Feeln has a new original series for subscribers who love food. The Santa Monica-based, family-friendly streaming service, owned by Hallmark, has ordered and started production on its first lifestyle talk show Breaking Bread with Brooke Burke.

Feeln has ordered six episodes of the food-focused Breaking Bread; each episode will be about 20 minutes in length. Burke, an actress and host on shows like Dancing with the Stars, will interview fellow celebrities in their homes or at their favorite restaurants about their most important recipes, meals, and food-based memories. So far, confirmed guests include Florence Henderson, Jane Seymour, Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, and Nicole Ari Parker and Boris Kodjoe.

“We know that our audience appreciates content that is entertaining and rich with depth and meaning, and after meeting Brooke, we knew that she was the perfect host for our new talk show,” said Rob Fried, CEO of Feeln, in a release. “Breaking Bread with Brooke Burke serves up the perfect recipe to complement our audience and brand respectively.”

“I believe food triggers specific memories and meaningful meals last a lifetime. There is no better way to create family traditions than breaking bread with loved ones and friends,” explained Burke, who is executive producing Breaking Bread alongside Fried, Laurence Braun, David Harte, and Cristina Malavenda. “My intention is to take our guests on a walk down memory lane through the palate. I’m a foodie at heart, my kitchen is my family conference room where values are taught and shared.”

Breaking Bread is Feeln’s first talk show and lifestyle-centric series, but it’s not the first time the SVOD has produced original content. Back in October 2014, Feeln announced it was rebooting the classic 1980’s children’s series Rainbow Brite. The series featured the voice of The Breakfast Club’s Molly Ringwald, and ran for a limited time on the streaming platform.

Feeln will release Breaking Bread sometime in the fall of 2015.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, News by Bree Brouwer
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The 24-hour news network is coming to the Internet. The Huffington Post, which currently delivers video through its live streaming HuffPost Live platform, will expand its operations with a 24-hour online video news network.

The news network, which was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, will be titled HuffPost 24 and will feature everything from serial content to live streaming segments to documentaries. It will be available across HuffPo’s distribution network, which includes apps on mobile, over-the-top, and video on-demand devices.

“It’s part of our growth plan to be 50-50 video,” HuffPo foudner Arianna Huffington told The Hollywood Reporter. “As we see the world moving to mobile and global video, these are pretty big priorities. Being able to produce video that can be consumed both by over-the-top and mobile is a huge priority for us.”

Of course, as the constant deluge of pointless content on 24-hour news channels like CNN shows, finding enough programming to fill a full day of news coverage can be tough. To help combat that problem, HuffPo also plans to launch new divisions through which it will produce film and TV content. While we don’t know details about other platforms on which those projects will be distributed, they will make up part of the HuffPost 24 programming slate, alongside original series from both HuffPo and its parent company, AOL (which itself was recently acquired by Verizon).

HuffPost 24 will launch sometime in the second half of 2015. The network will begin with only a partial programming slate, but it will soon expand to cover all 24 hours of the day.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle
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Netflix has set a release date for it upcoming original series Narcos. The cocaine culture drama will premiere worldwide on the streaming platform on August 28, 2015.

Narcos tells the story of the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar (played by Elite Squad and Elysium actor Wagner Moura), and the efforts of politicians, civilians, law enforcement, and drug  lords to control the 1980’s narcotics culture of Colombia. Boyd Holbrook (Gone Girl) stars as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Steve Murphy, with Murphy’s fellow agent Javier Peña played by Pedro Pascal of Game of Thrones (who joined Narcos in June 2014).

Netflix originally gave the go-ahead for Narcos over a year ago in April 2014. Directed by José Padilha (of Elite Squad and RoboCop fame), Narcos is produced by Gaumont Television. Padilha executive produces alongside Eric Newman (Children of Men), Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard (Sorcerer’s Apprentice), and Chris Brancato (Hannibal).

All ten episodes of Narcos will be available on Netflix on August 28. You can learn more about the series by following Narcos on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

Filed under: Articles, Netflix, News by Bree Brouwer
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Comic-Con International will return to San Diego between July 9th and July 12th, and three of Legendary’s digital properties will be there in full force. During the four days of Comic-Con, Nerdist, Geek & Sundry, and Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls At The Party will team up for Conival, a busy event that will take place at Petco Park.

The three participating properties (all of which are owned by Legendary) will each bring their own personalities to Conival. Nerdist will host a gigantic laser tag battle, Geek & Sundry will host stations dedicated to jousting and tabletop gaming, and Smart Girls will encourage its fans to create art and build robots.

In addition to its various stations, Conival will also feature a main stage where celebrity interviews will take place during the first three days of the event. The guest list is an eclectic mix that includes everyone from RocketJump to Daniel Radcliffe to the casts of TV shows like Orphan Black and Rick and Morty.

Conival will be just one part of Legendary’s presence at Comic-Con. Nerdist and Geek & Sundry will both host multiple panels at the main event, which will take place throughout the weekend at the San Diego Convention Center. A list of Comic-Con programs can be found on the convention’s website. The schedule will be updated as the event draws near.

Filed under: Articles, Comic-Con, Featured, Geek and Sundry, Legendary Entertainment, Nerdist, News, Web Series by Sam Gutelle
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Amazon Video’s most lauded show still doesn’t have a release date for its second season, but that’s not stopping the premium video platform from making an even larger investment. Amazon has picked up Transparent, Jill Soloway’s dramedy about a family patriarch who transitions to a woman, for a third season.

Transparent premiered in September 2014 and instantly became a critical darling, with Jeffrey Tambor’s strong performance in the lead role and Soloway’s deft treatment of topical social issues singled out as particular strong points. Amazon wasted no time picking the series for a second season, but it did not stop there. The recently-announced third season is likely to run for ten episodes, and Amazon’s partnership will Soloway may not stop there. In a release, Amazon Studios VP Roy Price said “we will be collaborating with her additional projects in the future.”

“I am so thrilled that I get to share more of the Pfeffermans’ story with the world,” added Soloway. “We are all so in love with watching them change and grow. I am blown away by the creative freedom Amazon gives me and I can’t wait to reveal where this journey is going to take us.”

While fans wait for Transparent’s second season, they can support the show as it chases an Emmy. Amazon has set up a campaign in LA restaurant bathrooms supporting the show’s awards push. Transparent has already triumphed at the Golden Globes; will it win some of TV’s biggest prizes as well? Either way, it will be a staple of Amazon’s lineup for a long time.

Filed under: Amazon Studios, Articles, Channels, Featured, News, Web Series by Sam Gutelle
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Lionsgate and Comic-Con International have a new hire to lead their joint video-on-demand subscription service. Seth Laderman will lead the initiative as its new Executive Vice President and General Manager.

Laderman will be responsible for developing programming for the Comic-Con streaming service. He will work to secure movies and TV shows from Lionsgate, create short-form content exclusively for subscribers, and curate archival footage from the past 45 years of Comic-Con’s existence.

Laderman comes to the Comic-Con video service with plenty of relevant and impressive digital leadership experience. He was Senior Vice President of Legendary Digital Networks, where he oversaw the development of brands such as Chris Hardwick’s Nerdist Industries and Felicia Day’s Geek & Sundry after both were acquired by Legendary Pictures. Laderman also helped bring Legendary and Fullscreen’s upcoming Electra Woman and Dyna Girl reboot to fruition.

“We intend to differentiate our service through the depth and diversity of its content, the quality of its curation and the joys of discovering its rich mix of programming,” said Jim Packer, Lionsgate president of worldwide television & digital distribution, as reported by Variety. “Seth is ideally qualified to create a line-up that delights fans and newcomers alike with a combination of beloved treasures, thrilling discoveries and unique original content designed exclusively to satisfy our audiences.”

“This is a world I know and love, a community I appreciate and respect,” Laderman added. “I’m thrilled to embark on this adventure with Lionsgate and Comic-Con International, two of the boldest, most innovative and visionary brands in fan culture.”

Lionsgate and Comic-Con International announced their video subscription service will be available starting in the first quarter of 2016.

Filed under: Articles, Lionsgate, News by Bree Brouwer
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Gaming channels on YouTube pull in billions of views each month, but human beings aren’t alone in their appreciation of Let’s Play videos. Researchers at Georgia Tech have designed an AI that builds video game levels after watching YouTube videos of those games.

The researchers tested their program with perhaps the most iconic video game of all time: Super Mario Bros. The AI “watched” videos of the classic platformer and then generated its own levels based on the information it gleaned. It learned to put platforms on top of supporting pillars and made sure to space its gaps so that Mario’s jump would be able to clear them.

An article published by Wired includes some examples of the terrain generated by the AI. There aren’t yet any videos of players completing these levels, though the researchers behind the program will present their work at the upcoming Foundations of Digital Games Conference.

“Our system creates a model or template, and it’s able to produce level sections that have never been seen before, do not appear random, and can be traversed by the player,” said Mark Riedl, associate professor of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech. “One could say that the system ‘studies’ the design of Mario levels until it is able to create new playable areas.”

Computer programs aren’t just using YouTube to build video games; they’re also watching videos in order to learn how to perform basic tasks like cooking and pouring drinks. And AIs can play video games, too; this thing is pretty good at Mario, even if it sucks at Tetris.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, YouTube by Sam Gutelle
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BuzzFeed may soon start showing up on your television. The viral web content producer and media publication is reportedly looking to get into the television industry with its own branded shows.

According to the Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti spoke about BuzzFeed’s TV intentions at a Visa-hosted advertising event at Cannes Lions on June 24, 2015. Peretti noted his company is pursuing ways to start producing television and getting the brand on the small screen. However, BuzzFeed is being very cautious about how they approach TV shows and what those might look like.

“We want to do TV, but we want to do it in a different way,” Peretti said. “We resisted for a long time. People kept pitching us TV shows but we didn’t know anything about TV, and our special powers came from having a closer relationship with our audience.”

The BuzzFeed CEO explained that the company’s penchant for collecting data and delivering viral content based on consumer feedback would likely be at the core of BuzzFeed’s television development strategies. “If you could figure out a way to say people are really connecting… why can’t you make a TV show that’s informed by that?” Peretti inquired.

Before Peretti’s Cannes discussion, BuzzFeed didn’t seem to have any interest in television. In fact, Peretti told Re/code just a few weeks ago that he wasn’t interested in the “end product of television” but rather the process it takes to make well-informed content, no matter what that content ended up looking like.

“It could be that you’re watching things that are eight minutes long, or six minutes long, or lots of short-form content,” Peretti explained. “It could be that you’re consuming the media on Snapchat or Spotify or Netflix or Amazon Prime or CBS. And so we’re focused right now on building the machine that allows us to learn and to make great content, and to give creative people real data feedback. Where that’s going to be extended is, I think, an exciting opportunity for us, but it’s not like our dream is to make a TV show, or our dream is to make a movie.”

Despite BuzzFeed’s uncertainty about television, the move towards the small screen seems like a logical next step for the media giant. The company created the BuzzFeed Motion Pictures division in August 2014, aimed at exploring long-form content and feature film options. As BuzzFeed Motion Pictures Executive Vice President Ze Frank has explained, his video department employs the same data-driven tactic Peretti champions to figure out which concepts are hits with viewers and should be developed further. We’ll see if BuzzFeed does the same with whatever television content it decides (or doesn’t decide) to pursue.

Filed under: Articles, Buzzfeed, News by Bree Brouwer
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Each year, the program at the Sundance Film Festival includes dozens of short films from both established names in the film world and up-and-coming directors. Now, on a new website, Sundance has hand-picked a selection of those shorts and offered them for free. The film festival has launched Shorts on SundanceTV, where the best films from previous years are available through a simply-designed portal.

The site’s main attraction is a library of short films curated by Sundance programmer Michael Plante. Plante’s choices are filled with notable names. For example, I’m A Mitzvah, which first premiered during the 2014 edition of Sundance, stars actor Ben Schwartz of Parks and Rec fame. Una Hora Por Favora, from 2012, is directed by Transparent’s Jill Soloway.

For movie buffs who crave work from relative unknowns, a selection of “Contest Shorts” spotlights lesser-known filmmakers from around the world. Still photos from individual shorts are also available.

By launching its own online video portal, Sundance adds its name to the list of platforms distributing high-quality short film content. Tribeca Film Festival has embraced the online video community through programs like Tribeca N.O.W., white distributors like Vimeo On Demand, Netflix, and YouTube have housed Oscar-nominated short films. Shorts on SundanceTV’s selection will be of the utmost quality, and the best part is that it is completely free.

According to a press release, five more films will be added to the Shorts on SundanceTV catalog next month.

Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Sundance Film Festival by Sam Gutelle
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Kian Lawley is getting his fans excited for his first feature film. The former member of the now-disbanded YouTube supergroup O2L released the official trailer for the horror flick The Chosen on his YouTube channel on June 24, 2015.

In The Chosen, Lawley plays Cameron, a young man who must decide to end the lives of six family members to save his niece, who’s been possessed by a child-snatching demon. The Chosen co-stars Mykayla Sohn and Elizabeth Keener, is produced by Terror Films and SUPERGRAVITY Pictures, the film studio created by Max Benator and Marc Hustvedt for features starring YouTubers.

Lawley, who boasts over 2.7 million subscribers on his channel (and now has 1.3 million on his joint channel with Jc Caylen) originally released an exclusive teaser trailer for The Chosen at an event during Playlist Live back in February 2015. And this isn’t the first time Lawley has been involved with a feature film. The 19-year-old vlogger participated in a marketing stunt back in October 2014 for Universal Pictures’ Ouija, and Lawley is also starring in the AwesomenessTV film Shovel Buddies.

You can learn more about The Chosen and purchase tickets on the film’s official website. The Lawley star vehicle hits theaters and digital platforms worldwide on July 24, 2015.

Filed under: Articles, Channels, News, SUPERGRAVITY PICTURES by Bree Brouwer
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A year ago, Radio Disney decided to turn its name into a misnomer by selling 23 of its 24 radio stations. Since then, it has instead focused on its digital business, and video has become part of its equation. The newest deal that will bolster Radio Disney’s video offerings is a development deal with Sweety High, which calls itself a “social world for girls.”

The deal between Radio Disney and Sweety High will cover two years worth of programming and will build off existing series produced by the two companies. One of the first shows born from the partnership will be a combination of Sweety High’s Sweet Beat TV and Radio Disney’s Radio Disney Insider, both of which cover the pop culture celebrities who appeal to tween and teen girls.

A second show announced as part of the deal is Revealed/Next Big Thing, a show about rising musicians. Variety notes that pop star Becky G will be one of the first season’s guests.

Sweety High, founded in 2009, empowers its young female user base by rewarding creative content. “It’s a good fit because Radio Disney wants to do something special for this audience,” said Sweety High CEO Frank Simonetti. “We’re going to try and do higher-end programming than anyone else for this demo.”

The programming produced by Radio Disney and Sweety High will be available on both companies’ respective websites and mobile apps. Simonetti said the deal will ultimately cover up to 100 episodes per year.

Filed under: Articles, Disney, Featured, News, Sweety High by Sam Gutelle
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Summer camp is almost in session for Netflix. The streaming video service has released a teaser trailer for its upcoming original series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.

Netflix’s Wet Hot teaser takes the form of a 1980’s advertisement for Camp Firewood, grainy VHS-style picture quality and all. An unenthusiastic narrator explains how Firewood is a way of life, as campers enjoying traditional activities like arts and crafts, archery, and swimming. And, of course, the teaser shows appearances from several of the camp counselors, played by Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, and Paul Rudd.

The Wet Hot American Summer series is a continuation of the 2001 feature film by the same title from director David Wain. Netflix announced its upcoming show back in December 2014, and a month later the entire original cast from the movie joined the project. Wain directed the Netflix series and executive produced alongside of Wet Hot film co-writer Michael Showalter.

Wet Hot American Summer will debut all episodes on Netflix on July 31, 2015.

Filed under: Articles, Netflix, News, Web Series by Bree Brouwer
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