Tubefilter News

Inspired by the Playstation video game of the same name, Infamous shows us a world where everyday people have the regular occurance of having to deal with the fact that they are suddenly shooting lightning out of their body or hearing someone’s thoughts. A world where anyone can suddenly find themselves with superpowers and have the tough decision of whether to use their abilities for either good or evil…or sometimes a little of both. “[Co-creator] Greg [Washington] and I are both avid comic book readers,” said co-creator Joey Barto. “So, the story is kind of an extension of that. We love revenge stories, we love dark stories, we love anti-heroes, and this is a really great story about a very dark, dark anti-hero.”

Created by Barto, Washington, John Chambers, Harvard Taylor, and Travis Barth, produced by Newborn Productions and Cultivate Media Productions and shot locally in Shreveport, Louisiana, the series sets out to prove you can create high-quality, complex, and visually stimulating content outside of the heavilly debated “Los Angeles Bubble”. Said Washington: “We have built a great relationship with two local studios here in Shreveport; Fairfield Studios and Crain Video, that have donated equipment and studio space for the production of Infamous.”

“Shooting in Louisiana, Shreveport in particular, gives us so many incredible options for backgrounds,” continued Washington. “Shreveport has passed for California, New York, New Orleans, Texas, and many other states because of its unique structure and setup. It is the perfect location for a production like ours with a very limited budget. And Southern hospitality has been extended above and beyond.”

From the trailer you get the idea that Tyranny is a distant relative of 70’s American thrillers, where corporations rule the world and your mind. From the three episodes I’ve screened, I was convinced it was another dystopic, post-apocalyptic thriller. Dystopia, I know, but I think timing wise, this is more pre-apocalypse. At any rate this series from creator John Beck Hofman is gripping while still competently executed for its scope.

Hofman plays Daniel McCarthy who in 1999 volunteers for a Berkley Grad student’s experiment that records his every thought and action throughout the day. Shortly thereafter he realizes he has lost memory of the last eight days and can now see the future from 2011 to 2013. And it ain’t pretty. Food shortages, bio-engineered pandemic, and picketers galore…future? Hmm, that sounds awfully similar to a certain planet I know right now. The rest of the cast is impressive, with Bond girl Olga Kurylenko starring alongside Hofman and web series standout Bitsie Tulloch from Quarterlife and lonleygirl15.

The latest installment of our weekly web series critic column Pass The Mustard. No sugar coating, no doublespeak, no hand holding. Just brutally honest reactions from one guy: Ned Hepburn. We’ll throw a handful of web series at him each week. Agree, disagree, love him, hate him, but please don’t punch him. Got something clever to say in retort? Leave a comment below. He’ll probably read it and embarrass you later. His opinions are his own, so take them or leave them. See last week’s column here.]

The Annoying Orange

Are you high or 14 years old? Do you live in the suburbs? It’s completely fucking absurd – like, X-Files absurd – that this series has over 20 million hits. That must mean that Satan is on his way. This is the kind of thing that the movie Idiocracy predicted. This is pure, pure unfunny highly concentrated, in droplet form, just purely nonsensical riffing from an Annoying Orange. It’s either high concept art or it’s just plain terrible. It made me want to drink alone on a balcony overlooking the city, listening to sad bastard music, wondering “Is this all there is in life? This?” and then keep drinking scotch. It was F. Scott Fitzgerald levels of ambivalence to humanity after watching this one, folks. This was terrible.

Wiener & Wiener

Do you want to know something? I was at the grocery store and found a thing called a Grapple. It’s an apple that’s been crossbred with a grape. It’s not bad. Anyway, Weiner and Weiner is a lot like the Grapple, because it’s not bad but it’s completely strange and I have no idea what to make of it. It’s good? Bad? I don’t like it? Maybe I do? It doesn’t make any sense except it kind of does? It’s like Urban Outfitters: The Show. Not only do all the actors and actresses look like they work there, but there’s a definite and palpable feeling of the decision to forgo plot for style points.

Lazy Sunday has to be credited as one of the breakout viral videos that launched YouTube into a household name. (Ironically, it’s not actually on YouTube any more – just Hulu) The SNL Digital Short was one of the first from Lonely Island crew after Andy Samberg joined the cast back in 2006. Last night in a reprise of the hit video, Samberg and Chris Parnell performed a live version of Lazy Sunday (above) with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. [LateNightWithJimmyFallon.com]

The Legend of Neil has been greenlit for a third season from Atom.com, according to tweets from creator Sandeep Parikh. Atom won’t officially confirm this, but we’re pretty sure this is a go. The Streamy-nominated series has been Atom’s most successful original web series for the past two years. [Twitter]

Auditude announced an advertising agreement with Dailymotion today, saying that they will now power the Paris-based video site’s catalog of more than 12 million videos. The technology from Auditude will support advanced video ad formats, enhance content targeting, enable multi-party demand and manage business rules and sales rights Dailymotion’s hundreds of licensed content partners. [Press Release]

I’m Dating a Porn Star, a new adult comedy web series pilot debuted this week from Crossroads Films, the creators of critically acclaimed Old Friends. It stars Old Friends‘ Tim Curcio and is shot by OF’s Matt Cady. For now, producer David Title is looking for some fan support in terms of views, as “it was deemed a bit too dirty for traditional distributors.” [blip.tv]

Anyone But Me continues to rack up award nominations, this time in Canada with 3 nominations in TVGuide.ca’s Soap Opera Spirit Awards and another 4 noms in Time After Time/Soap World Awards. This adds to the series three Streamy Award nominations including Best Female Actor nod for Rachel Hip-Flores. Episode 5 of the indie drama was just released today (see below). [Anyone But Me]

I grew up knowing the ‘Dear Abby’ phenomena only as an ironic comedy reference. However, when I found that real people wrote in with real problems I was blown away. First of all who writes letters anymore? I think only serial killers and hostage takers, but they don’t even write they just cut out letters from magazines. Next it spoke to a time when people were more eloquent with words and didn’t feel the need to abbreviate ‘OK’ as ‘K’. Lastly, it was damn nice of that Abby to be so helpful. So, I want to pretend to know what that’s like and write a letter to help me understand Twilight With Steve Cooper.

Dear Abby, I was watching episode 7 and it didn’t make any sense. The host, fictionalized Steve Cooper (Jeremy Seglem), is in a chair and then a guy in a bad Renaissance Fair costume (The Earl of Sandwich) comes on. Then they start talking about sandwiches, because I think the guy in the bad Renaissance Fair costume is supposed to be the guy that invented sandwiches.

At one point I even found myself saying, “I’m confused”, out loud. I guess if I were IM’ing with someone about it I would’ve typed ‘C.O.L.’ for ‘confused out loud’.

OK, I get that this is supposed to be mock interview show taking benign issues, such as sandwiches…. I just said ‘sandwiches’ out loud because I got confused again. Anyway, the show takes an issue like sandwiches and tries to be serious about it, hence making it funny. Um…no. The host doesn’t play it straight enough. And the weird Renaissance guy… Um, no. So, I watch other episodes and there are other characters from other historic time periods. And I’m just like, “I get it. Next.” Then I watch another one and I’m like, “Nope.” Even the Koldcast.tv, the network that hosts the series, is confusing. I clicked on the link and it started playing some Dora The Explorer rip off commercial and I was ‘C.O.L.’ once again.

So Abs, can I call you Abs? Any way, if you could help me make sense of this series I would greatly appreciate it. I want to go on the Internet, and at the very least not seek council. I applaud the concept, but I also applaud the concept of Communism, or as Republicans like to call it, Democracy.

More “For Your Consideration” screenings are popping up as Academy voters are starting to parse through the thousands of web series submissions for the 2nd Annual Streamy Awards. After a well attended Blue Movies and Fall of Kaden screening earlier this month, four independent web series have teamed up for a screening of their own in Hollywood on February 19th at 7:30 PM. Hosted by Safety Geeks SVI creators Dave Beeler and Tom Konkle the night will feature episodes of their VFX-laden romp series along with fellow comedies GOLD, Space Hospital and Life with Kat & McKay.

From the invite page (where anyone can RSVP):

Life is tough for International Academy of Web Television members right now: buried under piles of screening materials, staring out the windows, yearning to be free. We understand, and think you should get out. Stretch your legs. Perhaps wander into Hollywood, to a place where web shows are screening in a lovely environment where you can kick-back and just watch. With drinks. That’s our wish for you.

To that end, you are invited to this special For Your Consideration web series screening event at Cinespace Hollywood, where each featured show will offer a sampling of episodes for your consideration for the 2nd Annual Streamy Awards.

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.

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.