Leading up to the release of Jurassic World, a large number of YouTube content creators tied their channels into the movie through dinosaur-themed videos. Perhaps the best of all saurian YouTube videos came from Polish prankster Sylwester Wardega, who used detailed dinosaur costumes to scare Jurassic World star Chris Pratt.

Wardega, whose YouTube channel has more than 3.1 million subscribers, is best known as the man behind “Mutant Giant Spider Dog,” a prank that went massively viral (to the tune of more than 140 million views) and ended 2014 as one of the most popular videos on all of YouTube. In a recent follow-up, Wardega and his team once again used lifelike costumes to scare the living daylights out of unsuspecting passersby, but this time, they donned dinosaurs get-ups in order to promote Jurassic World, which recently set box office records during its first weekend in theaters.

Wardega, however, was not satisfied by scaring civilians. His next target was Pratt, who stars as Owen Grady in the Jurassic Park reboot. After Wardega’s associate donned a Tyrannosaurus rex costume, the Polish pranksters waited for Pratt to arrive and then ambushed him as he passed. The movie star’s reaction was a combination of shock and bemusement, with some Polish curse words mixed in:

Videos like this one help movie studios promote their upcoming pictures; the Jurassic Park franchise in particular has done a good job of using YouTube to support its new releases. So far, the Pratt prank has been a big hit for Wardega, too. In its first day online, it was accumulated more than 1.5 million views.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Prank, Sylwester Wardega by Sam Gutelle
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Since its launch in November 2014, Supergravity Pictures has worked with online video stars on feature film projects. At the same time, Vimeo has become an integral part of that budding industry by serving as a distribution platform for those feature films. Now, Supergravity and Vimeo have united their interests through a deal that will bring four of the studio’s films to Vimeo On Demand over the next year.

The first Supergravity film to arrive on Vimeo On Demand will be The Chosen, which will be available for download beginning on July 24th. The same day, the thriller–which stars YouTube personality Kian Lawley in its lead role–will premiere with a fan-friendly event adjacent to the VidCon convention in Anaheim.

The other three films included in the Vimeo-Supergravity deal have not yet been announced, though Supergravity does have a few other pictures on its docket. Specifically, it is working with former =3 host Ray William Johnson for a documentary about Internet and cable monopolies.

“We’re a direct-to-consumer film studio focused on marketing directly to the fans who are most passionate about our films,” said Marc Hustevedt and Max Benator, Supergravity’s co-founders, in a press release. “Vimeo On Demand is a direct transactional platform that curates high quality entertainment and then provides support with real marketing dollars. It’s a perfect fit and we couldn’t be more excited about our partnership with them.”

Supergravity’s films will join a burgeoning library of videos on Vimeo On Demand. Other projects distributed by the platform include a pair of documentaries about Pentatonix and Our2ndLife, both of whom are popular on YouTube.

Full Disclosure: Marc Hustvedt is one of the founders of Tubefilter. 

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, SUPERGRAVITY PICTURES, Vimeo by Sam Gutelle
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CollegeHumor has recently had its eyes on TV, and one of the comedy site’s current small screen projects is about to arrive. On the CollegeHumor YouTube channel, which has nearly ten million subscribers, a trailer for the upcoming Comedy Music Hall of Fame special is now live.

Comedy Music Hall of Fame, which will come to the IFC’s linear TV channel and the CollegeHumor website on Friday, June 19th. Comedian Paul F. Tompkins will host a celebration of musical comedy, and a wide variety of guests–such as Tenacious D, CDZA, and Epic Rap Battles of History–will join in on the fun. The event will honor the first inductee into the titular Hall: “Weird Al” Yankovic, who will appear on the show and, if the trailer is any indication, yell a lot.

Subway has signed on as the sponsor of the program. “Comedy music is fun, shareable content. It has great appeal across many audiences,” said Tony Pace, Subway’s CMO, in a press release. “Our collaboration with IFC and CollegeHumor aligns us with ‘must see’ content and allows us to share marketing messages in a way that they won’t be missed.  And who wouldn’t like being associated with a Hall of Fame?”

Comedy Music Hall of Fame will begin at 10 PM EST on the 19th.

Filed under: Articles, CollegeHumor, Featured, IFC, News by Sam Gutelle
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With its latest original series, Yahoo is looking to freshen up the news. On June 22nd, it will relaunch Viewfinder, which purports to “[reimagine] the art of short-form storytelling.”

Viewfinder is one of 18 series Yahoo discussed when it presented to advertisers at the 2015 Newfronts. Across monthly episodes, the docu-series will span a number of different topics, many of which will discuss social justice issues. The first episode, for example, will be titled “Uniquely Nasty: The U.S. Government’s War on Gays,” and it will discuss the history of LGBT discrimination in the United States. Some future installments will cover similar ground by addressing transgender life and women’s rights.

A Yahoo press release calls Viewfinder a re-imagination of its previous documentary coverage, which can be found under the same title. Perhaps the site’s most significant video journalism piece was its 2012 profile of a Bay Area highway patrolman who prevents people from throwing themselves off the Golden Gate Bridge.

With its social justice slant and its professional presentation, Viewfinder feels a lot like Yahoo’s answer to Vice’s brand of edgy journalism. Further that comparison is Yahoo’s decision to work with student filmmakers, who will lend youthful voices to Viewfinder.

More information about Viewfinder is available in a Tumblr post from Anna Robertson, the VP/Head of Yahoo Video.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Yahoo Originals, Yahoo! by Sam Gutelle
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Elementary and middle school educators in search of multimedia teaching materials can turn to the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC). The STEM initiative run by the Smithsonian Institution has launched a web series called Good Thinking! that seeks to clear up scientific misconceptions through its cast of pleasant, colorfully-animated characters.

Good Thinking! takes place in a classroom where an instructor named Ms. Reyes teaches a perfectly diverse group of students. Some episodes explore specific topics, such as natural selection, while others take a more theoretical approach by discussing the ways in which students think and process information. Along the way, Ms. Reyes gets help from some anthropomorphic assistants, such as a talking orchid or what seems to be a sentient clump of dust.

As the SSEC explains, Good Thinking! is, despite its bright approach, intended for new teachers as much as students. Here’s how Marjee Chmiel, Associate Director of Curriculum and Communications for Smithsonian Institution, explained the series in a press release:

“Here at SSEC we identified a crucial need for accessible, professional development tools that help educators break down misconceptions and other barriers to understanding scientific principles. Good Thinking! meets that need head on – shining a light on the classroom and pedagogical challenges teachers face, and providing solid, science-based, experiential ideas that can keep their teaching on track.  Through these engaging videos, which we expect teachers will share with their colleagues, we aim to enhance K-8 science education, and deepen understanding of STEM topics for teachers and students alike. No other on-demand resource like this exists.”

The SSEC plans to release more Good Thinking! videos throughout the summer. They can be viewed on the organization’s website and its YouTube channel.

Filed under: Uncategorized by Sam Gutelle
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The 2015 edition of the video game industry’s annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) begins on June 16th, and YouTube is on-site to provide live coverage. The video site’s first major challenge to Twitch’s domination of the video game streaming industry has arrived, as it has launched the hub on which it will provide hours of live coverage directly from E3.

YouTube’s E3 channel, which it announced two weeks before the expo’s official start date, offers up hours of event commentary, announcement coverage, trailers, and plenty of other videos intended for the serious gamers who follow E3 closely. A playlist embedded at the top of the page features a constantly-updated selection, while a separate section allows viewers to sort videos by publisher, console, and genre. Archived videos from the last three years of E3 are also available.

The centerpiece of YouTube’s E3 coverage is a 12-hour live stream beginning at 12 PM EST on June 15th. Host Geoff Keighley breaks down the major stories while chatting with guests from the gaming community. The video for that stream is embedded below:

YouTube’s E3 coverage is a crucial stepping stone for the video site. It recently announced its plan to launch an app dedicated to its gaming content, and by delivering to gamers the biggest stories from E3, YouTube will show off its ability to cater to a community that brings in billions of views each month.

The E3 channel will also allow YouTube to compete with Twitch, which has for two years has been the official live-streaming partner of E3. Twitch, which YouTube once sought to buy, has a deep following among gamers, who tune in regularly to watch live streaming gameplay from their favorite titles. YouTube is now hunting for that Twitch audience, and in the process, it is trying to flip the script on an old adage: If you can’t join ‘em, beat ‘em.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Live Streaming, News, YouTube by Sam Gutelle
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We receive a ton of tips every day from independent creators, unaffiliated with any major motion picture studios, television networks, new media studios, or other well-funded online video entities. The Indie Spotlight is where we’ll write about and shout out to a select few of them and bring you up to speed on the great (and sometimes not-so-great) attention-grabbing series you probably haven’t heard about until now.  Read previous installments here. 

Kung Fury recently gave viewers a loving spoof of 80s cop movies, but elsewhere on YouTube, a different film genre is getting taken apart, one ridiculous convention at a time. Fleming Films is the production team behind Dick Hopper, Private Eye, a very silly send-up of film noir mysteries.

Dick Hopper establishes its tone right from the start. In the first scene, a murderer attempting to sneak up on his prey loudly walks across a creaky floor. Its a simple joke, but it will draw a laugh from anyone who has wondered how killers can make it through an old house without so much as a peep.

That sort of silliness permeates throughout Dick Hopper. Writers Tommy Fleming and Riley Smith stuff sex jokes into character names, write their titular character as a gormless idiot, and give him lines that consist primarily of ridiculous figures of speech. In the first episode, for example, Dick Hopper notes that “this cookie’s about to crumble” and vows to “catch the first rat that nibbles up those oatmeal raisins.”

Beyond its status as an absurd satire, Dick Hopper is also a loving tribute to the genre it parodies. With shadowy, black-and-white production, a slow-burning jazz soundtrack, and a wide ensemble of characters that runs the gamut of crime movie archetypes, Dick Hopper serves as a love letter to film noir, even as it skewers the genre with no mercy.

The first season of Dick Hopper will run for seven episodes. New installments can be viewed each Wednesday on the show’s YouTube channel.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT

• The Rolling Solider. A military operative attempts to put his life back together after waking up from a years-long coma.
• Us. This artsy series, shot in black and white, adds a surreal twist to the romantic web series format.
• Cam Girls. Three friends explore the community of women who strip online for money.
• The Girl From Carolina. This series promises “10 episodes, 10 redneck mysteries.”

Got a series you’d like to see featured in the Indie Spotlight? Be sure to contact us here. For best coverage, please include a full episode in your e-mail.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Indie Spotlight, News by Sam Gutelle
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One of the YouTube community’s most enduring comedic duos are ready for their closeup, and a new trailer shows us how they will look. Smosh has released the trailer for Smosh: The Movie, which features the two stars of the titular YouTube channel in their big screen debut.

In real life, Smosh stars Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla are two of YouTube’s most popular personalities. Their channel has more than 20 million subscribers and has served as a home for their loud, brash comedy videos for nearly a decade. In the movie, though, Ian and Anthony don’t appear to be big stars at all. Instead, they’re just two dudes who must venture into YouTube in order to remove an embarrassing video of Padilla from the Internet. Along the way, they encounter characters played by several of YouTube’s biggest stars, including Jenna Marbles, Grace Helbig, and Harley Morenstein.

Smosh: The Movie, which is co-produced by multi-channel YouTube networks AwesomenessTV and Defy Media, is looking to capitalize on Smosh’s longstanding popularity across social media. The movie’s July 24th release date is timed to coincide with VidCon; the yearly online video convention will bring thousands of online video fans to Anaheim, where Smosh: The Movie will have a screening on July 23rd.

In addition to a theatrical release, Smosh: The Movie will be available for digital download. Viewers in the US and Canada will be able to find the film on iTunes, and it will be distributed internationally through Vimeo On Demand. Tickets for the movie’s July 22nd premiere and its VidCon screening the next day are also available.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Smosh by Sam Gutelle
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YouTube is making a big move into the gaming arena. Google’s online video site announced a brand-new YouTube Gaming site and app dedicated solely to delivering viewers the latest gaming-related video and live streaming content.

YouTube Gaming will host separate pages for over 25,000 game titles where the top videos for those titles will be shown. YouTube content creators and game developers will also have their own channels. YouTube Gaming users will be able to subscribe to the channels of their choice in order to stay up-to-date on their favorite games and receive notifications when a creator begins a live stream for those games on YouTube.

YouTube Gaming will put large emphasis on live streaming (possibly to start competing with Amazon-owned game streaming platform Twitch). Live streams will be featured on the homepage of YouTube Gaming, and the site will start introducing features such as a single live streaming link (for easier sharing) and an improved system design (so that gamers no longer have to schedule a stream ahead of time). These updates will join YouTube’s previous live streaming perks, such as the introduction of 60 FPS frame rate and the ability to automatically convert streams into saved videos.

Attendees at this year’s E3 will be able to see live demonstrations of the new YouTube Gaming app and website from June 16-18, 2015, at YouTube’s official booth on the main floor of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Google’s online video site will also be covering the whole of E3 and live streaming it for viewers across the world.

Gaming is routinely one of the most popular topics on YouTube, so it’s not surprising Google decided to create a separate destination for related content. For example, Minecraft videos alone generated over 47 billion total views as of November 2014 (and that number has only gone up since then). Plus, gamers on YouTube actually impact developer decisions for games like Call of Duty.

You can visit gaming.youtube.com or follow @YouTubeGaming on Twitter to know when the site and app will be officially ready for all users. YouTube stated the new initiative will be ready in the U.S. and UK sometime in the summer of 2015.

Filed under: Articles, News, YouTube by Bree Brouwer
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Some of Netflix’s newest original programs may be debuting to mixed reviews, but the streaming platform’s stalwarts are going as strong as ever. On June 11th, the third season of Orange is the New Black premiered in its entirety, and the consensus among early reviewers is that the third trip to the Litchfield women’s prison lives up to–or even exceeds–the two previous seasons.

The third season of OITNB was initially slated for a June 12th release, but Netflix opted to distribute the new episodes of Jenji Kohan’s prison dramedy six hours early in order to coincide with OrangeCon, a large gathering of OITNB fans in New York City. At the event, the show’s cast members snapped pictures with fans and celebrated the arrival of the new season.

OITNB’s ensemble cast has always been one of its greatest strengths, and season three adds some new faces to its eclectic mix of characters. Australian actress Ruby Rose will portray Litchfield’s newest inmate, while stand-up comedian Mike Birbiglia will appear as one of the prison’s owners.

Previous seasons of OITNB have garnered critical acclaim and award recognition, and season three has so far earned similar praise. Alan Sepinwall of HitFix was the most positive; he dubbed OITNB “one of TV’s very best shows, no matter how you slice it.” Beyond him, a quick trip to Metacritic reveals nearly universal acclaim for the new season.

As with most of Netflix’s other original series, all episodes of OITNB season three are available simultaneously. Hopefully, fans of the show didn’t make too many other plans this weekend.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, Netflix, News, Orange Is The New Black by Sam Gutelle
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Rooster Teeth will start greeting its fans in the Land Down Under. The Austin-based digital entertainment company, known for web series like Red vs. Blue and RWBY, is bringing its annual RTX event to Australia.

Described in a release as “where gaming meets the internet meets Australia,” RTX Australia will be co-produced by Aussie’s anime licensing and pop culture event company Hanabee and Sydney’s Supanova Pop Culture Expo. Rooster Teeth employees Chris Demarais and Josh Flanagan, along with Hanabee’s Cameron Rooney, will announce more date, ticket, and location information about RTX Australia at this year’s Supanova on June 19, 2015, at 7:00 PM Australian time (5:00 AM EST).

“It’s true! RTX is coming down to Australia and we couldn’t be more excited,” said RTX Co-Directors Gus Sorola and Barbara Dunkelman. “Thanks to our friends at Supanova and Hanabee we’re finally bringing RTX down under. We’re announcing all the details soon! You can find out in person if you’re in Sydney, Australia for Supanova on the 19th of June. Head to the Hanabee Reveal Night at 7:00 PM to see where, when, why and how it’s happening or go check out rtxau.com to follow and like everything so you don’t miss out!”

The expansion into Australia is a logical next step for RTX. Last year’s U.S.-based event attracted nearly 30,000 attendees, which prompted Rooster Teeth to add two more convention locations for the upcoming RTX in August 2015. And with fans from around the world (many of them based in Australia), RTX will now be a more viable option to those fans who may not have been able to afford an international ticket to Austin.

Make sure to follow RTX Australia’s official site if you aren’t lucky enough to hear the Supanova announcements in person in Sydney. You can also follow the event’s official Twitter handle and Facebook account, or sign up to receive updates via email.

Filed under: Articles, News, Rooster Teeth by Bree Brouwer
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In May, Pemberly Digital founder Bernie Su and digital strategist David Tochterman announced Canvas Media Studios, a new venture devoted to branded content. Just a few days later, Su took the stage during StyleHaul’s Newfronts presentation to announce Canvas’ first project: Vanity, a web series branded by Maybelline. A month later, the first episode of Vanity has arrived on StyleHaul’s YouTube channel.

In Vanity, Alex Frnka stars as a college student who attempts to learn more about the mysterious death of a famous designer (played by Denise Richards) by talking to her business partner (Karrueche Tran). Much of the series is told through flashbacks, and there’s plenty of drama to appeal to StyleHaul’s young, predominantly female audience. Of course, more than anything else, the women of Vanity are very well-dressed. We wouldn’t expect anything else from a fashion and beauty-oriented network.

When we first spoke to Su about Vanity, the Lizzie Bennet Diaries creator discussed his intention to create “an incredibly artistic and unique series…designed for StyleHaul and Maybelline.” As it turns out, Maybelline’s branding is mostly unobtrusive. Instead of slipping references to its products throughout the episode, the beauty brand opts to lend its cosmetics to companion makeup videos featuring Vanity’s cast. For example, YouTube beauty expert Raye Boyce appears in the first episode, and in a video linked to the episode’s credits, she shows how she achieved her Vanity look, which, as you might expect, involves lots of Maybelline products.

New episodes of Vanity will arrive each Thursday at 5 PM EST on StyleHaul’s YouTube channel. The finale will drop on August 27th.

Filed under: Articles, Canvas Media Studios, Featured, News, StyleHaul by Sam Gutelle
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