The Axis of Anarchy and The Knights of Good face off.
Category: Web Series
The Guild: Season 3 DVD in-store signing with Felicia! (Torrance – LA Area)
from The Guild:
LA Area fans — meet Felicia Day this Friday, May 21 from 5pm – 7pm at Suncoast Motion Picture Company at Del Amo Fashion Square in Torrance. Taking a break from a busy season 4 shooting schedule, Felicia will be signing autographs in store to support the retail DVD release of Season 3 on DVD.
Season 3 is currently available on DVD exclusively in stores at FYE, Coconuts, Wherehouse and Suncoast.
NOTE: This in-store appearance was originally scheduled for Wednesday, May 19 but a change in the production schedule for Season 4 required this rescheduling. Apologies to the fans and to the store — and thanks for your patience!
Address & Map Link:
SUNCOAST MOVIES
DEL AMO FASHION SQUARE
21712 HAWTHORNE BLVD
TORRANCE, CA 90503
Google Maps Link
Travis Gordon on “Spellfury” — A Comedic Fantasy Adventure
(Teaser Clip of Spellfury, Episode 1)
KoldCast.tv is an online network that offers dozens of original series created exclusively for the web in a multitude of genres. One of those web series is a fantasy comedy called Spellfury. I recently offered up my opinion of the show on KoldCast’s blog (you can read it by clicking here). To sum it up, Spellfury is funny and entertaining, and succeeds where many previous attempts at mixing comedy and fantasy failed.
I recently spoke with creator Travis Gordon about his inspiration as a filmmaker and what influenced his creation of Spellfury.
ÜberSciFiGeek (ÜSFG) Who were your influences in filmmaking?
Travis Gordon (TG) George Lucas. Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are my favorite three films.
(ÜSFG) Did you always plan on doing Spellfury as a web series?
(TG) We’d worked for about 6 years on a feature-length film called Mass Stupidity that we’re submitting to festivals now so I had lived with this heavy burden of carrying this huge film from script to post production and I told myself I wouldn’t be doing another film for a long while so I decided I wanted to do something easier. A web series provides more freedom for a writer, a film is very structured, a series can be a little looser, I do have the characters and story arcs worked out for the show for a few seasons but a web series allows the characters to grow and take on a life of their own. I can watch an actor play the character and go, oh, that was interesting, I’d love to see more of that and try and work it into the storyline. There’s a lot more collaboration with the actors, I have more flexibility in the storytelling, I’m enjoying that.
(ÜSFG) You have several other projects that have gotten some acclaim. Tell us a little bit about them.
(TG) We received a Bronze in Dramatic Shorts at The Houston International Worldfest Film Festival in 2008, it was very exciting for all of us, it was the first time we had won an international award for filmmaking. It was for a sci-fi short called Revelation about a woman struggling with her predetermined destiny, it also starred Julie O’Halloran, Robbie Drebitt and Penu Chalykoff from Spellfury and was shot entirely in front of greenscreens.
(ÜSFG) When can we expect more episodes of Spellfury?
(TG) I’m going to wrap up episode 9-12 in the next few months and that will be the end of season one. After that I might take a little break and make a DVD with extras, commentaries and lots of behind the scenes stuff and then start into season 2.
(ÜSFG) What are your hopes for the future of Spellfury?
(TG) My hopes are we can grow our audience and actually make a profit on the show in season 2. My dream is that the show can be sustainable enough that I can actually start to pay the actors and crew for their hard work, they’ve been so supportive of the show from day one! That’s the trouble with making a web series, there isn’t enough money coming in to pay for the episodes. I think things will change soon though. More and more people are watching video online nowadays, the advertising dollars are shifting from television to online.
(ÜSFG) For anyone watching Spellfury, what’s the one thing you most want them to take away from the experience?
(TG) I want them to think “wow, that was fun”.
You can watch Spellfury on the official website and at KoldCast, then check out these other links:
Spellfury Official Website
Spellfury on KoldCast
Spellfury on Facebook
Spellfury on Twitter
Travis Gordon on Twitter
Travis Gordon on Funny or Die
The Guild: Season 3, Episode 10: The Return!
Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, Vork returns to rebuild the Guild. Not really that dramatic, but you get the idea.
“Tunla” Teaser Trailer
Tunla the Series — Teaser Trailer from Tunla the Series on Vimeo.
Tunla is a new web series currently in production and set to premiere this fall. I had the privilege of being on set for the shoot of the pilot, so keep an eye out for some behind-the-scenes fun with the cast and crew. In the meantime, check out this teaser and get a first glimpse at the town of Tunla.
Effinfunny/Legend of Neil Internship!
from The Legend of Neil:
WHO: A savvy, 2.0 person interested in pursuing a career in comedy and the entertainment industry.
WHEN: Summer (starting June 1).
WHERE: MTV Offices in Santa Monica, CA.
WHAT: Intern for EffinFunny.com. EffinFunny is a comedy website and the hub for writer/director/actor Sandeep Parikh’s productions, including the award winning Comedy Central/Atom.com series The Legend of Neil. Our intern will work 8 to 16 hours a week updating and optimizing content associated with EffinFunny, making runs, and assisting with office tasks during the post-production of season 3 of The Legend of Neil and the production of the multi-award winning Microsoft webseries The Guild, which Sandeep acts in.
This is a position with a tremendous amount of growth potential. If you show us that you’re a team player with a go-getter attitude and a quick learner, then production jobs WILL open up to you. Applicants should be MAC and MS Office proficient. Final Cut Pro and PhotoShop/Graphic Design skills a huge plus.
HOW: To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to N3ILintern@gmail.com. List some of your favorite comedies and tell us about yourself, your skills, and your aspirations (emphasis on skills).
The Guild: Season 3, Episode 9: Wit’s End
The Guild crumbles under the Axis of Anarchy’s attacks.
The Guild: Season 3, Episode 8: +10 to Bravery
Codex takes desperate measures to save the Guild. She even goes outside!
The Guild: Season 3, Episode 7: Coping and Stuff
The Axis of Anarchy thwarts Codex’s attempt to counter their attacks with logic and reasonableness.
The Legend of Neil: Season 3 Shooting Now
from The Legend of Neil:
Dear Fans of Neil,
Thanks so much for sticking by us! We’re 5 days in to a 14 day shoot for season 3. It’s going to be an epic season! A bunch of new characters mixed in with your old favorites. Or should I say “Ooooold favorites?” The creator/director has been updating daily on our Facebook fan page and our Twitter as well. Join us on either site, pick your poison and raise a glass of dragon period ale as we push to make season 3 the best season yet!
“The Guild” Comic Book
from The Guild:
The Guild comic book, issue #2 (of 3) was released yesterday. This issue features cover art by Matthew Stawicki (shown) and Kristin Donaldson. In #2, we finally get to see all the Guildies. If you want a preview of the comic, Comic Book Resources again has a sneak peek. And like the first issue, the comic is already getting some great reviews — here’s one from Airlock Alpha, and two more here and here. The response from our fans to the comic has been tremendous, from 200+ people showing up to the signing at Golden Apple Comics to reports of The Guild as some people’s first comic book ever purchased. Thanks so much for the support!
Dark Horse Comics alerted us to the fact that due to a distributor glitch, stores in NY, PA, MI, parts of TX and MO, and most of Canada did not receive issue #2 yesterday but will be getting it next week. They also announced the release of issue #1 as an iTunes App, so you can now enjoy the comic for 99 cents on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Here’s the link to the iTunes Store. Dark Horse will release each of the three issues to iTunes, about a month after the print version (exact dates are hard to know, since iTunes has an approval process which affects the release, but we’ll keep you posted).
Pick up your copy from your local comic shop, or buy online from Things from Another World or any number of online retailers.
If you just can’t get enough of the comic, here are some additional links for your enjoyment: Felicia’s blog entry about issue #2, a quick interview with Felicia by Dark Horse, and a cool “Making of” feature that shows issue #1 in various stages of production.
–The Guild management
The Webby Awards Honors LUMINA the Series for Best Editing
from Lumina:
Lumina the Web Series has been selected as an Official Honoree for the Best Editing category in The 14th Annual Webby Awards. As a result of the exceptional quality of submissions this year, the Academy has chosen to recognize work exhibiting remarkable achievement that was not selected as a Nominee. Out of the nearly 10,000 entries from over 60 countries submitted to the 14th Annual Webby Awards, less than 15% are awarded the status of Official Honoree. Only four, including Lumina and the Sony web series Angel of Death, were selected as Official Honorees for Best Editing.
The Webby Awards Official Honoree distinction marks the groundbreaking Hong Kong web series’ eleventh award distinction since its online release last fall. Previous honors include one Streamy Awards nomination for Best Cinematography, six Indie Soap Awards nominations, including for Best Writing and Best Directing, and three American Soap World Awards nominations. “I am so proud of my team, especially of our editor Bettina Enigl for her hard work and dedication to her craft,” says Lumina writer and director Jennifer Thym. “This is a great honor and I hope our success encourages other filmmakers to explore the web series medium.”
About Lumina the Web Series:
Written and directed by first time American director Jennifer Thym and the debut release from her film production company RockGinger, Lumina the Web Series is a dark densely woven fantasy series set against the sparkling backdrop of Hong Kong. Lumina stars actress JuJu Chan, who also starred in the acclaimed RTHK reality show on poverty. Michael Chan and Vince Matthew Chung co-star. The series features music from around the world, including songs from groundbreaking music collective The Enigmatic Army, American college circuit favorite Tim Be Told and China Global Battle of the Bands winner Killer Soap. The entire nine part first season of Lumina is now available to view on luminaseries.com as well as on Lumina’s American distribution partners’ websites, koldcast.tv and blip.tv. A special DVD release with behind the scenes footage and bonus material is on the way.
About RockGinger:
RockGinger is a film production company founded in 2008 by award-nominated film director and producer Jennifer Thym. Thym’s debut film project, the groundbreaking fantasy web series Lumina (nine webisodes, 63 minutes total running time, released fall 2009), garnered eleven distinctions in four different award ceremonies and has been viewed in festivals and on online platforms around the world. She also is producer of the independent feature film Jasmine, starring Jason Tobin, Eugenia Yuan, Glen Chin, Sarah Lian and Byron Mann. Her latest project is the action feature film Bloodtraffick.
About the Webby Awards:
The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. Established in 1996 during the Web’s infancy, the Webbys are presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, which includes an Executive 750-member body of leading Web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities, and Associate Members who are former Webby Award Winners and Nominees and other Internet professionals.
The Academy is an intellectually diverse organization that includes musician David Bowie, Internet inventor Vinton Cerf, Martha Stewart, The Weinstein Company’s Harvey Weinstein, Arianna Huffington, Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake, Ogilvy’s Chief Digital Officer Lars Bastholm, Simpsons creator Matt Groening and Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson. Members also include writers and editors from publications such as The New York Times, Wired, Details, Fast Company, Elle, The Los Angeles Times, Vibe, and WallPaper.