by Marc Hustvedt on January 19th, 2010
Stun Creative released the third episode (above), “Crotch Bomb,” of their animated spoof web series Obamourage today on Atom, commemorating President Obama’s first year in office. The series, created by Brad Roth and Mark Feldstein follows the day-to-day life of President Obama and his cabinet—Rahm, Joe, Hillary, and Bo, the dog—as they all roll, “Obama-style.” [Atom.com]
Crackle’s Woke Up Dead from Electric Farm Entertainment has scored showcase.ca as Canadian online distributor of the comedy web series starring Jon Heder, Krysten Ritter, Josh Gad and Wayne Knight. Woke Up Dead’s 22 episodes will roll out on showcase.ca three times a week starting February 1, 2010 through the end of March. [Channel Canada]
Blue Movies rolled out a slick-looking Streamy Awards “For Your Consideration” site along with a video (below) showcasing the talent behind the indie comedy series like writer-director Scott Brown, and lead actors Jareb Dauplaise, Beck Bennett and Sascha Alexander. [Blue Movies]
Playing Dead a new dark comedy web series directed by Ted Raimi debuted this week, with musical help from horror rocker Curtis RX of Creature Feature on the soundtrack. Two ‘deathisodes’ are now up on the show’s site. See episode 1 below. [FEARnet]
by Marc Hustvedt on January 14th, 2010
More video from CES last week as I had a chance to sit down with Kodak Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Hayzlett (above) and talk about their web TV strategy and where he sees the space going. He also had some new tech to show off from Kodak, including their new waterproof pocket video camera the PlaySport—they crowdsourced the name on Twitter.
Hayzlett is no stranger to some on camera work, having done a season on Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice and even a cameo role playing himself on the Kodak-sponsored comedy web series Woke Up Dead this fall on Crackle. During CES, he also hosted a bit of The View-styled chat show with a number of guests on stage including Tubefilter’s Jamison Tilsner (left) talking about the Streamy Awards and what’s in store in 2010 for original web series.
Wearing his marketing expert hat, Hayzlett also shared some advice for web series creators looking to build the brands of their shows in an increasing crowded field. He talked about identifying your “brand essence” and really making sure to deliver on the promise you are making. He noted that some preliminary reflection on what you want to achieve with a project is crucial, whether it’s to make money or to just create something cool.
by Jenni Powell on November 27th, 2009
In it’s continued support of Electric Farm’s mysterious university romp Valemont, MTV will be airing an hour long “Extended Edition” of the ½ hour special they featured on the network several weeks ago this Saturday night as part of their Thanksgiving marathon programming. The new cut will catch viewers up to around episode 20 in the storyline and is designed to expose the show to a wider audience in a push to convince viewers to watch the final 15 episodes (plus two alternative endings), which are only available online.
by Marc Hustvedt on October 15th, 2009
Sony announced today that it’s fall tentpole web series, Woke Up Dead, is off to a formidable start racking up 1.4 million streams in just 10 days since its premiere on October 5. 1.4 million for an original web series isn’t shabby no matter how you slice it. This show clearly has two big factors pushing it along: Zombies and a recognizable, talent-rich cast.
For those that haven’t yet checked it out, it’s not too late to bang through the first dozen episodes which clock in at a little over four minutes a piece. Jon Heder stars as recent USC grad Drex Greene who lives with his Zi8-sporting video obsessed roomie Matt (Josh Gad) and one day wakes up to find out he’s dead. Drex naturally is a little confused and tries to reclaim some form of normalcy. That means taking a droll office job a InfoCorps, where his snooty co-worker Andrew (Wayne Knight). Yes, there’s a love interest, Cassi (Krysten Ritter), a young med student who tries to help figure out what his brain-eating zombie condition is all about.
by Marc Hustvedt on October 5th, 2009
It’s not exactly coincidence that today’s launch of Sony’s zombie comedy web seriesWoke Up Dead comes on the heels of the company’s box-office-winning $25 million opening weekend for Zombieland. In fact it was pretty much by design. With its debut on Crackle today, the Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) led comedy is the latest example of how the studios are starting the work their digital properties into the synergistic business mix, capitalizing on buzz from one property to drive interest in another.
The series is touted as the tentpole of Crackle’s fall lineup, one that is slimmed down from previous seasons to feature just a handful of premium, more polished online series from Sony Pictures Television. It’s the latest from online creative shop Electric Farm Entertainment, the guys behind web series like NBC’s Gemini Division and more recently MTV’s Valemont.
Heder stars as a six-year USC grad turned office drone, Drex Greene, who suffers an inexplicable accident that leaves him, well, undead. Now a confused newbie zombie, Drex tries to figure out what exactly is going on with the help of his wannabe filmmaker roommate Matt (Josh Gad) and an eager young med student turned love interest, Cassie (Krysten Ritter).
We had a chance to head to set this summer and catch a day of shooting at their downtown LA warehouse set. Electric Farm’s Stan Rogow, a veteran TV producer in his own right, is now considered a Web TV veteran with a number of commercially successful projects under his belt. He talked about the comedy heavyweights they were able to assemble for the cast which alongside Heder, Gad and Ritter include Wayne Knight (Seinfeld), Jean Smart (Samantha Who?), Meital Dohan (Weeds) Daniel Roebuck and even web star Taryn Southern (Private High Musical, Sorority Forever).
by Jenni Powell on September 28th, 2009
This is what awaits you if you visit the companion website for the upcoming MTV Networks’ web series, Valemont, which will premieres tomorrow for a 12-episode run on MTV before heading to an online-only release of the remaining 23 episodes. I had a chance to speak with co-creator Brent Friedman of Electric Farm about this unique transmedia experience that blends product placement, ARG elements, and web content into an exciting murder mystery plotline that may or may not have a supernatural twist.
The multiplatform series stars a number of notable young actors like Nikki Blonsky, Kristen Hager, Georgina Reilly and Six Feet Under’s Eric Balfour. For the specifics of how this project came together, we asked Friedman to fill us in.
“Valemont originated about a year ago when Electric Farm Entertainment began discussions with MTV about producing a branded entertainment series,” said Friedman. “I created the show with Christian Taylor, an award-winning TV writer/producer with credits like Lost and Six Feet Under, Working with a former EFE employee, Andrew Black, Christian and I broke out the whole season, including a plan for the interactive layers. Then Christian wrote all 35 episodes and oversaw production on the series in Toronto this summer. Meanwhile, Nina Bargiel designed the ARG and wrote the bonus content for the show. All of which has allowed me to sit back and oversee the big picture, making sure that the series and the online site are in sync and fulfilling the vision we all had from the beginning of delivering a true transmedia experience.”
by Marc Hustvedt on September 16th, 2009
Sony’s Crackle.com announced its fall lineup today and as expected, the Jon Heder lead zombie comedy Woke Up Dead is the headlining web series in the bunch. The online network is known for rolling out new 13-week seasons four times a year, and this new slate has just three new original series in it. The other two newcomers, Groundlings comedy Hardline: Inside the Idaho Sex Cult and Barry Sonnenfeld’s The Esquire Digital Man join the weekly returning series Anytime with Bob Kushell, Penn Says and My Long Distance Relationship.
The most touted is clearly Woke Up Dead from web vets Electric Farm Entertainment (Gemini Division, Afterworld, Valemont), which first popped up in development last summer. After finally lensing earlier this summer, the series calls itself a “re-imagining of the zombie mythology” with Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) plays a USC college student thrust into a world of zombie powers after accidentally dying and waking up, well, dead. Expectations are high for this one with co-starring comedians Josh Gad, Krysten Ritter, Wayne Knight and Jean Smart rounding out the cast.
We’ll have a more in-depth look at Woke Up Dead coming soon from our on-set visit with the producers, Stan Rogow and Brent Friedman and stars of the series before it premieres on October 5.
by Arjun Sharma on August 4th, 2008
Rosario Dawson will look to expand her already successful career to a new medium when her latest project, Gemini Division, opens exclusively online with its first episode, ‘Eyes Wide Open,’ on August 18th. Dawson, who made her acting debut in the 1995 film Kids and has since appeared in such hits as Men in Black [...]
