Tubefilter News

Dan Harmon is a writer and actor living in Los Angeles. He’s one of the founders of the internet’s earliest on and off-line video communities, Channel101, which, since 2002, has been a breeding ground for Andy Samberg, Human Giant, and a bevy of up and comers in New York and LA’s alt comedy scenes.

Harmon is also the creator and executive producer of the NBC television series, Community, which has benefited from Harmon’s online video experience and expertise. The latest case in point, Dean Pelton’s Office Hours.

Jim Rash’s expertly acted character of the ambitious, over eager dean of Greendale Community College is the central figure in a six-part companion web series to the so-far-underrated TV show. It’s the third of three distinct Community web series released since the series’ premiere in September 2009, including Abed and Starburn’s video Spanish class assignment, and the 5 As of Greendale. It’s also fantastic.

Community fans will love the little bits of funny from a character that everyone wishes had more screen time, especially since those bite-sized sequences include scenes like an unmasked Human Being.

Rash told Matt Carter at the Examiner the episodes were shot during a hiatus week, and to expect more series regulars in future installments.

Canada-based Independent Production Fund (IPF), the funding organization behind Toronto-based tween detective series Ruby Skye P.I. from Story2.OH, has just launched Wip, the IPF Web Series Program, which has greenlit eleven new Canadian web series.

Even Zach Galifianakis makes the rounds promoting his work, and last night’s stop was with our pal Jimmy Fallon who himself is a bit of a web video junkie.

The three minute or so interview (above) was delightfully witty, even if Galifianakis was playing it straight. Props to Jimmy for bringing up the pot smoking appearance of Galifianakis on Real Time with Bill Maher. There big reveal being that his hair is just a wig as he whips it off mid-interview to reveal a closely shaven head.

“What I’ve learned is that in the entertainment business there’s a lot of smoke and mirrors,” said Galifianakis. “There’s a lot of things that aren’t necessarily true or real.”

Fallon missed an opportunity however to out-awkward the web’s Streamy-winning king of awkward with a little Between Two Ferns role reversal. But hey, maybe that’s because it’s been done before.

Daisy Whitney is a ubiquitous personality on the new media news circuit.

She’s covered the online video beat for years for online and print publications, including TV Week, Beet.TV, MediaPost, and The Hollywood Reporter. She helps iMedia, ad:tech, and other organizations produce conferences and events centered around the ever-evolving new media landscape. Her online newscast, New Media Minute (presented partnership with NATPE) is a must watch for industry professionals and those new to the business.

Now Whitney’s also a published author. Her young adult novel, The Mockingbirds hit bookshelves this week.

So, how does a veteran new media reporter promote the release of her first book? With new media.

I recently caught up with Whitney and asked her what role online video’s played in The Mockingbirds’ debut.

Tubefilter: Did you always know there would be some type of online video associated with the release of The Mockingbirds?
Daisy Whitney: Because I’m in the video business it was important to me to walk the walk and develop videos in support of the book. I told Little Brown (Editor’s Note: That’s the same publishing house behind the Twilight series.) I wanted to do this and the house was very supportive. I wanted to create the videos on my own though since that’s the world I live in during the day!

TF: So you made them yourself?
DW: I worked with my husband who is a videographer and we developed The Mockingbirds Diaries – a video blog style series that’s told from the point of view of one of the characters in the novel.

TF: Where can we watch them?
DW: I’ve been releasing those on YouTube, the book’s Facebook page, my own site. Little Brown has also been promoting my Facebook page for the book in its ads.

TF: What other videos did you make to market the book?
DW: I created a video for Amazon in which I discuss the To Kill a Mockingbird connection to my book. That appears on my author page on Amazon. Finally, Little Brown wanted to create a book trailer, and since I know so many video producers and a few had reached out, I connected Little Brown with a producer named Capillya Uptergrove. She created the terrific trailer for the book that appears on the book’s Amazon page, as well as Little Brown’s Web site, YouTube and the book’s Facebook page.

TF: What’s the response been like? Have the videos helped?
DW: So far the videos have received great feedback and have been shared quite a bit across Facebook, so I think they are helping to generate some early buzz among fans!

Pick up a copy of The Mockingbirds today on Amazon and keep up with all things Daisy Whitney at DaisyWhitney.com.

When the pro snowboarding buddies of Frends are not shredding down a pipe, you’ll find them designing colorful headphones, traveling the world spreading their message of friendship and fun, and shooting online videos to promote their products.

While reading a story on Cool Hunting about Frends Headphones, I clicked over to check out their videos. What did I find? Action packed videos of seven dudes who love to travel, snowboard, surf, skateboard and party. On Frends Vision they produce everything from funny special-effects-filled scenes with their Frends headphones to trade show hi jinks and music video parodies. Their fans love to comment, too with sweet shout outs like, ” yo dis put up is dope fo realz” and “brilliant, as normal”.

The Frends are Mason Aguirre, Jack Mitrani, Danny Davis, Scotty Lago, Luke Mitrani, Kevin Pearce, and Keir Dillon, seven savvy individuals who met on the slopes in 2006 and quickly realized online video can be a marketing boon for small businesses. They would very much like you to buy their products, which they describe as “strong, reliable, original, fun, dependable and interesting”.

So, does listening to your favorite tunes on their headphone ensure their cool vibe will be contagious? I can’t promise that, but the videos are bound to put a smile on your face.

What do you get when you bring together eight popular comedy troupes with established YouTube presences and 12 consecutive weeks of thematic “sketches, pranks, music videos, parodies, spoofs, and more”? A pretty good idea.

Comedy Thunder is a brand new YouTube channel. It’s a repository for videos from a handful of notable collectives of funny people that post videos online. New media studio Next New Networks is the director, doling out weekly themes (like “Halloween” or “pets”) to its cast, consisting of Dr. Coolsex Comedy, Candy Slice Comedy, Elephant Larry, GoPotato TV, Cyr1216, Blame Society Films, Cream Sketch Comedy, Poykpac, and one super special guest group (like UCB Comedy or the Fine Bros).

Every Thursday for the next 11 or so Thursdays, the aforementioned comedy channels will upload their videos based on the theme of the week. Audiences get eight weekly videos to watch, the comedy troupes get cross-promotion from one another (which will hopefully increase every channel’s viewership and subscriber counts), Next New Networks gets a couple hundred thousand views a week on which it can try to sell sponsors, and everybody wins.

The eight Halloween-themed videos from the first week of Comedy Thunder have so far collected a total of 590,000+ views, due in large part to GoPotato TV’s contribution 13 Halloween Costumes You’ll See at Every Party.

“We had been thinking about doing a sketch comedy network for a long time,” Kathleen Grace, VP of Programming at Next New Networks explained. “So when we started to bring on a few sketch comedy channels into the Next New Creators it was the perfect reason to launch.”

After tapping Next New Creators (like GoPotato TV, Dr. Cool Sex, and Candy Slice Comedy), Grace reached out to familiar groups from YouTube (like Blame Society Productions) and New York’s sketch comedy scene (like Poykpac and Elephant Larry).

Grace said Next New Networks is talking to a few sponsors interested in making it rain on Comedy Thunder, but no deals have yet been signed.

Ultra Kawaii fans get pumped! Next week the Comedy Thunder theme is “cute animals.” Be sure to check them out at YouTube.com/ComedyThunder.

Bing is Microsoft’s “decision engine.” It officially launched in 2009. It’s a young upstart in a world of search dominated by a single veteran that commands over 65% of the market.

So, what’s a new search engine on the block to do in order to grab some of Google’s turf? Employ savvy marketing tactics.

At the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, Bing sponsored a bar and employed Attack of the Show’s Olivia Munn to interview any film stars or creators who happened by. But what’s more intersting, Bing had a film in the festival itself.

Para Fuera is a short-form documentary centered on the incredibly lucid centernarian Dr. Richard J. Bing and the decisions he’s made throughout his life. The film came to fruition when Dr. Bing wrote a letter to Microsoft noting the similarities between his name and their latest internet product, and explaining how he would soon celebrate his 100 birthday. Sean Carver, Director of Brand Entertainment at Bing, jumped at the opportunity to share Bing’s story.

Carver’s now looking for more opportunities to market Bing through branded content. He’s teamed up with “next generation studio” Electus and the New York Television Festival for the Bing ‘Decisions’ Project Pilot Competition. Here’s how it works:

Content creators must submit a three to 15-minute pilot presentation that showcases the theme ‘Decisions.’ How you showcase that theme is up to you, but it must be central to the story or format of the show.
The show can be scripted or nonscripted, with any format or tone. You are free to incorporate Bing into the pilot itself, though that is not necessary.
If you do feature Bing explicitly, keep in mind it is available across a wide variety of platforms, and please use an artistic eye in deciding how to incorporate it. Avoid overuse. Remember that the most important part of your entry is the show itself.
Entries must be received by January 31, 2011. The winner receives a $25,000 development deal with Bing and Electus. Official rules and submission forms can be found here.
“Sean’s a person who is really at the forefront of branded entertainment,” Terrence Gray, Founder and Executive Director of the New York Television Festival told me over the phone. “We pitched Sean the idea of a partnership with Ben Silverman and Electus. The contest is certainly going to be very exciting for content creators.”

The Bing ‘Decisions’ Project is the festival’s first foray into branded entertainment, but it’s just one of many of NYTVF’s pilot competitions.

Earlier this year, web series Greg & Donny was awarded a $25,000 development deal with IFC, while animated online show 9AM Meeting won a similar $5,000 deal with MTV. The festival is also currently accepting entries in the Sony Pictures Television Format Competition. The winner will receive a $10,000 deal from Sony, as well as an opportunity to pitch the program to global content buyers at MIPCOM 2011 in Cannes, France.

“We’ve grown the scope and size of our development deals every year,” Gray explained to me. “What’s really coming to the forefront is the talent and the quality of the producers, creators, writers, and actors in the NYTVF community.”

Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep is rumored to be an upcoming guest star in Web Therapy, the Streamy Award nominated comedy web series starring Lisa Kudrow from Lexus’ L Studio.