Tubefilter News

Last week on St. Patrick’s Day, the Canadian connoisseurs of glutton behind one of YouTube’s latest breakout sensations were welcomed as guests on a platform where few online video stars have been welcomed before.

When Jay Leno introduced Epic Meal Time creators Harley Morenstein and Sterling Toth, he officially inducted the duo into an elite club of internet celebrities – including Gary Vaynerchuk (with his multiple Conan appearances) and Felicia Day (with her two stints on Fallon) – who’ve been network broadcast to the masses by way of appearances on late night television.

Morenstein and Toth then showed Leno how to make a meat car with bacon strips and bacon strips and bacon strips and 23,366 calories and 1,119 grams of fat. Rain Wilson ate part of it.

The part of the guest appearance that most impressed me was how Morenstein and Toth stayed in character. Morenstein sports a menacing default face and intimidating swagger that makes me glad he channels his energies into food and should.

Josh Gad is a busy man these days. Right in the middle of preview shows of controversial (but well-reviewed) Broadway muscial The Book of Mormon—Gad stars as mormon Elder Cunningham in the comedy from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone—today he launches his first originally created web series on My Damn Channel.

Gigi: Almost American began as a one-off sketch about a clumsy foreigner hacking together some English in headphones while holed up in a bathtub. For Gad and his fellow comedy troupe partners that make up The Lost Nomads (Ty Clancey, Ida Darvish, Tyler Moore and Kevin Larsen) that was all there was to this experimental Gigi character. But when BBC Worldwide execs Dan Tischler and Jane Tranter caught a glimpse of it stashed on the Lost Nomads demo reel, they saw something bigger.

Anheuser-Busch debuted Michelob Ultra in 2002 under the impression the active and physically fit enjoy getting drunk like the rest of us. Since then, the marketing minds behind the pale lager with 97 calories and 2.6 grams of carbs have done their damndest to promote the beverage as the beer of choice of golfers, cyclists, unbelievably attractive Ultimate Frisbee players, and Lance Armstrong.

The seven consecutive Tour de France winner and individual with the world’s highest resting metabolic rate signed a three-year deal in 2009 to be the spokesperson for the Michelob offshoot, encouraging drinkers to “Live live to the Ultra.” Part of Armstrong’s duties on behalf of the brand include starring in a web series.

The Ultra Reward is a multi-part program/contest which initially asked individuals in need of motivation to submit videos for a chance to win a training session with one of the most physically fit individuals on the planet. The show documents the winner’s training sessions and conversations with Armstrong in Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop and around Austin, Texas.

It’s not good for two reasons:

Starting at the end of March, YouTube is hosting several YouTube Partner events in six cities across Europe to encourage video producers to join the YouTube Partner Program.

These events, entitled ‘Becoming YouTube Stars,’ are targeted to the “producers, directors, writers, artists, video and media professionals of the future.”

According to the YouTube Blog, the events aim to help online video creators learn how to create and promote their content on YouTube, find out about how to become a YouTube Partner and generate revenue, get a sneak peak at upcoming product releases and partner dedicated features, and hear from a panel of successful YouTube Partners about how they’ve built their channels.

If you know of any US-based YouTube Partners heading to Europe to serve on the panels, let us know!

The locations:

Madrid – March 31, 2011, at Hotel Silken Puerta América Madrid
Paris – April 4, 2011, at Les Docks de Paris – Dock Eiffel
Berlin – April 6, 2011, at Postbahnhof
Amsterdam – April 8, 2011, at Amsterdam Convention Factory
Rome – April 11, 2011, at Salone delle Fontane
London – April 14, 2011, at Ravensbourne Design College

Online video and web series news worth clicking today:

The DiGiTs Show is back for its fourth season already, and once again there’s a new host (Benjamin) in the mix after last season’s Pick Up Chick Coleen. This season will also feature a new weekly vlog from host Benjamin where he responds directly to fans questions and comments. Several YouTubers are said to be guest starring in the coming weeks such as Wholesome Lane, LandlineTV, MaddManShow and GamerReaction. [DiGiTs on YouTube]

Scream 4 hits theaters April 15, but would-be video hosts can apply to be a red carpet correspondent for the Scream 4 premiere in Hollywood. The contest will pick five finalists who submit their “best scream” videos—wait, is that really what they want interviewing Courteney Cox and Emma Roberts on the carpet? The contest is part of a wide promotional spend on the PopSugar Network that commits 20 million in run-of-site banner ad and editorial impressions. [PopSugar]

Duran Duran goes live tomorrow night (10p ET / 7p PT) on YouTube in their first ever online concert. The show, directed by David Lynch no less, is part of UNSTAGED, an original series from American Express in partnership with YouTube and VEVO. [Duran Duran on YouTube]

Since Patrick Ewing stopped making a day job out of rejecting shots and bringing down boards in Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks’ dysfunctional head office shenanigans and player’s footwear have proved more entertaining than any of the team’s on court abilities.

For instance, the most exciting news from the Knicks in the past 10 years may very well be the introduction of Stephon Marbury’s fully endorsed, fully functional $15 Starbury sneaker, which the point guard with a yearly salary of $20 million wears whenever he’s on the court.

This year the arrival of basketball superstars Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony had marginal impact on the Knicks’ record, so you’ll still find the most engaging thing to come out of New York’s NBA team off the court. It’s probably this web series from Knicks rookies Landry Fields and Andy Rautins.

I owe the better part of my digital sanity to Lifehacker. These were the guys after all that first showed me the light that is Gmail Priority Inbox and mountains of tips for power travelers that have actually made flying bearable.

The six year-old blog is my favorite of Nick Denton’s Gawker Media stable, filled with most(ly) practical hacks that help justify my unhealthy amount of time spent reading it. Like this week’s ‘How to prevent time zone mess-ups while traveling,’ or yes, even retro 8-bit video game wallpapers. (While technically a productivity blog, I’d say I’m net-even with time saved versus time spent reading about more timesaving hacks.)

Now, like most of favorite geek sites these days, Lifehacker has a web series. It’s not that the site wasn’t already quite hip to video, but the new series teams them up with online network Revision3 for a more produced, weekly 12-minute spin on some of their latest hacks. The move echoes other popular vertical sites like movie-minded The AV Club launching AV Talk (also on Revision3) and TechCrunch bowing TechCrunchTV last summer.

Just in time for March Madness—the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship—YouTube and ESPN’s SportsCenter have teamed up with AT&T to release Your Highlight, giving YouTubers a chance to have their best amateur sports highlights aired on SportsCenter.

SportsCenter’s producers will pre-select the best thirty second videos which will in turn be voted on by the YouTube community, no doubt using the YouTube moderator tool developed to create more engagement and interactivity along with the annotations tool. Four finalists will be revealed May 12, and the winner will be flown to ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, for the taping of a special segment on SportsCenter.

The ESPN YouTube channel is already featuring submissions, broken down into basketball, football, baseball, and soccer categories. Check out 12 Year Old Trick Shot Quarterback Johnny Sullivan from Iowa.

Users are invited to “submit your great sports video” before the May 5, 2011 deadline. Be sure to