Web series and online video news worth clicking today:
Syfy’s popular steampunk web series Riese may be heading into Space, or at least close to it, as it has scored a deal with Canadian pay cabler SPACE, set to make it’s TV broadcast premiere April 9 at 9PM. But it’s not just jumping ship from the web, as new mini-episodes of the 10-part series are set to stream on SPACECAST.com every Monday and Friday through to Friday, April 8. [CTV Press Release]
Kevin Rose has a whole handful of web series running these days, even if it’s Diggnation that gets all the attention. His semi-regular polished interview series Foundation just released its second episode—for subscribers only this week—but there’s another, less publicized series that’s essentially the same thing dubbed The Random Show. Rose interviews his cadre of interesting buddies like bestselling author and lifehacker Tim Ferris (below). [Random Show on Vimeo]
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Half-hour web series are all the rage right now, or at least pitching them to networks. Hayden Black’s long-running comedy Goodnight Burbankis shopping a half-hour version of the local news parody series with a new promo trailer (below) starring Black alongside Laura Silverman and Dominic Monaghan. Black tells us he is “in early talks with tv networks both in the US and around the world, but wherever it winds up, it will be on www.goodnightburbank.com debuting in late March 2011.” [Goodnight Burbank on YouTube]
Bestsellers premiered yesterday (below) from the Streamy-winning team behind Anyone But Me, Susan Miller and Tina Cesa Ward. This is their first foray into branded entertainment, as the SFN Group-sponsored series targets working women in a campaign produced by CJP Digital Media. “What happens when a Boomer, two Gen X’s, a Millenial, and a Gen Y meet in a book club? Not too much reading!” New episodes come out every Monday. [Bestsellers on YouTube]
Mark Cuban is bullish on web video now? News surfaced today from VentureBeat that the billionaire investor (and NBA owner) Cuban made a small (undisclosed) investment into internet network Revision3 last year, even after some of his earlier rants about how web video might never really threaten cable TV’s distribution dominance. Also in the article came word from Revision3 CEO Jim Louderback that “we were, in fact, both EBITDA and Net Income profitable in the 4th quarter of 2010.. and cash flow positive in December too.” [VentureBeat]
Sundance Film Festival regulars and producers Ted Hope and Christine Vachon decided to turn on the camera this year and sit down to interview a number of the breakout stars of this year’s festival—like Morgan Spurlock, Elizabeth Olsen and even YouTube star Ryan Higa (below). Produced with Digital Artists, the 20-episode series, Killer/Hope: Live @ Sundance, is getting an exclusive run on Hulu. [Wall Street Journal]
Pure Pwnage has halted production of their popular comedy gamer web series, after Showcase, the Canadian network that picked up the series for a run on TV, decided not renew the series for a second season. ” It was a combination of lower-than-expected ratings, a new direction for the network . . . and poorer-than-expected web traffic,” wrote show creator Jarrett Cale. The team is currently shopping for another TV deal, while the chances of returning to a web-only version are unclear. [Daily Brew]
NFL Writer’s Room: Super Bowl XLV (below) is the latest from the sports-loving comedy team 12 Angry Mascots. This time they scored some authentic jock guests in Seattle Seahawks defensive end Raheem Brock and New York Jets safety Eric Smith as they try to script a perfect Super Bowl for their NFL bosses. “No more concussions, they haven’t been testing well with the audience!” [NFL Writer’s Room on Atom]
