Film and music video director Roman Coppola and advertising agency WhittmanHart Interactive have teamed up with Scion to produce Fist Of Oblivion, a new live action web series featuring Kung Fu-fighting puppets, slated to premiere on the automaker’s lifestyle site Scion Broadband (bB) later this fall.
Fist Of Oblivion tells the story of Ricky Brisco, an ex-cop and Kung-Fu master who’s on the hunt for his former friend and partner who framed him for murder and now leads the Red Dragons, the most powerful gang in the city. The series is a puppet-peppered homage to the classic Kung-Fu films of the ’70s–chock-full of fierce fighting, mysterious characters, unstoppable evil, sharp dialogue, exotic locations and of course, groovy music.
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Tubefilter found a (possibly unauthorized) copy of the series’ trailer, which features the voice of Dana Snyder (Master Shake of Aqua Teen Hunger Force). The trailer goes into far greater detail than the teaser version that was sent to us: “After five years, and a whole lot of prison showers, he’s back on the streets, and with the help of some friends, he’ll try to clear his name, avenge his master, and unlock a secret so powerful, and so secretive, IT WILL BLOW YOUR BALLS OFF!”
Alex Sanger, General Manager of WhittmanHart’s LA office who worked with Scion to first create Scion Broadband, has been guiding the site’s transition from a licensed-content model to one featuring more original properties. “We began looking for defining original content for Scion Broadband, like what the Real World did for MTV and South Park did for Comedy Central,” Sanger told Tubefilter. In his search Sanger turned to Los Angeles-based commercial production company The Director’s Bureau–home of Roman Coppola Studio, to see if there were an opportunity to license existing creative content from their roster of writer-directors. “But as we were walking out the door,” Sanger tells us, “Roman pulled out these puppets. Roman always wanted to make a genre piece, like a ’70s hard boiled Kung-Fu series, but played by puppets.”
“I’ve wanted to produce a Kung-Fu action puppet show for some time,” said Coppola. “When Scion Broadband invited me to be involved with them, I thought it would be the perfect home for Fist of Oblivion.” Coppola had been developing the project but couldn’t find the right opportunity to realize it. The web provided the perfect medium for the project, which was too short for a series on TV. Sanger and Coppola brought Fist of Oblivion to Scion and pitched with just the puppets and a special effects shot of a Kung-Fu kick. Scion went for it, and now nine episodes are slated for release in early November.
“Scion thought the innovative content and style would be a good fit for Scion Broadband as it would really engage and entertain the bB audience,” said Allison Takahashi, Scion Public Relations.
“Scion Broadband is a laboratory of experimentation for our brand,” commented Scion Interactive Manager Adrian Si. “To keep it fresh, we look for innovative and edgy content like The Fist of Oblivion that will resonate with our audience and stay true to the culture of the brand.”
This is (Scion-parent company) Toyota’s first original web series project, if you don’t count the content selected for its new Lexus video portal L Studio. As for future projects, Takahashi told us, “if something comes up that would be a good fit for bB, Scion would definitely consider it.
The series is planned to release sometime in early November with with new episodes launching every Tuesday through the end of December. Until then, we’ll wait with baited breath to “experience the mojo in the dojo!”
