by Marc Hustvedt on January 4th, 2010
Escape. The web isn’t clamoring with that many series that truly rip us out of our office chairs. Often we’re given mere momentary amusement. But I’m talking about the ones that suck us through our laptop screens and into a world so refreshingly different yet intimately familiar we actually feel transported.
Everyone has something that gives them this kind of escape. For me, it’s a show that propels me into the land of ski tracks in fresh powder, vertical drops and climbing 5.10’s. Pure adrenaline daydreaming. Luckily, I may have just found my new episodic winter escape.
Fitz Cahall is a natural storyteller, crafting 20 episodes of an NPR-worthy podcast of outdoor adventures called The Dirtbag Diaries. His real life human tales of triumph are This American Life for REI junkies. But now, Cahall is taking the leap into web series, with the upcoming premiere of The Season later this month. It’s 22 episodes of outdoor goodness, all shot in HD, following the unique stories of five individual dreamers from the Pacific Northwest. Guys like Paul Kuthe, a kayaker who overcame a difficult past and rock climber Matt Maddaloni who invented a new camera rigging system for filming climbs.
“The idea, or maybe the question, behind the series is this,” wrote Cahall in a recent blog post about the series. “Could we take compelling stories from our community, combine it with tightly crafted footage and create small installments that reveal a bigger story?”
Cahall and his producing partner Bryan Smith of Reel Water Productions managed to score high-end outdoor clothing line Arc’teryx along with microbrewer New Belgium Brewery to sponsor the series.
by Marc Hustvedt on November 4th, 2009
The Office crew proves they still have their web series juice with their latest online offshoot Subtle Sexuality, which first popped up two weeks ago before premiering October 29. Now the entire three-episode web series is now online including the finale (above), a tribute video “Male Prima Donna” about Kelly Kapoor’s on-again/off-againg boyfriend Ryan. And with musicals so hot right now, it’s not exactly a shocker that they went that route.
Also up now is a fully loaded site around the all-girl pop group formed by Kelley (Mindy Kaling) and Erin (Ellie Kemper). The band satisfies at least two of nutcase Kelly’s obsessions—pop celebrities and Ryan (B.J. Novak). And Andy (Ed Helms) gets to rock some more of his Cornell acapella skills.
And just like any good web series music video—The Guild’s megapop “Do You Wanna Date My Avatar” and Sparhüsen’s “Apples & Fish”—you can actually buy the video and track on iTunes. That part may be real but I think the tour dates might be suspect. Though if someone has bootlegs from the Finn McCool’s Open Mic in Scranton last night, please send it over.
Just for you fine Tubefilter readers, we have the limited edition Subtle Sexuality “World Tour” T-Shirt and CD to give away (see photo). Sure, it’s not the best thing we’ve given away but it’s also not the worst.
Here’s how it works: Just like the autographed Wes Craven DVD box set we gave away for the Fear Clinic launch, which went to @HorrorQueen13, we’re going to take all the names of people who tweet a link to this story on Twitter by Sunday night at 11:59 PM and put them in a random drawing hosted by Random.org. Winners will be announced on site next week.
by Marc Hustvedt on October 27th, 2009
It’s been about two months since the release of CSI-creator Anthony Zuiker’s cross-platform crime thriller, Level 26: Dark Origins, the first true integration of a novel with a companion web series. Finally today came the release of the Level 26 iPhone app and desktop movie through the iTunes App store, which actually marries the text and video all in one seamless experience.
Before this, readers of the 400-page book had to enter a printed code at the end of select chapters that would unlock the ‘cyber-bridge’ episodes, a process that even web video junkies found tedious. Though coining a new term with their “digi-novel,” the actual experience was still lacking any real innovation until now.
“The Level 26: Dark Origins App and iTunes Extras makes reading more entertaining than ever,” said Zuiker about the app release. “We’re delivering new levels of engagement way beyond mere white pages.”
Zuiker and his Dare to Pass team even applied for a trademark on the “digi-novel” term, which after an initial rejection from the USPTO, appears to have made it through on a supplemental approval. (The whole back-and-forth between Zuiker’s lawyers and the PTO is worth a read if you’re into that sort of thing.)
by Jenni Powell on October 13th, 2009
What do you get when you take High School Musical’s Lucas Grabeel and One Tree Hill’s Drew Seely, give them some fangs, and tell them to sing and dance? You get an online musical, I Kissed a Vampire, that would have Joss Whedon rolling in his grave (and that’s not even possble!)…and you might smash your computer in the process.
For instance, you might have the type of frustration I did just trying to watch the episodes. Only available on iTunes, you first have to be willing to pony up the $1.99 an episode, then you need to make sure that your iTunes is running at it’s most current version, and finally, you have to have the latest version of Safari running to order from the online store. Oh and of course, the latest version of Safari only runs on Mac versions 4.0.3 for Tiger or higher, so make sure that is taken care of as well.
Granted, being a Mac user, I don’t know if PC users will have such a hard time and I personally have an odd fear of updating software because of a kernel error that destroyed my world that I got when trying to do a simple software update about 6 months ago. But I’m fairly computer savvy plus I love vampires AND musicals so you can imagine my excitement at a vampire musical! Long story short: if the hoops I had to jump through were coming to a point where even I was tempted to give up and not watch, that is saying something.
Now, if you are in New York, you can avoid the computer issue all together and check out the premiere live at Landmark Sunshine Theatre tonight at 6 PM EST. Grabeel and Seely will be in attendance with co-star Adrian Slade. Tickets are given out on a first-come, first-serve basis so get there early if you do plan on going.
by Stuart Davis on September 28th, 2009
That’s right, True Believers, you no longer have to wait for the next Marvel movie walk-on to get your Stan Lee fix. The man that created such beloved comic book characters as Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four and The Hulk, has come to the Internet. In partnership with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, beloved self-promoter, Stan Lee, has created the motion comic series Time Jumper.
The series, which first launched this summer at Comic-Con, is the story of Terry Dixon, a twenty-year-old college student, who is recruited by H.U.N.T. (Heroes United, Noble and True) corporation. With his older brother’s mysterious disappearance and his father’s untimely death, Terry’s the only person able to operate the Articulus, a time travel device––that resembles a circa 90’s era Game Boy, more than anything else––invented by Terry’s father Arthur and keyed to the Dixon family genetic code. This and the dastardly attempts of Charity Vyle, the diabolical leader of the criminal anagram C.U.L.T. (Council of Unstoppable, Lethal Terrorists) who has somehow managed to hack Terry’s DNA and ride his signal through time, to disrupt history thrust Terry into the role of the reluctant hero while, in typical Stan Lee fashion, trying to juggle the tropes of life as an average college student.
Time Jumper is written by Omar Ponce with illustrations by Anthony Diecidue and features the voices of Natasha Henstridge as Charity Vyle and Stan Lee, himself, as the head of H.U.N.T., Lee Excelsior.
by Marc Hustvedt on September 13th, 2009
Sunday night for me always means a chunk of time blocked out for HBO. It’s one of the few networks worth shelling out a couple extra bucks a month. It pretty much built its brand on groundbreaking drama—The Wire, The Sopranos, Sex and the City. And for what it’s worth, there is no HBO of web series. No one network of premium content that owns drama.
The creators of The Fall of Kaden, which premiered online this week, have said they are trying to break that mold. Matt Doubler and Adam Leiphart have a thing for drama and noticed the void of web series drama sites. Through their Tape 6 production company, Doubler and Leiphart said they are looking to stand out as a go-to shop for premium drama.
The first episode is mostly setup and lets us meet protagonist Kaden (Leiphart), who is in the midst of a Leaving Las Vegas-style downward spiral. Of course he doesn’t exactly have that far to fall since he’s a low-level loan shark dishing out cash to deadbeat gamblers. He’s also faced with the moral struggle of helping out his worthless brother (Joe Andalaro) who is along for the ride.
by Marc Hustvedt on August 5th, 2009
Well it’s about time. It looks like Apple is getting into the original content production game through its iTunes division. We’ve learned that the first ever original project is a short film about the fictional cult rock band Spinal Tap.
The project is said to star the original band members—Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and Michael McKean—all in character as rockers Nigel, Derek and David.
Presumably the iTunes project part of a promotional move to drive sales of the (briefly) reunited Spinal Tap’s recently released Back from the Dead album. The band also played a live show at London’s Wembley Arena on June 30th and its not known whether footage from that performance will be in the short film.
