Tubefilter News

And we were just getting into it! Riese, the steampunk-infused fantasy web series drama that has been unfolding online since its launch back in November, has been pulled down due to request from its new distribution partner Fireworks, the digital distribution arm of UK-based ContentFilm. The series had just begun Chapter 2 this week, releasing its six episode before the takedown occurred earlier today. This is the same firm that had picked up international distribution rights for recent web series like MTV New Media’s college mystery Valemont and Endemol UK’s sci-fi thriller Kirill.

Just trailers are left online on their YouTube channel and on KoldCast TV, which was the primary online network distributing the series. No word at this point when or if the series will return to the internet.

An excerpt from a blog post today by creators Ryan Kopple and Kaleena Kiff explaining the takedown (emphasis added):

We also recently partnered with Fireworks, a digital distribution branch of ContentFilm, based out of the UK. They’re largely responsible for the transition of the webseries Valemont from internet to television, and they handle a number of many other well-known webseries as well.

What does this mean for Riese? It opens up a number of opportunities. For one, it increases the chances that we can keep making this show and letting you become further involved in the world of Riese. Additionally, it boosts the possibility of us being able to distribute the series on other platforms (episode downloads, DVDs, and television).

Now, for the bad news. While Fireworks is negotiating deals on our behalf, we’ve had to remove our episodes from online streaming. We’re not happy about it by any means – we want all of our fans to enjoy Riese whenever they want – but we also understand that it’s a necessary move in order to keep a project like Riese afloat. The few of us that are responsible for producing Riese on a day-to-day basis are realistic that we cannot sustain it without the support of Fireworks and our viewers.

We hope to have everything back up as soon as possible, and we’ll keep everyone posted as we move forward. I know a lot of people will be bummed out, but just know that this slight delay could mean a whole new future for Riese. We don’t want to disappoint you all, but I know you’d be even more disappointed if we left the rest of this epic tale untold.

So far fans seem to be supportive of the move on based on comments on a fan Live Journal community, with most saying they are bummed but wish the best for the creators. One fan wrote: “While I am a bit bummed that the episodes have been taken down, as I was JUST about to rewatch them, I’m also UBER excited about the new opportunities this will open up for this franchise! I will be eagerly awaiting the return of Riese and hopefully you guys will have inked a deal for iTunes distribution, so I can buy a season pass!”

We reached out to KoldCast TV CEO David Samuels, who is a big supporter (and web distributor) of the series:

When KoldCast TV licensed Riese, a top-notch series, only KoldCast and YouTube distributed it and we were thrilled to be working with Ryan Copple. We worked very hard to introduce the series to our international audience which is now in 138 countries. As is the case in our industry, we monetized the series through pre-roll ads which, at this time in our space, does not fully monetize any individual programming, whether at KoldCast TV or any other distribution platform. When Ryan reached out to us to share the basic details of the new opportunity that landed on his plate, we learned that foreign rights were a material component of the opportunity. At this time, KoldCast does not geo block our Network programming, making it impossible for Riese to close their proposed deal. Nonetheless, Ryan gave us the opportunity to complete the remaining term of our two-year licensing agreement. If we had done so, we would have stood in the way of a genuine opportunity for the show to have a shot at generating greater revenues in foreign markets. While legally entitled to do so, we told Ryan that such a decision was contrary to our support of filmmakers around the world and that we would step aside in support of the show. Though painful to give up such a great series, it was the right thing to do for Ryan and all those who have worked so hard to achieve their dream. It goes without saying, we wish them the best of luck and we will still be big fans.

French web series The Coat, a post-apocalyptic drama, will make its head to the international content market MIPTV as part of the Content 360 cross-platfrom competition. The 12-episode series, all in French, is created by Mathieu Cailliere, Benoit Lamouche and Sebastien Petitjean. Seven episodes have been shot and are available for viewing on the show’s site, with five more slated for production. [WorldScreen.com]

The AP (Associated Press) is launching its own web series—Beyond the Medal—starting February 12 at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. It will push out the daily series, hosted by Jesse Csincsak to some 900 of its paying partner sites as well as its own ad-supported hub for the Games: wintergames.ap.org. [Mediaweek]

Atom.com is hiring a full-time Marketing Manager to work out of its Santa Monica, CA headquarters and help build brand awareness and social media strategy. A “deep familiarity with the web video industry” is required, and if you’re reading this here, it’s a good sign you stand a chance. Apply here: [Tubefilter New Media Job Board]

Revision3 put out its latest numbers this week, announcning it had served up over 1.5 Billion minutes of video in 2009, a stat they look at closer than the 70 million views that came with those minutes served. In terms of revenue, the internet TV network said it grew revenue 30% over the year, with the average ad deal for its shows up 50% from advertisers including new sponsors Klondike, Ford, Adidas, Coors, Patron, Nokia and Panasonic. [Revision3 press release]

Break.com officially outdid themselves from last year, completing a massively larger “Big Game Snack Food Stadium,” which is made up of a whoopping 110,428 calories of football game junk food. The making-of video (below) shows the caloric monstrosity coming together piece by piece. Who got to uh, dismantle, it? [Break.com]

Streamy-winning director Blake Calhoun (Pink) has announced his latest web series project today, a sci-fi drama set in space called Continuum. The series will star Harper’s Globe and loneylgirl15 star Melanie Merkosky (left) as Reagen, a young woman who awakes on a space ship without any memory of what she is doing there. Her only companion on board is the ship’s computer, a female spin on 2001′s “Hal,” voiced by Taryn O’Neill (Compulsions, After Judgment). Also announced for the cast is Brad Hawkins (Pink) as Tipton.

Calhoun and co. are calling the project “a futuristic thriller in the noir-ish tradition of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien.” Loud Pictures, Calhoun’s production company is producing along with Alternative Fuel, a multiplatform company he co-founded with Pink producer Mike Maden. Also producing is CJP Digital Media, with Wilson Cleveland involved on distribution and marketing of the series, as it does for The Fall of Kaden, IKEA-backed Easy to Assemble and Spherion-sponsored The Temp Life.

Similar to Pink’s start, which began as a purely indie production before being picked up by Generate after its successful first season, Contiuum is starting out independently backed. Production will begin on the first ten episodes of the sci-fi project in Dallas and Los Angeles beginning February 22. Calhoun also has Exposed still in development over at Warner Bros. for its online channel TheWB.com, a project on which he is teaming up with director McG and his Wonderland Sound and Vision outfit.

Tech stories of the week that are worth a look from the digital content world:
Society’s changing digital lifestyle was the focus of PBS’s award-winning series, Frontline, this week. The episode, “Digital Nation,” explores how our favorite technologies and gadgets can lead to addiction and impact our brain’s ability to think and learn. [Watch it above or on PBS.org.]

Amazon has some touch screen-action in mind for its popular Kindle e-reader with the reported purchase of Touchco, a start-up that began as a project at the Media Research Lab at New York University. As Apple has proven with the iPhone and new iPad, touch screens are a key ingredient for cool devices. [VentureBeat]

Get ready for LIVE TV on the iPhone. After months of wrangling, AT&T has finally approved the use of Sling Media’s SlingPlayer Mobile app over its 3G network. App users can now stream live and recorded television content from their Slingbox home entertainment system to their iPhone (as soon as Apple approves the newly updated $29 app). [TheAtlantic]

Looking for a second opinion before purchasing an Internet-connected TV? Then check out the Annual TV issue of Consumer Reports. (Fee) They rate over 20 TV sets starting at a list price of $1,000 that can stream online movies. Lab tests showed that setting up the devices and using them to access online content was easy, and that “picture quality was decent if not quite up to the claimed resolution. [Broadcasting & Cable]

Making and distributing web series back in 2001 wasn’t anywhere nearly as simple as today’s creators have it—this was 4 years before YouTube popped up and streaming video over the internet was neither easy or cheap. But that didn’t stop young actor-writers Sam Maccarone and Dian Bachar from showing off their skills to anyone who would watch it—online. By 2001, the pair had launched their second original web series Roommates: The Series after a successful start with their 1999 comedy series Captain Jackson, which netted them a healthy dose of press coverage and paid gigs.

Now nine years later, after moving on to film and TV projects, the duo are returning to the internet and bringing back both series with new episodes starting February 15th. Check out one of the 2001 episodes (above)—”Sam’s New Friend.” We caught up with Maccarone to ask him about what is most likely the web’s longest ever hiatus for a series and his plans for their new comedy site—TheTVFantastic.com, where the two series will live, along with other new originals.

Tubefilter: You guys were some of the earliest web series creators, what was it like back then and how did you distribute?

Sam Maccarone: Dian and I actually had a really popular web series before Roommates: the Series in 1999 called Captain Jackson, so we have definitely been making shows online for a while. We made up a site called Bongcaster and just offered them for free to the public. Back then it was streaming video and we would literally pay 30 cents every time someone watched an episode. It also looked horrible. Very blocky and pixelated. And the sound got off sync after a minute or two. It was annoying. But the show did well and we got articles about us in all kinds of magazines. Our investor finally pulled out of Captain Jackson because it was too much money. Me and Dian somehow became roommates in 2000 and by 2001, we had a new investor and began cranking out Roommates: the Series episodes. At the time, we still had to pay every time someone “streamed” our movies. The charge was for bandwidth. By 2003, we were getting so many hits that our investor again said, “no way.” Roommates the Series was dead…

Tubefilter: What made you decide to return to the web after finding some success with film and TV?

Maccarone: Around that time I sold a script to National Lampoon and went into production on TV: the Movie. That kept me busy for a year and then that turned into more movies and a few TV shows. Dian starred in everything I made. During all this, I watched youtube spring up. The whole time I was making features, I was watching these kids crank out awesome content and was actually kind of jealous!? there’s something sweet about making 2 – 5 minute movies. You have this small amount of time to try and make as big of an impact as you can. I’ve been dealing with shifty, cocky, shady film producers for 8 years now and I wanted to return to making films where we have control. I know Dian feels the same way. So it just seemed like the right thing to do. All music and visual f/x are created by Tim Montijo who did all the original Roommates. I also brought on legendary documentary filmmaker Chapin Wilson (Hands on a Hardbody) to produce. Chapin and I just finished a documentary about the Delorean Time Machine and super fans who replicate it for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Awards season for web series is in full stride right now, and now that public submissions for the Streamy Awards have closed, attention of show creators has turned to wooing Academy members who will do much of the tough voting for the top honors in web TV. Two independent series teamed up to host an unofficial ‘Academy screening’ in Hollywood last night, with comedy Blue Movies and drama The Fall of Kaden teeing up on the big screen at Cinespace.

Kicking off the evening, Kaden creators Matt Doubler and Adam Leiphart matched up with Blue Movies creator Scott Brown to show a surprise “For Your Consideration” video (above), poking fun at the precarious business of web series. They tapped the omnipresent Shira Lazar to ‘host’ the video which stars a smattering of each series’ lead actors. The screening theater was packed, with scant standing room space in the back.

First on the docket was porn-biz comedy Blue Movies, screening in its entirety while still keeping its episodic form. Each episode opened with its staple trailer for an upcoming Pornamount Studios remake of a well known blockbuster. (My personal favorites: “G.I. Ho” and “Indiana Bones”) The 5-episode series flowed seamlessly, each one coming in around 7-9 minutes, unfurling the story of unassuming new hire Tom (Beck Bennett) coping with the unexpected reality of his new job in the adult film biz, a barking porn director Max Chapan (Jareb Dauplaise) and an ambitious young co-worker (Anna Sascha Alexander,) all trying to make the best adult film ever made.

(For more, see our in-depth review of Blue Movies from this fall).

Between the two series was a trailer for upcoming comedy series Appleseed Elementary, a workplace comedy complete with actual elementary school kids and a cast of misfit educators.

The Fall of Kaden opted to cut one continuous screening together, taking all 10 episodes from the debut season as one 55-minute piece. A dark drama that explores the corruptive animalistic nature of man, the room fell quiet as the story of Kaden (Adam Leiphart), a flawed loan shark lending money to a degenerate gambler (Brian Troyan) unfolded on screen. There really is something about watching drama unfold on a big screen with a professional AV setup of the theater lets the deftly crafted sound design—Jeremy Sohl is up for consideration here—pull the audience into the tension.

Riese has inked a deal with Fireworks, a division of ContentFilms, to distribute the steampunk-infused drama web series. Fireworks is the same firm that is distributing MTV New Media’s (and Electric Farm’s) Valemont as well as Endemol UK’s sci-fi series Kirill for international television. They also released much-awaited Chapter 2 online this week (above). New cast members in this season include Ryan Robbins (Sanctuary), Emilie Ullerup (Sanctuary), Alessandro Juliani (Battlestar Gallactica) and Allison Mack (Smallville). [Riese]

Ex-Conan O’Brien staff writer Aaron Bleyaert is in fact developing his own web show with fellow axed Tonight Show staffers, but it won’t be affiliated with Conan or his former show, despite what TMZ might say. [Screenology, BAM! BAM! BAM!]

Live video streaming site UStream scored $75 million in additional capital in their latest investment round by Softbank Corp, Japan’s third-largest mobile operator. The cash will be used to grow the service internationally in mobile-heavy countries like Japan, China, Korea and India. [Bloomberg]

The Indie Soap Awards honored some online dramas when winners were announced online last night. While we’re not sure what exactly constitutes a soap anymore, there were some impressive web originals who came out with honors. Anyone But Me took down 4 awards including best writing for Susan Miller and Tina Cesa Ward. Craig Frank and Taryn O’Neill scored best acting awards for Compulsions, which also netted a total of 4 awards. BET.com’s Buppies took two awards, and Diary of a Single Mom (below) won best indie soap. Also honored: Chick, Venice, Anacostia and Seeking Simone. [We Love Soaps]

I love watching people break records. The suspense, the drama as a lone person takes on a seemingly insurmountable challenge, risking life for my entertainment. Guts for glory, all found within that little book called the Guinness Book of World Records.

The Record Collection, a comedy web series where a small group of guys gather around a single person or two to watch unusual, not-so life-endangering world records be set or broken. These feats are usually based on data held and judged by the Universal Record Database (URDB), a community-driven web site that spawned from Burning Man’s Playa Book of Records.

Okay, so it’s not the Guinness Book, but what kind of records are we talking about here? In the first episode, one of our stars, Sam Stilson, dressed in nothing but a brown, leather vest, blue jeans, and a run-of-the-mill biker scarf tries to beat the record for Most Eggs Broken in 30 Seconds Using the Head. This record was formerly held by Guinness-champion Ashrita Furman, who, according to the site, managed to break 53 eggs (we presume from a chicken, since that’s what the series uses) within the allotted time. Stilson, who also co-created, wrote and produced the series, beats that record by smashing his head on 58 eggs.

And that’s about it. The one and only official episode runs about 10 minutes long, but should probably be more like five. So far, Stilson and Craig Morrison, the other co-creator, writer and producer, have turned out a series of “extras” which are more or less records created by the team for submission into the URDB.