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.

Daniel becomes part of the resistance against a shadowy corporation that we will eventually learn is controlling this chaos, presumably to get richer, while the poor get poorer. Power, money, mind control, you know the drill. Maybe a little too well. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around how I feel about the show and this somewhat familiar concept, but I guess the bottom line is that after three eps, I want to know more. And that’s about all a creator needs, right?

The show, which premiers today on Koldcast TV, is technically good. It has a kind of gauzy look that seems to have become the staple of the post-apocalyptic genre, though it reminds me a little too much of daytime soaps. Lots of camera movement and relatively simple double-exposure effects are surprisingly effective in getting me on board with the inherent anxiety of the concept. Basically, good production value on what I’m going to assume is a modest budget.

Episode one (above, top) had me locked in as it opened with some amazing imagery of a tubed-up man floating like a full grown fetus in a greenish solution, intercut with a blue orbs, mathematic chicken scratches, and flashes of a woman in various locations. “This is going to be mindbending,” I’m telling myself…and from then on, the show gives so little information with each episode that it truly becomes mindbending, without being confusing, or boring. Like I said, I want to know more.

Each ep of this 22-episode thriller hovers somewhere between less than seven minutes and greater than three and at that rate will easily be able to sustain the mystery, which I’m hoping feels as complex, though not as complicated as a show like Lost. The look, length and what seems to be some intelligence in the writing conspire to make for what I hope will be a sustaining show. I also like the fact that its discussing a not-so-distant, and not-so unrealistic future that is nonetheless scary as hell. Take a look at it and I have a feeling you’ll be coming back (it’s a weekly series) and maybe, just maybe Hofman will show us some fresh insight into something we’ve seen before in one way or another.

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Included in President Obama’s commencement address at Note Dame University last year was a desire to find ways to communicate about a workable solution to the problem of unintended pregnancies. A Southern California-based independent media company called Yellow Line Studios wanted to help give that desire a voice. And so they created Bump+.

Using the device of a fictional reality show, Bump+ follows the stories of three women, all in their first four weeks of pregnancy, as they weigh the pros and cons of continuing to full term. Denise is almost a child herself, though this is her third pregnancy with signs they were results of domestic abuse, Hailey is a sorority girl who seems to care more about what being on the show can do for her than her pregnancy, and Katie is facing the tough decision of what to tell her husband when he returns from Iraq…because the father isn’t him.

Launched on the eve of the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the show has been releasing 2 episodes a week since February 1st, all the while fostering an open and honest communication with and between its audience. Though the production itself is clearly not trying to present itself as a true documentary, the comments show a sincere desire to communicate with the fictional women involved and in the end, the audience influences the final decisions of the women. Several alternate endings were shot and however the story is lead, the project intends to follow-through with it. One of the women may decide to keep their baby while another opts for abortion…one may choose an entirely different option altogether.

Depending on how the series actually turns out (the final episode of season 1 is scheduled to launch on March 15th), the series could be seen as glorifying the abortion issue. Hopefully, it will be clear that it wasn’t the wishes of the production itself to take any particular stance on either side of the debate, but to allow an audience the opportunity to talk out all the sides together, as well as share personal stories people have faced when it comes to pregnancy and parenthood. It’s an issue almost everyone will face at one point in their lives and the format of a place online paired with a visual story to embody the discussion is a unique one that can hopefully be utilized in the future on a wide range of issues.

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This isn’t your average “I ripped Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” off YouTube (rickroll) and then mixed in some clips of Captain Picard saying “make it so” on a loop” mashup. Contagion explores a world in which Jack Bauer is investigating the murder of Bella Swan by Blade while tying to get Mulder and Scully to help him before the Resident Evil zombies attack…but they do, leaving him no choice but to go pick up the Winchester brothers from Supernatural.

And it actually looks really, really good.

Created by Canadian television director and editor Ray Holycross, the series originally began as a way for him to hone his editing skills in his spare time. He had planned to release an episode each week for 2 months, beginning in December. And just in case anyone tries to call foul on the fact that he’s using copywritten material, Holycross makes sure to post information on Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976 on the series YouTube account, also stating, “I do NOT make any money on this. Copyright is to the rightful owners, and this was for fun and not to make any money or profit at all.”

Unfortunately, Holycross had to take a hiatus after episode 3. However, to make it up to those chomping at the bit for more, he recently released a teaser trailer (below) for the final three parts of the series, each running 10 minutes, slated to be released at the end of March.

What will happen in this 30 minutes of the ultimate geekerific television and movie universe showdown? Will Blade take down Bauer before the zombies do? Will the Winchester brothers end up in a love triangle with Scully? Will anyone care that Edward Cullen was killed in the first 30 seconds of episode 1? Tune in March 29th to find out.

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]

Got something for Quick Clicks? Shoot them over to tips[at]tubefilter.tv

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POV
This College Humor series pretty aptly reminds me of college, high school and sort of every waking moment of every major meeting i’ve ever been in. Bravo, good sirs. Tada. College Humor is sort of the Scottie Pippen of bro humor. It’s might not pull Michael Jordan numbers but still deserves to be on the cover of the metaphorical box of Wheaties.

ZOMBIEZ!
This is remarkably well filmed – with huge overtones of Sin City and Natural Born Killers. It’s very well cast and clearly a lot of effort was put into this, and whoever worked on it should do more hopefully with a larger budget. It’s far from perfect – it’s very, very clearly a somewhat knowingly cheeseball B-movie homage which normally I wouldn’t have a problem with – it’s just that I’d really like to see them do something totally original or dare I say it a little more serious.

Interviews 50 Cents
When I first saw this I thought it was an interview of rapper 50 Cent. It’s totally not. Boy, was I mistaken. It’s a pretty interesting idea for a talk show, filmed just using a table and two chairs at (what appears to be) various county fairs. Basically, people sit down, get paid 50 cents, and tell a story. It’s a great concept and filmed really, really well. My problem with it is also what I think makes the show so interesting: that the episodes are a lot like having to sit through someone elses story, no matter how interesting. While some of the stories are truly captivating, others feel like the exact feeling of being stuck listening to someone talk on and on at a party. The Garrison Keiller lookalike guy that they’re talking to (who seems to also have Hannibal Lector as a fashion inspiration) doesn’t say much to interrupt them or, you know, interview them, and as a result you’re left with these sometimes transcendent, sometimes rambling personal stories. Regardless, I’ll have to admit this is quite a great series to watch. It’s interesting, and holds a lot of potential, if anything to document some every day life.

Condition:Human
… And then there’s something like this, which comes off as exactl something you’d see on the ScyFy (how do they spell it now?) Channel. It’s not bad, it’s just rather boring and feels like a video game that I can’t play, just watch. It’s very (very!) well shot and acted and at its best really does come off like Cowboy Bebop or Blade Runner, but at its worst comes off like generic anime or sometimes a futuristic Lifetime movie. Perhaps I’m just not a Sci-Fi person. Perhaps it’s just that I can’t get over the fact that the actor they picked as the creator of the robots looks astoundingly like the asian Guy Fieri. Perhaps I’m having a hard time believing any of it let alone the relationships between any of the characters which I think is a fault of the editing. Perhaps it’s the fact that I once saw a stripper in Chicago named Keoko (one of the characters names) and I kept wondering when 50 Cen’t “In Da Club” was going to start. Anyway, I tried to like this, I just found this a little too high on style and lot too less on substance.

THIS WEEKS MUSTARD:
I really, really enjoyed Zombiez, but I’m going to have to go with Interviews 50 Cents.

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It takes a village. Or in some cases, a whole city. Chattanooga, Tennessee loves to rally to support its own, especially the talented creatives who call it home. Dylan Kussman is one of those that the city wants to keep around, and to keep shooting his works locally. So in what could a model to watch for independent web series creators around the country, Kussman and his team have pulled together their series with help of all kinds from their native city— financial and a whole lot else.

Tonight at a live premiere screening, indie drama, or as they call it, “noir mystery” web series The Steps will debut to a sold-out audience at what they are calling a “Device Party.” Guests are encouraged to bring out their laptops, smartphones and other internet devices to watch and share the show with peers. Sound like a big virtual street team rally. The event will also live stream on UStream tonight starting at 9:00 PM EST (6p PT).

While the specifics of the budget weren’t shared, they did tell us that the series used all local Chattanooga cast and crew was funded by production partners in concert with a financial grant from Create Here, a local program to build Chattanooga’s cultural economy through arts, economic and cultural development initiatives.

The Steps is a noir mystery web series that tells the story of Charlie Madison, a lowlife private investigator from Los Angeles who’s forced to live under an assumed identity in middle America to escape his criminal past. A key player in the blackmailing enterprise of Dante Pelinsano (based on the infamous “P.I. to the Stars” Anthony Pellicano), Charlie has to split town when the Assistant D.A. who put Dante in prison seems to determined to take him down as well. Charlie takes on the name “Ron Harlin” and starts driving east, stopping when he feels he’s gone far enough, which happens to be the midsized city of Chattanooga, TN.

Academy Award winning screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects)—himself a commented on the independent nature of the project: “It was only a matter of time before someone realized you don’t need anyone’s permission to make a good series. The Steps is the future.”

The marketing and promotion of the event is one of the most ambitious we’ve seen for an independent web series, using a number of traditional entertainment media buys and outlets to make a splash this week. Radio interviews, local TV crews, pre-roll on Hulu videos, even local bus wrap ads are in the mix. Can you name another web series that launched with bus ads?

Space Truffles Enterainment is handling the marketing and sponsor integration for the series. Space Truffles’ Gennefer Snowfield (who has been a guest author on Tubefilter News) shared with us a full run-down of the launch-week marketing plan:

• Device Party where attendees will bring their smartphones and devices to view the 1st four episodes Dell and Mac Authority on site to demo products and show the series on their laptops, as well as offer discounts for attendees — goal is to reinforce the association between electronics/digital and entertainment
• Local coverage in Chattanooga newspapers with print press and TV stations like ABC 9 and others attending the event on 2/19
• Bus Ads on CARTA buses promoting the series and their free WiFi
• Coasters in the bar where the series was filmed
• Posters throughout the city, and heavy on local college campuses
• College radio shows
• Hulu pre-/post-rolls in the drama genre with snippets of the show to drive an audience pre-disposed to watching online content to the show
• Regional spot cable buys to drive consumers to the web to view the series to open up new pockets of the market and elevate visibility for the web series category by harnessing the TV medium’s reach
• Twitter hashtag plus clues for generating buzz and ensuring viewers tune into every episode to look for clues; winner will receive a grand prize
• Contest for bands around the world to submit a cover of their version of the theme song, ‘Red Dress’ (you can download a link to the mp3 on the show’s site) where the winning version will be the official song used in the Season 1 DVD and Season 2.

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With its obvious parody to the drama behind the Twilight saga (no, I don’t mean the books or movies themselves but to the reality of the fifth book in the Twilight series getting leaked to the internet before its completion…and the drama that ensued), season 1 of I <3 Vampires was pretty much guaranteed a healthy audience and helped garner the online network Take180 more than 40 million video views to date. This week saw the launch of Season 2 of the popular web series.

But it isn’t the subject matter of the show that was its only appeal. Like all Take180 shows, interaction plays a key role and fans are encouraged and even rewarded for their participation.

In fact, fans of the show have been begging for a season 2 almost as soon as the season 1 finale went online. In the hiatus, they were treated to behind-the-scenes videos hosted by Adam Chambers, who plays Wyatt on the show and has proven to be one of the show’s most popular characters. Then, to get even more meta, about a month ago, Wyatt himself began video blogging as a way to cope with having discovered he’d become a vampire hunter at the end of season 1. Fans watched him as he discovered his powers…and as his relationship with his girlfriend, Luci (played by Erin Way), deteriorated.

The first episode of season 2 picks up a year after season 1. Viewers not familiar with the show are greeted with a very extensive “Previously On”, so to make it easier to jump right in. We find that Corbin (played by Cherilyn Wilson), once the self-proclaimed #1 “Confessor” (fans of the Confessions series, the vampire novels of the series), now not only wants to have nothing to do with the fact that the movie based on the second novel has come out but is no longer on speaking terms with her Confessor BFF-for-life, Luci. But when an unexpected visitor shows up, Corbin learns that her fangirl life won’t be that easy to run away from.

So far, the interactivity is pretty much non-existent in the first three episodes (though a random fan does ask that the audience to make videos asking Corbin to begin vlogging again), which is a shame as its what really rallied a community around the show in season 1. However, episode 4 does contain a whopping 4 fan submissions, so it looks like the interactivity is just ramping up. Hopefully it can top last seasons impressive fan inclusions including a fan cameo in the finale.

Fans were also treated to a surprise cameo by YouTube stars and members of The Station, Ryan Higa and Kassem G. All of season 1 as well a the first three episodes of the current season are up at Take180.com, with the next episode airing February 12th and new episodes going up weekly. The series will also be having a live chat with the cast on the 12th on Justin.tv at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST.

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Still nothing like the big screen when web series look this good. Seriously, at the risk of selling out my 640 pixel comrades, there is something that happens when you sit back and watch some of these web series we all get excited about in their full uncompressed HD glory. And The Bannen Way, the high octane thrill ride shot on the RED One camera, is well worthy of some cinematic screen time. That and sharing the experience with a few hundred fellow vicarious adrenaline junkies.

This Friday evening Sony’s Crackle is hosting a special LA screening of the complete first season of The Bannen Way at the American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. It’s the latest in a series of screenings at the Egyptian that show the internet some love, with previous screenings including Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, The Guild, Strike.TV and Funny or Die.

On hand for a special Q&A after the screening will be Bannen stars Mark Gantt, Robert Forster, Michael Ironside, Michael Lerner and director Jesse Warren. Also on the program for the night is a sneak preview of Shane Felux’s much-awaited sci-fi drama Trenches, which recently signed on with Crackle for release later this year after hanging out in Stage 9 purgatory.

The live screening event starts at 7:30 PM and tickets are $11 on Fandango.

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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.

Really, this kind of shoots the series in the foot here, stranding the core online fan community that helped garner the series its early support. Sure, this was by most accounts not an inexpensive production—with the budget estimated around $200,000 for the indie series—and seeking paid international distribution options makes business sense. But in terms of fan strategy this just seems careless. Online entertainment has proven an effective launching pad for concepts, storylines and talent precisely because of that early dedicated fan support. Suffocating that community and throwing into a digital catalog for the rest of the year could prove to be an expensive mistake. Here’s to hoping they get them back online shortly.

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Streamy-winning director Blake Calhoun (Pink) has announced his latest web series project today, a sci-fi drama set in space called Continuum. The series will star Harper’s Globe and loneylgirl15 star Melanie Merkosky (left) as Reagen, a young woman who awakes on a space ship without any memory of what she is doing there. Her only companion on board is the ship’s computer, a female spin on 2001’s “Hal,” voiced by Taryn O’Neill (Compulsions, After Judgment). Also announced for the cast is Brad Hawkins (Pink) as Tipton.

Calhoun and co. are calling the project “a futuristic thriller in the noir-ish tradition of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien.” Loud Pictures, Calhoun’s production company is producing along with Alternative Fuel, a multiplatform company he co-founded with Pink producer Mike Maden. Also producing is CJP Digital Media, with Wilson Cleveland involved on distribution and marketing of the series, as it does for The Fall of Kaden, IKEA-backed Easy to Assemble and Spherion-sponsored The Temp Life.

Similar to Pink’s start, which began as a purely indie production before being picked up by Generate after its successful first season, Contiuum is starting out independently backed. Production will begin on the first ten episodes of the sci-fi project in Dallas and Los Angeles beginning February 22. Calhoun also has Exposed still in development over at Warner Bros. for its online channel TheWB.com, a project on which he is teaming up with director McG and his Wonderland Sound and Vision outfit.

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