I think this has to our most unique Buzz episode of The Web Files because it was our first tech Buzz. It was really important for us to feature some of the new technologies that are not only emerging on film, but they are happening in the web series world. The crew at Safety Geeks:SVI and Yabazam.com have lead the way with the first 3D web series while Tyler Malin and Matthew Forrest at Social Animal are pioneering new technology by partnering up with Psychic Bunny for their new web series, Qualia. Now, let's dig into this episode.
Dave Beeler and Tom Konkle saw the new Acer 3D laptop and knew that this technology would be a good fit for their series, Safety Geeks:SVI. This forward-thinking duo ultimately created the first 3D web series on the market, something the studios have not even done yet. It is truly impressive when you think of it on that grand scale. The way they shoot their series already leant itself to making the 3D possibility happen easier than most shows. Since everything is done in layers on green screen, the foundation was already there. In fact, we talked at length about this in our original Web Files interview with them last summer. Guiding the way to make this happen is Dynamic Digital Depth (DDD) and their website Yabazam.com. Jay Wiskerchen, VP of Technical Operations, talked about a "shortage of content" for 3D and how they would love the opportunity to work with other web series creators. Do you hear that? A great opportunity for those looking to step outside the box of web series content.
You might also notice that Jay is tall, like super tall. They actually had to have me stand on an apple box to even remotely match eye lines for the shot. Be sure to watch the episode to the very end where you catch a glimpse at the height difference. In true Red Carpet Closet form, we also have some exclusive footage from the episode. What is the cast's favorite scene in 3D? Tom and Dave give some great technical scenes to look at while Brittney Powell goes right for the dirty. I mean, the word is funny!
After our turn at DDD, we headed over to Social Animal to check out this wild 360 degree camera we had seen at the Streamy Awards red carpet. The footage from the awards show was never released, so we decided to check it out for ourselves. Tyler Malin, CEO of Social Animal, and Matthew Forrest, COO, gave us a great rundown of how the camera works and the new possibilities in storytelling the camera offers. Matthew talked about the nine cameras giving you the "ultimate point of view" because you can pick and choose where you want the story to go. So the viewer ultimately has control over their own experience and they wind up spending more time with your content. This model has been used primarily in advertising with companies like Scion and Zipfizz, but they announced on The Web Files that they have partnered up with Psychic Bunny to use this in a new narrative web series, Qualia. You might be familiar with Psychic Bunny's work from their unique comedy, Coma, Period and our Web Files interview with them. While this technology is expensive, this is another groundbreaking look at the future of filmmaking.
I hope all of the creators out there seize these amazing opportunities that are on the horizon. These are great ways to stand out amongst a crowded field and help take web series to another level. Pass this episode along to your friends and fellow artists. I think it is the strongest Buzz episode we have created to date. I hope you enjoy as much as I did covering the story:
I'm going to leave you with the talented puppy of Social Animal's Matthew Forrest. Howwe wowed us with his tricks and it is a great excuse to upload a video to YouTube with a "cute puppy" tag. May I present, the scene stealer of the day, Howwe:
PS If you want more Brittney, go buy the Safety Geeks:SVI calendar:
As the days dwindle before my vacation, I want to make sure I capture all of the excitement surrounding the SOLO the Series premiere: a packed house, lots of giveaways, and a long awaited series screening. We were back at Cinespace which has become one of the "go-to" locations for web series premieres. You might even recognize the background from the Compulsionsepisode. We were able to grab the cast right before they headed into the screening room to give us their thoughts on the series and what item they would like to have with them if they were stranded in space. SOLO the Series, created by Jonathan Nail, follows the journey of man stranded in space after his reality show is cancelled and that is when the hilarity really begins.
We were able to interview some familiar faces to the web series landscape from Michele Boyd of The Guild to Brittney Powell and Tom Konkle of Safety Geeks: SVI. What? You don't remember seeing a full interview with Brittney and Tom in our episode? I joke that they are on The Web Files every week, so I don't want to disappoint you. Find out about their participation in SOLO the Series in this Red Carpet Closet extra:
The one person I was really excited to interview was Jay Caputo who plays Jack Spratt, the reality show producer whose behind the scenes shenanigans with the Japanese mafia get them all into trouble. If you are a frequent reader here, you know I am an uber-gymnastics geek. Well, Jay was on the National team as an elite gymnast, a successful NCAA athlete, and he participated in the 1992 Olympic Trials. Impressive, right? Well, Jay was not so impressed with my excitement. Watch my awkwardness unfold onscreen:
As for creator, Jonathan Nail, it was exciting to watch his big night. This show has been a long time in coming and he did a great job with the premiere. He built on the momentum with a packed house of supporters, he offered up fantastic prizes for a raffle to help raise money for the rest of shooting season (And boy, were there some excited winners--Hello, A Good Knight's Quest table.) and belief in the project permeated the room. I think we all felt that we want Jonathan, the cast, and the show to succeed. This truly was Jonathan's night and his pet project. He had a lot of support behind the scenes too with web series power couple (Okay, I just termed that, but I like it.), Allison Vanore and Rob Gokee. I finally met Allison after months of communicating on Twitter. After meeting her in person, I understand why she is in demand as a producer: confident, smart, and really sharp. So, book her now if you want to work with her, I have a feeling it is onwards and upwards with her career. Rob is familiar to many of you from our Web Files Buzzepisode back in March. He scored a majority of SOLO the Series and he is a great example of utilizing social media to market and gain new clients.
I was also grateful to be asked to moderate the Q&A after the screening. One of the most important ideas that came up was casting in a web series. It has been a common occurrence to cast your friends in all of the roles. It is a great idea to band together to create new work, but sometimes you wind up with someone that may be miscast or doesn't have the acting chops of everyone around them. Well, Jonathan Nail brought in casting director, Laurie Records, to help with SOLO. It adds another layer of professionalism to the production and by holding auditions, you might find an actor who brings new meaning and layers to the words you have written as a creator. It's an interesting thought, so if you are able to set aside a budget to hire a casting director, you may see your work take shape on levels you might not have realized otherwise. I point it out because it's just another little morsel to nibble on while your next web series idea is brewing.
I know a lot of you are waiting for the big debut of SOLO the Series and that day is coming soon. Be sure to check out Episode 1 on July 6th at WatchSolo.com. Congratulations to the cast! It truly was a magical night.
Enjoy our episode, I think you will hear about a lot of different aspects to the production from shooting on the small set with Dirctor of Photography, PJ Gaynard, to playing a robot, PHAL9000, with actor, Jason Burns. If you want a tour of the set, see our Web Files Buzz episode with Jonathan from February. Now, check out all of the action from the red carpet premiere:
I am a little behind on some of my posts, but I wanted to give a shout out to all of the winners at the Stay Tuned TV Awards which happened on June 6th. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the work of independent creators and producers. Frank Zanca and Timothy Ryder, the founders of Stay Tuned TV, put on a fantastic show to honor the shows on their site. The night was emceed by Todd Bridges, AKA Willis on Diffr'ent Strokes. Todd kept us laughing throughout the night, but I will say it was interesting timing given that Gary Coleman had passed away the week before. Regardless, he was an entertaining host and it was thrilling for me to interview an 80's TV icon.
I was lucky enough to not only cover the red carpet for Mingle Media TV, but attend the event. I was also thrilled to discover a funny new web series called The Actor Diaries created by and starring Kate VanDevender. I think a lot of actors here in LA can relate to her stories and laugh along with her. She ran away with Best Actress in a Comedy and Best Comedy that evening. Now, go support a new show and check out episode one:
Below, you will find a few of my favorite red carpet interviews from the night. If you are looking for more action from the red carpet, be sure to check out Mingle Media TV:
Todd Bridges...um, because he's Willis!
Tom Konkle, Dave Beeler, and Brittney Powell of Safety Geeks: SVI because I adore them.....
The cast from Greatest American Hero because I told them to sing the theme song for me and they did!
Congratulations to all of thewinners! I can't wait to see more from all of the creators.
Yes, we brought you something different this week, the inaugural episode of The Web Files Buzz. Sandra and I have been toying with this idea for awhile, but it took some time to figure out how we wanted to execute the episode. I have received a lot of questions about this format: Is this the new format of the show? Is the old format gone? The answer is "sometimes" and "no". We will do a Buzz show every few weeks to mix it up in between our longer, more formal interviews. As the web space grows, we have to grow. Viewers want us to get in depth with their favorite shows, but we do not want to forget those shows that are up and coming. So, I think the new format serves an important purpose. We had a lot of fun shooting these shorter segments and I think delivered an action packed episode.
We kicked it off with the IAWTV "For Your Consideration" Screening of The Fall of Kaden and Blue Movies, both Koldcast TV web series. I did an in depth piece on the evening which can be read here: Fall of Kaden/Blue Movies. I haven't seen the Koldcast footage yet, but hopefully, it will be released soon. The Koldcast shoot talked more about the fantastic idea to hold a IAWTV screening and it is a format now being wisely copied by others before the Streamy ballots are due. I think it will also give web series creators, Adam Leiphart and Matt Double (Fall of Kaden) and Scott Brown (Blue Movies) even more deserved face time with the IAWTV voters.
Finally, we rounded out the episode with a visit to Jonathan Nail on the set of his upcoming show, SOLO the Series. The set was built inside his garage and we had a chance to climb inside to take a closer look. Jonathan's show has created a lot of buzz over Twitter and I am glad we were able to see what those 140 characters were all about. He also showed me the pilot after the shoot, so get ready for a comedic, sci-fi ride sometime in 2010.
It was a day for cupcake shirts and many of you asked where you could purchase my shirt after I posted the photo on Twitter. Well, it was purchased at the Union Square Christmas fair in NY by a friend of mine. She tried to track down the designer, but we were not able to find her. However, you can find similar cupcake shirts online, just google "Make cupcakes, not war". I also took a close-up photo of my crew badge. Jonathan made me an honorary crew member of Team SOLO. Let's just hope I don't get stuck in space like he did.
Be sure to check out our first episode of The Web Files Buzz here: Episode 1. It is our fastest rising show to date, so we appreciate your views and feedback. On Wednesday, we go back to our usual format with an interview with Epic Fu creators and the 2009 Streamys winners for Best Hosted Web Series, Zadi Diaz and Steve Woolf.
Red carpet photos courtesy of Bernie Su of Compulsions.
Okay, all of you Legend of Neil fans have me baffled. Never in the 29 episode history of The Web Files have I received such interesting and rather, uh...odd feedback. Many of you are obsessed with the decor of Sandeep Parikh's apartment. From the oranges on the table to the decorations on the wall to the lack of decorations on the wall, you all had something to say. I think a lot of you want to help Sandeep out or maybe there are some ladies out there looking to add a woman's touch to the place. Regardless, Sandra did add the oranges to the table, a bit of color for the interview. I have no idea if Sandeep is looking for decorating tips, but hopefully, he will check out my blog and add his 2 cents.
**UPDATE** I have a clarification and a turn of events.......Sandra DID NOT add the bowl of oranges, Sandeep DID! So, he is the one who added a bit of color to his coffee table and I think that is a lovely decorating idea. So, maybe the naysayers should be taking tips from Sandeep? I am calling this on DecoratorGate 2010!
On to more important things, the interview! I think Sandeep was very clear that while his show is higher profile than some of the other web series out there, it is not a huge money maker. He sells merchandise to supplement the production costs for the show. While we didn't see all of that during the episode, you will notice a pile of shirts to my right during the show and the t-shirt I wear during the opening. Another question that wound up on the editing room floor that I think is really important to ponder: "Would their show been as successful today on YouTube as it was back in 2007 when they first launched?" Tony Janning responded with an honest, "I don't know." It is a huge challenge to launch a web series on YouTube because the site is so saturated with content. It is tough to stand out amongst the crowd. Now, Legend of Neil was going to be successful, regardless of YouTube, but it may have taken more time to find an audience had they launched it in 2010.
I had to watch this episode several times to refresh my memory about the behind the scenes action. I looked back at the calendar and realized that we shot the show on December 14th, 2009, so it was almost two months ago. It isn't often that we bank shows that far in advance, but we sometimes we have to work with shows that have deadlines like series premieres or finales. That is why you saw episodes with The Bannen Way and A Comicbook Orange before you ever saw Legend of Neil. Both episodes were shot in January well after Legend of Neil shoot, but they aired before the Sandeep/Tony episode in order to accommodate their season premieres.
And yes, I did get a chance to wear Link's hat and check out all of The Legend of Neil props. I know there are a few jealous fans out there. So, that was a really fun treat for me. If you haven't seen the episode, check it out here: Legend of Neil.
Wednesday brings our first episode of The Web Files Buzz featuring "the buzz about the biz....the web series biz". Highlights include the red carpet of the IAWTV screening of Fall of Kaden and Blue Movies, checking out Brittney Powell's Safety Geek:SVI calendar, and a set visit to the upcoming web series, SOLO the Series by Jonathan Nail.
Finally, a shout out to Casey McKinnon for kicking all of the boys' butts in January. We had a male heavy slate with Dorm Life, The Fine Brothers, and The Bannen Way in the month of January. Little Casey's episode of A Comicbook Orange not only exceeded our expectations, but the views on that episode are HUGE. I like seeing a female whooping some ass in the industry. Congratulations, Casey and Rudy!
