working on the site, though "in the beginning, it was a lot more." He's also organizing a fan gathering, in mid-July, in New York City.

Right now, the volume of e-mails is manageable, but when the actor's star gains altitude, what then? Rodgers suspects that Meloni "would have difficulty spending as much time as now," but the actor's more optimistic: "Maybe with Brian's divine guidance we'll figure something out."

© National Post