'The Bannen Way' Sneaks Out First 3 Episodes Early

‘The Bannen Way’ Sneaks Out First 3 Episodes Early

by Marc Hustvedt on December 29th, 2009

We had heard rumors that they might do it, including some at the last Tubefilter Meetup, and sure enough they have. Sony has released three episodes of their sexy action romp The Bannen Way today just in time to qualify for this year’s Streamy Awards. While the series doesn’t officially bow until January 6th, it’s a move reminiscent of film studios doing a quiet “awards run” New York and Los Angeles to get it on the books for the year.

Clocking in at a brisk 7 minutes each, the first three eps (above and below) introduce us to the nooky drenched life of Neal Bannen (Mark Gantt), a gambling con man with a penchant for letting his love for the ladies spill into his work. We learn that his grandfather Bannen’s dated wisdom guides his criminal life through a set of ‘rules’ that give the show its name, The Bannen Way. Through some fast cut rewinds, we catch a glimpse of what’s to come, setting up Bannen’s 150k debt to a mobster name Sonny Carr as a main plot point.

And it didn’t take long, just a few minutes really, for the show (and Neal) to get its shag count up to one with a bout with the steaming storage room manager (Briana Lane). Somehow it managed to avoid steering into late night Cinemax territory despite the rather brief pre-shag setup. We also meet street thief Madison (Vanessa Marcil), who looks to be Bannen’s main squeeze. Without spoiling the rest, I’ll just say that Michael Ironside as police chief knows Bannen all too well, as does Neal’s mob boss uncle Mr B. (Robert Forster).

Whether it will be enough to woo voters for the Streamys remains to be seen. But with the more extensive release next week, there’s no question it will be getting plenty of attention—from us included. Judge for yourself…

Episodes 2 & 3:

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Comments

The One True b!X - December 29th, 2009 12:50 pm

Wait, so does that mean what technically is a single work will be eligible for the Streamys two years in a row, just because they snuck three episodes out at the very end of 2009?

Ryan - December 29th, 2009 1:38 pm

You can tell when everything someone knows about criminals is what they’ve seen in the movies. This is flashy, but derivitive to the point of distraction and boredom.

Compulsions was the same way…somebody watched Fight Club and Saw, y’know?

nwc2001 - December 29th, 2009 3:04 pm

yes… how could they be eligible 2 years in a row?

Tom Konkle - December 29th, 2009 4:42 pm

This early release is such a disservice to the indie dramatic shows that worked all year to get their seasons out and finished only to then drop a $700,000 studio show three days before the end of the year? It presents itself as a web series in the US and is sold as a television show for millions by a major studio in the rest of the world. Doing this right now is not a good thing for the independent web community. I don’t have a horse in this race (drama category), but I know people who do. Who do you think is going to win a Streamy for drama now? And you know that most of the good but unknown actors in the guest star category will be crushed by a studio PR machine backing a celebrity actor.

Is the point of the Streamys to make the world aware of Robert Forster and Sony or good independent web productions?

Its timing is great for them. Not all of us. Cant they just win everything in drama next year when the rest of their season finishes? If you release the first 15 minutes of Iron Man 2 right now can it win something in the Oscars or should it be judged as a whole in the next year that it completes the story? This has nothing to do with the quality of the show — its great, it should be — the point is the timing and the bully factor.

Nicholas Carlton - December 29th, 2009 10:08 pm

I agree with Tom, we have 23 episodes of our show out (OzGirl – http://ozgirl.tv) as compared to a 3 episode release from The Bannen Way. Our show is only up for Best Drama ONCE for 2009, however The Bannen Way it seems will be eligible for Best Drama TWICE (2009 and 2010), simply because they split their release over 2 years.

I think it’s important that all web series are judged equally and not discounted due to budget (being judged against a show with 100 times our budget – literally – is a good incentive to produce quality content comparable with other producers).

However The Bannen Way has not released a web series this year, they’ve only released part of one. How is that assessed against our full series?

Ann Marie Lindbloom - December 30th, 2009 2:38 pm

I agree with Mr. Konkle about the early TBW release doing a disservice to indie shows. However, I don’t completely blame Sony. They want to win an award and garner further exposure for their big budget show. The solution is easy. Don’t give them an award this year, a year in which they have not released their entire series (3 episodes does not a series make). The onus of sending a message to the big studios (or anyone else who does this) is on the IAWTV Members who chose Streamy winners.

Mathieas - December 30th, 2009 8:10 pm

So is this going to be discussed on EVERY website that deals with webtv?

Tom Konkle - December 30th, 2009 9:32 pm

Well said Nicholas and Ann

Tom
Producer/Performer

Safety Geeks: SVI

Invention with Brian Forbes

Nicholas Carlton - December 30th, 2009 9:56 pm

I posted on this on NewTeeVee, thought I’d copy it here!

My frustration is not with The Bannen Way/Sony/Mark Gantt… I commend them on what looks like an awesome series (geoblocked in Australia) – and by all means they should do what it takes to be eligible – everyone wants an award. Hell, I would have snuck out an early release if I had a series shot.

My frustration is with the Streamy rules. I understand it is only in its second year and part of being a new organization means that they will be tinkering with the rules to figure out what works best (the Oscar nomination rules change every year).

I personally believe that the current eligibility rules are flawed, a minimum of three episodes is a reasonable requisite but series should only be eligible if the LAST episode of the series or that season was aired in the 2009 calendar year.

The Streamys are a celebration of storytelling on the web – they are called web SERIES not web EPISODES. The Bannen Way is one project that consists of an entire series. How can you judge the series and its ability to tell a story from the first 3 episodes? Hell you wouldn’t even get a decent look at the first act!

Ann Marie Lindbloom - December 31st, 2009 12:24 pm

As “OzGirl’s” Nick stated, rule tinkering is going to occur as the Streamy Awards and new media evolve. That said, I just entered our show “Whorified!” and am pleased at how comprehensive the entry forms are (shows a lot of thought and effort was put into the process of creating said entry forms).

However, I have a niggling feeling that big budget, slickly-produced content like “Bannen” is going to trounce indie-produced content on all levels. Not taking anything away from the peeps who create and produce such content but might there be a better way to judge?

Aside from the issue of someone entering a “series” with only 3 episodes released, I’m not sure pitting shows with such disparate budgets is the best way to go (as Nick points out). Perhaps, an “Indie” category and a separate “Studio-Backed” category or some such?

I’m proud of “Whorified!” and think it’s just as good as studio-backed comedy shows that spent much more than we did. But it took a shitload of work on our part. Myself and my biz partner created, wrote, produced, directed and edited our show for roughly $500 per episode. We were the casting department, the art department, the wardrobe department, the camera department and the set designers. Moreover, we location scouted/secured locations, script supervised, shot (when we weren’t on camera) and boomed when we had to. We had the help of 3 extra hands on set who shot, gripped, did make-up, PA’d and did every other thing that was needed. And, happily, our very talented make-up artist is also a music composer and created all the songs/stings you hear in “Whorified!”. So a total of five people put together a 10 episode series. How in the hell do we compete with a $700,000 show (admittedly, we’re not in the Drama Category, but in other categories like “Best New Web Series” we’re in the running with “Bannen”)? My neighbor was actually the craft service person on “TBW”. Her fees exceeded our entire series budget.

I don’t know how things are going to roll going forward but right now I feel like it’s an “everything old is new again” situation with big studio money, big name actors, and studio-backed PR machinery stomping out indie voices. But, perhaps, we indie people just need to scream a little louder.

End rant.

Happy New Year to everyone creating and working in new media. 2010 is going to be an interesting year. Here’s to big things for all.

Ann Marie Lindbloom
AcuteTV/Co-Creator of “Whorified!”

milowent - January 2nd, 2010 5:33 am

crackle.com still says its doesn’t premiere until january 6th. the early availability of the 1st three videos should be like pre-opening shows on broadway, they don’t count. drama extinguished.

dannie - January 4th, 2010 3:30 am

Hey Nicholas, when you say “geo-blocked in Aust” does that mean people from Australia wont see it?

Ann Marie Lindbloom - January 4th, 2010 12:49 pm

I forgot to add that if you’re a Web TV comrade and/or comedy lover and you haven’t seen our show then check out our sizzle reelizzle. It’ll give you a nice taste of “Whorified!”:

http://www.funnyordie.com/vide.....izzle-reel

Keep on truckin!

Ann Marie
AcuteTV/Co-Creator of “Whorified!”