Hello WebSerials Fans!

It’s been awhile. Okay, it’s been a year — a full year — since we brought you The Black Dawn. And we know the world of web serials has been a bit dry while we’ve been gone. But never fear: we have returned!

It’s been a busy year for us as we’ve been actively working on our latest series, while spreading the reach of our past shows into brand-new, exciting markets. In addition to its web and comic releases,The Black Dawn is now a limited-run TV series airing in more than 50 countries around the world. The feature-film version was also recently completed and some exciting distribution venues are in the works for that. We’ve been thrilled to reach a whole new audience with these new platforms and it’s been a ton of work making the switch from the internet to broadcast television — but to be perfectly honest, we’ve also missed our amazing web fans.

There’s nothing like the immediate and direct feedback the web community offers and we are so excited to be back with a brand-new series exclusively for our WebSerials audience. Next month we will premiere BEST LAID PLANS, a completely improvised sit-com unlike anything you’ve ever seen before — we guarantee it. The show is hilarious, authentic, and totally original. We’ve been hard at work on it for the past year and we are all incredibly thrilled to finally bring it to WebSerials.com.

We’re back — and we hope you’ll tune in for our latest production!

— The WebSerials Team, July 24, 2010

Lumen Actus LLC is Pleased to Announce the Worldwide Release of Their 3D Stereoscopic, Live Action Web TV Series “Safety Geek: 3D” Now Available On-Demand on Yabazam.com

At a live press conference held in Santa Monica today, Lumen Actus LLC, demonstrated the first 3D live action comedy web series, “Safety Geeks: 3D” enhancing the viewer experience on 3D polarized computers, televisions, and Blu-ray Disc products. DDD of Santa Monica will be distributing the series via on-demand downloads from their website, Yabazam.com.

Produced by Dave Beeler and Tom Konkle, “Safety Geeks: 3D”, follows the comic adventures of a semi-elite force of safety experts; the P.O.S.H. (Professional Occupational Safety Hazard) team who is obsessed with making the world along with bits of Canada a safer place. The CSI-like team investigates accidents to find out what went wrong and who is to blame, however, their involvement causes far more damage than they prevent, leaving a trail of chaos and destruction in their wake.

“The modular nature of our show allows the original eleven web series episodes to play well for platforms like mobile and web video while the one hour “movie version” lends itself to big screen home entertainment systems,” said Tom Konkle, “Safety Geeks” writer/producer.

The award winning “Safety Geeks” web series has received accolades and nominations for their creative content and special effects from the Streamy’s, LA Web Series Festival, Stay Tuned TV and more. Beeler and Konkle use technology in the service of comedy instead of action or science fiction, which is why they decided to take “Safety Geeks” season one and make it into 3D. It’s important to point out that the 3D process employed in “Safety Geeks: 3D” is not the traditional red and blue glasses technique dating back to the 1950′s, but instead is the cutting edge, polarized stereoscopic processing treatment similar to that used in a certain “wildly successful sci-fi feature film (AKA Avatar).”

David Beeler, “Safety Geeks” writer/producer added, “Our whole team is very excited about the flexibility of our show, it was shot in a manner ideal for the 3D process and now distribution systems have caught up with our show which can meet the current need for programming. There are so many ways that “Safety Geeks: 3D” can reach the right end users, specifically the audience that actually buys new technology first.”

“Safety Geeks: 3D” is presented in stereoscopic 3D and is available as streaming video on the web, as part of the 3D media TriDef player, as video on-demand (VOD), and also as traditional media on next generation 3D televisions, computers, and hand held devices.

Konkle and Beeler also star in the series and are quick to point out that their show appeals to the “geek” audiences who are early adopters of technology like the various 3D platforms coming available and enjoy the surreal humor of “Monty Python” and “Adult Swim.”

“Safety Geeks: 3D” is available at http://www.yabazam.com for on-demand download. You can also watch the complete 2D version right here on Visioweb.TV.

About Lumen Actus, LLC

Lumen Actus, is a Burbank, CA based visual effects company that produced “Safety Geeks: 3D”. We produce series and films in all media and transmedia specializing in comedy. We do 2D to 3D conversion as well as stereoscopic production. We are a turnkey production company. “Safety Geeks: 3D” uses “stereoscopy” which is the most widely accepted method for capturing and delivering 3D video using stereo pairs in a two-view setup, with cameras mounted side by side, while being separated by the same distance similar to the distance between a person’s pupils. According to a recent poll, 80% of moviegoers who have seen a 3D film on the big screen want to watch the movie in 3D at home. In 2009, 3D movies had a 10 percent market share driving home theater manufacturers like Sony, Panasonic, Samsung and others to offer 3D TV sets in the US during 2010. For more information please visit:http://www.safetygeekssvi.com

And thus after an exciting evening of Red Carpets, Awards, a little too much IKEA plugging and streakers, the results are in.

The patient is dead.

The general opinion? In the twitterverse things seem to go to the negative. There is even a #streamyfail hashtag haunting the twitter feeds, and the comments are not good. Megan O’Neill over at Social Times summed it up very good with the title of her blog post “How To Make Internet Video Look Bad: #streamyfail 2010” and then went on to say:

I thought that the Streamys were supposed to be “the most prestigious awards ceremony devoted to honoring the excellence in original web television programming and those who create it.”  At least, that’s what it says on their website.  But this awards show seemed to do just the opposite.  It was chock full of off the cuff remarks about how nobody watches web series or has ever heard of the Streamys, how nobody knows who any of the people in the audience are and that there is no money in web television.

(read the rest here)

Well, that puts the Streamys in a bad light. We’ll see how the fallout of this show will reflect in the future, but I’ll be honest: I wouldn’t be surprised if this is isn’t the beginning of the end for the web series world and the Streamys.

Oh, listen to me, ain’t I being cynical…

At least most of the winners truly deserve an award, although I’m not sure about Weird Al — as awesome as he may be. A tiny cameo and he gets an award? He himself was certainly very surprised. And let’s not even get us started on the (sneaky) The Bannen Way cleaning up. That would be just opening wounds…

Oh well.

Without much further ado, here are the winners according to Tubefilter:

Yes, it’s that time of the year again when unheard-of stars and marginally famous people flock to receive an as of yet little-heard-of Award: The Streamy Awards, the Academy Award of the Netheads.

In other words, it’s time to honor those people who made it big on the internets, working hard into the late hours writing, shooting and editing for little or no recognition or exposure and even less money: the true hard-working heroes of Hollywood and beyond.

Seriously folks, is there anyone more deserving than these indefatigable dreamers trying to follow their aspirations of entertaining the less-than-adoring masses? Here I tip my hat to those hard-working few who actually garnered a nomination and those even fewer about to receive this clunky neo-modern-artistic trophy. And my condolences go out to all those other deserving people who didn’t even get as far as a nomination for an Award most of humans never even heard of.

Am I being a tad cynical?

Forgive me, but for such a young award — this is after all only the 2nd time these awards have been handed out — there seem to be a lot of big stars, big star agents and big companies that ended up being nominated, so to speak. To the casual observer that does seem… wrong.

Where is the independent spirit last year’s awards seduced us with? Where is the alternative-to-the-entertainment-machine-award we all hoped the Streamys would become?

All right, enough steam blown. For those of us who’s invitation to the Awards got lost in the mail (I realize my lair here in the Caribbean is a little hard to find) here is the chance to watch the awards live right here on Visioweb.TV, thanks to the magic the guys (and gals) over at Ustream crank out these days.

The Red Carpet parade begins April 11th at 4:00pm PST

And the actual Streamy Awards are April 11th at 5:30pm PST

After 8 weeks the second spinoff of the LG15 franchise ended with a bang.

Those who followed LG15 since Bree first sighed her problems into a web cam and fooled the world, have split into two camps: the haters and the lovers, because the new installment of LG15: Outbreak truly is different.

Creator Austin McConnell decided to step in a new direction when EQAL handed him (partially) the reigns of the franchise, and gave him more creative control than he deserved (his words). Possibly a bigger responsibility than he ever imagined: he was tasked with the job of continuing the franchise that pretty much popularized the web series concept.  Is he sorry that he garnered haters? On his blog he recently noted that

I’ve gotten some thumbs up, and some thumbs down…but a lot of those ‘thumbs down’ seem to be attached to hands that just so happen to be carrying loaded firearms, ready to assassinate any amount of positive feedback that the show may get.

And like the character he portrayed, Austin says I don’t go down very easy.

Unfortunately, it felt like a few audience members were quite upset with the fact that they hadn’t granted me permission to try new things.

Did he really fail? Does he ow the LG15 community an apology? Is Outbreak really the worst show on the internets?

First of, no, he did not fail. Outbreak broke the convention only ever so slightly, yet still remained true to the LG15 mythos. EQAL — much like The Order — made sure he didn’t step out of line too much. And he didn’t. Sure, the aim was not as hot-chick-focused as previous incarnations, and that may be one reason why complaints came in. Many wanted to see more of the scrumptious Dani Martin, preferably Bree-style, but that was exactly the convention Austin broke. Why focus only on the hot chick? Let’s see some guys for a change.

He certainly doesn’t ow anyone an apology. The show stands as it is, and compared to the trite the internets is cranking out these days Outbreak is far into the good side. Good or bad, lousy or exiting — Austin did his best and the show has its charm and deserves a viewing. Haters and trolls are an inevitable part of the internet, as they inhabit the dark corners and levels of cyberspace, and should be judiciously ignored by everyone in favor of constructive criticism. Austin will be the first to admit that the show is not perfect and it was a lesson in younameit for him.

But then again, so was the first Lonelygirl15.  I personally haven’t made it past episode 5 yet and probably never will. don’t get me started…

In conclusion Austin has some sound advice for everyone. Why not, after accomplishing a full show he has the right to pound his soapbox a bit.

So, if there’s any advice I can give out, it’s this: don’t be afraid to jump. Don’t let the naysayers, pessimists, and the haters keep you from trying to do cool things. It’s okay to jump in with both feet. It’s okay to make mistakes in the pursuit of something awesome. It’s okay to fail when you’re experimenting with a new form of thought. It’s okay to take credit when you’re successful. And most importantly: it’s okay to be happy with the work that you’ve done… even if there’s somebody trying to convince you that you aren’t allowed to.

…So what are you waiting for? Go take that chance. Go do something different, or unexpected. Write that book. Paint that picture. Make that movie. Record that song. Walk that mile… because it’s better to have tried and failed, than to spend your whole life doing nothing, because you were afraid you wouldn’t get it right the first time.

To quote Eleanor Roosevelt, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

I’m going to keep doing new and different things, creatively speaking. Sometimes they’ll seem off the wall, unconventional, and maybe even dangerous… but that’s not going to stop me from doing them. Telling stories makes me happy… and I don’t have to say ‘I’m sorry’ for that.

Read his full blogpost on the matter…

Once again 3D has hit us.

Seriously, if you haven’t seen or at least heard of Cameron’s Avatar you’ve no doubt been living under a rock on the far side of Pandora. I personally remain skeptical about the whole aspect and felt wholly uncomfortable sitting through 3 hours wearing some stupid glasses. I watched Avatar again in 2D and enjoyed it so much more.

Still, since 1840 the concept of 3D in its various incarnations (starting with stereoscopy) has seen a continuous rise and fall. Like Madonna it seems to re-invent itself every decade or so and simply refuses to die. The 50s saw a steep rise in anaglyph and polarized 3D films, but the costs, production and reproduction complications eventually spelled a decline.

Which is not to say it wasn’t a hit with viewers. The French Line staring Jane Russell for example was one of the earliest 3D blockbusters. I mean, to paraphrase the film’s tag-line: Jane Russell in 3D — need we say more? Blessed be Howard Hawks for bringing us Jane in costumes so purposely skimpy that the film garnered a condemnation by the (obvious contradiction in terms) Catholic Legion of Decency.

The Web Series World is not safe from the Invasion from the Third Dimension, and so more and more 3D videos are creeping up. It could be argued the first actual web show in 3D is the nonsensical and terribly humdrum 13 Minutes to Midnight (and that’s all I’m going to say about that).

It wont be the last. YouTube recently launched its 3D capability and offers some advice for creating your own 3D video. The idea is simple but needs some finesse to be executed properly. Once uploaded there are a variety of options availbable to view the video anaglyphically or even in stereoscope. Unfortunately you are required to watch the 3D video on YouTube, as embeds are not yet possible.

Web Series creators far and wide perked up and its no surprise that our good friends Dave and Tom did the same. And so here for your enjoyment is the first trailer for the new Safety Geeks:SVI 3D Extravaganza, viewable on the new Acer Laptop, 3D plasmas, etc in full color with Avatar-style glasses (since 3D embeds are not yet possible we’re sorry you can’t watch the trailer right here on Visioweb.TV).

So dig up those 3D glasses and enjoy your favorite safety crew as they wreak havoc to the Third Dimension. Albeit a mere recut of Season 1, the 3D aspect may give us a whole new angle on the show. Besides…

Brittney Powell in 3D — need we say more?

Screenwriter Scott Myers on his blog Go Into The Story decided to interview Brian Walton, one of the creative forces (in one way or another) behind some of the web’s most prolific web shows: The Black Dawn, Cataclysmo and Crown of the Forest.

Despite his young age, Brian has a lot of good insight into the web series world, and anyone involved in this new media should take notes. So lets sit at Brian’s feet and listen a bit.

Here an excerpt about making money with web shows:

What about the economics of web serials? If most Web users consider “free” to be the norm, how can a company like webserials.com sustain itself financially?

You won’t make money. Get used to it. Say it to yourself before you go to bed. You won’t make money. We used Google ads and content sharing on youtube, as well as a few other web advertisers (I don’t really know the details on all of them). Even when our views were in the hundreds of thousands, we didn’t make enough money to pay back our previous projects, let alone to fund our future projects.

Since we’re talking about money, let me try and put this in perspective. We spent between one or two grand on most of our shows. But that was because no one was paid. Almost all of the money went to transportation, craft services, and a few pieces of equipment. If people were paid properly, the cost would easily have been in the tens of thousands. Most people may not have the time or energy to do this much work for free. I would recommend what most other sane web show producers do. Shoot an episode or two on spec, and then show them around to advertisers to get upfront funding. Even then, no one should expect to make their money back. I attended a new media panel at Sundance last year and the consensus was more or less the same. Professional filmmakers like Craig Brewer (Hustle and Flow) were ecstatic that they could practice their craft for so cheap, but no one held the secret for making big bucks on the web.

Read the full article on Scott’s site here. Or, you can go here to friend Brian on Facebook. And you can visit his screenwriting blog here.

Greetings fellow web-video watchers!

Another year has come and gone and much has happened in the web series world during 2009. In January most of us never even heard of the Streamies, and now by December we’re arguing over who should enter and who shouldn’t. Web shows have been exploding onto the Internets like viruses, giving the term ‘viral’ a new meaning. As always it was the indie scene that first saw the potential of online video and corporations have been trying to play catch-up ever since.

No doubt, they will continue to do so in 2010. The only thing holding them back from fully monopolizing the net is the lack of potential revenues. The internet is by definition a no-profit place and everyone, from a web series creator to a lowly web designer or blog writer is struggling to make ends meet and generate some form of cash flow.

And maybe that’s where most of our problems lie. Most of us run around with the words What’s In It For Me? etched onto our foreheads, hoping cash will drop into our hats so we can pay our rent, pay the groceries or possibly afford that high-def flatscreen and/or next year’s SUV. In any case, due to living in a society hell-bent on making money we become frustrated when faced with the WWW, where money is secondary.

Maybe our new-years resolution should be less focus on money and more on the arts. I know, I know, that sounds a bit unreasonable and unrealistic, but hear me out.

Most of the people who made any form of headway in the web series world did not intend to do so. They were in it for the art, the fun, or the exposure. Felicia Day started The Guild because she never seemed to get that crucial audition and nobody would have her (hard to imagine, right?).

So she sat down and wrote her own stuff, pouring her heart into the scripts and the production, despite a budget of nearly zero and a chance of possible revenues at about the same. Now she raked in Streamies, DVD sales are on the rise and sponsors are eager to open doors and even knock on hers. Did she hope for success? Certainly. Did she expect it? Probably not. At the most she hoped to be discovered by some director who would cast her in The Next Big Thing. But is she becoming an internet millionaire? Absolutely not. To misquote Spiderman: with great success comes great responsibility. Her troubles have only just begun, what with suddenly having to pay her crew and actors, etc.

But the lesson we learn from her success — and that from similar stories that happened throughout 2009 — is that art comes first, money be danged. At least in the beginning. If a writer/director/actor is good at what he does, is passionate about the story he is trying to tell and loves his audience, not because they give him ad-clicks or donations, but because they love what he loves, isn’t that revenue enough?

Well, maybe in an ideal world. We still have to pay our bills and drop cash down some blackhole. But if we take a step back and remember that art has always been about art and not money, maybe we can control our obsession a bit and enjoy the moment — those precious few minutes when a great story or hilarious comedy is unfolding before our eyes on that tiny screen. Networks will never be able to do that, and so in that sense the indie web series world will always be better and maintain a type of moral integrity.

The crucial word here is LOVE. Love for the arts, love for the viewer, love for the story, love for love’s sake. Do it because you love to do it. Don’t think with your wallet, but with your heart and your passion. To misquote JFK: Don’t ask what the internet can do for you, ask what you can do for the internet.

So let’s show some love. Be it at the Streamies or just to your fellow human being. It’s something the world is in dire need of.

Signing off for the year,

Jack

(as transcribed and translated by Alec)

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PS: We would like to thank all of you for a great three months. VisiowebTV came online in mid-September and has been growing in readers and viewers on a daily basis. Where we had dozens, we now have hundreds, and where we had hundreds we now have thousands. It is interesting to note that 95% of traffic on VisiowebTV originates from Twitter, and we’d like to thank all of you for your RT and clicks. It shows the incredible power of the Twitter community.

Special thanks go out to people who’ve given some great and much-needed support and encouragement to the site and inspired me to partake in this fascinating new web series world in the first place. Among others, there are Tom Konkle, who brought in so much traffic with his tweets he single-handedly managed to crash the site in October , and Kevin Christensen whom I met at a tweedup in LA along with the awesome crew of Cataclysmo, Catalyst, Black Dawn and Trunk, and showed me how cool web shows and the people behind them can be and by extension inspired me to create this site.

We have much planed for the next year, including one none-fiction and one fiction web series of our own, as well as some more expansions and additions, but we want to always remain a site of integrity, fun and great web shows, easy to navigate and family friendly.

Eternal web series love to you all,

Alec

By launching the bare minimum of episodes practically hours before the deadline, The Bannen Way has sparked a debate over its Streamy eligibility. This is a mile stone for the net, but not unheard from in the movie industry.

With heavy debates raging on Twitter, NewTeeVee, Tubefilter and even the LG15 message-boards, VisiowebTV humbly submits an opinion for your approval. We’re the youngest, smallest and least experiences WebTV site, and so we have little right to give an opinion, thus we will only point you to the very well balanced article on the subject written by Taryn O’Neill, someone who knows what she’s talking about.

As she writes,

“[...] this debate also means the Streamys mean something to us as a community. In one year the Streamys have become a big thing.  I remember Marc Hustvedt telling me about his plans for the Streamys in November ’08 and I remember thinking ‘how cute’. Nothing cute about it these days (well except for the pic of Felicia).  Also remember, there is an actual board, an IAWTV membership that votes on the Streamys, comprised of YOUR PEERS and I’m fairly confident that this board takes their role pretty seriously.  It has the responsibility to push our space to the forefront but it also doesn’t want to be seen as a Hollywood sellout.  I’m hopeful that the great shows and talent of ’09 will be recognized.

So! Run your campaigns, vote and support the space, watch The Bannen Way and enjoy what [The Bannen Way producers] Mark and Jesse have achieved.  Know that if you have a kickass mainstream idea that you can deliver on and that can be monetized across multiple platforms, the web arm of a studio will probably be interested.  If not, just tell a story that you are passionate about. This is going to be an awesome year!”

Very well said, Taryn! Let’s not enter the next year with a flame-war that is bound to end with Godwin’s Law sooner or later, which we will all regret.

For those still wanting to tip in with their worth of salt over the Networks Butting Into Indie-Land debate, here is a great collection of links of the various battle fields. Also, for some very good contrasting points, check out the passionate arguments by Invention and Safety Geeks:SVI’s Tom Konkle at the bottom of the NewTeeVee article of the subject.

Here at VisiowebTV we hope everyone will have a great 2010, great fun shooting and mostly, lots of fun watching new shows!

I only wish The Bannen Way was available outside the US so I could see for myself what the fuzz is all about…

Signing off for the year,

Alec

There are many ways to produce a movie. Leave it to the Europeans to come up with them. Foremost there is the infamous Uwe Boll using a clever combination of investors and German tax dodges. Another is WreckAMovie.com.

For those who have missed the internet sensation Star Wreck, a Finish indie parody on… well, you know… it was produced and financed by the very talented film makers Samuli Torssonen and Timo Vuorensola and their fans. The success of the film brought about the idea to create a means of producing movies through collaboration.

They went ahead and created a site with the very tongue-in-cheek name wreckamovie.com to give movie makers a chance to post their ideas and creations. The concept behind the site is not so much looking for a budget — although that is a possibility as well — but to create and further a projects through ideas from other individual. It’s a new type of participatory cinema made possible only through the internet. Where classic film production focuses on the final product, participatory cinema focuses on the process of making movies and its meaning on the participators.

The pet project of Samuli Torssonen and Timo Vuorensola, the sci-fi Nazis-in-Space comedy Iron Sky is being produced in this way and is already half-way through its shoot, having gotten a second round financing boost just recently. In case you’ve missed the fantastic trailer that’s been circling the net, find it below, a primary example of what can happen if people work together.

Go ahead, give it a shot. If you have an interesting idea, make it happen. Or wreck someone else’s film.

Wreck A Movie

It’s about that time to vote for the Streamies again!

You probably have your own favorite show, but in case you don’t, allow us to make a few suggestions based on what you, the viewer, have to say. Here are the 10 most watched shows on VisiowebTV according to the hit rate since the site’s launch in October of 2009. Below them you will find a direct link to the Streamy Awards page, where you can nominate your show in its particular category.

In case your fav show is not in the list you can always go and nominate them here, and if you’re a web show producer it would we very strange if you haven’t yet submitted your show to here ($10US convenience charge or not).

Start nominating! Maybe we get to see our favorite show and show-producers win that coveted wanna-be Academy Award. Hey, you gotta start somewhere…

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10. Downsized

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9. Riese

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8. The Black Dawn

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7. Zerks Log

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6. Central Division

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5. Palisades Pool Party

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4. The Louise Log

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3. Space Hospital

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2. Safety Geeks:SVI

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And the most watched show on VisiowebTV is…

1. Invention with Brian Forbes

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One of the producers involved with the creation of the web series Black Dawn has revealed on his Twitter and his blog that the show made the transition from web show to TV show. As he writes:

Many of you have already heard about this, but for those of you who haven’t … our latest web series, The Black Dawn, will be begin airing on TV next Wednesday, October 28. We’ve been working with a distributor who came to us last month wanting to syndicate the series in a variety of markets both here in the States and around the world.

The first syndication deal is with a network that provides content for local, independent stations — up to 100 channels around the country. The series will air in prime time as a half-hour series, in nine episodes beginning next week. To pad out the series into these longer episodes, we’ve integrated parts of the video blogs and the short film, Catalyst into the central series — providing a brand new, expanded way to watch the story unfold.

Read more on Antony’s Blog, or watch the web version of the show on webserials.com or right here on visioveb.tv.

CANWEST NEWS SERVICE has a very interesting report on generating revenue for web shows. There are six points that need to be followed to generate any revenue:

• 1) generated interest in his product through YouTube videos; 2) guaranteed minimum revenue guarantees through subscriptions; 3) extended his brand through merchandise sales; 4) focused on a hyper-niche audience; 5) collects data on his audience and; 6) finds relevant products for his niche through advertising.

With this in mind… could money for web shows be close?

As much as we all love Roger Corman’s ability since forever to create B-flicks that are so-bad-they’re-good, by entering the Web series world he has gone too far. His new show SPLATTER has so far only one brief teaser, but even for hard-core gore fans, this may just be too much to take. Call it silly, call it violent: point is it’s bad. Not good-bad… just… bad. So bad in fact, we will not host it here on visioweb.tv. We do have standards, you know. So if you’re in for a gore-fest, head on over to NetFlix.com and see for yourself. They don’t seem to have standards. Or good taste.

Roger Corman’s SPLATTER

The Internet is the future for experimental film-making, but the time has come to make online video art profitable, Isabella Rossellini says.

Her success with the Web show “Green Porno” about the sex life of insects and marine life was financed by actor/director Robert Redford, but Rossellini sees other possibilities including advertising sponsors or a small fee for Internet users (one cent).

“The web is a double-edged sword,” she said, speaking in Italian. “It has a huge potential for distributing content, creating contacts. There are a lot of advantages. The problem is that money is spent on technologies, not on content.”

“We are discussing how to continue this experiment, how to learn from ‘Green Porno’ and develop not only content, but also a business,” she explained.

“We have 2-3 million viewers so this could be a solution. But should we find a sponsor or charge each viewer a cent? People expect online content to be free.”

Source: Reuters

About a month ago I was in California for a business trip. Of course I knew Cataclysmo had been shot in LA, but I would have never thought or hoped I would bump into anything Cataclysmo-related around here.

That was until I walked passed Anthony Parisi in a store in La Habra, OC.

Of course neither he nor I acknowledged it at first. I had only ever seen him on the making-of videos of Cataclysmo and he had seen me in my own little webvideo (http://www.dustangels.org). Since we followed each other on Twitter he knew I was in the general LA area… but walking past each other in a random store, at a random hour? Inconceivable!

Or so we thought.

I live in the Caribbean and was in town for a trade show in Anaheim, so the chances of meeting like this was statistically near impossible. But of all the towns in all the world, in all the galaxies, in all the time-periods, in all the burrows, in all the counties, in all the stores, in all the check-out counters… and we walked passed each other in this one.

(Not sure if I just quoted Casablanca or Cataclysmo…)

In any case we twittered each other afterwards (“That was YOU?!” — “Yeah! That was YOU?!”) and decided to meet if in any way possible for a Cataclysmo-dinner the following week before my departure.

Again I was very fortunate. Most of the crew showed up and I had a veritable Catcalysmo Convention of my own, with a meet-and-greet and…. gorramit!… I was so star-struck I forgot to get their autographs.

Here is a quick video of my meeting with the guys!

Jealous?