In an alternate universe, I would start this review off by saying “Okay, Isabella Rossellini, we get it, you’re really into simulating animal sex, enough is enough.” But that would be the alternate universe where I don’t find Isabella Rossellini so very delightful — and as […] Read more »
What is there to a film festival beyond being able to watch some previously unseen films? That’s essentially the question asked by Tribeca vis-a-vis its Virtual Premium Fest package, which allows American film fans willing to pay $45 to access online much of the content they’d […] Read more »
You take the idealism of college students, you combine it with the message-spreading power of social media, and in this case you end up with a nice little story about saving babies in the Third World. Three students at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business created a […] Read more »
Elevator creator Woody Tondorf’s Foursquare Cops elevates minor online infractions to crimes worthy of Judge Dredd-style justice. I invoke Judge Dredd because like Sylvester Stallone’s vigilante future cop, these cops don’t hesitate to shoot transgressors who might violate the Foursquare spirit. Read more »
Comparing a web series to a TV show isn’t something I love to do, because the playing field is pretty uneven. But in the case of the indie series Reservation, when compared to the NBC drama Heroes, I don’t mind doing so because Reservation wins. Directed […] Read more »
British musical artist M.I.A. has never shied away from tough topics in her music, but her latest music video has proven to be tough for many to take. Born Free is less of a video, though, and more a nine-minute short film that depicts American soldiers […] Read more »
Pixar’s Toy Story films have always managed to have grown-up appeal, thanks to playing on the feelings of nostalgia we all have for beloved-but-forgotten playthings. But for the upcoming third installment in the franchise, they’ve taken it one step further by introducing one of Toy Story […] Read more »
Three weeks following the 2010 Streamy Awards, the show’s producers presented a new plan for how the International Academy of Web Television should be restructured, in order to maintain control over the award show’s future. Read more »
Cops and humor seem like an obvious mix, but how many great police station comedies can you name off the top of your head? I know, me either. Enter the Murder Squad, created by R. Chett Hoffman, Will Phillips and Matt Quezada, a cleverly-written indie series […] Read more »
We continue our weekly Cosmo quiz for prominent execs in the online video world with Jayant Kadambi, co-founder and president of the YuMe ad network. Kadambi is a holder of multiple patents and prior to founding YuMe worked at Netopia and AT&T Bell Labs. He also […] Read more »
I knew I was going to enjoy the entertainment quiz show Red Carpet Run the moment I saw the words “on a moving treadmill.” Sure, it’s a gimmick to have contestants answer questions while running on a treadmill, but it’s a great gimmick. In fact, I’d […] Read more »
So looking at reactions to this morning’s story about whether consumers might pay Hulu $10 for a subscription plan, the range of reaction from you, humble readers, has been largely negative. On Twitter, when queried as to whether they would pay $10 a month for Hulu, […] Read more »
Redbox today announced deals with Universal and Twentieth Century Fox that will add a 28-day window for rentals of new DVD and Blu-ray discs. Redbox customers may have to wait until May to watch Avatar or the Meryl Streep-Alec Baldwin comedy It’s Complicated, but in exchange, […] Read more »
When Sony announced the premise of its first reality series for the PlayStation Network in February, I wasn’t the only one who thought that a competition to win an unglamorous entry-level position was kinda dumb. Internet mockery didn’t, however, keep The Tester from racking up a […] Read more »
YouTube has continued to quietly expand its rental service since February by adding more titles and by creating the YouTube Store, which aggregates all titles available for rent onto one page. According to a YouTube spokesperson via email, “When we announced YouTube Rentals in January we […] Read more »
While this year’s NFL Draft probably won’t double as the heartwarming coda to an Oscar-winning film, tonight’s selection of rookies will undoubtedly play a part in shaping next season and the years ahead. The draft goes live tonight at 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT, and will […] Read more »
If I were given the power to make rules about online video advertising, here’d be one of them: No pre-roll ad can be longer than, say, 20 percent of a video’s run-time. I do not have this power, though, and thus I am sad to say […] Read more »
This morning it was observed that a number of videos using footage from the film Downfall to mock pop culture issues had been taken off YouTube for copyright reasons. But how do the creators of those videos go about challenging that decision, given that the meme […] Read more »
It doesn’t seem easy, but April 2010 might mark the first time someone succeeds in killing a meme. According to the Open Video Alliance, a recent surge of copyright claims has taken offline a majority of the Hitler parodies on YouTube using footage from the 2004 […] Read more »
Roger Ebert might not think they’re art, but the value of video games as a storytelling medium is growing indisputable, especially since the rise of the machinima process — which Fox Broadcasting is now taking a swing at. Fox has ordered a pilot presentation of the […] Read more »
Tech Fail, Taste Fail and Attitude Fail led to this year’s Streamy Awards being poorly executed and poorly received. In the aftermath, executive producer Brady Brim-Deforest said that “Last night’s show really wasn’t in the spirit of how we wanted to recognize the nominees and winners.” Read more »
The winners list for the 2010 Streamy Awards, including The Guild, The Bannen Way, Zach Galifianakis, David Wain, Zadi Diaz, Shane Dawson and “Weird Al” Yankovic. Read more »
Today we continue our Five Question series with noted industry heads, and up on the block is Dina Kaplan. Dina is a co-founder of blip.tv who also serves on the board of directors for the International Academy of Web Television — and worries that she might […] Read more »
The quality of public education in California right now is a pretty depressing topic, and as discussion of yet more cuts builds, it’s no wonder that local parents are turning to humor. It is however impressive that they’re enlisting movie stars as well — not to […] Read more »
Another win for independent production: The Canadian steampunk fantasy Riese has been picked up by the channel formerly known as Sci-Fi — both for online distribution and development for a potential broadcast series. It’s a deal that unavoidably draws comparison to the one for Sci Fi’s […] Read more »
As we’ve seen our coverage of live streamed events and shows expand, a question that’s been coming up for me more and more is that of what the optimal time might be to start a broadcast. After all, if you’re not beholden to start times and […] Read more »
The 2010 Streamy Craft Awards moved almost too fast, but were relatively incident-free and allowed those behind the scenes of major web series a chance at the spotlight. Read more »
When I start watching a new web series, I do my best to be in an open-minded, accepting place, one that leaves me free to evaluate a show’s pros and cons without bias. There is the occasional instance, though, where I’ll click play only after offering […] Read more »
There are people who will stop and stare at a beautifully made car the same way that dog people fawn over a passing puppy and jerks pause at the sight of a young lady in Spandex. I am not any of those people. I am, however, […] Read more »
UPDATED: The Producer’s Guild of America announced last night the creation of a new title for producers who work in the increasingly high-profile world of “transmedia,” which in this context specifically refers to those who produce content that expands the world of a narrative beyond one […] Read more »
