J. Scott Berman of Shorn Entertainment, the guy who brought us CubeFabulous (Tilzy.TV Page), just popped back onto the scene with a whole new form of office mayhem.

World Office Sports premiered today at Break.com with a slick production sponsored by Twix.  For those looking for a break from the monotony of the daily office grind, “The Office Athletics Show NOT Sanctioned by HR” should be worth a watch.

Hosted by Lou Balzac, the show was shot in NYC office of apparel company, Marc Ecko Enterprises, and features three Ecko employees competing in the various events.  New episodes will premier weekly for the next three weeks, so stay tuned for Toner Cartridge Discus, Wastebasketball and Mail Cart Luge, with more planned to follow.

This is a fun concept with easy brand integration — each episode includes a “Twix Break Room Recap” — but the credits suggest an expensive production.  Can an ephemeral sub-brand of Break with four installments garner the views to make this sponsorship pay?

To get cast on a future installment of the show, visit Worldofficesports.com.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Jamison Tilsner
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Out of all the wacky “viral” videos floating around the Internet, none quite captures the zeitgeist like Search Engine Rap Battle, a self-promo from video production and new media company Seedwell.

The concept is simple. Three rappers, representing top search engines MSN, Google and Yahoo, have decided to throw down in a freestyle rap battle, complete with a hyperactive host, an “oooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”-ing, 8 Mile crowd, and a scruffy DJ.

The depiction of the sites’ hip-hop alter egos is spot-on: MSN, reminiscent of the company’s butterfly logo, is wearing blue tights and wings, Google is depicted as a hippie raver on a segway, and Yahoo plays the company’s maverick ideal to the hilt.

And then there are the raps. According to user voting, Google comes out on top, beating both MSN and Yahoo head-to-head, but Yahoo definitely gets in the dig of the night in his victorious battle against MSN. Raps the Yahoo: “The only hot mail you got is when Ballmer gets sweaty!” Snap!

Read On…

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Alex Woodson
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Tubefilter recently dished on the upcoming re-make of Stephen King’s 1980’s cult classic, Creepshow. The online re-make, Creepshow: Raw is on it’s way to freak you out of your skin. While we anxiously await the joyously scary revival from HD Films, we caught up with star Wendi Mclendon-Covey, of Reno 911! fame to get the scoop.

Tubefilter: How did you get involved with the Creepshow project?

Wendi Mclendon-Covey: I worked with HD FILMS on an episode of the Jace Hall Show (on Crackle and X-Box Live), and they were nice enough to ask me to be a part of their pilot episode. Jace Hall is the creator of LOTS of popular video games, and he’s got a lot of new high concept web series in production. Jace Hall and the team at HD FILMS will revolutionize the concept of “web series.”

TF: Were you a fan of the Stephen King originals?

W M-C: To be honest, I wasn’t a fan of the horror genre in general– I’m very squeamish! But holding handfuls of fake bloody intestines for this project helped me conquer my fears. (Hmmm…I really hope those were fake, now that I think about it.)

TF: What can you tell us about your role?

W M-C: I play the role of a not-very-good mother to a very brave little boy. I’m not sure I can say much more than that, since I haven’t seen how the whole thing has been edited together, but I can tell you that Sam Hafermalz, the kid who plays my son, is a pistol!

TF: Are we gonna be freaked out of our skin when we see it? Read On…

Filed under: Articles, Horror, Interviews, Production Companies, Web Series by Lindsay Stidham
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Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried – co-creators of Lonelygirl15 and Kate Modern and co-founders of social entertainment company EQAL – told me they have ambitions to turn their interconnected series of “social shows” into a “Star Wars type franchise.”  If that’s the case, LG15: The Resistance seems kind of like a A New Hope.  

In a world filled with “attractive teenagers armed with handheld cameras battling an Aleister Crowley-inspired organization of adult evildoers with sacrificial practices and sanguinary ceremonies,” Jonas Wharton (Jackson Davis) is The Resistance’s only hope.

His heritage makes him a natural born leader in the fight against The Order – a cult who’s found the fountain of youth in the blood of young female descendants of the ancient Egyptian city of Denderah. While they’re picking off good-looking girls like Nosferatu, The Resistance is trying to mobilize its guerilla forces of do-gooders and coax Jonas into leading their covert attack.

Read On…

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Joshua Cohen
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Aside from the latest installment of Scissor Cop and the Defenders of Stan comic book, the best thing to come out of this month’s Channel 101 NY screening was audience acclaimed premiere of Cooking with the Single Guy.  

Created by Daniel Kramer, the series is a happy-go-lucky send-up of sugar-coated Food Network television, with a bitter, real world twist.

Matt Saccullo – formerly of the defunct Donkey Corleone sketch comedy group – perfectly plays the role of jolly Italian chef.  From his modest New York City apartment, he navigates his way around the kitchen like a seasoned amateur and delivers characteristic, cooking show catch phrases with aplomb.  

Succullo’s as cuddly and likable as the Pillsbury Doughboy, with a tone that’s just a touch shy of tongue in cheek.  That’s why the ending’s so good.  Watch the below all the way through.  It’s worth the wait.  

Read On…

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Joshua Cohen
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Just as Amy Poehler has announced she’ll be hanging up her Hillary wig at Saturday Night Live she’s found another new gig on the web. In addition to her upcoming Office spin-off, Amy will be starring in a web series entitled Smart Girls at the Party.

ON Networks is behind the show aimed at young girls who are “changing the world by being themselves,” according to the network.

In addition to Poehler, the show also features Meredith Walker, former senior producer for Nickelodeon’s Nick News, and Amy Miles, recording artist and performer, host of PBS children’s show LOMAX: Hound of Sound.

ON Networks plans to launch the first season of the show in October.

Filed under: Articles, Comedy, News, Studios, Web Series by Lindsay Stidham
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Join us for the 2nd monthly Hollywood Web Television Meetup at 8:00PM on September 24, 2008 at AFI in Los Angeles. We’re once again bringing together LA’s rich, diverse creative talent for the purpose of sharing resources, finding opportunities for collaboration and working together to help talented content creators thrive in shaping the future of web television.

SPEAKERS:

Kim Evey
Producer of the web hits The Guild and Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show

Greg Benson
Mediocre Films

George Ruiz
Head of New Media / SVP of International Creative Management (ICM)

Location (Map)
American Film Institute (AFI) – Marc Goodson Screening Room Lobby
2021 N Western Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90027

RSVP at Upcoming – And if you’re on Facebook, be sure to join the Hollywood Web Television Group.

Filed under: Articles, Hollywood Web Video Meetup, News, Tubefilter by Tubefilter News
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If massive-multiplayer online role-playing game sensations such as World of Warcraft are the monstrous children of their old school pen-and-paper forefathers, will the next generation in tech-based interactive gaming be something akin to live-action roleplaying?

LARPing carries associations even nerdier than Dungeons and Dragons (i.e. images of grown men with styrofoam swords running through heavily wooded areas). But in the last decade, a more tech-savvy and cool (relatively speaking) model of real-world gaming has emerged in Alternate Reality Gaming.

While you might remember the general concept of an ARG from the plotline of the 1997 movie The Game, an actual, real world ARG has as of yet failed to capture a mass American audience.

Gen247Media is trying to change that.  It’s a production company that specializes in ARGs that blend seamlessly with originally produced web series. Their current production is Deleted, a mystery thriller that revolves around the threat of identity theft and the danger of trusting invaluable information to companies run by oh-so-corruptible human beings.

Read On…

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Ana Hurka-Robles
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Brett Ehrlich is a Current TV mainstay – he’s, um, currently all over the latest political news for Campaign Update and in the past he’s delivered important messages about Current’s changes and purpose to its members in his own imitable (even mancrushworthy) style.

But for my web-video-obsessed money, Brett’s at his best during his Viral Video Film School segments for the popular, frenetic Current show Infomania. Looking charmingly less put together than he does on Campaign Update, Brett eschews the green screen for a seedy-looking wall of posters, deadpan wit, and quick edits of videos that send up a well-identified web video trope.

This “Bears” installment should give you the idea:

Read On…

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Colin McDonald
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Produced by Dallas-based Loud Pictures and recently acquired by new media production and talent management shop Generate, Pink: The Series is built around the formidable and alluring presence of lead actress and executive producer Natalie Raitano.

In addition to a curiousity for scat, Raitano’s formerly of the Pamela Anderson series VIP (with the bust to prove it).  The campy but globally popular show served as a primer for her role in Pink as hard-boiled, yet feminine assassin Natalie Cross.  The character hires herself to governments, including the U.S., for the kind of work that results in the “pink mist” found in a sniper’s scope.

Created by Texas-based filmmaker Blake Calhoun – director of three independent features, including the semi-recent Killing Down – Pink manages to create an appealing, professional look on a lower-end budget.  Gritty graphic novels of the last decade clearly influence the style while the direction takes cues from the codified assassin/mercenary genre helmed by directors like Tarantino and Luc Besson.

Read On…

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Joshua Cohen
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Aside from the latest installment of Scissor Cop – an exaggerated, high-octane thrill ride through cops and robbers Brooklyn – the best thing about last night’s Channel 101 NY screening was the swag from Hunter Christy.

The imposing figure – who rivals Eric Warehiem in his ability to dominate a 640 x 480 screen – is one-third of The Big Honkin’ Production crew and plays the role of Captain Ultra in their superhero parody, Defenders of Stan. At the screening, he was distributing the first issue of the Defenders of Stan comic from Big Honkin’ Press.

The series follows the misadventures of a hapless individual, living in a post-human world where everyone but him has super powers and his domineering, self-absorbed big brother is the greatest hero around. The comic book converts the live-action show to ink and paper perfectly.

Read On…

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Joshua Cohen
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Word is that RDF USA, known mostly for their cable reality TV shows (Wife Swap, Two Coreys, Dance Machine), is pulling together a massive budget (seven-figure) original anime web series to debut sometime early next year. Two A-list actors are in talks to voice the leading roles, according to sources. Apparently this thing is set in a few decades in the future in some sort of dystopian version of Los Angeles (shown below.) Not much to go off of here, but the art looks pretty stellar. Also notable is that comic book rights have been sold off already.

Filed under: Articles, News, Sci-Fi, Studios by Marc Hustvedt
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