Alternative Fuel, Loud Pictures Prep New Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Continuum’

Original Web Series Created and Produced by ‘Pink’s’ Blake Calhoun and Mike Maden Starts Shooting February 22nd

Director Blake Calhoun and longtime producing partner Mike Maden, the award-winning production team behind some of the Web’s most cinematic original series including Pink, 88 Hits and TheWB.com’s forthcoming Exposed, today announced principal photography on their next digital project, the sci-fi thriller series Continuum, will begin February 22nd in Dallas, Texas and Los Angeles and will release the first ten episodes this summer.

Created by Calhoun and Maden and produced & directed by Calhoun, Continuum is a futuristic thriller in the noir-ish tradition of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien starring Melanie Merkosky (CBS/EQAL’s Harper’s Globe) as Raegen, a woman who mysteriously finds herself aboard a space ship with no memory of how she got there and at the mercy of the ship’s computer, voiced by actress/producer Taryn O’Neill, best-known for breakout performances in Compulsions (for which she recently won the inaugural Indie Soap Award for Best Supporting Actress) and the post-apocalyptic After Judgment franchise. Brad Hawkins, veteran TV/film actor and costar of Pink, rounds out Continuum’s minimal cast as Tipton.

“I’m really excited about Continuum because I’ve always loved the darker side of science fiction and this series will allow us to put our own spin on the genre,” said Calhoun. “We’ve decided to produce the series as an independent, like we did with the first season of Pink. We’re going to give owning our content a try again and see how it works out.”

If anything this will be another polished series to add to the sci-fi genre. As mentioned above, Blake Calhoun was behind the extremely popular series Pink.  He’s also got feature films and a TV show in the works. Also, this series is being produced by CJP Digital Media–the company who produced Ikea’s hugely successful Web series Easy To Assemble. In other words, everyone knows what they’re doing and knows how to put a good Web series together.

Have you seen Pink? If not, here’s the first episode:

Source: Press release

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Last week, the 1st annual Indie Soap Awards were held in New York City.

I am familiar with some of the winners (Buppies, Venice, Then We Got Help), but not others. Inspired by this list, I’ve decided to watch and review some of the winners.

Here’s the details from the event:

Winners Announced at 1st Annual Indie Soap Awards
DIARY OF A SINGLE MOM wins as Best Indie Soap at 1st Annual Indie Soap Awards. ANYONE BUT ME and COMPULSIONS tie with four wins each.

The 1st Annual Indie Soap Awards were held on Monday, February 1 in New York City. The show, developed by We Love Soaps, honored the best in continuing drama and web series. The telecast was broadcast around the web on various websites simultaneously.

Robert Townsend’s DIARY OF A SINGLE MOM was the big winner of the night taking home the prize as Best Indie Soap. Townsend, producer and director of the series, accepted alongside stars Janice Lynde and Valery Ortiz.

ANYONE BUT ME and COMPULSIONS tied for the most wins with four apiece. ANYONE BUT ME won for Best Writing, Best Storyline, Best Performance by a Lead Actress (Rachael Hip-Flores) and Best Performance by a Supporting Actor (Joshua Holland). COMPULSIONS won for Best Editing, Best Sound Design, Best Performance by a Lead Actor (Craig Frank) and Best Performance by a Supporting Actress (Taryn O’Neill).

VENICE won the Fan’s Choice Award voted on throughout the month of January by fans.

Comedian/musician Joanna Parson sang an original song, “It Just Takes Love,” which featured the titles of all the eligible independently produced soap operas.

Roger Newcomb and Damon L. Jacobs from WE LOVE SOAPS TV co-hosted the event.

Here is a full list of winners:
Best Indie Soap
DIARY OF A SINGLE MOM

Best Writing
Susan Miller & Tina Cesa Ward, ANYONE BUT ME

Best Directing
Kai Soremekun, CHICK

Best Editing
Michael Darrow, COMPULSIONS

Best Use of Music
Kimmy Turrisi, VENICE

Best Sound Design
Tom Boykin, COMPULSIONS

Best Ensemble
ANACOSTIA

Best Performance by a Lead Actress
Rachael Hip-Flores (Vivian, ANYONE BUT ME)

Best Performance by a Lead Actor
Craig Frank (Mark, COMPULSIONS)

Best Performance by a Supporting Actress
Taryn O’Neill (Sara, COMPULSIONS)

Best Performance by a Supporting Actor
Joshua Holland (Archibald, ANYONE BUT ME)

Best Performance by a Guest Actor
Billy Dee Williams (Bo, DIARY OF A SINGLE MOM)

Breakthrough Performance (tie)
Preston Davis (Eliot, BUPPIES)
Renée Olbert (Simone, SEEKING SIMONE)

Best Storyline
Vivian adjusts to her new life, ANYONE BUT ME

Best Performance in a Comedic Role
Chante Frierson (Kourtney, BUPPIES)

Best Indie Web Series (Comedy)
THEN WE GOT HELP!

Fan’s Choice Award
VENICE

Special Editor’s Awards:
Marketing/Publicity: VENICE
Business Model: HIGH RISE
Main Title Design/Opening Sequence: LUMINA
Scene Transition: EMPIRE
Future Hit: GOTHAM
Total Wins by Show:
ANYONE BUT ME 4
COMPULSIONS 4
VENICE 3
BUPPIES 2
DIARY OF A SINGLE MOM 2
SEEKING SIMONE 1
ANACOSTIA 1
CHICK 1
EMPIRE 1
GOTHAM 1
HIGH RISE 1
LUMINA
THEN WE GOT HELP! 1

Congratulations to Buppies for their win. Here’s the review I did of the series.

Check back throughout the week for my reviews of: Then We Got Help, Anyone But Me, Compulsions, Venice, Diary of a Single Mom and Chick.

Check out IndieSoapAwards.com for more info.

Source: Press release

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A new post-apocalyptic drama Web series is set to debut on the Web (no release date seems to be given) with the promise of bringing a quality to the medium we have yet to see.

People behind The Coat, a French creation, promise it will be a feast for the eyes.

Moving Pictures Film & Television is making its foray into the area of new media by teaming with three French filmmakers to create and produce an original web series, The Coat, a post-apocalyptic drama.

…Seven six-minute webisodes have already been shot in France, with a further five either in production or preproduction. The 12-part series is targeted at young males. The Coat revolves around the survivor of a wave on inexplicable global catastrophes. The series was created by France-based artists Mathieu Cailliere, director of a number of short movies; Benoit Lamouche, film director and former ad agency artistic director; and Sebastien Petitjean, comics author, illustrator, graphic artist and short-movie director.

Moving Pictures has teamed up with Will Marks, former VP of business development at Comcast Entertainment Group, who remarked, “The Coat completely raises the bar for a web video series. It has layers of mystery worthy of Lost, the style and terror of Cloverfield, and a mythology as rich as The X-Files.”

Here is the trailer:

Personally, I don’t speak French, but, I have to admit, that trailer looked so visually stunning that I will be checking this series out.

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This is an interview with Emmy-award nominated writer, now horror film director Drew Daywalt. Drew created a horror Web series called Camera Obscura. I got the chance to talk to him about how the series came to be and what it the filming experience was like:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Here is the trailer for Camera Obscura:

And here is Drew’s YouTube page.

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I know. I know.

When you approach something like a corporate-sponsored Web series you do so knowing, chances are, branding will come before quality content.

The thing is, I couldn’t resist watching, and writing about, the Gatorade Free Flow Web series. It is an older series (the episodes were uploaded in late 2009) and, yes, “Gatorade” is mentioned several times during each episode, but I have a weakness for skateboarders and extreme sports videos.

The episodes tell the stories of young Gatorade Free Flow Tour hopefuls. The kids are young and their passion for skateboarding is infectious. It’s a little scary to see these kids, some of whom aren’t even teens yet, have so much business savvy and be contemplating future clothing sponsorships and becoming skateboarding DVD stars.  Watching go out to the skate parks and fearlessly repeat the same moves kind of makes me think their hard work deserves reward.

My favorite parts are the commentary the older, more experienced skaters/BMX bikers give when speaking about the potential of the athletes being featured. The feedback they give leaves you feeling good that the scene these kids spend so much time in isn’t cut throat or ego driven. Everyone seems quite supportive (in front of the camera, anyway).

Here’s the first episode. I would love to see the footage Zane is shooting once he has a few more years of experience:

Check out the rest of the series here.

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From a press release:

The Cutting-Edge Nine Episode Series Reveals the Candid Conversations Men Have While Getting ‘Lined Up’ in a Brooklyn Barbershop

BET.com is set to debut its highly anticipated new web series SHOP TALK: WHAT’S ON THE HEARTS OF MEN on Tuesday, February 2 at 3:00 p.m.* The documentary style web series explores the open dialogue between men that can only happen in one place: the barbershop. Featuring well-known actor Malik Yoba (Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too, “New York Undercover”), SHOP TALK covers a multitude of hot button topics — from interracial relationships to commitment to President Obama.

Along with the web series is an interactive blog in which viewers can sound off on the issues presented in each episode. “Our goal is to stimulate dialogue within our community about issues from a male perspective rarely seen in mainstream media,” said Malik Yoba, creator of SHOP TALK. “We want to push the viewers to think beyond the obvious ideas that they just saw and create discussion on the blog.”

In episode one, Malik takes seven-year-old son Josiah to the neighborhood barbershop, KNAPS, in Brooklyn, New York. While there, Josiah seeks the wisdom of his elders as they discuss what it means to be a man.

SHOP TALK is written, directed and produced by actor/musician Malik Yoba. The web series is executive produced by Trinket Lewis.

The first episode was posted just a few minutes ago:

Brief Review:

If anything, corporations are embarcing Web series as an advertising venue. You gotta love the oh, so subtle Gillette product placement in this episode. But you know, if it takes some corporate funding to bring a Web series online, then I don’t mind. I liked this first episode. Seeing the father/son bonding and community connection was touching and left me wanting to watch more. The soundtrack was enjoyable as well.

Check out the Shop Talk official site.

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Have you ever arrived late to a party–a fair amount of people were still there, music was still playing, and there was still plenty of food–yet you just knew you missed out on the most enjoyable, spontaneous moments of the evening?

That’s how I feel when I come across a Web series that just uploaded its finale.

I started this blog too late to celebrate the run of BET’s Web series Buppies. Of course, the cool thing is there is no waiting for a week for a new episode. Now, we can watch the whole 10-episode series in its entirety. That’s exactly what I did.

Here’s the premise:

After losing her father and being dumped by her fiancè, Quinci, the socialite daughter of a Hollywood celebrity, realizes that her friends are her only real family left. This provocative and ironic series chronicles the relationship dramas of Quinci’s dysfunctional but virtually inseparable friends as they navigate the perks and pratfalls faced by LA’s young black power elite.

This groundbreaking series is the first original webseries to present an all African-American cast, and features accomplished actress Tatyana Ali (”The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Young and the Restless”) in the starring role.

While I’m open to watching a Web series that looks and feels low-budget while looking for the greatness in it, from time to time I really like watching a series which looks like something I could watch on TV. For the most part, Buppies fulfilled this need.

We have a familiar face (Tatyana Ali) in the lead role as well as script writing that rivals any daytime soap opera.

Each character comes along with their own struggle to not be afraid of being true to themselves. You’ve got the heart broken main character who find the courage to move forward, the cool and collected friend whose life takes an unexpected turn, and another friend who chooses to live a lie and deal with the consequences of doing so.

The plot really doesn’t stray from any daytime soap or even any standard romantic comedy you’ve ever watched. The familiarity of this sort of storytelling along with decent acting and well-shot scenes makes for an entertaining experience.

I had my issues with the first episode especially the scene in which Quinci is crying hysterically while her friend films her. I get how that scene played an important role, but it was symbolic of how, throughout the series, there were scenes like this one that were supposed to be high drama yet funny at the same time, but just felt flat.

Another example was when Shaka’s girlfriend appeared and was, gasp, white…and overweight. Yes, it played into the drama of a character revealed to be someone he didn’t want his friends to realize he was. And yes, the contrast of a guy wanting to a rapper yet dating a fat white chick is kind of funny, but it just didn’t work for me.

There were some wrinkles, but otherwise this was an admirable effort.

You know you’ve come across a good Web series when you watch one episode after another and you find yourself caring what happens to the characters. I’d love to know if a second season is in the works.

Watch episode one:

BET Videos

Check out the official Buppies site.

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