Pop quiz: Does the Canadian sketch comedy troupe Loading Ready Run have…
By Liz Shannon Miller, Wednesday, November 25, 2009 15:41 PST
I’m still not sure how excited I am about the upcoming James Cameron 3-D opus, Avatar. I want to be excited for it, but — eh, whatever. In an effort to ramp up interest in the pic, 20th Century Fox today released a an interactive version of the trailer for the film (hat tip to TheWrap), which provides a whole new insight into the movie bunch of spoilers.
By Chris Albrecht, Tuesday, November 24, 2009 18:00 PST
On an snowy vista, a 30-something British man in a suit, straw cowboy hat and floral lei exits a blue phone box. He then starts jabbering to a strange-looking alien about deflowering Queen Elizabeth I, as well as his potentially impending death. And then there’s a glimpse of an alien city, a prayer circle and a close-up of a man laughing evilly. Are you intrigued? Excited? Unless you’re a fervent sci-fi fan, probably none of the above.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Tuesday, November 24, 2009 16:00 PST
Boxee generated a lot of excitement on the part of online video fans when it said it would release a dedicated hardware device that will enable users to connect its open-source media center software directly to their TVs. But by becoming a hardware company, Boxee may have to choose between alienating its biggest fans and alienating potential content partners.
By Ryan Lawler, Tuesday, November 24, 2009 14:45 PST
For some actors, just sitting down and reading off a teleprompter is hard work. So Ginger Marie Rogers, host of Fear News, might have one of the toughest on-camera jobs in web video history. For each week, the 25-year-old actress not only has to spew out the latest developments in horror, but she has to do it while being chased by a machete-wielding psycho or fending off a menacing ghost.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Monday, November 23, 2009 14:30 PST
This post is meant for a very particular group: the boyfriends of Twilight fans. You guys are a special class of men. You’ve put up with months of preparatory squealing and sighing over Taylor Lautner’s abs and Robert Pattinson’s…OK, maybe you’re not sure what exactly she sees in that guy. But finally the time has come for the special lady in your life to remind you that she went and saw Transformers 2 with you opening weekend and thus you totally owe her one night at the movies, her choice.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Sunday, November 22, 2009 00:01 PST
Forget multitouch: By far the most disruptive — and overlooked — feature of the Flash Player 10.1 beta that Adobe launched this week is the ability to transmit video via P2P multicast. In fact, Adobe built some enhanced P2P capabilities into both the new Flash Player and Air 2 beta that could be used to replicate BitTorrent functionality within Flash, build large-scale P2P groupware solutions that work right within the browser and stream video to millions of viewers without having to pay a fortune for bandwidth.
By Janko Roettgers, Saturday, November 21, 2009 00:01 PST
Today, NewTeeVee gets to do something we don’t normally get to do — review the competition. OK, technically The Web Files isn’t competition for us — we’re just covering the same beat using different mediums. In this web series about the making of web series, Files host Kristyn Burtt interviews various players in the online video space every week about the trials and tribulations of creating content for the Internet.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Friday, November 20, 2009 15:25 PST
Google is making it easier for deaf, hard-of-hearing and global audiences to enjoy YouTube today, by announcing features that make adding captions to videos much easier.
By Chris Albrecht, Thursday, November 19, 2009 09:58 PST
UPDATED: The next iteration of Flip video cameras will reportedly be WiFi-enabled, allowing users to wirelessly upload their videos. Pocket Lint first broke the news, and CrunchGear claims to have confirmed it. This next-gen Flip will also reportedly have a slide-out screen that reveals the record and menu buttons underneath — the screen will not, however, be a touchscreen. Update: We had a chance to speak with a few Cisco/Flip reps this morning who said they had not confirmed this news and would not comment on any upcoming products.
By Chris Albrecht, Thursday, November 19, 2009 08:05 PST
Pardon the dated reference, but EveryZing is the P. Diddy of the online video world, as the company announced today that it is changing its name to RAMP. The company was originally known as Podzinger, but changed its moniker to EveryZing, and then must have realized what a horrible, horrible name that was and changed it to RAMP today to align itself with its RAMP content optimization product.
By Chris Albrecht, Wednesday, November 18, 2009 08:40 PST
There are people whose brains go in one linear direction, whose ideas make sense and come from a decidedly logical place. Those people are rarely any good at comedy, especially the more absurdist humor that excels online. What I’m saying is that Scott Gairdner’s sketches don’t necessarily make a ton of sense, but that is why they are hilarious.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Monday, November 16, 2009 13:45 PST
When web video juggernaut Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog debuted last year, it inspired fan-made contributions to the world of the series almost immediately — something the Whedon family encouraged by soliciting supervillain applications to be included on the official DVD. But more than a year later, a group of Houston-based fans has taken things to a whole new level.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Friday, November 13, 2009 15:02 PST
I’ve never had an iPhone. When I was in college, I got a deal on a free cell phone through Sprint, and since then I’ve stayed with that carrier. And not out of blind loyalty: Its service was reliable overall, its rates reasonable, and I go to a lot of tech conferences. Why is that important? Well, because I’ll stand outside a conference hall, phone in hand, and watch the 10 people near me poke at their iPhones impatiently, hoping to retrieve the calls dropped by AT&T. As spiffy as some iPhone apps are, it was little incentive to change.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Wednesday, November 11, 2009 12:32 PST
I apologize in advance if the tone of this review comes off as frustrated, but here’s the deal: I should love How It Should Have Ended, a recently relaunched series of movie satires produced by Starz Digital. Targeting major blockbusters, the series purports to offer “new” endings for big movies like Terminator and Braveheart. Using relatively well-executed Flash animation to recreate the films, it also mocks them: The director of The Blair Witch Project yelling at his heroine for dropping the camera, for example, or the eponymous Borat thanking America for giving him a dump truck of money. That sort of thing. It’s the kind of satire that usually hits the sweet spot for pop culture nerds like myself. However, as good an idea as it is and as solid as the execution might be, there’s something slightly off about these shorts.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Tuesday, November 10, 2009 14:25 PST
Joe and Kris Swanberg’s Young American Bodies, a cult hit and one of the great early pioneers in web-distributed drama, has been peeking in on the lives of the young and sexually active since 2005, providing a semi-scripted take on the tangled romances of a group of 20-something Chicagoeans. The decidedly NSFW series, distributed originally through Nerve, launched its fourth season today exclusively on IFC.com; I spoke with Joe Swanberg via phone about his approach to sexuality, his “fantastic” deals with Nerve and IFC, the show’s future, and the increasingly inaccurate title. An edited transcript follows.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Monday, November 9, 2009 13:39 PST
1 vs. 100, the interactive trivia hybrid video game/show from Microsoft Xbox LIVE and Endemol, is one of the best examples we’ve seen so far of real-time entertainment. We’ve devoted more than a few words to the show’s first season, with an extended profile for our GigaOM Pro subscription service. If you missed out, or are raring to play again, we now have an appointment for the launch of season two: Nov. 19 at 5 p.m. PT. As we wrote in September…
By Liz Gannes, Monday, November 9, 2009 11:32 PST
When you sit down and think about it, it seems clear that there should be more game show web series than there are at present. After all, many companies prefer nonfiction to scripted programming, and the opportunities for branding and product placement are baked right into the structure via prizes and giveaways. The only factor possibly getting in the way of the genre’s success is that it has never really had much of a young vibe, being more “what you watch when visiting your Grandma.”…
By Liz Shannon Miller, Friday, November 6, 2009 13:52 PST
The Hollywood Reporter has made some good picks for its annual Next Generation 35 Under 35 list, with folks from the digital world making up a small but mighty contingent.
By Liz Gannes, Friday, November 6, 2009 09:58 PST
Coinstar, the parent company of DVD-vending company Redbox, reported third-quarter earnings yesterday, with the unit’s revenues up 90 percent to $198.1 million. The company also added 2,700 kiosks during the quarter, bringing its total DVD kiosk count to 20,600 nationwide.
By Chris Albrecht, Friday, November 6, 2009 07:54 PST
In 2008, we all got pretty excited about Blood Cell, an intriguing psychological thriller produced by 60 Frames, directed by indie film director Eduardo Rodriguez, and starring lonelygirl15 herself, Jessica Rose. And we weren’t the only ones, judging by the fact that the Blood Cell trailer has racked up nearly 7 million views since being uploaded in April 2008.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Thursday, November 5, 2009 13:30 PST
I’m going to say a small prayer now. Dear Lord, please please please make the upcoming pilot from Comedy Central and The Onion as awesome as it sounds, so it can be picked up for a full season. Amen.
By Chris Albrecht, Thursday, November 5, 2009 12:44 PST
Motionbox announced today that it is making its video hosting service available as a commercial product called Motionbox Pro for customers such as real estate agents and outlets such as Gawker Media and Reuters (who have both already signed on as customers).
By Liz Gannes, Wednesday, November 4, 2009 09:28 PST
The YouTube-hosted Elevator, launched in May 2007, has survived a 2009 production company changeover (from HBOlab to Break) to produce over 200 episodes of short, wry comedy shot in a single location. And that longevity has paid off, thanks in part to a wide range of guest stars, including YouTube elite like Charles Trippy and Ryan Higa, Garfunkle and Oates‘ Kate Micucci, and Canadian sketch comedy team Loading Ready Run, who have helped the series achieve millions of views and nearly 80,000 YouTube subscribers. Via chat, we talked with series creator Woody Tondorf about Elevator’s origins, the difference between his past and present corporate masters, and if an end is in sight for the series. An edited transcript follows.
By Liz Shannon Miller, Tuesday, November 3, 2009 13:04 PST
High-definition TV sets are expected to top the wish lists of consumers looking to cash in on Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. According to Retrevo’s Gadgetology survey, 30 percent of consumers shopping over the weekend want a new HDTV set, compared to 22 percent that are looking to purchase a new computer and just 14 percent that want a new Blu-ray player.
Desert Bus For Hope Rides Again for the Third Year
Broadsheet
War Room
Glenn Greenwald
