by Marc Hustvedt on June 30th, 2009
I’m not sure if spinoff is the right word here, but for lack of a better one I’m going with it. Oxygen just launched a Tori Spelling spinoff web series, Mommywood, today as an online extension her popular TV series Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.
Ok, technically this is a book launch web series, somewhat akin to Robin Cook’s Foreign Body drama last summer or better yet, Stephen King’s well-received animated series N. Spelling is, after all, a New York Times best-selling author so we learned, and the series shows on screen what she spent 256 pages writing about in the book of the same name.
Spelling doesn’t shy away from airing some of the family business, like when her mother, Candy Spelling, stopped talking to her after she dished out the family secrets in her tell-all book sTORI Telling.
by Marc Hustvedt on June 30th, 2009
You have to hand it to the automakers, who despite dismal sales lately have continued to push forward with their digital campaigns, making significant investments in web video. Honda is the latest to develop original video series wrapped in a branded content portal with their Dream The Impossible documentary web series.
The portal is a broadly stroked project aimed at capturing the essence of the brand, similar to Lexus’ original web series channel L Studio. Perhaps the credit for kicking off this whole trend is due to BMW who took the digital leap way back in 2001 with The Hire. That was back well before YouTube and ubiquitous streaming video, but that didn’t stop them from netting over 11 million views in four months.
The fourth episode of Dream, or perhaps really its own short film, was just released and is dubbed Dreams vs. Nightmares. It probes the literal and metaphorical relationships we have with our dreams and nightmares, prompting some much-needed reflection on our use of those words. The Honda brand clearly plays a larger role in the series than say the L Studio comedies, using Honda engineers and executives as documentary commentators alongside more notable names like Deepak Chopra and Clive Barker.
by Pat Miller on June 30th, 2009
Some people buy a new phone and download a couple ringtones, other people unlock it and get homebrew applications that let them use it as a TV remote.
Some people get a PSP for Christmas so they can get their Metal Gear fix on the road, other people get a PSP so they can get their Metal Gear fix on the road – the original Metal Gear, emulated from the MSX.
The second kind of person is the kind of person that would be most likely to watch Revision3’s Hak5, a show that has been covering the hottest topics in technological hackery since 2005. Now in its fifth season, each episode is hosted by Darren Kitchen, Matt Lestock, and Shannon Morse; together, they combine their powers (and natural curiosity about technology) to explore topics in IT and consumer tech you won’t see on cable TV.
by Marc Hustvedt on June 29th, 2009
Babelgum has been stepping further into the web television waters lately, adding two notable comedy web series to its catalog in a distribution deal for A.D. Miles’ comedy Horrible People and Fun Little Movies’ dating comedy Turbo Dates. This comes fresh off the heels of the site’s recent signing of Hayden Black’s Goodnight Burbank for a fresh 20-episode run.
Either way, Babelgum and Fun Little Movies sound like they are going to be teamed up for a while. Turbo Dates has already shot a second season, Chindamo tells us, with guest stars including Elisa Donovan of Clueless, Len Lesser of Seinfeld, Todd Grinnell of Desperate Housewives amongst others. Babelgum is said to be “very interested in licensing those new episodes.” FLM also has a 22-episode series called Mr. Wrong that it is planning on releasing via Bablegum as well.
by Julie Wolfson on June 29th, 2009
Daniel Delaney of VendrTV has a very fun gig. With the goal of sniffing out the best in street food he gets to taste delicious food, make episodes for his web series, and now travel. During his recent trip to Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Southern California, Tubefilter met up with Daniel to find out what is happening with his popular web series since we first discovered him back in February.
Tubefilter: We last talked to you when you were launching your first episode. How many episodes have you made so far?
Daniel Delaney: Yesterday was our four month anniversary. Somewhere around fourteen or fifteen.
Tubefilter: Right now you are on a West Coast tour and you started in Seattle?
DD: We rented a Mustang convertible and we started in Seattle and have been tooling down the west coast. Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles.
by Lindsay Stidham on June 29th, 2009
I will not deny it. I love Marion Cotillard. Being a woman I won’t deny my natural impulses to fall for pretty things in general, which makes me dig the new stylish Dior web series Lady Dior. Filmmaker Olivier Dahan helms the project making Cotillard as stylish as ever. But, it’s no secret the real star of the series is Dior’s new handbag, the Lady Dior. “Eryn Brown”
While Dahan can create pretty visuals in the noir tradition, and Cotillard can look fabulous in Dior clothing while celebrating a handbag ala a Price is Right hand model, it is hard to deny an ad agency and some Dior executive are behind this Dior-iffic journey. While Lady Dior is entertaining there is little meat to bite into, and little story to hold onto. Eye candy is always fun for awhile but if Sarah Jessica Parker didn’t have bad luck on the dating scene, we likely wouldn’t have cared as much about what she was wearing.
by Anne Polsky on June 29th, 2009
Sometime during your twenties, you’ll become aware that you’ve been asked to plan or attend more bridal showers and bachelor/ette parties than you ever thought possible. Who among us has not participated in group bitching sessions about the costs, hangovers, and time eating responsibilities involved in supporting friends during the precious days leading up their [...]
by Jonathan Hludzinski on June 29th, 2009
Blame it on the A-A-A-A-Auto-tune. Yes, the not-so-new pop music instrument processor that entered the scene with Cher’s ‘Believe’ back in 1998, and is now in every other song (make that, EVERY song) in your friendly neighborhood club, has now made it to the news. Thanks to Brooklyn-based The Gregory Brothers, a music group with both a Facebook and a YouTube presence, we have the pleasure of listening to our favorite pundits and politicians pontificate in…song? That’s correct, their exceptionally funny Auto-tune the News, could now be called a full-blown web series.
The Gregory Brothers is in fact a band consisting of three brothers and one sister, Sarah, Evan, Andrew, and Michael. They each seem to appear in various capacities in this five episode series, crudely CGI’d as anything from a drummer to a fellow singing pundit. Other times you may see their arms taking the place of someone like Rachel Maddow in episode 5, jamming to the beat.
