This is all about me...
...so apologies about that. If you're looking for a review about the awesome new Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: The Book, then head over to PinkRaygun.com.
Earlier this year I sold a play. And now my name, and words, are in a book. A book all about Dr Horrible. That also has words in it from Joss Whedon, Felicia Day and a whole host of other people, all of whom are way up there in the list of people who have influenced me over the last few years.
If Dr Horrible hadn't happened I wouldn't have been researching the people involved and might not have stumbled across Season 1 of The Guild. Or started stalking following Felicia Day. Or get mixed up in the crazy, heady world of new media/webseries. I probably would have stopped blogging, and I wouldn't have joined sites like Twitter and Friendfeed. I certainly wouldn't have made a webseries in 2008, and all the things that have flowed from that (like the new webseries we have in production now).
I also wouldn't have thought to interview Felicia Day if I hadn't already interviewed award-winning author PJ Haarsma. He created the remote control Dr Horrible uses to steal the Wonderflonium. I knew of PJ because of Kids Need To Read, the charity he set up with Nathan Fillion. He was very generous with his time and his interview ranked in the top 10 posts on Whedonage consistently. That interview caught the eye of Titan books, the publishers of the Dr Horrible book, who then asked if they could republish some of it.
And that's how I came to be in a book with Joss.
Page 23. Tell your friends
P.S. Someone else you will certainly have heard of is also in the book. The One True b!X, photographer, blogger and twitterererer, has photos in the book, too. b!X has lots of Whedon-Geek-Guild-related photos on Flickr. You can also buy some via his website.
...Or is it "...may I"? I always get confused about that one.
So then, what's this all about?
If you can cast your mind back over two years ago, I was busy writing about Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog in several places (this blog, the Official Dr Horrible Fan Site and Whedonage), and re-watching it with abandon. I was also following Felicia Day and The Guild closely, amazed at what she had achieved. In August 2008 I was thinking about how Billy kept applying to the Evil League of Evil and not getting in, and my mind turned to just what the form was like and who processed it.
And so the Evil League of Evil Applications Processing Office was born.
From idea to video
I wrote the first three scripts then recorded the first one using my webcam and my dead laptop. It was harder than I thought it would be and a hundred times the fun. I told a few Guildies I had met on Twitter and Guild chat about it and waited to see if anyone would either watch or like it. And thank you now to all the people (you know who you are) who took the time to watch, comment and support me - I am still very grateful!
A six-part webseries, plus extras
I wanted all the action to be framed around the timeline of Dr Horrible because then I could incorporate plot points. It expanded from three to six episodes plus EvilWorldofHiglet's application to the ELE, and one for Felicia Day, too.
People are still watching them
The videos on the EvilWorldofHiglet channel on YouTube have over 116,000 views between them. Last year one of my interviews with Felicia Day became eligible for YouTube partnership and after getting permission from Felicia it now now has adverts on it. A couple of weeks ago YouTube contacted me again and said Acts 1 and 3 of ELE Application Processing Office are also eligible (they have over 25,000 view between them). So, do I need permission from Joss? And if so, how would one go about asking him? Maybe I could @motancharoen, @jedwhedon or @zdubdub on Twitter and ask them?
What's a gal to do?
Does anyone else have any ideas? Let me know and I'll keep you posted :)
On June 26th 2010 the 5th Annual Can’t Stop The Serenity was held in Vancouver, BC to raise money for Equality Now and the BC Women's Hospital. The BC Browncoats put on a great day’s entertainment and both Hubby and me had an awesome time. We made a short video:
Since we couldn't capture everything on the video, here's some highlights from the day:
Introduction and Joss videos
Gayle and Serena spoke about why we were all there for the 5th year of CSTS, the money that has been raised so far and the power of the Browncoats. We then watched some videos including Joss' Equality Now acceptance speech and his Serendipity Speech, which really got everyone in the mood for the day.
Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, sing-along
I missed the beginning because of costume competition duties, but as soon as slipped in I was singing along. It was a heart-warming experience and I thoroughly enjoyed singing, laughing and gasping along with everyone else. ("..The hammer is my penis." and "...I meant Ghandi.." were among the favourite lines!).
Evil Laugh Contest
I was surprised at how many of my fellow Browncoats possess evil laughs! There must be a coach in the area…. The competition was fierce and it went to a laugh-off between the last three.
The Masked Roger - unmasked?
The Masked Roger Marathon
This was definitely a highlight. The Masked Roger webseries is funny, smart and full of cool effects. Alan has a great sense of humour and it’s worth watching them a few times to make sure you get all the jokes. It was great to see it on the big screen and it went down extremely well with the crowd. Alan also gave a very good speech about the inspiration behind The Masked Roger and how he came to make a webseries. I wish I had managed to record it. He talked about how Dr Horrible and the ELE competitions started it off, how Felicia Day and The Guild spurred him along and how the feedback and encouragement from the BC Browncoats helped to keep him going. Now, Alan, when can we expect the next episode…?
The Costume Parade (and Hubby's bare knee :))
Costume Contest Parade and Prizes
Hubby had his knees on display, dressed as he was as Fawkes (from The Guild Season 3 and soon-to-be 4). There was an array of costumes from Firefly and the Whedonverse, with the Bad Horse Chorus also putting on a great display (and yes, they did the song, too!). It was very hard to do the judging but there were some very worthy winners.
Browncoats: Redemption Screening
Vancouver was one of the few CSTS events to see the full rough cut of Browncoats: Redemption. I’ve been following progress of the film for a long time now. I’m writing up some detailed feedback for the producers but I can tell you that even though the screening was of a rough cut, I can’t wait to see the finished film. Hubby and I were both impressed with it, and the solid base of the film looks really good. The full premiere at Dragon:Con will be a packed event, I’m sure! I will be writing more about Browncoats: Redemption soon, so look out for that.
I didn’t manage to get a ticket for the Whedon-Works Trivia Bingo but there were some happy winners and some tricky questions, so I took the opportunity to check out the bids on the Silent Auction. There were some amazing items, from signed photos of Jewel Staite, a signed copy of The Guild DVD, genre books, games, models, a knitted dalek….The bidding was pretty fierce for some of the items!
Serenity
What can you say about this film? It represents so many things but, at its heart, it is simply an excellent film full of laughter, tears, action, adventure and a passion that runs through everything. A passion for life, friends and doing what is right. If you’ve never seen the films in the company of fellow Browncoats then I heartily recommend that you do. It is a moving experience.
Cowboy!
Door Prizes and Silent Auction winners
The winning didn’t stop, and there were some amazing door prizes given out after the screening. We didn’t win a door prize but we did win an item on the Silent Auction which has been a very welcome addition.
To Gayle, Serena and everyone else who worked so hard to make the event run smoothly – thank you for making it such an enjoyable day!
Dr Horrible screenshot from Streamy Awards Nominations live webcast this morning
Online excitement this morning!
The highly anticipated announcements for the 2010 Streamy Awards came this morning in a live broadcast on uStream (with a simultaneous broadcast on Justin.tv). The show started with a montage from last year's award ceremony and the acceptance speeches from Felicia Day and Joss Whedon. By that time the chat was raring to hear the nominations and what a lot of categories!
Calendars cleared for April 11th 2010 The Award ceremony is on April 11th and you can find a full list of the nominees on streamys.org but here's some noms of interest:
The Guild SEVEN nominations this year:
Best Comedy Web Series
Best Directing for a Comedy Web Series: Sean Becker
Best Writing for a Comedy Web Series: Felicia Day
Best Male Actor in a Comedy Web Series: Sandeep Parikh
Best Female Actor in a Comedy Web Series: Felicia Day
Best Ensemble Cast in a Comedy Web Series: Vincent Caso, Felicia Day, Jeff Lewis, Any Okuda, Sandeep Parikh, Robin Thorsen
Best Guest Star in a Web Series: Wil Wheaton
Legend of Neil
THREE nominations this year:
Best Comedy Web Series
Best Directing for a Comedy Web Series: Sandeep Parikh
Best Writing for a Comedy Web Series: Tony Janning, Sandeep Parikh
...and Nathan Fillion is up for Best Guest Star in a Web Series for PG Porn (against Wil Wheaton, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Courteney Cox and Chris Hardwick).
The Crew, Epic Fu, How It Should Have Ended, Happy Tree Friends, Buck Hollywood, Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, Auto-tune The News and many others were also nominated, so check out the complete list and see if your favourite is up for an award!
(Clara shows her sweeter side in The Guild Halloween Special...Photo by Brian Kameoka, courtesy of Knights of Good)
Yeah, technically this covers more than a week...! Did you ever notice how, as soon as you decide to do one thing, 3 gazillion other things pop up and demand your attention? So, in the spirit of getting things done, here are all the blog posts I would have done in the last few days if I had had the time. You're welcome! :)
So, in reverse chronological order:
The Guild Halloween Special Released on 27th October this is a wonderfully playful romp with The Guild cast as they quest for loot IRL. Written by Kim Evey and directed by Greg Benson, it's great to see the gang reunit'd-ish.
The Dr Horrible and Guild Second Annual Halloween Screening Whedonopolis once again hosted a sing-along screening of Dr Horrible and this year showed Season 2 of The Guild. It was a star-studded event with fun galore and money being raised for Kids Need to Read.
Here's some highlights from watchtheguild's YouTube:
Felicia Day uses Halloween as a way to traumatise my daughter Felicia has a tradition of shopping for her Halloween outfits in kid's clothing section at 4:00 on Halloween (it must be true - she tweeted it!). As you digest how many things are wrong with that, feast your eyes on this year's abomination:
The Horror!!!
My little girl was not at all amused by Ms Day's antics, as you can see:
The Guild S3 Ep9: Wit's End Season 3 is ratcheting up the tension with MOAR TRAUMA as The Guild self-destructs. I reviewed it on PinkRaygun.com and people are of the opinion that things may have reached turning point. So.Much.Goodness!
Director Sean Becker agrees, and he commented on Facebook"...I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of the final 3 eps, they are a lot of fun!" I can't wait!
The Guild on Amazon.com's DVD recommended list The Guild DVD makes #68 on the list, only 2 behind Nathan Fillion's 'Castle'! This is an amazing feat for a webseries - well done everyone!
Legend of Neil Needs You! We love this webseries, right? LoN is a guilty pleasure (NSFW but soooo funny) and we need to make sure that they make a Season 3. So help Sandeep and Tony out and read how you can help - it only takes a minute!
Knights of The Guild Live Broadcast I totally missed this because of hockey-mum duties, but KOTG had their first live broadcast last night and despite a few technical hiccups it went really well. Kenny has blogged about it and I can't wait to see it!
NaNoWriMo I am so far behind at this stage it's a bit scary, but there are good reasons why (including being sick, kids being sick and - YAY! - more interest in my non-fiction project). To all those Nano-ers who are struggling keep in mind that you can make up the ground. I've got a long way to go but there is time to catch up - wish us all luck!
(The Knights of The Guild podcast - with Jenni and Kenny!)
The tables are turned! In a couple of days I'll be interviewing the lovely Jenni Powell for PinkRaygun.com. Jenni's dulcet tones can be heard on the Knights of The Guild (KOTG) podcasts where she co-hosts with Kenny, and you might also know her as the Key Production Assistant on The Guild. We'll be chatting about The Guild, the KOTG podcasts and delving deep into the inner recesses of Jenni's brainbox. Probably. Although, to the untrained ear it might sound like lots of laughing. Ms Powell has been involved with many webseries over the years and recently had stints on the sets of Legend of Neil and The Guild as an extra. Which leads me to the next thing. Do you have a burning question for Jenni? I've already had some from people on the watchtheguild forums so if you have any more leave a comment here and I'll do my best to get an answer for you! Listen to The Guild fans on the lastest KOTG podcast The Guild has always been about the fans and the lastest KOTG Microcast #8 Quest for Skype features a Skype conversation with a group of Guildies: Belrand Chris F. Jeff V. Nas Phil aka GrrAargh Lydia Tynesha Higlet
Yay! It was a really fun time on Skype and there are plans to do more in the future so email Knightsoftheguild@gmail.com if you want to know more.
Dr Horrible in the news!
Yes, fresh on the heels of Dr Horrible receiving an Emmy last week comes confirmation that Joss is indeed planning a Dr Horrible 2. And the good Doctor himself (or Jed, anyway) has been dropping some hints recently as picked up by DrHorrible.net. And today, Maurissa tweeted this:
Hmmm. Coupled with the fact that the host for tomorrow's Emmys is none other than Neil Patrick Harris, it's probably worth tuning in. I wonder what is going to happen...
And in case you missed it, here's Joss' acceptance speech from the Emmys:
And with Dollhouse Season 2 premiering on Friday 25th September these are exciting times in the Jossverse!
Joss gets his Emmy at last!
Dr Horrible was awarded for an Emmy in the 'Outstanding Special Class - Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program' yesterday. Jed himself broke the news:
Thanks to Twitter and the lovely Mo Tancharoen we can follow yesterday's excitement through pictures. These are all taken from @MoTancharoen's Twitter stream. Click on the picture to go to Twitpic to see the bigger original on Twitpic. You can even leave comments there for Mo and co :)
And once again I will be attending via the Internet. Sure, some people might say that stalking all the people I know who are going is a poor substitute for actually being there, but at least this way I don't have many scheduling nightmares and the kids get to eat this month! Last year I blogged on Whedonage about all the people I would queue up to see if I were there Part 1 and Part 2. The list hasn't changed that much, with a few additions, perhaps.
For all us unfortunates not able to be there here are some resources that might help:
Websites:
Tubefilter: a guide to all the webseries at SDCC including The Guild and Dr Horrible
Whedonage: all the Whedon-related happenings this year
The Guild: their guide to everything Guild-related
Guildies: Comic-Con'd!: Set up by Dani (@maxsummers), a collection of Guildies will be posting their reports from SDCC (I'm really excited about this!)
Twitterers:
@Crixlee Cricket Lee: co-presenter of A Fangirl's Guide podcast, girl gamer and Guild extra will be at CC, collecting interviews and giving away stickers
@egspoony Edgar Garcia: The Guild and Felicia's webmaster extraordinaire
@maxsummers Dani will be posting on the Guildies' site (can't wait for her to meet with Felicia!) and tweeting (I hope!)
@CapricaSeven: Jane Espenson, who will be there for the BSG panel
EDIT: @theguild: They will have a very special announcement for Guildies at CC on Thursday AM, so be sure you're following them (yes, even those of us not there want to know what's going on!)
@jul_weiss: Julianna Weiss, Editor of Pink Raygun is at CC and will be getting scoop on lots of geektastical wonders!
Video reporting
The lovely Jared Hoy has started a video blog about SDCC. Despite some misgivings about his co-host (and you'll understand why when you see who that is) I have high hopes for this:
If you know of anyone else or other sites that have SDCC information on them please let me know and I'll add them.
EDIT:
Jessica Stover (@JSto) will be representing Artemis Eternal at SDCC but in a different form to last year. All the details are on the Artemis Eternal website.
Shenanigans!
So what's all that about, then? Well, I have discovered some shocking news. News so shocking that it could set the Internet alight like hasn't been seen since the news of Guild Deficiency Syndrome broke or that loser Sean Becker was apparently sacked by the wonderful Felicia Day. It's so potentially devastating that I can barely bring myself to blog about it. But I know my duty. Stay tuned - the truth is out there!!!
Yes - The Guild Season 2 is now starting on YouTube with Episode One "Link the Loot" already up there:
It's great to see the gang back on YouTube - and to read all the comments from fans! And yes - lots of new fans are seeing The Guild for the first time. Crazy as it seems, there are some people on the Interwebz who have not seen The Guild yet. There is an influx of new people on http://community.watchtheguild.com/ and it's really great to hear from people who had no idea about the series and are now gleefully rattling through the episodes. This is great news and you can Digg it up to show your appreciation!
YouTube versus MSN
Now this is a false battle. The bottom line is that MSN are the sponsor of The Guild and without them Season 2, and for certain, Season 3 just would not be happening on the same scale, if at all. Felicia Day (creator/writer/actor) battled long and hard for a deal that let her keep control of her show and this was the best deal on a full table of offers. That said, there are differences between the two, and for me there are three main ones:
Streaming quality:
MSN is the clear winner here. Season 2 was filmed in HD and the MSN video player does do this more justice (although watching on Xbox Live on a HD TV is better still!):
YouTube wins here hands down. On the MSN site it's hard to even find where you are supposed to comment, you have to log in and it seems very clunky. By comparison commenting and reading the comments in YouTube are a breeze. You still have to log on but YouTube keeps you logged in as a rule (unless your settings don't allow this) and so once you've commented on one video you can keep going. Of course that also means that many of the comments on YouTube in general (but not really on The Guild videos) can be spammy, offensive or just plain nasty, but they can be moderated.
Sharing the videos
You can Digg both with one click. MSN allows you to 'blog to spaces', while YouTube gives you the option to share on Facebook and MySpace. Both also allow you to copy the links (with or without embedding).
Why The Guild being on YouTube is important
The Guild started on YouTube and has a massive following over there. But there are still so many people who haven't heard of The Guild that making available in as many places as possible makes sound sense. As they put on WatchTheGuild.com:
The one thing we’ve missed from out awesome Xbox/Microsoft distribution is comments, so we’d love to hear what you think of the season! Also, if you could Rate and Favorite the video it will help new people discover the show. We appreciate those extra clicks!
Thank you so much for supporting our independent web series :) We’re excited to be launching a new season just around the corner, more information will be released next week. Also we will be posting our full Comicon Schedule later today or tomorrow, so be sure to check back so you can fit us in your busy schedule!
The Guild Management
So even if you've seen it on MSN, bought the DVD (use this link to support The Guild if you've not already purchased it) and have told all your friends (repeatedly!) you can still help by heading over to YouTube.
Our favourite Doctor had a birthday!
It's hard to believe but it's a year since Dr Horrible stormed the Intertubes on the 15th July 2008, taking out servers and breaking websites willy nilly. There was a surprising lack of posts about it, but WoWBlog did summarise the excitement and heady anticipation of those days. Really, I should now do Future Entertainment: Part 3 and bring together everything we've learned about how ground-breaking Dr Horrible was and is. And will do that. Just not yet :)
Two Birthdays?
In fact, Dr Horrible had two birthdays this week because it was Jed Whedon's yesterday, as immortalised in this tweet from Mo Tanchoroen (his wife and co-writer-in-crime):
When I first heard about the new film set in the Firefly/Serenity 'Verse it seemed too good to be true - the sort of brilliant idea that would never happen. But now filming is coming to an end and that brilliant idea is coming to life more spectacularly than I could ever have imagined. One of the creators, Michael Dougherty, was kind enough to take time out of his incredibly busy schedule to do an interview with me which is published today over at Pink Raygun. He talks about the inspiration to make the film, the challenges and how all the profits will go to charity. There should be more to come soon...
Exciting news!
This is my first article in Pink Raygun and working with Lisa Fary and John Dallaire is a real buzz. They have built up PRG into a fantastic resource for all fangirls (and yes, fanboys) with news, articles and reviews about all the shows, films and comics that matter. This is their new venture:
PHILADELPHIA, PA - Local comic creators, Lisa Fary and John Dallaire, will be at Geno’s Steaks in South Philadelphia fundraising for the Fraternal Order of Police survivors fund.
The pair’s latest comic effort, Intergalactic Law: Grey Squad is on Zuda, DC Comics’ online competition, through April 30th. The winner is selected via reader votes over the course of the competition. For every vote and comment that Grey Squad earns, Fary and Dallaire are donating twenty-five cents to the Philadelphia police survivors fund, with a goal of $1000.
Click the “Vote” button to the right of the comic. The red box will turn green when you’ve voted. Click a star rating right under the “Vote” button. Click “Add to Favorites” at the bottom of the voting block.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and leave a comment. Say you voted for Grey Squad.
More exciting news!
It's been a week and a half in the fandom with double-Joss at the Paley on the Dr Horrible and Dollhouse panels, and as the reports come in I'll post about them. In the meantime @Tabz has posted her report over at Joss'd and it's full of lovely details and brilliant pictures from @danregal. And - did you know Felicia Day persuaded Nathan Fillion to join Twitter after the Dr Horrible panel? Yes, it's really him!
And not least...
I'm still working on finding an agent and publisher for my novel. This is a lengthy process. To keep me going I've been working on alternative ways to promote the book and I'll be making an announcement about that over the weekend. I think you'll like it. I hope you do!
"Saturday night, Hollywood and online collided and created a beautiful child in the 1st Annual Streamy Awards. Held at the historic Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles, the awards celebrated some of the top talents in the web series industry (which, I think we can now call it an ‘industry’).." Tabitha Smith tells us why it was such an important event.
Cricket Lee was kind enough to let me interview her about her experiences as an extra on The Guild set. I have posted the edited version of this on Whedonage along with some background biography. (It was especially kind of her because this was the second time. I had mucho trouble with the first one because iMovie would not import it correctly - so thank you Cricket!). I first met Cricket on the WatchTheGuild.com community site after the Dr Horrible screening last year and she shared her experiences about that on another blog post. But it was brilliant actually talking to her via Skype. Because YouTube only allows videos of 100 megs/less than 10 mins I had to edit it down quite a bit. But if you'd like to hear some more then Cricket has uploaded another part of it where she talks about Joss at the Dr Horrible screening - it's a funny story!
The 'People's Choice' Streamys are announced...
...and my blog post about my choices was a 'very Honorable Runner-up'. Cool! Unfortunately I didn't win the tickets for the Awards Ceremony (that honour goes to Ben Shult from St. Timmy Productions) but it's good to know that my hit rate of 4/10 (The Guild, Dr Horrible, After Judgement and Legend of Neil) and wasn't too bad. And now - have you voted today yet? You can vote once every day up until the 28th March for your favourite so if you love more than one special webseries you can alternate your votes. Just remember to vote every day! Even though I won't be there at the Awards, I'll be watching the Live Feed. To me, this is much more exciting than the Oscars! I've followed many of these people for a while now and to see them honoured in the Streamys Awards is a huge thrill.
Felicia Day: new media guru?
After appearing at the SXSW 2009 and then in Improv again last night, where else might you find Felicia this year? She blogged recently about her appearances in 2009 and the fact they are going to be limited this year due to the heavy commitments she has. But she and The Guild will be at San Diego Comic Con in July and Felicia will also be at the Starfury Con in England in April. And what is she doing in the meantime? Writing Season 3 of The Guild, working on other projects such as an upcoming Machinima production and making guest speaker appearances such as the one she will be making at the 'Future of Television West'. It is heartening to see that Felicia is being asked to speak at such events because it shows that web shows, and the people who create them, are being taken seriously.
After Pi yesterday and The Streamy Official Nominations being released on Friday it's been fun, fun, fun! Well, apart from the massive migraine, that is. Anyways. I ventured back in front of my screen and found via Whedonesque and thanks to The One True b!X that I saw this from Tubefilter.tv:
"Audience Choice Voting starts on Monday! For those of you who absolutely can’t possibly wait to start voting, blog your best guess of the Audience Choice Award lineup (pick 10 web series!) — the blogger who’s lineup is closest to the official lineup announced at the end of the day on March 16 wins two (2) tickets to the Streamy Awards Ceremony on March 28! Tweet links to your posts to @tubefilter on Twitter "
Some of you might be aware that I love this webseries for a multitude of reasons. See all the various posts here and there about why. They should be first.
Yes, it's tough to decide between this and The Guild. Dr Horrible has broken records, moulds and hearts. And inspired me to create my own webseries. Yep, they will probably win :)
This is the best game show I've seen on the Web. If it is a game show. And if it isn't then it's still one of the funniest, freshest shows in webland. I heart Kiko!
Actually completely Suitable For Work, you'd be hard pressed to find two hotter or funnier girls in shower on the web. The interaction and dialogue is awesome.
Isn't it great when you can share funny shows with your kids? Possibly not if it's Happy Tree Friends! Very funny with a gory twist every episode guaranteed to delight kids and horrify sensitive adults.
These were very well done and they didn't spare the effects or writing. They (almost!) help to fill the time between Part 1 and 2 of the final season - but I'd have liked to see them released earlier.
Halo, Machinima, taking the action and dialogue to the illogical extremes. This was a ground-breaking series that has stood the test of time for me.
Okaaaay. Did I mention the migraine? It's made it hard to count. And to write much. Or get pictures....So - what are your picks for the People's Choice? If you have a list and blog it don't forget to send them to @tubefilter on Twitter.
A very interesting interview with Joss from Knowledge@Wharton
Joss talks about Dr Horrible and what if should mean for the web video business
"..Joss Whedon wants to change the way Hollywood does business. While Whedon works inside the studio system on major projects, he also hopes to blaze a trail on the Internet for creating and monetizing independently produced content. In doing so, he is confronting what he terms the 'homogenized, globalized, monopolized entertainment system' "
It's an in-depth interview and Joss also talks about the deal with the writers, cast and crew:
"Knowledge@Wharton: Several numbers have been quoted regarding the overall cost of "Dr. Horrible" -- "low six-figures"; "around $200,000" -- can you set the record straight?
Whedon: We got so much of this done through people doing us favors -- department heads and people who have access to things. But you've got to pay your day-to-day crew. The actors all did it for nothing. And we all did it for nothing. So, the production costs alone -- the basic costs of filming the thing, and getting the locations, props and everything -- ran a little over $200,000.
We had a secondary budget drawn up in case of a profit, wherein we were trying to find rates for Internet materials. In some cases they didn't exist. We used models that had been created by the guild for repurposed, or reused, material that we used for original [content], because this had never come up before.
We didn't want to leave a sour taste and say, "Well, we made some money off of you guys being kind." It was like: No, everybody has to benefit from what they've done, obviously not enormously -- it's Internet money we're talking about -- but as soon as we got in the black, we paid everybody off.
So that budget was probably about twice what the original budget was.
Knowledge@Wharton: You've now earned more than twice the original cost?
Whedon: Yes.
Knowledge@Wharton: Which members of the production shared in the profits on the backend?
Whedon: The crew that got paid, got paid. [Those] who didn't get paid [included people like] department heads who had jobs and could afford to do this as a lark.
As we go forward into profit, there are also residual schedules and payment schedules for all of the creative people. We're trying to figure out how that works..."
It's well worth reading the rest of the interview.
Dang I'm so behind, I'm going have to resort to Plan 9
It's not from Outer Space but it might as well be. This is a post of last resort. TheMashable open web awards are up at the moment so I'm going to see if this post can be so sucky it wins the 'most p*sspoor attempt at making up for lost blogtime - ever!' I'm very hopeful.
What's the what?
This is my list of things I think you would want to know about that have, are or will happen (-ed, -ing). It's not even the full list but then, if it was, I might not win that fictitious Mashable award. That's a 'lose-lose' situation we can all enjoy! Also, I have put links in where I could (be bothered) but in some cases you might have to do some more work yourself. Again, it's all about keeping you guessing. Feel free to complain in the comments section (for all the good it will do you). At this stage it's all about getting this post done so I can enjoy the rest of my Friday.
Strike TV - a new force in Internet Video
Born out of the Writer's Strike last year - check it out for some great new webseries.
Dr Horrible
Soundtrack is on offer this week at $5 from Amazon.com
New teeshirts will be available from Jinx on Monday and you can get Season 1 DVD there, too.
First trailers for Season 2 should be out next week
I have 3 up-coming posts on Whedonage about The Guild which include interviews withVincent Caro (Bladezz), Kim Evey (producer of The Guild and creator/star of Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show) and *gasp* a video interview with Feliciaherself. You will get a chance to submit a question for Felicia so when it's published I'll let you know.
NaNoWriMo
Ever wanted to write a book? How about a novel - in a month? That's the simple premise of NaNoWriMo. If you know someone doing it encourage them all you can because it's a punishing schedule. I'm not doing it BUT I am doing something else. The first 11 chapters of my first novel are completed and I have a schedule which says the first draft is to be completed by Christmas. Which is why my blogging in waaaay down. SO if you want to encourage me, too, feel free. A simple 'Get on with it!' will suffice.
Scott Sigler
Is a Podcaster, writer and professional curmudgeon. Last week he offered me a beer. This week he played a cruel trick on all Whedon fans - and you have to be sure he is laughing as we tie ourselves in knots. That probably needs a little more explanation:
On his AMC blog Scott asked for nominations for the baddest monster hunter of all time. And the funny guy that he is, he's pitted Buffy against River Tam in the week 1 face-off. Apparently there can be only one...it's ok, we will have our revenge.
In other news, his follow-up to the (ok, it was excellent) Infected is out on 30th December which you can pre-order. And in honour of this he is doing a book tour. And one of the places is Seattle. And if I manage to get there (with perhaps a friend or two) I might get a beer.
The Buffy: Between the Lines studio has a special edition - Firefly! It takes place between the Firefly episodes “Jaynestown” and “Out of Gas” and is well worth a listen.
Ma, I've done my homework, can I go play (have a beer) now?
Yes. Yes I can. It's scribbled and barely legible but I've finished. I hope you all have a good weekend!
That’s what I was doing last night with my little one, and we had lots of fun (and candy). A few (hundred) miles away in LA there was a different kind of Halloween going on. Whedonopolis staged a charity of screening of both Dr Horrible and The Guild – and there were a few surprise guests in attendance! There is an account of the night by Hollywood Jane and there is a video on YouTube that is a little shaky but you can hear what’s being said and is well worth a watch.
Special report from Cricket Lee
I was lucky enough to meet someone online in The Guild chat today that was at the event last night. Cricket Lee is the writer/editor of the show "Can I Nail It" for a live streaming internet network called thestream.tv She has uploaded some great event pictures to her profile on The Guild Community site which include descriptions and items from the goodie bags! Cricket also very kindly answered some questions about the night for all of us not able to attend:
[WoH] How did you get your ticket?
[CL] I had bought tickets a couple weeks ago but my friend Sean Becker (who is currently directing season 2 of The Guild) gave me his, so I donated mine to charity
[WoH] What was the buzz like before?
[CL] People were excited and ready to go! When the first Dr Horrible episode came out for free, I went to iTunes asap, bought a season pass, and when the album came out I bought that, too. And there's just so much about The Guild that I love...I don't play WoW (more of a video game girl) but I dated a guy who did so I loved the veiled references and the keyboard speak.
[WoH] Did you see any of the stars of The Guild or Dr Horrible there?
[CL] I DID! I saw Jeff Lewis, Felicia Day, Joss Whedon, and Nathan Fillion! Felicia came in disguise as a Luchador and Fillion as Ninja Ropes guy.
[WoH] Did you get to speak to any of them?
[CL] NO, dang it. I stood 6 feet away from Jeff and Felicia in the lobby before everyone else was let in and I chickened out. I'm sure they're inundated with people everyday and would usually like a day to themselves. but next time, I'm gonna say hi!
[WoH] What was the high-point for you?
[CL] EVERYTHING! but if I had to narrow it down I'd say three things:
1) seeing Felicia, Jeff, Joss, and Fillion.
2) knowing that a really good charity is getting some much needed help. all in all I donated about 50 bucks. Wanna check out the charity? www.PATHVentures.org
3) I won a 25 dollar gifty to Golden Apple comics
[WoH] Did people sing along?
[CL] (They) sang, quoted lines, even hand/facial gestures...myself included! it really could be the new Rocky Horror for the sci-fi/gamer set. If they did it once a month, I'd go everytime. It was so awesome to be among like minded people and we could all be our hip, weird, nerdy selves and no one cared because they were singing/reciting lines just as loud or louder than the next person!
[WoH] Were people dressed up?
[CL]ABSOLUTELY. I came as a Jedi. I saw the Bad Horse Chorus, a girl dressed as Dr Horrible in red, quite a few Dr H's in white, a couple of Penny's, couple Guild members, oh man...SO many costumes! One of the Dr H writers came as Kurt Cobain and was DEAD on.
[WoH] What was in the goodie-bags?
[CL] It was called Dr Horrible's Sing Along Bag and there were props to be used during the film which included little lace curtains, a penny, and a Bad Horse finger puppet.
You can find out more about Cricket on The Guild Community site and her MySpace account.
Thank you for answering the questions and sharing your pictures Cricket!
