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19 articles
Jessica Biel Backs Live Earth, Sprouts ‘LiveEarth TV’ Web Series
4 December 2009 6:03 PM, PST
Global environmental outfit Live Earth hit the scene with a bang back in summer of 2007—07/07/07 to be exact—with a worldwide live concert event with more than 150 musical acts in 7 continents. Kanye West, Kelly Clarkson, Black Eyed Peas and Jack Johnson all headlined the event that drew awareness for the world's emerging Climate crisis. Now Live Earth is prepping their latest global event—Run for Water with lead sponsor Dow—taking aim on the worldwide water crisis an international (think 192 countries!) series of 6km run/walks (the average distance women and children walk everyday to secure water) with local concerts and water education events on April 18, 2010. To build awareness for the April event, they launched LiveEarth TV today, a hosted web series acting as a hub for all of the celeb-laden build up. Jessica Biel, Pete Wentz, Alexandra Cousteau, Angelique Kidjo and Jenny Fletcher are all attached and took part »
- Marc Hustvedt
Quick Clicks: ‘Private’ Loot, ‘Compulsions’, Good ‘Ideas’
4 December 2009 1:35 PM, PST
Web series and online video tid-bits worth clicking today: Compulsions Episode 4 (below) came out today, with After Judgment's Taryn O'Neill taking a seat in Craig Frank's empty warehouse of fun. And is it just us, or is Annemarie Pazmino the best looking office It Tech we've ever seen? [Dailymotion] Private the series is giving away a gaggle of free swag just in time to give to your 13 year-old cousin. T-shirts, novels and a signed posted from the teen queen cast. [Alloy] Planet Green, Discovery Channel's offshoot cable network, is launching its own daily web series, Planet 100, which will blaze through the top environmental stories of the day in 100 seconds or less. [C21 Media] Hidden Valley Ranch is jumping in the branded entertainment scene by sponsoring NBC Universal Digital Studio's new original web series, Garden Party, which will be getting featured placement on iVillage.com [MediaPost] Good Magazine's Big Ideas web series on »
- Marc Hustvedt
‘Chico’s Angels’ is a Gender-Bending Threeway Romp
4 December 2009 10:02 AM, PST
So there are these three Mexican transvestites, Kay Sedia (Oscar Quintero), Chita Parol (Ray Garcia), and Frieda Laye (Danny Casillas), who work for a private detective agency. They run around in their cha-cha heels solving crimes while taking orders from and reporting to their boss, Chico, who is never seen, only heard. Sounds familiar, right? The premise of Chico's Angels is freaking brilliant. Seriously brilliant. I hear about a trio of Latino cross-dressers doing anything and I'm in, be it a train wreck of sexual and cultural ambiguity or a great riff on the magic of Charlie's Angels. But does Chico's Angels deliver on the promise of funny and sultry private investigating to a salsa-driven soundtrack? Well, that's kind of where the rub is for me. You see Kay, Chita, and Frieda bedazzled in costumes more fitting for South Beach than crime fighting and you think you're in for an »
- Jake Weaver
Quick Clicks: Nph’s Dirty Snowman, ‘Gloomers’, Retrotastic Sci-Fi
3 December 2009 3:01 PM, PST
Neil Patrick Harris stars in a CBS-approved mashup video (above) of his best Barney Stinson lines from How I Met Your Mother with holiday classic Frosty the Snowman. "Frosty the Inappropriate Snowman" looks to boost interest in the network's animated Frosty specials airing later this month. [THRfeed] SciFinal loves sci-fi web series. The new site aims to be "one-stop shop for independent sci-fi online." Shows like After Judgment, Zerk's Log and Fury of Solace can all be found there, and plans for their own original series are underway. [SciFinal] Retro-futuristic sci-fi soap opera (!) web series Space Hospital, from Second City alums Sigurd Ueland and Robert Poe, launched its second season today, promising "More Robots, More Nurses and a Whole Lot of Lovin’ [emailed release] Another retrotastic web series Venus Spa, just ended its first season on YouTube, with a four-part finale they are calling the "Venus 4x4." A second season is prepping for early 2010 shooting. »
- Marc Hustvedt
Gary V’s ‘Obsessed with Samantha Ettus’ Jumps to Blip.tv
3 December 2009 12:35 PM, PST
Blip.tv has around 38,000 web shows on its site, according to their team, so it's not every day that they put out a press release when a show signs on with the New York-based video site. But this one today, the news that Gary Vaynerchuk's Obsessed with Samantha Ettus web talk show has jumped from Viddler over to blip.tv seemed to warrant one. The 30-minute hosted web series features Ettus, a bestselling author and co-creator of Obsessed TV, interviewing celebrities and other interesting people she finds captivating. She casts a pretty wide net in terms of who she sits down for her one-on-ones with—TV weatherman Al Roker, NY Jets running back Thomas Jones and designer Frederic Fekkai. The format is a bit more high energy and motivational than say Kevin Pollak's web chat show, which stays more in the comedy world with its guests. Not exactly »
- Marc Hustvedt
‘Legion of Extraordinary Dancers’ Blows Up Fox
2 December 2009 11:43 PM, PST
Wowzas. We've been hot on Jon M. Chu's upcoming dance-laden web series The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers for a while now, but this is getting to a new level. The group appeared tonight on Fox's So You Think You Can Dance, and blew away the competition. These guys are Amazing. Seriously, watch the clip above from the show. (right now) We're starting to think this could be the first truly international blockbuster web series. And now that Paramount Digital has jumped on board with Agility Studios for a major online distribution push, it just might get there. No Special effects. No Wires. Real People, Real powers. We call this project The Lxd. “The Lxd allows us to evolve how we tell stories using dance while creating a platform for the best dancers in the world to do what they do best,” said Jon M. Chu. "For the past year, »
- Marc Hustvedt
Quick Clicks: Apple Tablet Rumors, ‘Diggnation’, Pin-Ups and YouTube
2 December 2009 4:34 PM, PST
YouTube planning a live streaming push? In a recent interview with YouTube's Hunter Walk, he confidently hinted that "There is really no particular technology challenge to us delivering any type of video.” Speculation is still abound as to whether they'll tee off against (or just buy one of) the upstart live portals like UStream, Justin.tv, Livestream or Stickam. [NewTeeVee] Web Series Pin-Up Calendar? Sure, why not. If you've got it flaunt it. Indie comedy series Safety Geeks: Svi launched their very own cal with cast member and former Playboy Playmate Brittney Powell. We'll have to make room in the office for this one right next to our Tiki Bar TV pin-up cal from Lala (yes, we really have one). [Amazon] Break.com is offering up some holiday cash ($600) for successfully pie-ing your Aunt Rita in the face. The site is offering the cash, as they often do, for entries into the »
- Marc Hustvedt
‘Bannen Way’ Trailer Launch Fuels Web TV Meetup Buzz
2 December 2009 3:06 PM, PST
It's funny how The Bannen Way has come full circle, so to speak. The long-awaited action series after all started its buzz-filled journey from spec indie to Sony-backed studio project with just a flashy trailer over a year ago. Of course the full series wasn't actually shot back then, so the release of the actual HD trailer on Crackle.com this week is getting quite a stir going. As Streamy-winning Pink director Blake Calhoun joked today on Twitter, "I didn't realize Guy Ritchie was now directing web series ;)" For La-based folks, or those heading to the city, they will get an exclusive first hand look at the new series with never-before-seen footage. That, and we have The Bannen Way creators Jesse Warren and Mark Gantt (who also stars as con-man Neal Bannen) dishing on what "Going Pro" really means. Also speaking is the man who signs the deals over at Crackle, »
- Marc Hustvedt
‘LandlineTV’ Hops Over to Revision3, Goes After James Cameron
2 December 2009 12:37 PM, PST
Revision3 continued is aggressive addition of shows today with the re-launch of LandlineTV, bringing the popular YouTube partners over to its online network. The Brooklyn-based sketch comedy series was one of YouTube's higher quality productions, often hitting topical subjects live blockbusters, TV shows, and sports with their signature satire. The group's most popular video—Transformers 2: CGI Megan Fox Even Hotter This Time—racked up over 5.3 million views on YouTube earlier this summer. Paul Briganti, Saj Pothiawala and Jared Neumark make up the core group of LandlineTV, all of which were able to quit their various day jobs to work on the show full time. A few months back the group was creating comedy ads for Regus shared office space that ended up shown in the back seat TV screens of NYC taxicabs and local movie theaters. Luckily enough, a Rev3 intern spotted one of those Regus ads and share them with the office, »
- Marc Hustvedt
‘Hurtling Through Space’ Kicks Back For A Beer, Hangs Out
2 December 2009 7:23 AM, PST
The title Hurtling through Space at an Alarming Rate is slightly misleading. Oh, there's certainly a great deal of hurtling through space. The shared apartment of our overgrown fratboy protagonists goes warping through the universe, periodically marooning said overgrown fratboys on strange new worlds. But an alarming rate? Nothing seems to alarm or even rouse the main characters, Mike and Stuart (played by Michael Davies and Stuart Paap, who are presumably channeling some version of themselves). Htsaaar is one of the more deliberately laid-back web comedies out there, and much of the humor comes from the characters bemused unflappability in the face of space monsters, explosive devices, and female-types (this being a dude-centric webshow, semi-ironic sexism abounds). Web TV aficionados will know Davies from his role as writer/director of the sleek post-apocalyptic webseries After Judgment and his influence on the production values of Htsaaar is clear. The series looks good. »
- Ana Hurka-Robles
Quick Clicks: CollegeHumor, ‘Bite Me’, French ‘Rockville’, ‘Battery’s’ Done
1 December 2009 5:44 PM, PST
Trying something new here on Tubefilter. There are just so many web series related tid bits out there worth mentioning—including a heap in our News Desk email inbox that are worth a click. College Humor staffers are moving crosstown to parent company Iac's offices, out of the unsupervised Union Square office sanctuary that birthed many of the Ch crew's original series like Hardly Working and The CollegeHumor Show. And co-founder Ricky Van Veen is taking a more grown up post as CEO of Barry Diller's new web production arm Notational. He's also hired Vogue Editor Anna Wintour's strapping daughter Bee Shaffer as his assistant. Can you say cameo? [Business Insider] Bite Me TV, The Man Cooking Show launched its second season with host Josh Landis today, cooking recipes aimed at impressing a date in an edgy, guy-friendly way. Other series out of the unabashedly male site are Field Trippin' and Drink n' Play. »
- Marc Hustvedt
‘Decisions, Decisions’ Abound As Crackle Stakes Comedy Claim
1 December 2009 3:22 PM, PST
omedy is still the king genre of web video. And fittingly there are dozens of sites vying to be the web's go-to hubs for comedy—Funny or Die, Atom.com, My Damn Channel, Comedy.com—but that doesn't mean the broader web series hubs aren't up for some jocularity of their own. Sony's Crackle.com has had its share of original comedies over the past year, most recently bowing Jon Heder led Woke Up Dead, not to mention earlier jabs like David Faustino's Star-ving. But in an effort to bolster their comedy wares, Crackle rolled out its latest push today with the launch of a video slate dubbed "Last Call for Comedy." The package contains just two new original web series—Decisions, Decisions and So On and So Forth—alongside the online debut of the first two seasons of TBS comedy 10 Items or Less and some cult comedy films »
- Marc Hustvedt
‘Mr. Wrong’ Marries IOWest, Babelgum and Keeping It Short
1 December 2009 1:10 PM, PST
As web television toys with being a breeding ground for high production value, TV-ready content, occasionally its forefather, short-form bite-sized content is easily overlooked. Mr. Wrong is one such example. The very simple talking-head style show is easily watchable as most episodes clock in at under 2 minutes. Mr. Wrong is just as it sounds—one woman goes on many dates with some shady and crazy characters who all turn out to be just that, Mr. Wrong. These Mr. Wrongs rattle off their various philosophies on life, love, technology, poetry and more. The show is the brainchild of Frank Chindamo and his wife Lynn Chindamo via their Fun Little Movies outfit for video site Babelgum. Frank says the show comes from his wife Lynn's honest dating experiences. "She met so many Mr. Wrongs before she met me she thought it would be funny to spoof them in a web show." No »
- Lindsay Stidham
‘Compulsions’ Opens Strong With Exclusive Dailymotion Deal
1 December 2009 4:26 AM, PST
Hype can be a dangerous thing. Is it after all a fickle critter that once rattled can never really be sent back to its cage. So when Bernie Su and his team behind Compulsions began their late summer teases for their dark web thriller, they knew this day would come. The internet's day of reckoning. Today the 8-episode series debuts exclusively on Dailymotion, having signed a deal with the site granting it a month-long exclusive window on Compulsions. Already the popular video site had been featuring the trailer for the series front and center, and it now leads with the first episode surrounded by some custom front page skinning. Last night in Los Angeles, in a packed screening premiere at Cinespace a room full of some 200 or so lucky ones had a chance to collectively writhe and squirm through the first 4 episodes. "I know the expectations are high," wrote creator »
- Marc Hustvedt
Paramount Digital Steps Up to Jon M. Chu’s ‘Lxd’
30 November 2009 11:34 PM, PST
The problem with dance movies isn't the dancing. Everyone enjoys watching unrealistically attractive teen and twentysomethings manipulate and contort their bodies in unbelievable ways to hip-hop driven beats. And I mean everyone. I'm no anthropologist, but I'd say humans have a universal, positive association with cutting a rug. Dance, after all, is the world's oldest art form, and after thousands of years of being an integral part of our culture, it's fun to watch people do it well. YouTube proves my point. The problem with dance movies is the storyline. The exposition generally sucks. It's difficult to pay attention to or care about plot developments so hackneyed they're fodder for a Wayans flick. Watching outsiders or underdogs endure life-changing experiences - the death of a close family member, the attainment of a love interest, a montage - is unbearable when all we want to do is see them step up, »
- Joshua Cohen
Pixel8 Launches Aussie Web Studio, ‘BobbyDrexler’ First Up
30 November 2009 5:53 PM, PST
Australia hasn't been shy about joining the web series movement over the past year, with several original Aussie-made web series making waves on this side of the world including OzGirl and The 21 Conspiracy. Now a new Sydney-based web production studio has launched, dubbed Pixel8, and it not surprisingly has ties to Nick Carlton's OzGirl. Its founder James Grant Hay, who also founded branded entertainment shop InShot 2.0, served as the branded integrations producer for the ITVFest-winning series. Though independent of InShot, which is known for integrating brands into film, TV and web shows, it's likely the two companies will be working together. "This is a logical step for ourselves and that of our advertising clients, who increasingly have come to expect custom-based branded entertainment solutions from our agency," said Pixel8's Grant Hay. First up for Pixel8 is an interactive thriller web series, BobbyDrexler. "BobbyDrexler is a dark sardonic character driven »
- Marc Hustvedt
MSN Picks Up Milo Ventimiglia’s ‘Ultradome’ for Parallel Universe
30 November 2009 4:08 PM, PST
Milo Ventimiglia wants to further intellectual debate for the Comic-Con crowd. Back in May, the Heroes' hotshot told us about teaming up with Agility Studios for the web series Ultradome. The program pits comic and sci-fi fanboys against one another in a virtual octagon, where two individuals debate timeless topics like, "Would Harry Potter or Neo win in a fight?" and "Who's the cooler vampire? Count Chocula or Lestat?" It's basically the same premise as a classic Van Damme flick, re-engineered for the online set. You can imagine Don Lafontaine's voice explaining: "Two geeks enter. They Debate. One geek leaves." Last time we spoke with Ventimiglia, Ultradome was without a release date or distribution partner. Now that's changed. MSN tell us they recently struck a deal to distribute the series and are shooting for a late-January premiere. Joe Michaels, Senior Director at MSN Business Development, explained to me »
- Joshua Cohen
Jake Hurwitz Tells All: Amir, ‘Bff’, ‘CollegeHumor Show’, and Those Terrifying Ucb Shows
30 November 2009 1:47 PM, PST
At 23, Jake Hurwitz is already a web comedy veteran. As one half of College Humor's long running Jake and Amir series, Hurwitz has found himself at the center of a New York comedy powerhouse and starring himself in a slew of Ch originals including Hardly Working and its TV adaptation—MTV's The CollegeHumor Show. This summer, he was even tapped to host the second season of MySpace's game show Bff, which despite some questionable view counts, managed to work out to a pretty nice deal for Hurwitz in his first series outside the vaunted walls of College Humor. We caught up with the Connecticut native-turned-Brooklyn-local Hurwitz for a little tell all into just what it means to be a successful young comedy writer coming of age on the internet. That, and what to make if this Bff series. Tubefilter: How do you describe Bff if you’re trying to tell »
- Marc Hustvedt
‘White Gorilla’ Moves in on Atom, Pees In Sink
30 November 2009 6:01 AM, PST
While sharp writing and clever story structure are often the hallmarks of good comedy, one can’t overlook the impact of a fantastic comic performance. Is Caddyshack remembered for its plot? No, it’s become beloved because of the standout comic acting of Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield and Ted Knight. Same goes for The Honeymooners or Married With Children, both standard family scenarios elevated by standout performances from Jackie Gleason and Ed O’Neill, respectively. Not to elevate it to the same status as these classics, but this is what I thought of when watching Atom's new White Gorilla series. White Gorilla is an original web series executive produced by comedy vet Jim Biederman (The Whitest Kids U Know, Michael & Michael Have Issues) and Chris Gillen . It all begins when normal average everyman Steve (Trevor Dellecave) receives a mysterious wooden crate from Africa that contains a talking White »
- Tim Saccardo
19 articles
