Category: Web Series

American Web TV Channel KoldCast TV Signs Local Hong Kong Production “Lumina” for Distribution

Lumina on KoldCast TV

from Jennifer Thym and KoldCast TV:

What do Keanu Reeves, Ridley Scott and Jennifer Thym have in common? They are all working on web series, the latest evolution of original online entertainment, typically short form narratives (three to five minutes) in a serial format (ten to thirty webisodes). Hong Kong is represented by the fantasy thriller Lumina the Web Series, which has just been signed by American Web TV Channel KoldCast TV to join their award-winning slate of original online content.

“This past week has been amazing,” says Lumina writer and director Jennifer Thym. “Working with KoldCast TV has been fantastic and heartening — it’s rare to meet people who are truly passionate about their work. Web series is still a burgeoning medium, and KoldCast’s strategy of being selective about its programming and pro-active about marketing is exactly what the field needs right now. I’m so excited that Lumina is now on their slate — it’s a big step for a new Hong Kong production like ours!”

Marti Resteghini, VP, Network Programming at KoldCast TV, says that KoldCast has been looking for a special series with which to launch its new International channel. “Lumina is a thrilling fairytale about love, longing and greed. It’s a timeless story that just so happens to be taking place in Hong Kong. Jennifer Thym’s strikingly beautiful series has raised the bar for web programming — both here and abroad,” says Resteghini.

Creating worlds is a passion and one that Thym enjoys. When she entered the film world in July 2008, the investment banker turned filmmaker decided to take a novel approach to reaching her audience. “With Lumina we wanted to go beyond the conventional format of short film,” says Jennifer Thym, “and create an online fantasy series with wonderful potential for interactivity with its viewers.” As theatrical and DVD sales fall around the world, viewers are increasingly turning to the web for entertainment. “The online audience is already there. To me, it’s about connecting to them with an engaging and beautifully told story.”

“Lumina will open your minds cinematically, and the story will open your hearts to the impossible,” says producer Sommer Nguyen.

Lumina stars actress and model JuJu Chan, who also stars in the new RTHK reality show on poverty and is the winner of Miss United Nation International Ambassador 2009, Miss United Nation China, Miss Congeniality and Miss TVB People’s Choice for Miss Chinatown USA Pageant 2009. Michael Chan, star of the viral hit Wall Street Fighter IV, and Vince Matthew Chung, winner of The Amazing Race Asia 3, 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. “Good music is integral to drawing viewers into the story, and I’m honored to have collaborated with such talented musicians,” says Jennifer Thym.

Lumina the Web Series launched this week with a triple webisode release on KoldCast TV, with new webisodes airing every Monday. The series is free to view on koldcast.tv and on luminaseries.com.

About KoldCast TV, The Web TV Network:

KoldCast TV delivers on-demand entertainment programming to a global audience in fullscreen high-definition via its line of advanced Media Players. Award-winning original web series, music, comedy, sports and lifestyles programming create the nucleus of the KoldCast Television Network. KoldCast is recognized by its content partners for its value-added and personal approach to partner relationships, and for its commitment to the marketing, promotion and organized discoverability of shows selected for broadcast on its Network. Recent series include: Blue Movies, an Official Selection of the New York Television Festival; OzGirl, winner of iTVFest’s Best Web Series; Pink, Streamy Awards Best Director winner; Luke 11:17, Webby’s Best Drama Episode nominee.

About RockGinger Limited:

RockGinger Limited is a multimedia company founded in 2008 by Jennifer Thym to produce original independent web, TV and film projects.

FOR ALL INQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT:

Jennifer Thym, Director
RockGinger Limited
Mobile: +852 9546 9489
e-mail: jen@rockginger.com

OR

Sommer Nguyen, Producer
Sommertime Productions
Mobile: +1 310 629 8670
e-mail: sommer@sommertimeproductions.com

MEDIA CONTACT — KOLDCAST TV:

Marti Resteghini, VP, Network Programming and Acquisitions, KoldCast TV
e-mail: MediaInquiries@KoldCast.TV

The Guild: Season 3 Episode 3 “Player Down” is now… up!

from The Guild:

We’re happy to announce that Guild Episode 3 “Player Down” is now live on our Microsoft platforms!

Streaming on MSN
Downloadable in HD on Xbox
Downloadable on Zune

There is a slight delay on the Xbox/Zune platforms due to software updates (especially on the Canadian upload) so you might have to check back in certain regions.

Lumina, Episode 3: Enter The Mirror Spy

Lumina, Episode 3: Enter The Mirror Spy premieres today. The intrigue deepens as Lumina tries to balance her work life and her new life with Ryder. As a coworker is trying to sabotage her relationship with her boss at work, someone else approaches her about her relationship with Ryder. The song “J.D.R.” by La’Dies closes out the episode, kicking up the mood to a dangerous and frantic foreboding.

Lumina Premieres

LUMINA Front Page

After many months of anticipation, Jennifer Thym‘s Lumina premiered with back-to-back episodes! Was it worth the wait? I have to say a resounding YES!

The story is intriguing, the music is compelling, and the imagery is beautiful. I kept finding myself staring at all the reflective surfaces and at the color and the texture of beautiful Hong Kong. I’ve re-watched a few times now, and each time I noticed something new. Obviously, an incredible amount of thought went into the cinematography, and the RED camera has proved once again just how amazing it is.

LUMINA Webisode 1: Single Women introduces us to Lumina, a woman who lives alone, has an antagonistic relationship with her mother, and works late rather than go home to her empty apartment. Her life is suddenly changed one night when she meets a stranger in her mirror. Ryder lives on the other side of the glass and can see her through any reflective surface. As she gets to know Ryder, she is drawn from her usual monotony into exploring the reflective surfaces of the city around her.

The song “Make Me Real” by Sense of Akasha closes out the first episode and leaves you with a sense of hope and foreboding.

In LUMINA Webisode 2: Wake Up Call we see that Lumina has favor with her boss, but not some of her coworkers. While trouble brews at work, and another mysterious stranger becomes entangled in her life, her deepening relationship with Ryder starts her down an uncertain path.

“Grey” by LGF closes out the second episode with high-octane intensity and a sense of danger.

New episodes of Lumina will premiere every Tuesday, and Jennifer Thym promises lots of fun stuff in between!

Never heard of Lumina? Check out our past articles on Lumina, including our interview with series creator and director Jennifer Thym.

Other Lumina links:
Lumina’s YouTube Channel
Lumina’s Facebook Group
Lumina News RSS
RockGinger

Steampunk and the Web Collide in Riese: The Series

Riese Logo

A reluctant heroine travels with her wolf through a
collapsing world, outrunning a dangerous religious cult
and piecing together her past.

Steampunk and sci-fi fans are going to love the new series Riese from filmmakers Ryan Copple and Kaleena Kiff. Picking up where Sanctuary failed to follow through, due to its jump to television, the series intends to not only produce fresh, high-quality content for the web but to be interactive with the fanbase through its website, forums, and an alternate reality game that will premiere along with the series. Other applications are being developed that will further integrate Riese into your daily web life.

In a hauntingly familiar dystopian world, Riese, a seemingly random wanderer, flees across the dying lands. Hunted by a terrifying religious group, The Sect, Riese must evade the assassins that have been sent to kill her and discover their true objective.

Her past is shrouded in mystery as even Riese can’t recall the events of the tragic night when her entire family was slaughtered and she was forced to flee. On her journey, she’ll piece together her past and her destiny, in a struggle that will hold the fate of the world in the balance — and the once peaceful kingdom of Eleysia will be the battlefield. Despite the impending doom, Riese emerges as the sole beacon of hope.

The Riese team has put together a lot of behind-the-scenes photos and videos to help submerge you in the world of Eleysia before the series premieres and, at first glance, I was hooked. The wardrobe has that high-quality look you got used to with shows like Firefly and Merlin. There are photos in the online gallery of the cast in costume and they look great. I was wondering how they’d pull off a steampunk feel, something typically reserved for graphic novels and anime, but it looks like they’ve done it. There aren’t any CGI shots to view yet but the concept art reminds me a bit of the mutants in Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards. The series appears to utilize both traditional settings and greenscreen to create the world of Eleysia, and I look forward to seeing the familiar woods outside of Vancouver that we geeks have fallen in love with over the years, largely due to Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis.

Speaking of Sanctuary and Stargate, fans may recognize a few familiar faces in the Riese cast. Christine Chatelain (Riese) was introduced in Season 1 of Sanctuary as the invisible girl, Clara Griffin. Sharon Taylor (Amara) not only played Amelia Banks on Stargate Atlantis but appeared in Smallville and Eureka, as well. Ben Cotton (Herrick), who played Dr. Kavanagh on Stargate Atlantis, also appeared in Harper’s Island, jPod, and a handful of other sci-fi favorites. Patrick Gilmore (Trennan) appears in all of the Stargate series (including the upcoming Stargate Universe), as well as Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, and Eureka. I’m sure we’ll see many more familiar faces on Riese as the series progresses.

THE STORY

Imagine a crumbling world, a parallel universe. A world of anachronisms, full of archaic characters and conventions. This world once enjoyed a lasting prosperity, due largely to the influence of the monarchy of Eleysia.

Eleysia — the kingdom of the wolf, governed by Kara and Ulric, was a peaceful nation. This all changed when a mysterious and unexpected coup d’etat, orchestrated from the shadows by a religious cult, brought about a regime change.

Taking the throne was Amara, Kara’s cousin. A power-hungry tyrant, Amara immediately utilized Eleysia’s resources to begin colonizing this world, toppling nation after nation in order to unite the people under one banner.

Even as Amara assaulted the world, an ominous, enigmatic group clearly wielded power over her. Called The Sect, they purported themselves to be the official religion of Eleysia, and began to spread alongside Eleysia’s borders. Horrifying tales of their practices began to circulate, casting an even darker shadow across this war-torn environment.

Since then, this world has begun to change.

The land is dying, resources are dwindling, and compassion is fading. Distrust and anxiety have clouded the people’s minds, causing a regression to primitive ways of thinking. People have grown restless, almost feral. Rituals and mythology have resurged, and the darker side of mankind has begun to reveal itself. Some say the end is coming. Shadows have begun lurking in the hearts of men.

The true horror of the world is not in how it ends, but what will become of mankind as it fractures.

And yet, despite the impending doom, a single beacon of light shines in Riese, a mysterious wanderer. Traveling with her wolf, Fenrir, she journeys across this barren world. Within her lies the strength and resolve to stop the nefarious plans of Empress Amara and the Sect and restore the kingdom of Eleysia to its former prosperity.

This is the world of Riese.

Principal filming for the first batch of episodes just wrapped with more slated to begin in December. We’ll keep you updated as new info is released. In the meantime, be sure to check out these links:

Official Riese Website
“The Sect is Here” Website
Riese on YouTube
Riese on Twitter
Riese on Facebook

Legend of Neil Episode 4 is Live

from The Legend of Neil:

We are very proud of the brand new episode of Neil that features much drinking, references to Cheers, and an 80s montage. Yes, we were on crack the entire time while writing the ep. Actually funnily enough (is funnily a word?), this episode was written to be the actual 6th episode of season 1. But due to budgetary reasons for season 1 we couldn’t pull it off and had to instead do 3 episodes in the dungeon of level 1. So we’ve been saving this one up for a while. We’ve always really loved this episode so I’m so glad that almost 2 years after writing it we’re finally able to show it to you. Here’s hoping you like it!

If you missed our previous musical episode please chiggity check it here. If you do not currently own a Legend of Neil t-shirt then you are not cool. Become cool here.

The Guild: Season 3 Episode 2 is Posted

from The Guild:

We’re excited to link you Season 3 Episode 2 “Anarchy”!
Download on Xbox and Zune
Stream on MSN
Discuss on our Forums and Chat community!

To clarify, we don’t get the episodes from the new season in our player immediately, so enjoy on MS platforms for a few weeks!

The Legend of Neil PAX Schedule

from The Legend of Neil:

All here is the OFFICIAL Legend of Neil PAX schedule (and yes I realize that this is coming in the middle of PAX, my bad, busy editing new episodes and one day is blending into the next).

PANEL:

Saturday at 9pm at The Unicorn Theatre: Legend of Neil Screening of Episode 3 and a SNEAK PREVIEW of Episode 4. Q&A with Tony and Sandeep

Saturday at 5:30pm at the Raven Theatre: The Making of a Hit Webseries with Tony, Sandeep, Kim Evey (producer of The Guild), Jeff Lewis (Vork in The Guild)

SIGNINGS:

at the Guild Booth in Bandland across from the Main Theatre:

Friday

3pm-5pm (Tony Janning, Sandeep Parikh, Jeff Lewis)

Saturday

11am-1pm (Tony Janning, Sandeep Parikh, Jeff Lewis)

3pm-5pm (Tony Janning, Sandeep Parikh, Jeff Lewis)

*Also note, that we may be at the booth at other times, and if this schedule changes it will be noted at the booth.

T-shirts, posters and photos will be on sale at the Guild booth at all times!

DRINKING TIMES:

If you find us at a bar, come drink with us. Happy hunting!

Loveyameanit!

The Guild: Season 3 Premieres on the Web

from The Guild:

We’re excited to announce that “Expansion Time” is now streaming on MSN!

Episode 2 will be up across all platforms; Xbox, MSN and Zune, starting next week for the 12 week season run.

Please go to our community site, Facebook page or Tweet @theguild if you have feedback, we love to hear from you! Zune downloads will be available today as well, and Xbox silver members can download in HD as well. Enjoy!

Edit [Thanks Dani!]:
Here is our community Season 3 Episode 1 discussion post, Zune link and Xbox link. Apologies if these links do not work in your regions.

New Thriller Web Series LUMINA Debuts September 8

LUMINA Front Page

from Jennifer Thym:

Creating worlds is a passion, and one that writer and director Jennifer Thym enjoys. When she entered the film world in July 2008, the investment banker turned filmmaker decided to take a novel approach to reaching her audience. “With LUMINA we wanted to go beyond the conventional format of short film,” says Jennifer Thym, “and create an online fantasy series with wonderful potential for interactivity with its viewers.” As theatrical and DVD sales fall around the world, viewers are increasingly turning to the web for entertainment. “The online audience is already there. To me, it’s about connecting to them with an engaging and beautifully told story.”

“LUMINA will open your minds cinematically, and the story will open your hearts to the impossible,” says producer Sommer Nguyen.

LUMINA stars actress and model JuJu Chan, who also stars in the new RTHK reality show on poverty and is the winner of Miss United Nation International Ambassador 2009, Miss United Nation China, Miss Congeniality and Miss TVB People’s Choice for Miss Chinatown USA Pageant 2009. Michael Chan, star of the viral hit Wall Street Fighter IV, and Vince Matthew Chung, winner of The Amazing Race Asia 3, 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. “Good music is integral to drawing viewers into the story, and I’m honored to have collaborated with such talented musicians,” says Jennifer Thym.

LUMINA the Web Series premieres with a double webisode release on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. The accompanying press conference will include a screening of the first two webisodes and an exclusive Q&A session with the cast and director.

WHEN: 5:00 pm, Tuesday, September 8, 2009
WHERE: Scirocco, 1/F, 10-12 Staunton’s Street, SoHo, Central Hong Kong

For all inquiries, please contact:

Jennifer Thym, Director
RockGinger Limited
Mobile: +852 9546 9489
e-mail: jen@rockginger.com

OR

Sommer Nguyen, Producer
Sommertime Productions
Mobile: +1 310 629 8670
e-mail: sommer@sommertimeproductions.com

FORMAT:
Original English language web series filmed on the RED ONE, 2:1 aspect ratio, shot at 4K resolution and mastered at 2K+.

DURATION:
63 minutes total running time.

SCHEDULE:
The first season consists of nine webisodes, four to eight minutes each, and will be available free to view starting Tuesday, September 8, 2009, on the website luminaseries.com. A new webisode will be released every Tuesday.

GENRE:
Fantasy thriller/suspense.

SYNOPSIS:
Lumina Wong (JuJu Chan) is beautiful and works far too much; although she lives in a city of millions, she still feels lonely and isolated. Late one night, Lumina has a chance encounter with Ryder Lee (Michael Chan), a handsome young man from another world that she can only see in mirrors and darkened window reflections. She revels in the fantasy relationship until mirrorspy Eben Sanchez (Jacob Ziacan) comes into her life, warning her of the treacheries of the people of the Dark Realm. Soon Lumina must choose between the safety of the world she knows and the deadly allure of the unknown.

CAST:
LUMINA WONG — JuJu Chan
RYDER LEE — Michael Chan
TEDDY WAITS — Vince Matthew Chung
EBEN SANCHEZ — Jacob Ziacan
LAETITIA RICOU — Emilie Guillot
ELIZA CHAN — Shell Z. Zhu
JAMES WESTON — Lawrence Jacob Milman
SERENA FONG — Kate Sullivan
DITA SAUNDERS — Aisling Kinsella
DAMIEN WU — Simon Yin
LADY SIUHUA HAN — Lorea Sola
LORD AMAURY DE LING — Spencer Douglass
YURI THE THIEF MASTER — Jaime Cham
TRAM MIRRORSPY — Lucas Griego
SECURITY GUARD — Jayson Li