by Marc Hustvedt on August 6th, 2009
DOOD, STFU. Gamer comedy web series Pure Pwnage has inked an 8-epsiode TV order from Canadian TV’s Showcase channel.
Created by (starring) Toronto-based Geoff Lapaire, and Jarett Cale via their ROFLMAO Productions outfit, the series dates its first episode back to May of 2004. The series now boasts over 200,000 monthly viewers, and a very active fan base that has roped in even our reviewer.
Cale stars as 25 year-old Jeremy (aka the_pwnerer), a socially challenged full-time gamer living in his mom’s basement spending most of his time ‘pwning noobs’ online. Lapaire, who directs the series, plays his younger brother Kyle. The success of the series has even spawned spin-off web series for the show’s regulars, including Dave Lee’s Pro At Cooking.
by Lindsay Stidham on August 6th, 2009
Finding love is never easy, and those who subject themselves to love voyeurism often pay the price (Jon dumps Kate, The Bachelor sheds his bride, and Michael Cera breaks it off with Charlene Yi.) That doesn’t mean watching anyone search for love isn’t incredibly entertaining, and comedians David Ahdoot and Ethan Fixell are astutely aware of that fact.
The pair created the show Double Date Us with the simple premise they will treat any two nice ladies to go on a date with them with only one catch, let them film it. The result is a delightful treat of two friends on the undying quest for love who typically end up enjoying their bromance more than their dates.
by Alex Crowley on August 6th, 2009
A couple months ago, thanks to the power of Facebook and nostalgia, I met up with a few guys I grew up with but hadn’t seen in nearly ten years. Situations like those are always nerve-wracking because you never know what kind of people they may have become or what kind of baggage was picked [...]
by Marc Hustvedt on August 5th, 2009
At first glance the casting of FEARnet’s new original horror web series Fear Clinic seemed a bit of ploy, made to grab horror headlines with an assemblage of the genre’s popular stars—Robert Englund (Freddy from A Nightmare on Elm Street films), Kane Hodder (Jason from Friday the 13th) and Danielle Harris (Rob Zombie’s Halloween). But digging deeper it’s clear these choices were hardly a stunt, and they are horror stars for a reason.
Englund himself could just as easily be a film professor the way he can so effortlessly break down the nuances of the genre’s emotional games. “This looks like a nasty little Cronenberg film made for the web,” said Englund during our recent interview with him, referencing the venereal horror master.
This is director Robert Hall’s first time helming a web series, coming from the visual effects side of the business through his Almost Human shop which was also brought on to deliver the nightmarish makeup and creature effects.
by Guest Author on August 5th, 2009
This is another guest editorial on Tubefilter News, which serves as a complement to our last guest article, “Confessions of Indie Web Series Creators: Things They Wish They Knew.” This time we have Steve Hein, a veteran web producer and the Vice-President of Digital and Short Form Content at 20th Century Fox Television. We convinced him to share some advice from his vantage point as an executive at one of the Big Six.
1. Don’t make cheaper television. Recognize that the web requires a different kind of storytelling. Making cheaper, shorter versions of things that look like TV is a recipe for disaster. Tackle interesting subjects in interesting ways. TV is already online. How is a cheaper shorter version more competitive or compelling?
by Devon Grandy on August 5th, 2009
You might be forgiven if, upon first glance, you mistook Real Life with Married People for a web series incarnation of the typical family sitcom. There’s the love-hate dynamic of the charismatic couple, the “fun” family activities that invariably go wrong, even the classic, familiar use of the living room couch as the dominant setting. Yet, [...]
by Marc Hustvedt on August 5th, 2009
Well it’s about time. It looks like Apple is getting into the original content production game through its iTunes division. We’ve learned that the first ever original project is a short film about the fictional cult rock band Spinal Tap.
The project is said to star the original band members—Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and Michael McKean—all in character as rockers Nigel, Derek and David.
Presumably the iTunes project part of a promotional move to drive sales of the (briefly) reunited Spinal Tap’s recently released Back from the Dead album. The band also played a live show at London’s Wembley Arena on June 30th and its not known whether footage from that performance will be in the short film.
by Marc Hustvedt on August 4th, 2009
For web series creator Brett Register and his newly formed creative team Absolute Disaster, the web is their playground. A mix of actors, writers and talented cinematographer, the 5-person outfit has been busy this summer, conjuring up one bizarre comedy after another. It’s a formidable crew (no pun intended) that includes Register, The Crew’s Craig Frank, Tim Riese as DP, and Prom Queen stars Katy Stoll and Haley Mancini.
Freed from the self-inflicted pressures of having to launch the pitch-perfect PR strategy, or secure a brand name sponsorship, the Absolute Disaster crew are just having fun.
“We are really trying to play with experimenting on every level—length, releasing schedule, format,” said Register. The first series, an enigmatic five-parter called Lost & Found, was the first of their creative experiments.
