Tubefilter News

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.

Last August, we took a look at Call Center Series, a comedy that puts the spotlight on a group of “tracking specialists,” i.e. customer support and sales. At the time, creators created by Reagan Peterson, Galen Carter-Jeffrey, and Barbara Clark along with WPFG Studios had only released 3 of 13 episodes. Though a tough critic of web series mockumentaries, I enjoyed those three episodes. Now, all 13 episodes of the show have been released. Here are my final thoughts.

First, the good: The characters in Call Center are still very compelling and it is hard not to sympathize with their plight as they field phone calls from irate racists and sex-charged southerners. Actor Luke McClory really shines in this web series as Tommy, a sarcastic but honest worker-drone who is to Call Center what Ron Livingston is to Office Space. Still, it is actor Adrienne Harrell who steals the show as 72-year-old Jo-Ann, a former English teacher turned customer support rep. Her nonchalance and blatant disregard for customer care puts her at the top of my funny list.

However, the show isn’t perfect.

Call Center has a few continuity issues. At the beginning of the show in the company breakroom, actor Jean-Paul Daemen (Darren) has a goatee. Two episodes later, presumably the same day, the tracking specialist is clean-shaven, only to have the facial hair reappear in episode 7. One episode, titled “Valentine’s Day,” seems to indicate, alongside wardrobe changes, that time goes by between episodes but the audience is never told this. As a result, we are left wondering when in the show we are. While switching days isn’t a problem per se, if something changes with our characters we need to know why. If Ryan in The Office shaves his beard, or Michael grows one, the audience is told why.

Web series fans, take note. The International Academy of Web Television, the independent, non-profit organization that serves as the voting body for the Streamy Awards, officially announced its Board of Directors today along with its first Chairman, Michael Wayne, co-founder and CEO of DECA (Digital Entertainment Corporation of America).

“Just as the Academies of Motion Picture and Television Arts and Sciences had humble beginnings, so do we,” said Wayne in the IAWTV press release today. “While our industry may be in its early stages, it is growing at an exponential rate … 2010 promises to be a phenomenal year for the International Academy of Web Television with the 2nd Annual Streamy Awards and the continued expansion of our membership.” Before DECA, Wayne served as the Vice President of Strategic Alliances for Sony Pictures Digital and Sony Pictures Television.

The board is an impressive collection of talent from the web television world, bringing together their experience in areas such as content creation, finance and distribution. First up is Blip.tv co-founder Dina Kaplan, who will serve as the board’s Vice Chair. Besides the experience with distribution through Blip.tv that Kaplan brings to the table, she also brings a journalistic perspective having won several awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. Mo Koyfman, Principal at Spark Capital, a venture capital firm whose notable Web TV investments include Next New Networks, EQAL, Boxee, and Veoh, will also sit on the board. Before Spark Capital, Koyfman was the COO of Connected Ventures, parent company of popular web video sites Vimeo and CollegeHumor.com.

Also joining the board is John McCarus, someone who has intricate knowledge of branded entertainment as VP Director of Brand Content at DIGITAS, whose clients have included high profile companies like Disney, General Motors and KRAFT.

Then there’s content-creation and who better to sit on the board than The Guild creator-star Felicia Day who has created one of the most successful web series to date. George Ruiz, Head of New Media at talent agency ICM, will serve as the board’s secretary. The board will also include Tubefilter co-founders Brady Brim-DeForest, Marc Hustvedt, Drew Baldwin, Josh Cohen and Jamison Tilsner.

Take Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, mash it up with Kung Pao: Enter the Fist and what do you have? Johnny Raikou.

At first, the plot appears simple: a couple of wannabe vigilantes with outrageous haircuts and little skill hit the streets of Los Angeles to fight crime. Still, behind the tongue-in-cheek nature of the show is a story which aims to bring awareness to human trafficking. Beyond that, it is difficult to tell where the show will take its viewers since only three episodes have been released.

If you want visual comedy, this web series has plenty of it. From thought bubbles to slapstick combat, Johnny Raikou takes classic comedy staples like facial expressions and gestures and churns into an entertaining show. Thought-bubbles and comic-book swipes can seem gimmicky, but clever writing mixed with quizzical stares make them worth plenty of laughs. Also, Raikou makes good use of otherwise normal objects. From staple-guns to microwave-safes, standard tools and appliances become comical objects in this creative show. Though the series does have a couple of serious moments (Jaden Adventure (Hana Mae Lee), is dragged by her hair through a hallway kicking and screaming), it never quite takes itself seriously, and that’s a good thing.

Jonathan Hance (Johnny Raikou) and Portis Hershey (Friend), do an admirable job as quirky justice-seekers. In truth, I can’t imagine anyone else playing these roles. Hance (who also directed the show) does a remarkable job playing the part of a clumsy but quiet hero, often using his character’s silence to emphasize his bizarre nature. Hershey, the talkative one of this dynamic duo, plays off his partner’s silent nature with some well-timed lines and funny faces.

Nothing says geek like comics and nothing says “dream-job” to geeks more than working in a comic book shop. That’s the basis for The Variants, a new situation comedy co-created by Richard Neal from Zeus Comics Media in conjunction with Stepladder Productions.

One might imagine that a comic book shop is an insane yet exciting place to work, and the show aims put insanity front-and-center. The series, directed by Joe Cucinotti, captures the craziness of retail life made all the more complicated by characters in tights and those obsessed with said characters. Think Clerks, with every bit the irreverent humor brought on by the Kevin Smith films. Cucinotti said the show is meant to bring to life some of those insane situations.

“Our set is the actual store. Other than Ken and myself, our main cast consists of the people who really work behind that counter,” said Cucinotti. “Many of the extras and minor characters are played by loyal customers of the store. While we exaggerate some of the events, the presentation is still very authentic.”

Cucinotti stars in the show alongside Barry Fuhrman, Ken Lowery, Keli Wolfe, and Richard Neal. The real-life, award-winning Zeus Comics is in fact owned by Neal.

Did you know CNN has a web series? I didn’t. It’s called Freshman Year and while it might sound like a coming-of-age college romp, it is far from it. Here’s the gist: two Congress n00bs, Jared Polis (D) and Jason Chaffetz (R) carry around Flip cams and chronicle their first terms in the House.

Polis is an openly gay man and former Internet entrepreneur elected to represent Colorado’s second district. Chaffetz is a conservative, “former chief-of-staff to Utah’s governor and married father of three who sleeps on a cot in his congressional office to save money,” according to the Freshman Year website.

In jest, Richard Galant, Sr. Producer for CNN.com, said “[Chaffetz] doesn’t mind sleeping on a cot in his office —except when the Zamboni-like cleaning machine comes down the hallway in the middle of the night, beeping loudly, or when the sirens for the emergency alert system are tested overnight.”

It’s been a long day. 8 hours with a headset strapped to your face, pissed off people on the line, and one sexually suggestive caller doesn’t help matters much. As if things couldn’t get worse, someone stopped the countdown clock on the microwave mid-way through your oh-so-delicious penne pasta leftover from last night.

Telemarketers, “tracking specialists,” “sales associates,” whatever you call them, they’re people too, with long days and tough bosses just like the rest of us. That’s the basis of a new comedy web series released by RWP Productions from Austin, Texas titled Call Center, a mockumentary about an overnight shipping company. The series, created by Reagan Peterson, Galen Carter-Jeffrey, and Barbara Clark, tries to give us a hilarious look at who sits on the other end of the phone.

According to information sent by Clark to us, the series will run 13 episodes. Each episode runs a modest 3-4 minutes and stars a plethora of clever, though mostly unknown actors. Per the usual mockumentary style, Call Center focuses on a wide-range of archetypal characters that works well. Like another comedy Austin-shot, Mike Judge’s Office Space, and even The Office, the show’s 29-year-old boss-archetype (John Handem) sits high, screws off, and shrugs complaints made by employees.

Web TV offers up a lot of content specifically geared toward adults. But what if one wants to just sit down with their four-year-old and click on something that doesn’t require parental censorship? If there is one area where web TV falters (or succeeds, some might say), it is that it lacks clean material for language-conscious parents who don’t want their children watching web shows loaded with expletives or sexual innuendo.
Workshop, a mockumentary-slash-situational comedy about six actors and their efforts to make it big time, wants that audience and more. Nate Golon, co-creator and producer of Workshop, said much of the show’s first season will poke fun at casting workshops.

Ironically, the show stars a couple of actors with experience in soap operas, a genre known for its outrageously adult themes. One of those actors, Phillip Jeanmarie, played a hermaphrodite as a series regular on Passions. The show also stars Leanne Wilson, one of FHM’s sexiest women who had a role on Casualty, an ER-like drama that airs in the U.K.