When Christopher Preksta set out to make a movie in 2003, I don’t think he ever would have imagined recutting it as a web series nearly three years after its initial release. Originally shot in and around Pittsburgh, PA for a modest budget of $7,000, Captain Blasto (the series) launched last June, a scant month-and-a-half before the sitebusting debut of Joss Whedon‘s Dr. Horrible. Outside of the eerily familiar costuming (why do villain’s always have to wear lab coats?), and the fact that both shows fall smack dab into the middle of the popular super-hero genre, Captain Blasto and Dr. Horrible have very little in common, and unlike the doctor, Blasto never quite found its audience online (it pulled in a total of twelve-thousand cumulative views on YouTube), despite coverage in io9 and a whole slew of other outlets.

The series, whose finale went live on Nov. 10, follows the exploits of 18 year old Colin Carter (played by Preksta), student by day and super-hero (Captain Blasto) by night. He pulls together a rag-tag group of janitors, stressed out computer programmers, electricians and other n’er-do-wells (played by Aaron Kleiber, Curt Wootton, Mark Tierno, Sam Nicotero, Christopher Hammel, Mike Dirocco), and launches a crime spree the likes of which his small Pennsylvanian town has never seen. The catch? Captain Blasto uses the heists as an excuse to publicly display his crime fighting prowess.

Blasto sports a very developed, almost over-engineered aesthetic—part comic book, part 1950’s television show. The split screen, comic cell framing works, as do the blown out, over-saturated colors. That is, until the final two episodes when everything turns almost entirely black and white.

With eleven sporadically released episodes, all varying in length from 5-10 minutes, it was hard to predict when and what to expect next over the course of the show’s run. The series clocked in at one hour fifteen minutes, meaning that an entire half-hour of the original film is missing—but for a web television audience accustomed to fast-paced, quick-cut short form content, that was a smart move.

Preksta released his series on a variety of platforms, including YouTube, Yahoo Video and Blip—as well as distribution through the show’s own website at CaptainBlasto.com. Preksta and his company, Mercury Men Pictures, have yet to monetize the series with advertising or sponsorship, but he plans to use the show as a calling card for future work, and will sell DVDs to recoup production costs.

For a first time director, Captain Blasto is an impressive feat. The music is great, the characters are well written, the action is engaging, and the story-line is fun. We’re looking forward to Preksta’s next project, The Mercury Men—we’re certainly hoping it’ll be a web series.

Filed under: Action, Articles, Comedy, Featured, News, Reviews, Web Series by Brady Brim-DeForest
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Production has begun on the pilot of Comedy Central’s Ugly Americans, the spin-off of the popular 5-On animated web series from creator Devin Clark that struck a chord last year on Atom. The series, about the adventures of a social worker from the Department of Immigration trying to help various human and nonhumans adjust to New York’s bustling lifestyle, is being animated out of New York by Brooklyn-based Augenblick Studios. David M. Stern (Monk, The Simpsons) is executive producing the pilot with creator Clark producing in New York.

In its web form, the 8-episode 5-On (above) debuted back in June of 2007 where in the show an intrepid reporter, Alan Whiter, interviews “five of anything about everything,” which can be anything from five aliens and their thoughts on the Sopranos ending, or five robots on the immigration debate. Comedic writers Nick Kroll (Cavemen) and John Mulaney wrote and voiced the series along with Clark.

This is another example of the fluid pipeline Comedy Central has in place through its Atom site, often using it as a proving ground for development of TV projects. “We came to know the creators behind ‘Ugly Americans’ from their work on the Web and feel their creative ideas can carry over to our on-air channel,” said Lauren Corrao, Comedy Central’s president of original programming and development. A number of web show creators have signed development deals with Atom, like Legend of Neil creator Sandeep Parikh and Stickman Exodus creators, Waverly Films.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, Comedy, Comedy Central, Featured, News, Web Series by Marc Hustvedt
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In a previous review I looked at Cataclysmo and the Time Boys from Web Serials. It’s not exactly a masterpiece, but until it runs out of gas, the series uses low-budget, DIY filmmaking to worthwhile effect by parodying the sci-fi genre and having fun with the excessively silly camp one can get away with when not trying to live up to expectations of high art or serious drama.

Webisodic serial Artifact could learn a lot from Cataclysmo. 

For the life of me I just can’t understand why film and video makers working with tight budgets and limited resources would want to even try to compete with blockbuster entertainment. The catering budget of a studio film exceeds that of several dozen shoestring productions.

As hard as Artifact tries to mimic Hollywood sci-fi thrillers, with earnest emoting, fully invested plot, and fancy split-screen editing, it looks like amateur hour, and a humorless amateur hour at that.

Read On…

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Michael Joshua Rowin
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MySpace announced this week the launch of its new MySpace Primetime application which brings the convergence of a whole swath of professional web video content, including short-form web series and full-length TV shows to the over 122 million unique MySpace users. The application is a relatively easy install on any profile page and serves as a hub for finding and watching programs made available through a partnership with Hulu, Warner Bros., Sony and of course all of the MySpaceTV branded channels (over 150) and MySpaceTV original web series including Roommates and Special Delivery.

MySpace’s Primetime community launched back in December 2007 adding (MySpace-parent company News Corp.’s joint venture) Hulu‘s premium TV content from their partners including NBC and FOX. It was a nice start, but really was like a wagon missing its horse. Users had to jump over to the cluttered site to watch any of the full-length TV shows like Hulu favorites 30 Rock, Family Guy, Arrested Development and Saturday Night Live. The Primetime application is essentially that horse that carries the content to where MySpace’s 76 million (US-based) active users actually hang out – on their profile pages.

We installed Primetime on our MySpace page and decided to take a look at it from a web series perspective. Out initial reaction was that it’s a clean, simple interface that makes finding what you’re looking for easy and decently fast. That is of course only if the series you are looking for is available through one of their partners. If the series or the studio behind it hasn’t inked a deal with MySpaceTV or Hulu, it’s unlikely to be available.

Yes, there are a number of notable web series that are available on Primetime including Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (above), Dorm Life, TheWB.com‘s Sorority Forever, quarterlife, and The OnionNewsNetwork. That’s fine and all but it’s still missing a number of standout web series, including several Webby-Award winning hits.

Notable web series missing from Primetime:

• The Guild
• Wainy Days
• The Burg
  
• Casanovas
• You Suck at Photoshop
• The Rascal
  
• Goodnight Burbank
  
• Break A Leg

What does this mean for web shows looking to reach the highly attractive MySpace audience? For starters, it highlights the growing segregation between independent and what is being called ‘professionally produced’ content. Clearly, there is a movement upstream in the industry into more monetizable professional video content, even at UGC-hotbed YouTube, who recently signed on to stream full-length CBS shows and entire feature films from MGM.

We checked in with Jason Kirk, VP of Video & Entertainment for MySpace, and asked him about their plans for Primetime eventually becoming an aggregator of all web video content. “We see Primetime as a hub for licensed and professional content but that’s not where the story ends on MySpace – we are a video ecosystem with multiple points of entry that allows data to flow all around the system,” he told us. “This means people can discover and share video in multiple ways be it in comments, email, bulletins, blogs or on their profiles.”

Truly the notable exception here is YouTube, still the top dog in terms of total online video streams. According to comScore, MySpaceTV is chasing them at number two and is apparently focused on quality over quantity. But, many web producers have built out their core audiences through YouTube and won’t be quick to jump ship. There’s also the other premium video hosts which some series have chosen as their home base. At this point, MySpace tells us, there are no plans for content from other video hosts like Blip, Vimeo and Veoh to be available on MySpace other than through the ability to embed them on user profiles.

So, aside from the obvious boost in TV-on-the-internet viewing that Primetime should allow, it’s not clear how much it will benefit most web series. It does however emphsaize the value of partnering with MySpace, as the tools are now in place to actually monetize some of the better web series. Creators will get a revenue share on video streams of their content served through the Primetime application and the rest of MySpaceTV. Kirk added, “the Primetime application is a win-win-win situation — users get great content, partners get more exposure and more time is spent on the site.”

Filed under: Articles, Channels, Featured, Industry, News by Marc Hustvedt
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Well, well, well. Looks like the Web TV industry knows how to have a good time. We decided to go “social” this month with the Hollywood Web Television Meetup and boy, people came out in droves. I should have brought more name tags. Tubefilter bought the first round of pitchers and the rest was history. Thank you all for making it out.

We had appearances from web veteran Hayden Black, webutante extraordinaire Taryn Southern of Private High Musical, Jenn Cron and Melissa Hunter from Let’s Get Laid, the ladies of Whatever Hollywood, the Luke 11:17 gang, Devin Boddie of Midnight Rida representing with the rest of ManiaTV, Brandon Martinez and Drew Welborn of Abrams Artists who compared notes with Mitch Kapler of Paradigm Agency, Brock Laborde and Rory Windhorst from Studio 8 Entertainment celebrating with Digital Content Partners on the completion of their first major AT&T commercial series which got a nice review from Jill Weinberger of NewTeeVee Station, who along with TilzyTV’s Josh Cohen and SceneClips’ John Dugan comprised the media contingency, SunnyBoy Entertainment’s Craig Phillips and Harold Hayes, Jr., Varda Hardy of Runaway Stars, the guys from Valley Peaks, the gamers of Gold, Erin Gibson of Roommating, Andrea Ball of Web on The Rocks, The Fine Bros., Lisa Osborne of AFI’s Digital Content Lab, Max Benator and Patrick Agans of RDF USA, Rick Castaneda of Psychic Bunny, the Casanovas, Tamara Krinsky of The Spotlight, Renee Intlekofer, Josh Covitt, Michel Bayan, Zach Grafton and fellow There Will Be Brawl creators and whole lot of other powerful, talented, sexy folks.

Check out the Hollywood Web Television Meetup group on facebook or for full size photos check the Tubefilter flickr page. Please remember to attribute.

Stay tuned for the next meetup on December 3 at the Screen Actors Guild featuring The Guild creator and Dr. Horrible web superstar Felicia Day and Christian Cussen, VP of Original Content at MySpaceTV. Be sure to RSVP to: meetup@tubefilter.tv>

Filed under: Articles, Hollywood Web Video Meetup by Drew Baldwin
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The twenty-first millennium has certainly gotten off to a rocky start. Terrorism, war, economic turmoil…is it any surprise if our thoughts occasionally turn to the End of Days? Apocalypse has been in the public consciousness in the past decade, from Heroes to I Am Legend. I’m a big fan of the genre myself, and was excited to check out After Judgment, an independently produced web from Captain Films and Ultimatum Entertainment. It’s a post-apocolyptic thriller about….er….do you have a few minutes?

I’ll try to make this short: After Judgment takes place in a nameless Californian town (okay, it’s L.A) a hundred years in the future, though the world seems pretty much the same, if a little emptier. Our protagonists are Steven (Joel Bryant, one of several strong actors in the series) and Michelle (series co-producer Taryn O’Neill). Beyond that….it gets tricky. Director/Writer Michael Davies explained it to me:

Read On…

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Ana Hurka-Robles
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Get it? Momversations. They’re digital conversations from some of the internet’s most outspoken mommies and, though the mommie genre is certainly nothing new to web video, DECA‘s application combines true talent with a production process that’s really organic to the web.

Here’s how it works: one expert blogger-mom brings up a topic (i.e. food as a reward), records her take on the topic, then passes it down the line where the divergent takes from her fellow digital panelists are recorded. The videos are sent to DECA, yada yada yada, we get a catchy succinct, pointed, sarcastic and fun-lovin exchange on the joys (and pitfalls) of parenting.

The contributors include the following popular mom bloggers who see a combined audience of over 1.5 million people.

Read On…

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Jamison Tilsner
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Take Me Back is a joyous departure from regular web series fare. The plot of the story is more existential, and interpretative than it is heavy on the exposition, leaving many details to the imagination. The Montreal native creators, Joe Baron, and Seth Mendelson are incredibly skilled filmmakers in their own right while showing shades of Charlie Kaufman, or Wes Anderson.

It’s hard not to watch all ten episodes of Take Me Back in one sitting, as the creators give you a cliffhanger in every episode, but also provide a complete cinematic experience if viewing the series all at once. The story begins when Al (played by Mendelson) finds his life turned upside down when kidnapped by a masked vigilante. As the story progresses, the identity of this masked man is revealed, as Al’s life outside his tiny prison begins to fall apart. The crux of the plot is held together by a loose time travel device, but the message of the story does not lie in the details that justify some of Baron and Mendelson’s slick camera tricks, but instead lie in the details of human interaction, and what makes a relationship tick.

Since completing the series this summer, Baron and Mendelson have been long-preparing a DVD for fans. The DVD has been so long in the making, the guys just recently posted a message to update fans, and provide a look behind the scenes of the series. (Their long-winded, but sincere apology ends just before the five minute mark, where the behind the scenes footage begins.)

The guys have been hard at work on new web content. While they’ve said a sequel or a second series of Take Me Back is not in the cards, they have promised what they are working on is, “pretty damn exciting.” If it’s half as good as Take Me Back, we’ll forgive you forgive your for your slacking on the DVD extras.

Filed under: Articles, Drama, Featured, Reviews, Sci-Fi, Web Series by Lindsay Stidham
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In 2001 BMW put out a series of 8 short films, all starring Clive Owen and collectively called The Hire. Though each was shot by a well-known director, they were all essentially chase sequences with Owen driving a slick Beamer and doing his best James Bond (quite a stretch, but perhaps still better than Lazenby).

What BMW did for its cars, Lexus now appears to be doing for the dog. They don’t go as fast, but they’re a helluva lot cuter.

Read On…

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Michael Shaw
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Frequent collaborators, director Dale Fabrigar (a semi-finalist on Steven Spielberg’s short lived On the Lot reality series) and writer Kurt Patino, have teamed up with actress Kelly Stables (best known for playing Evil Samara in The Ring movies) and visual effects wizard Michael Morrealle to produce a new horror/fantasy web series titled Soul Fire Rising. The show, produced by King Dream Entertainment, follows demon Lilith, played by Aimee Lynn Chadwick (Las Vegas, Trade) – who could be compared to a very hot goth Maggie Gyllenhaal – as she wanders through Los Angeles stealing men’s souls while searching for Eve (to be played by Stables in future episodes), a now mortal demon worth one million human souls. The first two chapters, running about three minutes each, are currently available on the show’s website and MySpace. The website also features cast interviews and photos.

In the first episode, ‘I Give You My Soul,’ Lilith emotionally crushes a young musician (Ryan Freeman of Undressed) when she dumps him. If the musician (who is wearing more eye makeup than Lilith) can prove his love to her, she promises to be with him forever. All he has to do is give her his soul…

While the premiere episode doesn’t do much in setting up the story, we do get to see the beautiful Lilith in action. Making use of the series’ mature audience warning, ‘I Give You My Soul’ features plenty of the red stuff, as well as some nifty visual effects, courtesy of producer Morrealle, who worked on big budget spectacles like 300 and The Matrix Reloaded with his effects house Amalgamated Pixels.

The second episode, ‘The Messenger,’ picks up as Lilith drives away from her last victim. Immediately after complaining that she’s bored, Lilith finds relief in a hooded hitchhiker named Gabriel (Zodiac’s Mitchell Fink). Little does she know, Gabriel is a messenger with a special delivery just for Lilith. Not nearly as strong as the first episode, ‘The Messenger’ still has some decent effects work and begins to delve into Soul Fire Rising’s mythology. The dialogue is especially goofy here, not to mention the HELL caller ID on Lilith’s cell phone. Shouldn’t it read Satan or Beelzebub?

Although the acting and dialogue are a bit cheesy, Soul Fire Rising has an interesting story, a hot lead and enough cool effects to keep me watching.

Filed under: Action, Articles, Drama, Reviews, Sci-Fi, Web Series by Andrew Schwarz
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Come join us this evening at Barney’s Beanery in West Hollywood (8447 Santa Monica Blvd), for the November Hollywood Web Television Meetup. This month’s meetup is purely social. We’re circling the wagons from 8-11pm. Come early—the first round’s on us! Bring plenty of business cards and get to know your fellow creators, agents, and other industry professionals. Stay tuned for the next meetup, December 3rd, at the Screen Actors Guild. Please RSVP to: meetup@tubefilter.tv

Please visit the Hollywood Web Television Meetup on Upcoming and Facebook.

Filed under: Articles, Hollywood Web Video Meetup by Tubefilter News
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We’re in for some scares November 18th with Ghost Town: The Web Series, a new kid-oriented web series starring teen star Alyson Stoner (Cheaper by The Dozen, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody). Ghost Town follows two teenage ghost hunters, Jacob (Zach Cumer) and Marley (Gabriel Basso), who form the group ‘The Para-normals’ to track down ghosts in the mysterious coastal town of Arcade Bay. Joined by Tina (Alyson Stoner) and a skittish teen ghost, Bones (William Corkery), the team tries to get to the bottom of a recent string of bizarre occurrences following an accident at the Arcade Bay Tunnel Project. The series is a fast-paced well produced kid thriller with plenty of wisecracks and goofy antics for comic relief.

Ghost Town is the first independent web series from SunnyBoy Entertainment, an entertainment marketing and production company known for visually stunning promos and specials for studio features and network tv shows. “We decided to do this ourselves,” says Craig Phillips, the series’ creator-writer and co-owner of SunnyBoy Entertainment, “we went all-out on Ghost Town.” And it shows. Mike White’s stunning visual effects spare nothing, and the show has the look and feel of a network television series.

In fact, Ghost Town was originally produced as a 22-minute pilot presentation pitched for network television, but creators Phillips and White along with director Harold Hayes, Jr. quickly saw a distribution opportunity on the web. “The web is a platform with endless potential for viewers if you can get some buzz,” notes Phillips. White adds, “word of mouth is still the best way to spread information. And on the web, a handful of people can quickly grow into a full audience.” With the trailer up only last week, the show has already received some interest from advertisers and potential sponsors. The team plans to leverage Stoner’s and Cumer’s prolific web presence to gain some traction once the series launches.

As for the show’s inspiration, the SunnyBoy gang notes that being kids in the ’80s had a lot to do with it. “The series is an homage to The Goonies and The Lost Boys,” says Sonia Winesett, Ghost Town’s producer. According to Hayes, “we loved edgy kids shows of the past that didn’t hold back any punches—today’s shows are too P.C.—we wanted to give kids a real scare and have some fun.” Phillips adds, “there’s not a lot of kid content out there. It seems everything is directed at the Funny Or Die crowd. I think we have something fresh here with Ghost Town.”

We got a sneak peek at some upcoming episodes, and the show is certainly fun, if not terrifying (hey it is a kids show after all). The writing is tight with quick pacing, though each episode does seem a bit short. SunnyBoy did a great job with casting—Cumer and Basso have great brotherly chemistry on camera, and Stoner (whom Phillips met as a writer on Disney’s Super Short Show) is a natural talent.

Ghost Town: The Web Series premieres on November 18 with new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday until December 18.

Filed under: Articles, Comedy, Featured, News, Production Companies, Thriller, Web Series by Drew Baldwin
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