But if you’ve seen his celebrity gossip program – What the Buck – his rabid enthusiasm, quick jabs, and encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture references will come as no surprise.
Everyone needs a muse. The Fine Brothers have several, each molded from a plastic resin, mass produced, acrylicly colored, and a near-perfect replica of a famous comic book, cartoon, television, or major motion picture character. Some of them even have Kung Fu grips.
Under the banner of Ravenstake, Benny and Rafi Fine have created action figure-inspired satire since way back in 2004. That’s when the former Orthodox pre-Hipster, Brooklyn Jews and sons of a Rabbi first debuted their three hour trilogy that was two years in the making – G.I. Joe: The Epic Saga.
It’s a potty-mouthed, not Kosher for work, pre-YouTube era romp through the world of a hyper-sexualized G.I. Joe team embattled in its perennial struggle against a newly semetic Cobra Command.
Imagine a sordid Red vs. Blue lacking in subtlety and without the machinima or if the brothers of Delta Tau Chi had ties to the Torah and were more interested in filmmaking and Hasbro toys than toga parties. That should give you a good idea of what to expect.
TubeMogul, the video distribution and analytics company, which I covered earlier, has just announced its newest product: a webshow marketplace. Described by the company as “a ‘dating’ site for online video producers and advertisers,” the marketplace compiles show information and viewer data to help interested advertisers target the perfect audiences.
The advertising industry has been slow to acquiesce to web video, in part, I think, because ad-buyers don’t have the infrastructure to manage so many products reaching relatively few eyeballs. This development marks an evolution in the professionalization of the medium with a clear and manageable tool to which ad agencies will hopefully adapt.
TubeMogul Marketplace users can sort by 15 categories, minimum views or demographic information such as age and gender. Soon they’ll add geographic data so advertisers can pinpoint specific regions.
Established media companies with ad-selling infrastructures may prefer their own analytics – interestingly, Sony Music Entertainment opted out of the merketplace – but independent producers and new media companies should take part in the opportunity to broaden exposure with yet another tool that makes TubeMogul a must-use for creators.
Valkommen To IKEA (www.easytoassemble.tv) – More bloopers are a click away Up on Metacafe today is the first of 10 promo faux-IKEA-training videos, like this one above with the venerable Jane Lynch, for Easy To Assemble, the new IKEA-backed series from Illeana Douglas and SXM. SXM, whose clients include Samsung, IKEA, Group M and Blue Man Group, and Metacafe have a content partnership agreement meaning the video portal will get first crack at the series which is slated to launch later this month. Rounding out the cast alongside Douglas is a whole slew of names you know – Jeff Goldblum, Tom Arnold, Craig Bierko, Kevin Pollack, Greg Proops, Robert Patrick, Justine Bateman and Ed Begley Jr.
We sat down with Douglas, the show’s creator and star, last month to talk about the series and her thoughts on the future of web entertainment. It’s a great read and well worth taking a look at in case you missed it. She equates the web medium as the “new independent film,” a place where you can have creative freedom and still find a sponsorship partner like IKEA who’s willing to completely trust you.
Douglas: Oftentimes, when you’re writing for bosses, the biggest note you get is that “people aren’t going to get that.” And it’s frustrating because you’re fighting for the audience. And there are no real bosses in independent films. And I sort of see this as an extension of independent film. The reward is when people do it, they say they have such a great time. That says to me that it’s working on some level. I feel like I’m able to capture a certain intimacy that maybe other people wouldn’t be able to capture. It’s sort of like my own Curb Your Enthusiasm. The other thing that bothers me about women’s comedy sometimes is how narrow the girl’s part is. I think there can be a broader voice than, you know, “She’s the tramp, she’s got a potty mouth.” There’s got to be something where someone can have a real point of view.
So for a few weeks we can all get up to speed on life behind the curtains at IKEA. “These spoof training videos really capture the flavor of the main episodes of Easy To Assemble, which will be launched later this month, said Thomas Bannister, CEO of SXM. “On the Internet you can create storylines and characters in a non-traditional, non-linear way. It’s less like creating a product for a slot on the shelf and more like creating a universe to diffuse through cyberspace.”
No official date for the Easy To Assemble release yet, but we do know that the red carpet launch party will be Sept. 18th, so our bets are that it will be shortly thereafter.
The newest episode (#3) of Coma (Don’t forget Michael Madsen’s in it!) premiered on Crackle yesterday, bringing with it the thunder of more George Hamilton. Let’s face it, the man is a cultural tan icon, so casting him as the profanity spewing Mayor is simply fun to watch. It’s like an unofficial Glengarry GlenRoss sequel set in city government. If it were up to me the whole show would just be George Hamilton shouting at various flunkies until sammiches arrive.
But let’s lay off of the Hamilton because it’s Madsen’s show. I know this because his name is listed above the credits, and in a bigger font. Also because he spends most episodes getting shot the same way, over and over again. I don’t mind. It looks cool. Beyond that, the mind slackens, mostly due to the breakneck editing and slick after effects work applied to the final product.
For those who have yet to partake, Coma looks like a cross between 24 and Sin City. It’s set in a world where everything is lightly Matrix-green, but the edges got blurred because everyone had a few too many at the bar. It’s a highly manipulated Jezebel of a show and I love every moment of its visual sluttiness. It screams “look at me” so loudly that I glossed past any attempt at plot, much like brushing aside a hot girl’s attempts at explaining how exciting her cat is. It’s simply not why we got involved in the first place. This is a love letter to people too ADD riddled to make it through a Bazooka Joe comic.
The series is another example of Hollywood stepping further into the online series world. It’s got star power (Madsen!), is well produced, and has credits that take up one quarter of the total length of the piece. Ultimately, you can keep the slickness, but I’ll always come back for the Hamilton.
So everyone had a field day with Charlie Bit My Finger, but this was pushing it. And there’s a lot more of Charley and Harry running around their Sheffield-ish home with the cartoons blaring in the background, and the picking of the noses, and the throwing of the store-bought sandbox sand…etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. And it’s super annoying.
For every fun/truly creative/earnestly cute/baby’s first swearword/whatever-web video, there are hundreds of talent shows/first recitals/look at my kid…again! moments to wit. And honestly, it’s wearing me out.
I’m not alone. Apparently the plethora of stage mums and overly optimistic first time teenage filmmakers seem to be frustrating Amsterdam, too, which is why Bruno Felix and Femke Wolting created Submarine Channel – a supercool website designed to bring together the best artists, thinkers, filmmakers, and all-around ingénues on one global interface, while filtering out the internet crap that’s seemingly found its way into every conceivable widget-nook and binary-cranny.
One week to go till dancing Stewie & friends hit the banner ad circuit. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane just posted a sneak peek for his Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy, which premieres September 10 at sethcomedy.com. The 50-episode series created quite a stir when it announced its unique distribution plans with Google’s AdSense platform, placing the vids in sites targeting a young male demo. So far looking like the random cut-away jokes that Family Guy is known for. Maybe it’s time for South Park to team up with Yahoo and spread the cartoon wars to the web?
In The Truth About Dailymotion Videostars, Spin the Bottle tries to bring the magic of Pop-Up Video to video-sharing site self-promotion. It almost works.
Since Carrie Brownstein‘s stopped strumming power chords with Sleater-Kinney, she’s been perfecting her comedic deadpan with Fred Armisen (another rocker who’s managed to make a living from being funny, most notably as an SNL-cast member) under the banner of ThunderAnt.
It’s not often the duo releases new shorts, so when they do, it’s worth noting. One Man Show dropped yesterday (via Videogum).
Almost immediately upon release, all three Acts of the online musical – featuring evil arias from Neil Patrick Harris as he pines for the affection of Felicia Day – held the top three spots on iTunes most downloaded TV episodes. There’s a reason why – it’s good.
Here’s a sampling of what an all growns up Doggie Howser sounds like on top of a track orchestrated and produced by Jed Whedon:
The Street Fighter characters are somewhere between Mario and the Dragonlance bunch on my don’t-f*ck-with-beloved-characters-of-my-awkward-youth meter. So when I was asked to check out a live action version of these stalwarts as washouts trying to get their lives back together it created certain internal anxiety.
It delivers, though, across all 9 episodes. The first premiered sometime in 2006, right as the first twinges of 8 bit nostalgia surfaced, and now, in mid-2008, the series feels right. Some would say “Perfect”. (Yes, that’s a Street Fighter reference.)
What’s immediately striking (pun intended) is that it’s a live action series, not animated. Lame, says me, hoping to avoid a “thinking man’s” re-imagining of characters created to beat the Holy Hell out of each other, but then the first effects show up. And they’re good. Kung Fu Hustle good. Which is an apt comparison because, like Kung Fu Hustle, the series is funny. Naturally, it’s funniest to people who misspent their youth button-mashing to Street Fighter tournaments (there are plenty o’ deeper game references & jokes (i.e. how DO you pronounce Ryu’s name?), but it hums along story-wise enough that the average game-illiterate can enjoy.Note on the humor: it’s long on the, ahem, specific ethnic nature of the characters. Blanka comes across a little Tony Montana-ish and Dhalsim is a cab driver, but in some strange attempt at parity Chun Li is now a white chick, so make of it what you will.
Overall, series creator Sam Reich and the rest of the bunch over at CHTV are churning out series over at College Humor whether you watch them or not. Get to know them now by watching one of their best series from the past taking on one of the best things from your past. Round 1. Fight!
Editor’s Note: We are thrilled to have Sean Casey joining the Tubefilter News staff. Sean is a comedy writer and producer living in Los Angeles. His credits include developing show ideas for MTV, creating and producing web series for The Independent Comedy Networkand Just For Laughs. He even wrote an episode of The Nanny for Russian television. He lives and writes with his fiancee, even though she’s a Packers fan. Go Bears.
You can’t exactly call this one original. Another place for teens to watch and share videos online? Well, with little fanfare, and so far, little press, Take180.com has launched with some intriguing new teen-focused content. That could be why they’ve signed up some top YouTube celebs, “Kelly” from the video Shoes and LisaNova (below) to wrangle over their vid-loving teen demo. Who’s next, KevJumba? The tag line on the front page of the site states “100% awesome shows created by you, you and you. And you.”
So far, there seems to be no user-generated content on the site, but there do seem to be some pretty sweet, and smart contests already launched, just waiting for users to enter. Current “challenges” ask creators to upload content such as “Wacky Work-Out Videos,” “beat boxing,” “pranks,” and more. Winners are offered a slew of prizes, including getting their winning video “built into an upcoming episode.”
The site has also launched three solid-looking shows pledging to never last more than 180 seconds, and airing new episodes weekly.
My Alibi (above) is a definite homage to The Breakfast Club. A hodge-podge group gets called into detention by original 90210 cast member, Gabrielle Carteris (aka Andrea Zuckerman) only to find that she wants an alibi… but for what?
The Juice Box spoofs pop culture through the eyes of host Devon Kelley. While not a unique concept, the show embraces some fun visuals, ala ass-chap-wearing cross-dressers who loves So You Think You Can Dance. In2ition is currently providing the biggest tease, hinting at some juicy supernatural plot lines following lead character Hope Fox. Right now, this show looks like it may be the juiciest, as well as the most beautifully produced. With a few good-looking mug shots of pretty, good-looking people on the front page, one can’t help but wonder if take180 will provide some fresh takes on content geared towards a predominantly young, female demographic. But based on the teasers, and first episodes, we look forward to seeing more.
