Tubefilter News

The smart ones did.

If you are serious about creating online entertainment there is absolutely no reason that attending SXSW Interactive (SXSWi) shouldn’t be on your must-go list. The five day conference, which just wrapped up Tuesday night drew 12,000 of social media and web junkies for a non-stop, bleary-eyed bender of business cards, panels, free BBQ and new connections. It was like camp for internet people.

And that’s my point. If you’re making any kind entertainment on the web, you are internet people. Meeting other internet people is part of your job. The apps and tools that are emerging out of the developers at SXSW matter to your web series.

Entertainment on the internet spent the past 5 years learning how to go from crawling to standing up and making its first wobbly steps. Now it’s 2010 and mainstream eyes are gooing over this clever toddler of a medium. The really interesting stuff—like location-based interactive ARGs built around a web drama—is just getting started.

The tools and apps startups, many of which came in from San Fran, need the web creators and storytellers, and vice versa. The guys at Boxee didn’t throw their daytime house party on Sunday just to throw back Shiner Bock. They wanted to meet the content folks.

Brands Came To Play With You

Case in point, Chevrolet. They weren’t just a SXSW sponsor, they came to get to know the internet and the people making and doing really interesting things with it. And their team came out in force. We’re not talking hired gun booth babes, but the actual decision makers that are figuring out how to best pair their brand with what’s driving attention online.

Chevy even shuttled a number of web video and social media creatives on a 30-minute ride out to a BBQ dinner at the Salt Lick just outside of Austin. They wanted to hear what these creators have in the works, and how perhaps they could get involved to support that.

And Pepsi teamed up with web show hub blip.tv to create the PepsiCo Podcast Playground, bringing in Epic Fu host Zadi Diaz to interview a number of web video people like Kenyatta Cheese, Tim Street, Gary Vaynerchuk, Brett Register, and yes, even me (see below). They care about this space, and it’s much deeper that slapping logos on signage and passing of free soda. They want to know what is coming next.

Web TV Super-Meetup

There’s only one place you’ll find a more concentrated gathering of decision-makers in online entertainment—that would be April’s Web TV Week in LA headlined by the Streamy Awards. (My bias duly noted.) But second to that is SXSWi. Let’s say you wanted to get to know the digital content studios and distributors, after five days in Austin you could have connected with the top brass at Revision3, Next New Networks, EQAL, Screen Actors Guild, Funny or Die, Babelgum, Digitas, Katalyst, College Humor, Boxee, Ustream, YouTube, blip.tv—all of whom had a serious presence (not to mention parties) here at South-by.

It’s not just the companies, but the vets of the video scene that are mingling around and are flush with lessons learned and advice on growing an audience online like Steve Garfield (he even wrote a book on it), iJustine, Kevin Rose, Phil De Franco, Taryn Southern, Leo Laporte, Amanda Congdon, Gary Vaynerchuk, Kent Nichols, Shira Lazar, Alex Albrecht, Amanda Coolong and Steve Woolf.

Tongal jumped on board the MacGruber buzz bus this week at SXSW, launching a video contest for user-generated videos linked to the ROGUE Pictures film based on the popular SNL character “MacGruber.”

A panel of judges will then select five winning pitches that will be announced on tongal.com/macgruber on March 30 to move on to the next phase, which asks participants get to film and submit a 90-second video segment based on the top pitches. There is additional chance for prizes for watching and predicting the five winning video submissions. The grand prize for the top video is a ‘Hometown Screening’ of MacGruber as well as the five winning videos receiving cash prizes.

“We had been talking with Randall (Cox, EVP International Business and Corporate Development of Relativity Media) for a while about how to use Tongal as a social media platform to compliment Rogue releases,” said James DeJulio, co-founder and president of Tongal. “Especially if the campaign would result in user generated content. MacGruber was a perfect fit because of the overall level of awareness and enthusiasm for the character.”
Their latest foray into their unique brand of reward-based user-generated content, announced at SXSW, is a partnership with ROGUE Pictures, specifically, the feature film based on the popular Saturday Night Live character MacGruber. “We had been talking with Randall (Cox, EVP International Business and Corporate Development of Relativity Media) for a while about how to use Tongal as a social media platform to compliment Rogue releases,” said James DeJulio, co-founder and president of Tongal. “Especially if the campaign would result in user generated content. MacGruber was a perfect fit because of the overall level of awareness and enthusiasm for the character.”

If there was any ever doubt that a web series—without any moonlighting Hollywood celebrities or TV network backing—could galvanize throngs of faithful fans into a live rock concert adoration, well, it ended last night at SXSW. Before a sold out crowd of over 2,200 at Stubbs BBQ one of Austin’s legendary outdoor concert stages, Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht took a page out of the rock star playbook at the live Diggnation taping Saturday night.

The spiked hair and fire breathing magic skills of Scam School’s Brian Brushwood primed the crowd, in an opening act that probably could have its own Vegas offshoot some day. Then there was the #OMGConan hoax, an organized prank led by Rev3 co-founder David Prager that generated 426 tweets from the audience blasting out that Conan O’Brien is joining Revision3. This was of course full-circle to the web network’s credulous offer back in January for Conan to have his own Rev3 show.

Oh, and the crowdsurfing. Alex and Kevin floated over the sea of outstretched arms. Even live streaming TWIT.tv’s Leo Laporte joined in on the fun to cheers of “Leo! Leo! Leo!” as he was whisked up while carrying his lighted unipod to stream his ride. Was this the first live streamed crowd surfing shot first person?

In the parlor game of us spectators, one of the questions batted around was just how much PC-maker Alienware paid for the ultimate product integration—swapping out Kevin and Alex’s usual laptops for two of theirs. Best bets from those in the know seemed to say it was at least $50k for the privilege of that placement. Some speculated it was a six figure deal. Either way, not cheap to free known Apple-lover Kevin Rose from his MacBook Pro.

Spotted up in the VIP section were a number of web series vets like Taryn Southern, Tim Street, Brett Register, iJustine, Phil DeFranco, Tony Valenzuela and others—all there to witness first-hand just how big this video space has actually become. It left us all thinking, who needs Conan when you have have these guys?

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]

Illeana Douglas may be quite the name in web series circles now, especially after landing six Streamy nominations for her popular comedy Easy to Assemble, which just wrapped its second season earlier this year. It even spawned a spinoff series Sparhüsen, which nabbed its own Streamy nod. But aside from those two, the Emmy-nominated TV and film actress has yet to venture into a web series where she isn’t the one calling the shots. Looks like that’s about to change.

Douglas just wrapped shooting a two-episode guest starring arc on Spherion-sponsored office comedy The Temp Life in New York this week, playing cold hearted CEO Eve Randall. Also shooting a guest spot this week is Taryn Southern who brings back her gumpy midwest IT tech Nancy Roder for a few more episodes.

This isn’t the first we’ve written about the casting moves on The Temp Life this season, which have seen notable web series standouts like Sandeep Parikh (The Guild), Thom Woodley (The Burg) and Rachel Risen (The Hayley Project) coming on board to bolster the show’s cred and fanbase. To give an idea of numbers, it took two years for the series to reach 1 million views, while its latest season—its fourth—has just passed 2 million.

The connection between Easy to Assemble isn’t hard to piece together. Temp Life creator Wilson Cleveland—who also plays the former temp agency boss Nick ‘Trouble’ Chiapetta—heads up CJP Digital Media the web arm of Manhattan-based marketing firm CJP Communications. Easy to Assemble teamed up with CJP for its latest season with Cleveland’s team helping score a suite of new distribution deals for the show including The Hotel Network and a lucrative one with My Damn Channel.

The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers lit up the Oscars stage last night (above) on ABC with a medley of all of the Best Original Music nominees. Talk about a killer (and free) promo for their upcoming web series The LXD from director Jon M Chu. Check out Madd Chadd’s legendary robot skills in the UP section of the routine. [YouTube]

The Guild’s creator-star Felicia Day is going to star in a SyFy Channel Saturday Original Movie where she will portray “a werewolf-hunting descendant of Little Red Riding Hood.” “In the action-packed Red, Red (Day) brings her fiancé home, where he meets the family and learns about their business – hunting werewolves.” The movie, set to debut in 2011 on SyFy also stars Kavan Smith (Stargate Atlantis) and Stephen McHattie (Watchmen). [Bloody Disgusting]

DigiVenture is hosting a Women in Digital event tonight in Los Angeles hosted by Joanne Griffith that will feature a panel representing audio, visual and print media professionals, including: Carmen Dixon, former ABC producer and creator of the blog Allaboutrace.com, Zadi Diaz, founder of the web TV series, Epic Fu, and Shani Byard-Ngunjiri, founder of Media Message Ed. The free event will be held at Otis College of Art and Design on Monday March 8th from 7-9pm and parking is free. [DigiVenture.org]

Funny or Die tapped director Ron Howard to rope together the best SNL prexys from the past few decades in a Presidential Reunion video (below) that already broke 2.5 million views on in under a week on site. Darrell Hammond stars as Bill Clinton, Jim Carrey as Reagan, Dan Aykroyd as Dick Cheney, Fred Armisen as Barack Obama, Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford, Dana Carvey as Poppy Bush, Will Ferrell as George W. and Maya Rudolph as Michelle Obama. The video is part 1 of three in the series. [Funny or Die, MainStreetBrigade]