Category Archives: Web Series

Louis C.K. surprises fans with new web series ‘Horace and Pete’ [Update: Louie opens up]

Wondering how comedian and TV star Louis C.K.’s spends his “free” time when his FX sitcom Louie goes on its extended hiatuses? He’ll perform standup, of course, and make it available on his website for five bucks. And now, apparently, he shoots another show and debuts it online without anybody knowing about its existence during production. It’s called Horace and Pete and it takes place inside an Irish pub run by Horace (played by Louie). Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire) plays his parter Pete and the web show is rife with cameos including but not limited to Alan Alda (The Blacklist), Edie Falco (Nurse JAckie), Aidy Bryant (Saturday Night Live), Jessica Lange (American Horror Story), Rebecca Hall (The Town), and Steven Wright.

The black comedy skews dramatic and clocks in at just over an hour. It features an intermission where the characters discuss current events like the presidential race and the Super Bowl. Louie released Horace and Pete with little fanfare, simply posting a link to “a brand new thing from Louis C.K.” on his website and offering it up for $5. You can buy Episode 1 today, and it would appear that an additional three episodes are on the way. So…surprise!

Update (2/4): Louie has broken his radio silence regarding the release of his new show. Click after the break for more. Continue reading Louis C.K. surprises fans with new web series ‘Horace and Pete’ [Update: Louie opens up]

Jennette McCurdy writes, produces, stars in new web series satirizing her Hollywood career

Former iCarly star Jennette McCurdy stars in a new web series about dealing with what comes next after your show is cancelled, going through a publicized breakup, and being forced to tackle a new chapter in life. You can say What’s Next For Sarah? is loosely based on events that recently unfolded in Jennette’s world. Nickelodeon rather abruptly cancelled spinoff series Sam & Cat starring Jennette and Ariana Grande, and this web series provides a satirical, humorous, and thoughtful outlook on her life following the cancellation fallout.

It’s about pulling back the curtain just a little bit and exposing what it’s like to live in a world full of sleazy agents and casting directors, shallow relationships, and the pressures of dealing with always being in the spotlight.

“I wanted What’s Next for Sarah to be a light-hearted call-out to some of the more absurd experiences I’ve faced growing up in the entertainment industry,” Jennette shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “My goal was to exaggerate some of the more classic Hollywood archetypes — the phony reporter, the insincere agent, the duplicitous casting director — and heighten them to a surreal extent that we can all laugh at. We all have those moments where we feel like the world is entirely crazy, and we’re the only sane person.”

This web series marks an exciting new venture for the young and talented actress. In addition to starring in the lead role as Sarah Bronson, Jennette penned and executive produced all four installments. When asked about what it was like to wear so many hats on set and to be heavily involved with the creative and production side of things, she explained to me the innately fast-paced nature of getting it all done.

What’s Next For Sarah was a real pet project for me. I had never been involved in the crew side of a production, and I saw this as an opportunity to do so,” Jennette told [experience-it-all]. “I wrote the scripts, passed them along to my friend Jesse Bloch, he said, “We gotta make these,” and the whole process snowballed from there. Two weeks later we attached my good friend Colton Tran to direct, and the three of us had four weeks of preproduction to find cast and crew, location scout, organize the departments, and get all set for production. It was a whirlwind. Three days of production and four weeks of post later and here we are!”

Click here to watch What’s Next For Sarah. The series is easily digestible; the bite-sized installments clock in at around three to six minutes in length apiece. Who knows–perhaps with enough viewership this won’t be the last we hear of Jennette McCurdy’s alter ego Sarah Bronson and the hysterically exaggerated world she lives in.

Comic Con: Ridley Scott debuts ‘Halo: Nightfall’ first look

Here’s a first look at Ridley Scott’s original live-action digital series Halo: Nightfall. Though Master Chief is nowhere to be found in this debut trailer, the scene is set for a Prometheus-like adventure into the gritty unknown. Here’s the scoop:

Taking place between the events of Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians, Halo: Nightfall follows the origin story of legendary manhunter Jameson Locke (Mike Colter) and his team as they are caught in a horrific terrorist attack while investigating terrorist activity on the distant colony world of Sedra. Led by Locke, the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) agents are forced to coordinate with a Sedran commander with a remarkable history and deep-rooted mistrust of ONI. As the plot unravels, they’re drawn to an ancient, hellish artifact where they’re forced to fight for their survival, question everything, and ultimately choose between their loyalties and their lives. Agent Locke is a new character in the Halo universe poised to play a major role in Halo 5: Guardians releasing on Xbox One in 2015.

Halo developer 343 Industries and Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions premiered the trailer at Comic Con announcing the series’ director Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (Battlestar Galactica, Pillars of the Earth, Heroes) writer Paul Scheuring (Prison Break), and cast led by Mike Colter (The Good Wife).

“In science fiction, we’re always searching for new frontiers. We’re drawn to the unknown,” said Scott. “With Halo: Nightfall, we’re pioneering a new medium in terms of interactive storytelling on Xbox.  It’s going to be fun for long-time fans to see how the worlds come together with an ambition to attract new fans along the way with what we’ve created.”

Halo: Nightfall will come packed inside Halo: The Master Chief Collection and it will be made available to all Xbox Live subscribers beginning on November 11.

[Via Xbox Wire]

‘Horrible’ update: a sequel is still in the works

Horrible fans, here’s a quick update for you on the status of the return of his Horribleness. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, songwriter Jed Whedon perpetuated the notion that a sequel to the highly lauded Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is still most definitely in the works.

We know we have spoken publicly about a sequel in the near distance and our passion to create it, and I promise we have not been insincere. Horrible is still one of our favorite creations by humans who were also us. We have many songs written and the plot outlined, but needless to say, we’ve been busy. Joss has had a hectic couple of years and is in the middle of the busiest year of his life, as is Zack and as are we. Also the actors have other things they’re acting in, I think. So the future is uncertain, our passion remains. DH2 will exist, in some format or another, at some point in the future. Unfortunately, the when is still unclear.

It simply hasn’t happened yet because all those involved are busy these days: Neil Patrick Harris stars in CBS’s How I Met Your Mother and pops up as hosts of award shows and in the movies quite often these days; Nathan Fillion is enjoying a very popular season of Castle; Felicia Day is running her YouTube channel Geek & Sundry; Jed and his wife Maurissa Tancharoen are showrunning  ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.; Jed’s brother Zack is involved with Sundance’s upcoming drama The Red Road; and the eldest Whedon brother Joss, of course, is steering the Marvel Cinematic Universe and working on the Avengers sequel.

In closing, it’s not a matter of if but when. So keep your head up, Billy buddy.

[Via EW]

Fan favorite nurse Morgan stars in ‘Mindy Project’ web series (clips inside)

Do you watch The Mindy Project? If so, it is pretty much guaranteed that you will thoroughly enjoy the sitcom’s web series centered on the show’s breakout star Ike Barinholtz. It’s called The Morgan Project. Need I say more? Watch all three installments after the break, and keep tabs on the show’s official site for more.

The Mindy Project airs Tuesday nights at 9:30PM on FOX. Continue reading Fan favorite nurse Morgan stars in ‘Mindy Project’ web series (clips inside)

‘Halo 4’ releases Tuesday; prepare and watch ‘Forward Unto Dawn’ web series

This Tuesday Halo 4 releases for Xbox 360 and a new trilogy forges on. In the original trilogy developer Bungie introduced us to the iconic Master Chief and we controlled the super-solider as he discovered the Halo Array and the Ark, crippled the alien alliance known as the Covenant, and battled the parasitic Flood. After going on to release a prequel to Halo 3 designated ODST and a prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved with Halo: Reach, Bungie handed the franchise’s reigns to a new developer, 343 Industries. Halo 4 brings us back into control of the Chief, and we find him just where we left him at the end of Halo 3 in 2007; he’s aboard the UNSC ship Forward Unto Dawn, floating in space drifting toward a mysterious Forerunner planet called Requiem. Chief’s last words were delivered to Cortana, his AI companion, and they were, “Wake me, when you need me.” Halo 4, in addition to providing addicting online multiplayer modes, will delve deeper into the franchise’s mythology as Master Chief inadvertently crash lands on a Forerunner planet infested with Covenant, Forerunner technology, and, according to the game’s marketing, “an ancient evil awakens.” And on top of that, there’s something wrong with Cortana; she is going “rampant” (or insane) because she is operating beyond her natural lifespan.

Excited yet? Let me give you a boost…

Leading up to the release of Halo 4, Microsoft Studios and 343 Industries developed a five-part live-action web series set in the Halo universe. Forward Unto Dawn follows a group of freshman cadets at the UNSC’s Corbulo Academy of Military Science and places particular focus on troubled cadet Thomas Lasky. The story takes fans to the beginning of the Human/Covenant war and it seamlessly weaves into where things kick off in Halo 4. The series is a bold journey into the Halo universe and it tells a compelling story worth investing your time in, especially if you’re a fan of the franchise. The acting and special effects are surprisingly effective, and in addition to amping you up for the new game it will also make you wish a Halo miniseries a la HBO’s Band of Brothers was made. Forward Unto Dawn can be viewed online at Machinima or on your console via the Halo Waypoint app.

Halo 4 is being sold in various forms; there’s the regular copy ($60), the limited edition copy ($100), it’s bundled in a Halo-themed 320GB console package ($350), and there’s a Halo-themed wireless controller ($60). Want a read more before jumping in? IGN gives a glowing review. Watch the launch trailer after the break. Continue reading ‘Halo 4’ releases Tuesday; prepare and watch ‘Forward Unto Dawn’ web series

‘Walking Dead’ webisodes are back!

The return of The Walking Dead may be a little over a week away, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get your zombie fill right now. The show’s makeup and special FX expert Greg Nicotero is back directing a new batch of Walking Dead webisodes. The four-part web series is titled Cold Storage and it follows Josh Stewart (No Ordinary Family) as Chase, a man trying to make his way to his sister in the early days of the zombie apocalypse. Thanks to some nasty walkers, he is forced to make a pit stop at a storage facility controlled by a guy (Lost‘s Daniel Roebuck) who thinks he has it all figured out.

“It’s such a thrill to revisit the The Walking Dead world from a new perspective and tell a bit of a darker story this time around with the webisodes,” said Nicotero. “We had a terrific cast, and once again the crew came up with some killer walker gags and visual effects. This year there’s a clear nod to the ‘show’ but our story could definitely exist on it’s own as the ‘what if’ story of The Walking Dead.”

Here are direct links to the four gory, suspenseful installments that make up Cold Storage:

PART 1 // PART 2 // PART 3 // PART 4

The Walking Dead returns with all-new episodes October 14 on AMC.

Inventive new web series ‘The Playlist’ breaks down the past, present and future of music and tech

These days technology plays a big part in the production and progression of music. Don’t believe me? There’s a new web series out now that will help explain and entertain. It’s called The Playlist and it comes from the minds of G4’s Attack of the Show host Kevin Pereira and Musical Playtime segment producer Yaniv Fituci. The web show serves as a platform to educate fans of music across all genres about the fusion of technology, music, and pop culture as well as an interactive competition that will pit renowned musicians against each other to claim victory inside the “Audio Octagon.”

Episode 1, directed by Nick Tabri, is out today and it is comprised of five videos. Video DJ and turntablist Mike Relm (perhaps best known for his “Old Spice Remix” clip) explores the history of video mixing and tells how the art of VJing has become a worldwide phenomenon today. The other videos introduce the first two teams who will enter the Audio Octagon, namely video mixers Eclectic Method and Screenwerks. In addition to getting to know the players, you will also be acquainted with their DJ equipment that includes Pioneer’s DVJ-1000 and DJM-800 and Novation’s Dicer. And then there are the rules.  Field correspondent Kathryn Lyn explains that each team is given a playlist of 15 unique samples ranging from viral hits to video game sequences and over the course of three rounds a winner will be crowned based on the most creative use of the audio-visual clips. Viewers can voice their opinions and vote for the victor over Twitter. The battle between Eclectic Method and Screenwerks is coming soon.

With The Playlist, Pereira and Fituci intend to spark interest and discussion around the way modern technology is shaping the evolution of music and the pop culture scene. Over the course of several episodes sponsored by Pioneer DJ, The Playlist will cover a wide spectrum of musically-inclined technology like controllerism, chiptune, percussion, and MIDI. Sure, it’s cool to say you’ve seen the latest and greatest viral hits the Internet so generously offers; but wouldn’t it be even better to be informed about the people and technology that drive them?

Enter The Playlist. (Facebook / Twitter)

Another ‘Guild’ music video: “I’m the One That’s Cool”

Felicia Day and her team of Guildies have released their third music video based on Day’s wildly popular web series The Guild. Jed Whedon directed and co-wrote the song with Day. How does it compare to the insanely catchy “(Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar” and the Bollywood themed rompus from the past? Click play and find out for yourself! Fun fact: I assisted in the making of this video. So watch it and share it and love it.

Dragon Age web series starring Felicia Day debuts

Felicia Day, creator of The Guild and Penny from Dr. Horrible, stars as Tallis the Elvish assassin in the new six-part web series Dragon Age: Redemption. It takes place in Bioware’s Dragon Age universe, based on the video game franchise of the same name. Though the web series is essentially here to promote downloadable content for Dragon Age II, it also serves to elevate the relevance and respectability of a made-for-Internet series. Check out the first episode titled “Tallis” to see how Day and the creative team behind it have expertly blended fun dialogue (written by Day) and exciting action (directed by Peter Winther) that results in a worthy introduction to a live action series grounded in a video game-based world. New episodes will be uploaded to Machinima’s YouTube channel every Tuesday at midnight.

AMC debuts ‘Walking Dead’ webisodes

Today AMC uploaded a six-part web series set in the Walking Dead universe. “Torn Apart” tells the sad tale of how mother-of-two Hannah transforms into the iconic “Bicycle Girl” zombie Rick Grimes is forced to kill in the pilot episode. You know, the one pictured above. The webisodes are directed by Walking Dead FX specialist (and now co-executive producer) Greg Nicotero. Sit back and enjoy this bloody vignette; it’ll surely whet your appetite as the season 2 premiere of the Walking Dead looms. It’s under two weeks away: October 16 at 9PM.

Here are direct links to the webisodes: PART 1 // PART 2 // PART 3 // PART 4 //  PART 5 // PART 6

Mortal Kombat web series set to debut April 12 [Update: Episode 1 out now!]

Can you remember way back to June 2010 when a live action Mortal Kombat-themed video hit the ‘Net and instantly went viral? The nearly eight-minute short film garnered critical acclaim and its maker Kevin Tancharoen (Fame) quickly climbed the latter of popularity. Tancharoen’s intent was to pitch his vision for a reimagined Mortal Kombat movie to Warner Bros., the company that owns the rights to the video game and film franchise. Taking baby steps, the studio has granted the director/choreographer the rights to make a 10-part web series based in the MK universe. The web series–now officially titled Mortal Kombat: Legacy–will serve as a promotional crossover as it will debut April 12, one week prior to the release of the new Mortal Kombat video game. It has been confirmed that the following actors from the the 2010 viral hit will return in the upcoming web series: Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Voyager) is Sonya Blade, Michael Jai White (The Dark Knight) is Major Jackson ‘Jax’ Briggs, and Darren Shahlavi (300) plays Kano. This week the production team unleashed this all-too-brief fight sequence from the series which stars Jax taking on Kano (update: and this trailer).

If this web series turns out to be anything like last year’s spectacular reboot, we are all in for a very big treat. Anticipate the 4/12 debut and on that day point your browser to Machinima’s YouTube channel at precisely midnight PST.

Update (4/12): Episode 1 is out now! I’ve replaced the embedded video above with the twelve minute ep, which happens to include the Jax/Kano fight sequence teased late last week. The production value is through the roof, something that shouldn’t come as a surprise if you watched the summer short. Episode 1 introduces many of the main characters and places them in a stylistically gritty MK universe I think you’re going to fall for. No more chit-chat, mash play and enjoy Mortal Kombat: Legacy, part 1 of 10. Keep tabs on this YouTube channel for upcoming eps.

Update 2: Character stills have been found and placed in the gallery below. Also, jump after the break to watch a video interview featuring director Kevin Tancharoen, stars Jeri Ryan and Michael Jai White, and MK co-creator Ed Boon. In it they discuss the making-of the web series and what’s in store for the future.

Continue reading Mortal Kombat web series set to debut April 12 [Update: Episode 1 out now!]