Author: ÜberSciFiGeek

Dr. Horrible DVD available for pre-order on Amazon

from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog:

Well, my turkey (or, in some cases, tofurkey) stuffed friends, we literally just put the finishing touches on the disc. Is it worth fifteen hard-earned dollars? Absolutely. In fact, I can say without reservation that the Dr. Horrible DVD is worth $15.23 EASILY. More, if your dollars weren’t the hard-earned kind, just the kind you have lying around in your mom’s purse. God knows WE’VE worked hard to earn ’em. “Commentary! The Musical” is the most painstaking and exhausting piece of whimsey I have ever mistaken for a good idea. It has nearly twice as much music as Dr. Horrible itself — since you can’t really talk that much during a commentary musical or it sounds like a regular commentary. (Which we also have, with the stars and writers, plus making-of’s, ELE applications, and a few items left lying around by a notorious Bunny…) I can say without hesitation that I hesitate to say it’s great. And by great I mean ridiculous. It’s sophmoric, solopsistic, silly and the most fun I’ve had being exhausted since the fabled Mushortio itself. And everyone sings beautifullly. Which enrages me. I a little bit hate my friends now.

The listed street date is, by the way, a little later than we’d expected — I’m hoping Amazon is just playing it safe and we can beat that date. More on that as we learn it. Expect a twittering sensation.

Finally, I just want to say “thank you” to everybody who has supported this venture. We’ve been able to pay our crew and all our bills, which means a lot. What means more is proving that completely independent ventures can muscle their way through the blizzard of big-budget behemoths. (A blizzard of behemoths? Back to writing school, alliteration-junkie!) All that rhetoric about the future of entertainment that flew about during the Strike is still entirely true. We need to find our own way of producing entertainment. A lot of people are watching Dr. Horrible to see if it’s any kind of model — way more people than I expected — and it means everything to me to help pave the way for artists to start working and making a living from the ground up. There are a couple of real pioneers in this that I know personally: Felicia Day, I’m thrilled to say, and choreographer Chris Elam are both looking far ahead in terms of monetization and interactivity. Me, I’m more like Jimmy Stewart in “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”, but at least I’m out there. Thanks, he finally summed up, to you.

My story has become tiresome! But wait till you hear the songs.

Did we cover “silly”…?

Vancouver 2010 Winter Games mascots celebrate first birthday with parties at HBC stores

from Vancouver2010.com:

Put your party hats on and make room for some cake; today marks the first birthday of Miga, Quatchi and Sumi, the mascots for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. And there’s even more reason to celebrate because the mascots’ cyber-sidekick Mukmuk is now featured in his own line of playful merchandise! In addition, starting today, a new animated video about Mukmuk that allows his fans to get to know him better will be available at vancouver2010.com/mascots, as well as a new interactive game featuring a flying Sumi.

Mukmuk, a small and friendly Vancouver Island marmot, is now a plush toy and featured on pins, T-shirts, playing cards, travel pillows and even a berry orange and blue toque just like the one he sports online at vancouver2010.com. Special edition box sets of Mukmuk with Miga, Quatchi and Sumi are now available. Mascot merchandise, including a variety of new Mukmuk merchandise, is available at HBC stores, including The Bay and Zellers, across Canada, starting today at 9:30 a.m. PST. It’s also for sale at Olympic stores, at vancouver2010.com and YVR, the Vancouver International Airport.

Best known for his loud cheers during games and races, as well as his unwavering support for his mascot buddies, Mukmuk entered the international spotlight one year ago when Miga, Quatchi and Sumi were introduced and he was named the first-ever Olympic and Paralympic sidekick. While the mascots travel across the country greeting people in person, until now Mukmuk existed in the vast world of cyberspace and in print where he interacts with the public through online games for the 2010 Winter Games as the driver of an ice resurfacer, hockey referee and even a curling skip. He has also acted as postmaster for public questions sent in about the Games.

“Since their introduction one year ago Miga, Sumi and Quatchi have been welcomed into the homes of thousands of Olympic fans. With the support of their friend Mukmuk, the mascots have worked tirelessly to spread a message of goodwill on behalf of Vancouver 2010,” said Dennis Kim, director of licensing and merchandising of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC). “Mukmuk himself has become incredibly popular — in fact he’s developed a great fan base, so in response, we’re pleased to offer this line of Mukmuk products to complement the popular mascot merchandise available.”

Today, Miga, Quatchi and Sumi will be handing out special invitations at HBC’s flagship downtown Vancouver store welcoming families to their birthday party on Saturday, November 29. Parties will be held on Saturday at five HBC stores in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland. The mascot trio will be on hand to visit with youngsters, pose for photos and hand out slices of their special birthday cake. The store locations are:

  • The Bay Park Royal (West Vancouver) from 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
  • The Bay Downtown (Vancouver) from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
  • The Bay Metrotown (Burnaby) from 1:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.
  • The Bay Oakridge (Vancouver) from 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
  • The Bay Richmond (Richmond) from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Mukmuk gets his name from the word “muckamuck”, Chinook jargon for food, because he loves to eat. He is enamoured with all the different types of food found in British Columbia, and is particularly fond of berries and mountain flowers. The Vancouver Island marmot is a species unique to the mountains of Vancouver Island.

A year ago more than 800 schoolchildren witnessed the mascot trio emerge from the mists of a magical West Coast setting of gigantic trees, soaring mountains and majestic ocean. Since then, the mascots have travelled across the country making friends and lighting up the faces of tens of thousands of youngsters and grownups alike at almost 300 public appearances in schools, hospitals and community events. They even paid a visit south of the border where they delighted crowds in Los Angeles and took part in an ice show during the opening days of the Beijing 2008 Summer Games. Highlighting their love of winter sports and the great outdoors, they have skated at Vancouver’s GM Place, travelled by dogsled in Calgary and even snow tubed at the Quebec Winter Carnival, and most recently-cross country skied at the opening of Whistler Olympic Park in BC’s Callaghan Valley.

The mascot microsite at vancouver2010.com has been immensely popular in its first 12 months. Its success includes more than 1.8 million page views, over 336,300 views of the animated mascot video page, more than 92,550 plays of the Operation Recycle game, and well over 500,000 page views of the mascots’ profiles.

The mascots, designed for VANOC by Vancouver-based Meomi Design, are a key component of the Games identity and a playful way to engage a young audience, and, at the same time, increase understanding of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit vancouver2010.com for further details on programs and schedules.

VANOC Communications
mediarelations@vancouver2010.com

Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show, Episode 20: Dancing with the Very Special Guest Stars

Nothing is more macho than a dance battle! What could two people have to fight about? Leave it to the wonderful Wheel of Fun to spring this surprise on the guests. Who will end up the winner?

The Guild Sponsored by Xbox Live and Sprint

from The Guild:

We at The Guild are very excited to announce that we have found a partner to help us make our show: Season 2, starting Tuesday November 25th, we will be brought to you by Xbox Live and Microsoft and sponsored by Sprint!

For those who know and love our indie production, you know it’s been tough to keep the cameras rolling. For Season 1 we were funded by our donors, and we are eternally grateful for that. It’s only because of you, the fans, that we finished the season at all. But with donations, we were only able to release one episode a month. For Season 2 we decided to look for a production partner to help us release episodes quicker and be able to pay our cast and crew in advance.

I don’t exaggerate when we say that we had DOZENS of offers for the show. But I was adamant that we be able to retain ownership of the show and have the creative freedom to keep the show close to its roots and to our fans. We started filming Season 2 on DVD proceeds and my own money, but in the middle of filming the first few episodes, Scott Nocas from Xbox Live approached us and they proved the perfect fit. They will be helping us reach out to new audience, as well as allowing the show, through the Microsoft network, to be seen by anyone across the globe who wants to: Still for free!

For those with Xbox Live, you will be able to download Season 2 episodes every week starting tomorrow, Tuesday, November 25th for free in HD quality on the Video Marketplace. For those only on the web, episodes will be streaming on MSN Video in a world-wide release, subtitled in 8 different languages across the world. You will also be able to download episodes in the Zune Marketplace for your mobile viewing pleasures. Season 1 is being re-released today across all those platforms, with subtitles in some regions, and we put together an additional Season 1 gag reel to celebrate the occasion, which you can watch in our new, revamped player on The Guild site. Thanks to David from Microsoft, Edgar Garcia, Webmasta and Kirstin from England and WooThemes Ninja for making the site happen this weekend!

We’re very excited and I hope you are too. This is a unique and a fantastic opportunity to make the world our audience and be able to fund our web show and make it bigger and better! Gamers and internet users don’t know the boundaries of continents, why should our web show. 🙂

We will keep you posted through this site and through our MySpace, Facebook and Twitter every week a new video goes up on the Xbox Live Marketplace, and link you to the MSN Video site and Zune download. If you have a chance to check it out, our new Forums and Community Site are a great place for us to allow our audience to blog, upload photos and chat with cast and other fans, so check it out!

Episodes will be released once a week for the whole 12 episode season, so we hope you enjoy them! XOXO
Felicia

Triple “Guild” play for Microsoft

by Andrew Wallenstein, from The Hollywood Reporter:

Microsoft will be filled to the gills with The Guild.

The tech giant has an exclusive lock on the long-awaited second season of the cult favorite Internet series, which will be the first to be distributed worldwide simultaneously across Microsoft’s triple platform of Xbox 360’s Live Marketplace, MSN and Zune.

Sprint has signed on to sponsor the 12-episode run, making it the first marketer to test Microsoft’s new strategy to draw ad dollars with the combined reach of a gaming console, Internet portal and portable media player.

A scripted comedy chronicling the misadventures of a group of online gamers, The Guild premieres Tuesday on Independent Video, Xbox’s new channel devoted to original content. The Guild will lead a collection of ad-supported and fee-based programs, including such other game-oriented fare as The Jace Hall Show, Red vs. Blue and first-season episodes of The Guild.

Although launching with just five or six programs, Xbox has ambitions of expanding Independent Video beyond the gaming theme to embrace a broader audience. The channel is launching with the only other original deal it has done to date, the webisode Horror Meets Comedy from Safran Digital Group, which is not gaming-related.

After reaching 9 million views with a 10-episode season financed from viewer contributions via PayPal, The Guild emerged last year as one of the more buzzed-about webisodes. Its star, creator and writer-producer, Felicia Day, has become the face of the original Web production world, starring opposite Neil Patrick Harris in one of the few other success stories in online originals, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, created by Joss Whedon.

A key component of the deal allows for Day to retain the intellectual property rights to The Guild while collecting an unspecified upfront license fee. A who’s who of Web brands courted Day for rights to The Guild, from old-media companies to gamer-centric ad networks, though many insisted on retaining the traditional set of rights.

But Day had been holding out for more than a year in search of a deal that gave her control of the creative and business sides of The Guild. “I was adamant about holding on to the rights of my series,” she said.

As a result, Microsoft will not participate in revenue should The Guild eventually graduate to TV or film, though the corporation does hold on to any gaming-related extensions. Which is fine by Scott Nocas, group product manager at Xbox Live.

“We’re a software and hardware company,” he said. “If they want to do a movie deal, that’s not our core business.”

Four weeks after each episode of The Guild airs, it moves into a second window on Watchtheguild.com, home base for the first season’s episodes. However, Microsoft retains ad revenue in that window as well as in an unspecified split because episodes will air in an embedded MSN media player. Once the entire season is completed by the end of February, Day can make a new deal for a nonexclusive run beyond Microsoft.

An added plus for going with Xbox is that The Guild will be distributed day-and-date in nine languages in 26 countries where Xbox Live operates, reaching 14 million users. The Guild found unintended international appeal late in its run, according to Day.

Sprint will attach itself to The Guild in various ways from preroll messaging to branded entertainment; mobile phone Sprint Instinct is shown being used by one of the series’ characters.

Each Guild episode runs 4-7 minutes long. A separate holiday special is also covered under the deal, which will allow The Guild to shoot in high-definition for its Xbox window.

Before the introduction of Independent Video, which was deployed last week as part of a relaunch of the Xbox Live Marketplace interface, all TV and film content was available on a transactional basis. The Guild and Horror, which is sponsored by the Air Force, will be Xbox’s first free programs.

Horror also will be pushed through all three Microsoft distribution points but won’t move to MSN and Zune until after its Xbox run.

The deal was brokered by ICM and attorney Jamie Feldman from Lichter, Grossman, Nichols & Adler.

Ask a Ninja Presents… The Ninja Handbook: This Book Looks Forward to Killing You Soon

Are you ready to take the first step on the one true path to becoming a ninja?

The deadly wisdom contained in Ask a Ninja Presents… The Ninja Handbook: This Book Looks Forward to Killing You Soon is quite likely to lead to your untimely demise if properly followed, and the manual’s numerous “killer” illustrations are not for the faint of heart and/or humourless, so, as the back cover advises, “carefully consider the joy of your soft-headed ignorance before you begin to run, flip, and jump along the Ninja Path.”

“After much debate and in a spirit of morbid amusement, the International Order of Ninjas has chosen to produce The Ninja Handbook, the first-ever secret ninja training guide specifically designed for the non-ninja,” as transcribed by Douglas Sarine and Kent Nichols, the award-winning creators of the online series Ask A Ninja. “Most non-ninjas who handle these delicate, deadly pages will die — probably in an elaborately horrific and painful manner,” a prediction that most likely applies to the audiobook as well, “but whether your journey lasts five seconds or five days or (rather inconceivably) five years, all those who bravely take up this text and follow the tenets and trials laid out within will die knowing they were as ninja as they possibly could’ve been.”

In the words of the Ask a Ninja ninja, “Remember: People do not take the Path, the Path takes people.”

You’ve been honorably warned.

(Fellow ninja fans and ninjas-in-training can be found lurking in the shadows at the Official Ninja Book Club.)

Order now at Amazon.com:
Ask a Ninja Presents… The Ninja Handbook: This Book Looks Forward to Killing You Soon

Ask a Ninja Presents… The Ninja Handbook: This Book Looks Forward to Killing You Soon is distributed by Three Rivers Press, a division of Random House. For more information, visit Ask a Ninja and the official book website at Ask a Ninja Book.

Neil Named One of Hollywood Reporter’s Top 10 Webisodes to Watch

from The Legend of Neil:

Holy poop! I just got word from Tony Janning (Neil) that The Legend of Neil was named in The Hollywood Reporter‘s Top 10 Webisodes to Watch! Here’s the full list:

Mayne Street (ESPN)
Coma (Crackle.com)
Get Hit (Ifc.com)
Web Therapy (I.studio.com)
Blah Girls (Myspace.com)
Get Your War On (236.com)
The Legend of Neil (atom.com)
Republicrats (msn.com)
The Line (Crackle.com)
The Secret World of Sam King (Bebo.com)

I don’t know if this is the order and we’re number 7 because I have yet to see the article but if so, that would creep me out because I just received word that we’re being picked up for 7 more episodes, and we’re planning on premiering the new season at Comic-Con which is in July, the 7th month of the year. And my birthday is in July. And there are 7 colors of the rainbow and 7 deadly sins and I love rainbows and deadly sins! And this makes 7 coincidences if you include the coincidence of there being 7 coincidences as one of the 7.

Update on November 21: Finally got a link for The Hollywood Reporter article! http://bit.ly/18dZK [PDF file]

Earthsong

“The planets are living powerful beings and the sentient species that occupy their surfaces are their children. They face a crisis when their elemental lifeblood begins to seep into the children, eventually culminizing into a soulstone which gives them great powers, but at the cost of their life and eventually that of the planets’ too. One childless planet, Earthsong, is given the task of retrieving these children from their homeworlds and bringing them to her surface where they are safe. She is given tools made of Siderean, or star, element which allow her to remove the soulstone from its host and both back to their planet of origin. Visiting children remember little of their previous lives while on Earthsong and when they return they recall only glimmers of what occurred during their time away. These individuals often build up legends and myths around their strange and fragmented memories of alien species.”

Earthsong: Volume 1
A young woman named Willow awakens to find herself on a mystical world with no memories of her former life. She soon discovers that not only are the residents of this world fantastical creatures of ancient lore, but the planet itself is alive and conscious… and in grave danger! Caught in the middle of a terrible struggle, Willow must come to terms with a harsh reality not of her choosing.

Order now at Amazon.com:
Earthsong: Volume 1

Crystal “Lady” Yates has been writing and drawing Earthsong since June of 2004, and is the founder of the all-female webcomic collective, Tomgeeks.

WALL-E on DVD

WALL-E, the #1 animated film of the year from Disney-Pixar, is released on DVD today, November 18!

The highly acclaimed director of Finding Nemo and the creative storytellers behind Cars and Ratatouille transport you to a galaxy not so far away for a new cosmic comedy adventure about a determined robot named WALL-E.

After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, the curious and lovable WALL-E discovers a new purpose in life when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. Join them and a hilarious cast of characters on a fantastic journey across the universe.

Transport yourself to a fascinating new world with Disney-Pixar’s latest adventure, now even more astonishing on DVD and loaded with bonus features, including the exclusive animated short film BURN-E. WALL-E is a film your family will want to enjoy over and over again.

Bonus Features (Single-Disc Standard Edition):

  • BURN-E — Hilarious, All-New Animated Short, “Bringing Light to the Galaxy… Eventual-E”
  • Presto — Amazing Animated Theatrical Short Film
  • Deleted Scenes: Garbage Airlock and Dumped
  • Sneak Peek: WALL-E’s Tour of the Universe — WALL-E Takes You on a Real Ride Through Space
  • Animation Sound Design: Building Worlds from the Sound Up — Legendary Sound Designer Ben Burtt Shares Secrets of Creating the Sounds of WALL-E
  • Audio Commentary with Director Andrew Stanton
  • And More!

Feature Running Time: Approx. 98 Minutes/Colour/Digitally Mastered. Rated G. Earth (and Space) Friendly Eco-Packaging: “Get into Environmentalit-E. Join Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment as we strive to develop and utilize the most environmentally responsible business practices. For this release of WALL-E, we developed a 100% recyclable DVD package. Find out how you can help WALL-E reduce waste and recycle. Visit Disney.com/gogreen.”

For more WALL-E information, visit the official WALL-E website and Amazon’s WALL-E page, and pick up a copy of the companion book to the film, The Art of WALL-E.

Order now at Amazon.com:
WALL-E (Single-Disc Standard Edition)
WALL-E (Three-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy)
WALL-E (Two-Disc and BD Live — Blu-ray]
WALL-E (Three-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy and BD Live — Blu-ray)
The Art of WALL-E

The Guild: Season Two Launches November 25

from The Guild:

We’re so excited, we can hardly contain ourselves!  But we will for the sake of propriety, at least until Tuesday, November 25, when Season Two, Episode One “Link The Loot” makes its web debut. We’ll keep you up to date with all the latest news surrounding the launch — and we’ve got some REALLY cool stuff to share, we promise! Meanwhile, if you’d like to introduce someone new to the show, or if you just plain forgot everything yourself, WhedonAge.com has a lovely Season Two primer to get you up to speed. And even though we didn’t put up the donation button this season, as a special thank you, Felicia sent signed Guild cast photos to all of our Season One donors. We are forever grateful to all of you, our loyal fans, for being part of our show and our community!

HBO Conjuring Fantasy Series

by James Hibberd, from The Hollywood Reporter:

HBO has given a pilot order to the fantasy project Game of Thrones.

The program is based on George R.R. Martin’s best-selling A Song of Fire & Ice series of novels and executive produced by David Benioff (Troy) and D.B. Weiss (Halo). The title Game of Thrones is from the first novel in the series.

If it gets an episodic order, Thrones would represent the rarest of TV genres: a full-fledged fantasy series.

Although broadcasters have embraced sci-fi-tinged shows in recent years following the success of ABC’s Lost and NBC’s Heroes, and supernatural themes have been given a spin by the CW’s Supernatural and HBO’s own True Blood, high fantasy is nearly nonexistent in primetime TV history — and Thrones is an unabashed member of the genre. The books have swords, dragons, magic, the works.

“Fantasy is the most successful genre in terms of feature films given the incredible popularity of the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter movies,” Benioff said. “High fantasy has never been done on TV before, and if anybody can do it, it’s HBO. They’ve taken tired genres and reinvented them — mobsters in The Sopranos and Westerns with Deadwood.”

The cost of producing a fantasy series is usually a factor that deters networks. The producers note that Thrones is written as a character drama and major battles often take place offstage.

“It’s not a story with a million orcs charging across the plains,” Weiss said. “The most expensive effects are creature effects, and there’s not much of that.”

Martin plans seven books. If HBO picks up the project to series, the producers intend for each novel to encompass a season.

But before the series can get on the air, the producers first have to slay a threat more formidable than any dragon: pilot competitors. HBO has 10 other pilots in contention for series orders. Though the network declines to project how many shows will receive an order since HBO doesn’t need to fill a specific number of time periods as do broadcasters, at least six are expected to get a pickup.

Also, the success of True Blood may work in Thrones‘ favor. HBO has always sought to defy any sort of specific genre branding for its network, emphasizing that each project is judged on its own merits. Yet given how the vampire drama continues to gain viewers and how Showtime’s swords-and-monarchy historical drama The Tudors has performed, it’s not unreasonable to believe the network may see Thrones as a good fit.

Previous fantasy titles on TV are few and far between. ABC’s Pushing Daisies might qualify as a member of the genre, though its fantastical elements are wrapped in a modern-day crime procedural. ABC Family’s Kyle XY could fit. Some would consider the WB’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer fantasy, though supernatural drama is probably a more appropriate term. Former syndicated program Xena: Warrior Princess, however, is firmly in the genre, and NBC’s upcoming Kings also qualifies.