by Drew Baldwin on July 31st, 2009
Last night the excitement in the air was electrifying at the Red Carpet Opening Night Gala for the 4th Annual Independent Television Festival, festival for independently produced, original and innovative television pilots and web series. ITVFest offers opportunities for web television creators like showcasing their work to a live audience and the chance to pitch development executives that can bring their projects to the next level.
On Monday, August 3 Tubefilter is proudly presenting ITVFest Web Television Day, which features screenings of the Official Web Series Selections from the ITVFest,
by Marc Hustvedt on July 31st, 2009
We’re not quite a the point where this calls for full-page congratulatory buyouts in Variety, but 100 episodes is still a milestone. Sure, it’s not the TV syndication gravy train that lets Friends and Seinfeld stars collect ski chalets, but in the web world, it means you’re doing something right.
Momversation hit the vaunted 100th episode maker this week, and the A-list mommyblogger show continues to draw audiences not just as viewers but as active participants. Santa Monica-based DECA, the digital studio that created the web series, says this frequent community chatter was by design.
Armstong is joined by other well-read bloggers like Rebecca Woolf, Asha Dornfest of ParentHacks.com, Giyen Kim of BaconIsMyEnemy.com and Alice Bradley of Finslippy. They also seem to score a not-too-shabby group of guest panelists—like Access Hollywood’s Nancy O’Dell and NY State Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (in an upcoming episode).
by Jonathan Hludzinski on July 31st, 2009
Doug Walker’s The Nostalgia Critic, which if you’re a webhead, you’ve probably seen and if you’re a nerd webhead you probably own the t-shirt (if there is one) has heaps of clever pop-cultural dissection. Walker’s catchphrase, “Hello, I’m the Nostalgia Critic. I remember it so you don’t have to!” is good branding for his concept: he (mostly) reviews past movies to let us know if they still hold up. Most of the ones he reviews, however, do not…and that’s by design.
Full up with clips, which apparently, if they are used for satirical purposes can be displayed willie-nillie – just watch his latest review of The Last Action Hero, where you get A LOT of the movie in his too-long review – the reviews are of the snarky variety and Walker is quite talented with his snark. Wearing a black blazer, black hat, t-shirt and red neck-tie, the bespectacled nostalgia critic is something of a geek with a hell of a personality. His timing is always good, his voice registers somewhere in the mid-to-high range when excited and his quips can be something really special. When lamenting the lack of important info, like a title and other important bits in the early Cloverfield trailers in ep 91, he brilliantly proclaims, “My predictions of what that monster is, is that it’s JJ Abrams gigantic ego terrorizing the city with his pretentious advertising!” I readily disclaim any consensus with the comment on Abrams, but the sentiment did give me quite a laugh.
by Alex Crowley on July 31st, 2009
Storm-chasers, beware! There are few things in the universe more dangerous than a motivated metal band and this one is aiming for funnel crowds, prize money, and glory. Set out to capture the best documentary footage of a tornado in Oklahoma’s annual Funnel Baggin’ contest, Team Severe has turned its amps to eleven in order [...]
by Lindsay Stidham on July 31st, 2009
Maybe one of the most beautiful things about web television is its diversity—exposing audiences to anything and everything and filling in the voids where television has failed us. Skinny Jeans: The Movement is a perfect example. Had MTV not lost its soul to sex and cat fights more people in the world may know about a talented group of young dancers who are a part of urban jerk culture blossoming in the communities in and around downtown Los Angeles.
Candor Entertainment recognized the value of youth counterculture when they tapped the Boyz to star in the upcoming 20-episode web series Skinny Jeans: The Movement, which is set to debut August 11th. A preview of the series is now up on Candor’s website. It’s a nice intro to those of us who needed an education in jerkin’, and it’s rife with jerk-friendly bands like the Pink Dollaz, The Bangz, and the Kream Kidz. It’s also chock full of dancing, the true star of the movement, and even the preview is enough to make on want to turn off the computer, grab some skinny jeans, and pump up the bass.
by Lindsay Stidham on July 30th, 2009
The American mall has been the setting for many a great classic pieces of entertainment. Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Mallrats, Paul Blart: Mall Cop–okay, so Blart is the exception, but Love Pop Trash embraces the American mall love mantra to its fullest, and with style, and for good reason. Creator Saul Levitz (AC/DC Fan Nation) has long since loved American classic television where kids hang out in what they think are stylish hangs ala The Peach Pitt and Bayside High School, so for him, the mall location was a natural.
“There’s something realistic about a mall,” said Levitz who went out of his way to create a real teen world in a real teen setting. “I worked with half professional actors and half real people,” added Levitz. “I went through high school drama departments and high schools in East LA to find some of the kids… many had never acted before. I got a lot out of those auditions… some stuff from auditions made it in the show.”
by Alex Crowley on July 30th, 2009
HAHA YES!!1!!! If there’s one thing that I heartily enjoy it’s a good rant. It’s right up there with watching dudes not really getting kicked in the private parts. When a rant is on point I’m not even that particular about the subject matter and, heck, I don’t even have to know the circumstances or [...]
by Marc Hustvedt on July 30th, 2009
Web studio EQAL, which now likes to call itself a social entertainment company, is taking a big step into the platform game today. The company announced today (at Twiistup in Los Angeles) it is rolling out a consumer version of their core social website platform that they are calling Umbrella.
This tool will allow independent producers, celebrity talent and online personalities to create their own Web site and develop an audience on the Internet using the same enterprise-grade platform that powers EQAL’s premium partner Web sites, but with simplified publishing and a clean, user-friendly management interface. (from the annoucement)
These guys built their brand around creating not only the first breakout episodic drama (lonelygirl15) but the social community that formed around it.
