Browncoats: Redemption, Dragon*Con, Knights of the Guild and writerly news - too much awesome!

(Browncoats: Redemption movie postcard for Dragon*Con)

Are you going to Dragon*Con?

If you are you are in for a treat. There's a huge line-up of goodies in store for you but I'd like to direct your attention to two things:

1) The WORLD PREMIERE of the Browncoats: Redemption trailer

Michael Dougherty, co-creator of the new fanmade film set in the Serenity/Firefly universe gave me an interview for Whedonage which went up today. They have finished principle photography and are racing towards the deadline for the film to be ready Dragon*Con 2010, but on Sunday they will be unveiling the trailer. The photos and videos from the set look stunning and I wish I could be there to see it! Full details are at the end of the article and you can also follow them on Facebook for all the current news.

2) The Guild will be there! EDIT: Felicia Day will be at Dragon*Con

Yes, not content with wowing the audiences at SD Comic Con and BlizzCon, Felcia Day will also be at Dragon*Con. I'm not sure of the details yet but as soon as I know I will tell you. And many others of The Guild cast and crew will be in Seattle for Pax 09. Here's a full run down of what the Uber Guildies will be up to at Pax:

"Friday, 9:00pm - 10:30pm, Unicorn Theatre

The Guild Season 2 Screening

Watch all 12 episodes of The Guild Season 2 back to back, followed by a Q & A with cast members Jeff Lewis (Vork) and Sandep Parikh (Zaboo), moderated by producer Kim Evey.Panelists Include: Jeff Lewis (Actor, The Guild), Sandeep Parikh (Actor, The Guild), Kim Evey (Producer, The Guild), Wil Wheaton (Actor, The Guild)

Saturday, 5:30pm - 6:30pm, Raven Theatre

The Making of a Hit Web Series

Join Kim Evey, Sandeep Parikh and Greg Benson, the creator/producer/directors of three of the web's biggest sensations, "The Guild," "The Legend of Neil," and "Retarded Policeman." They'll tell you how they got their start in online video and then answer your questions about everything from content to distribution to funding. If you're thinking about getting into online video and want to talk to the experts, this panel is for you! Panelists Include: Kim Evey (Producer, Knights of Good Productions, Inc), Sandeep Parikh (Owner, Effin Funny), Greg Benson (Owner, Mediocre Films)

Saturday, 9:00pm - 10:30pm, Unicorn Theatre

The Legend of Neil Season 2 Screening and PanelThe Legend of Neil, the story of a regular dude who gets sucked into Zelda and has to fight his way out, returns with an action-and-nostalgia packed second season. Neil stars Tony Janning, Mike Rose and Felicia Day (of Guild and Dr. Horrible fame) and is created by Sandeep Parikh (of The Guild)

Panelists Include: Sandeep Parikh (Creator / Co-Writer and Director, The Legend of Neil), Tony Janning (Star (Neil) and Co-Writer, The Legend of Neil)"

(From the Pax schedule)

Why did it have to be the Unicorn Theatre? Haven't they suffered enough?!? If you don't know what I'm talking about then you need to head over to The Guild Forums and join the Axis of Unicorns and help the Unicorn Defense League protect these noble creatures from the jaws of unscrupulous Guildies!

Knights of The Guild NEW maxi-microcast #6 is up

"Quest for the Music Video" shows how hard that Kenny and Jenni work to bring us all the news and behind-the-scenes information we crave about The Guild. In this latest installment there is a great interview with Greg Aronowitz who created the wonderful weapons the cast sport in the "Do you wanna date my Avatar" video AND the reveal what the filming at the video was like. Kenny and Jenni don't just host the podcast, Kenny is the official behind-the-scenes photographer who has shot all the amazing BTS video and pictures used on The Guild DVDs and Jenni has a myriad of jobs - from Felicia's PA to Head Production Assistant to gold coin counter - and everything in between. There are also lots of feedback comments from listeners (both written and audio), which is really great to hear. It's very rewarding when people take the time to leave a comment.

Kenny and Jenni are also guests on Joss'd Episode #040! It is so worth a listen (if you're not already listening to Joss'd. And if you're not - @Tabz will know and hunt you down!). We hear all about how KOTG started off and the inside scoop on why Jenni might take her top off in the next episode...

Writerly News

And in all the excitement I had some pretty exciting news myself today. I've been podcasting "Turning Left at Albuquerque" for a few weeks now on turningleft.podbean.com. We're up to chapter 50 now, so if you haven't caught up yet please check it out. This week we posted a new promo instead of a new omnibus and we also had a request of listeners asking for some feedback. It doesn't take much to write a comment and you could hear it read out by Lord Poncenby! Or you could send an audio comment to turningleftpodcast at gmail dot com.

And then, today, I had an email from an agent who is interested in my new super-secret project asking me for a partial submission. This is a big deal you guys! I only queried a few agents for this new (non-fiction) project and I am very excited that this agency wants to hear more because I think they will really 'get' it. It doesn't mean it's in the bag, and it might all come to nothing, but it a great first step. So YAY!

Legend of Neil, Season 2 Episode 3 - Dragon style?!?

(Legend of Neil header from http://www.effinfunny.com/legend-of-neil)

Firstly - It's not my fault

I meant to post about this last thing on Sunday night (when I first saw it), and then again yesterday (when I watched it again), and now I'm finally doing it (after another view). Sorry, Sandeep, it's not you, it's me. I got distracted. Also...well...okay the thing is that this episode is so very funny and VERY, VERY WRONG! It takes a while to get used to...what...er...and it's so...and...

Let's start again

Right. Legend of Neil is written by Sandeep Parikh (who also plays Zaboo in The Guild) and Tony Jannings (who stars as Neil in LoN and who can't be bothered to get onto Twitter. He's too good for Twitter or something.). It follows the adventure of Neil, who 'somehow' gets sucked into Zelda, an old-school game. It's very funny and COMPLETELY NSFW. And this episode is EVEN MORE NSFW than usual. Plus, if you imagine Felicia Day as cute and unsullied then either don't watch or prepare to be gob-smacked. If it's any consolation I laughed like a drain all the way through and I suspect you will, too. And the music is brilliant! Oh, didn't I mention? This is the musical episode! Yes - everyone's at it and this is such a funny episode!

Don't say I didn't warn you!

You can watch it on Effinfunny.com or Atom.com. And if you liked it why not Digg it like so many have already?

Banquet scene from Do You Want To Date My Avatar

Banquet
Originally uploaded by watchtheguild

Watchtheguild has added some fantastic photos to their Flickr account from the Do You Want To Date My Avatar shoot by Angie Riemersma, including this one showing the Banquet scene. Brilliant work!

The Guild Season 3 launched on Xbox live plus the S3 trailer

Ah, the irony

I flipped the switch on the Xbox today eager to watch Episode 1, Season 3 of The Guild. After suffering from the crippling illness Guild Deficiency Syndrome (GDS) the wait was over and I was ready to step onto the Season 3 roller-coaster. First little wrinkle was having to wait up a system update, but, no problem, it was soon restarted and ready to go. I went to the Marketplace, found S3, Ep 1 and...arseburgers! Only Gold members can download it. Now, I used to have Gold but because our Xbox was registered in the UK (don't ask how that happened because I DO NOT want to relive that), the only way to renew has been to get Points shipped from England. Apparently you can pay online now but after the hassle we've had in the past I just never bothered. Until now.

What to do?

Now $60 might not sound that much but I can't justify that just so I can see S3, Ep1 a week early. Especially when I'll be buying the DVD and have just bought "Do You Want To Date My Avatar" video and MP3.

Kids want to be fed every day and they notice if you substitute sawdust for oatmeal and cardboard for crackers. So I'll wait until next Tuesday 1st September when I can watch it on MSN video. And brood. And fidget with my GDS for a few days longer. Thank goodness that....

The Season 3 trailer was released today!

Yay!

Now it's a trailer that contains scenes from S3, so if you don't want to see anything then don't watch it. Though how you would be able to resist is beyond me. I won't say more than Season 3 looks like it is going to be an absolute corker and (I can't resist this, so if it spoils you, I'm sorry) Wil Wheaton apparently DOES NOT WEAR UNDERWEAR!!! 'Nuff said.

Felicia Day Interview Pt 2 on KOTG plus Blizz*Con, Season 3 and more!

(Picture of Felicia Day from Knights of The Guild website, with permission)

Knights of The Guild podcast delivers again!

A year ago I had to force myself to listen to podcasts - it seemed so alien to me even after being brought up listening to the radio (yes, we had a TV but I only had a radio in my room - it was the dark ages after all! But my little radio brought me all the pop I needed and I loved the DJ's banter between the Kajagoogoo and Spandau Ballet records.) Now I listen to several podcasts.Knights of The Guild (KOTG) is the official podcast of The Guild and is your surest defense against Guild Deficiency Syndrome. In the latest - Ep7, Pt 2 - the hosts Kenny and Jenni deliver the usual excellent mix of cheery teasing (of each other), behind-the-scenes goodies, fan feedback and Part 2 of their interview with Felicia Day. @KnightsofGuild asked fans on Twitter if they had questions for Felicia and she answers them with gusto. Lots of information about Season 3, Do You Want To Date My Avatar music video and much more. A must-listen for anyone interested in The Guild.

The Guild at BlizzCon

Another weekend, after Con. This time the team were at BlizzCon and another rousing success. The booth looked awesome as this photo from Kenny shows:

(From Kenny's/ Geekyfanboy's Flickr)

Kenny has some other brilliant photos from BlizzCon up there, too - of the cast, crew and fans! @theguild wasn't liveblogging from The Guild panel, but wow.com was, and they have very thorough coverage of it up on their blog. It makes great reading - I'm sure fans are very grateful for it!

On the right-hand corner of The Guild table you might just be able to see a colourful picture. This is the new, Season 3 artwork done by the very talented artist, Jeff Carlisle. Jeff is a keen Guildie I had the pleasure of meeting some time ago on The Guild chat. He's a great guy (with a wicked sense of humour) and a look at his website will show you that he has created some brilliant artwork for the likes of Lucasfilm Ltd and Microsoft Game Studio. Here's a better view of this awesome piece:

(From Jeff Carlisle's Flickr)

Jeff also has another piece on his Flickr account which appears to be a S3 teaser - I hope we'll find out what this means soon!

Season 3 is nearly upon us!

The 25th of August 2009 is circled on my calendar as the day I get first dibs on the Xbox (for once!). Luckily for me we have Xbox Live which means I'll be able to download Ep 1 of Season 3 on Tuesday. Now, I know that Guildies who don't have an Xbox are disappointed that they won't be able to watch it for another week, and I can understand that. No one wants to feel left out. But the good news is that Ep 1 is the only one that is being released a week early on Xbox! YAY!!! Felicia confirmed this after @NasDestiny asked her when she was in The Guild Chat this week. And rumour has it that the Season 3 promo will be out today - maybe we'll see Wil Wheaton in it!

I won't be posting any spoilers here but I will give you my reactions. And I will then be blogging over at Pink Raygun each week to give you an in-depth analysis of each episode! I'm very excited about that. It's going to be another bumper week for Guildies!

Do You Want To Date My Avatar? is #1 (just like Joss said!)

(The Guild "Do You Want To Date My Avatar" graphic from datemyavatar.com)

Phew - what a day Monday was!

If you were on Twitter yesterday you would have seen that #datemyavatar was on the trending topics most of the day, and with good reason. While the video was available on iTunes in the US and Canada late Sunday night, it rolled over the whole globe yesterday, crushing all in it's path. Twitter was again a-buzz with news and comments about The Guild. And I'd like to point out I started writing this last night but more news came in, then some more and then....well, it didn't get done. So, to make it easy on me (and perhaps you, too) here's a brief list of the highlights.

• Before 9:00 AM I check and "..Avatar.." is #13 in iTunes, Canada for music videos
• 10:08 AM @theguild tweets: "#datemyavatar is #6 in top 100 iTunes pop music videos & #19 in all music videos (US). Let's get #1."
• 10:44 AM @theguild tweets: "Contest time! Please tweet an "avatar pickup line" with#datemyavatar and a link http://bit.ly/datemyavatar" Prizes include shirts, autographed cast photo and SDCC goodies
• 1:17 PM @theguild tweets: "Wow - #datemyavatar is almost #1 on iTunes for all music videos... Guildies rule http://bit.ly/itunesvideo"
• 23:02 CET Joss Whedon posts this comment on a thread about the video on Whedonesque:

"Okay, usually I stay above such matters. But this video must be number one!!! Who is this Taylor Swift? Some evil robot, PROBABLY. (Although an evil robot vid would also potentially be cool.) (But fine! She can be number two!) The point is, I love this video to distraction (and inevitable procrastination). It has Felicia -- and money! Felicia LYING IN money! Combo-ed! Plus Vork, turkey legs, and the Solid Guild dancers! I care!

And I'm hobbled here, peeps. I don't twitter (I occasionally Glitter and Be Gay, but that's it), can't digg, or favorite, or friend... In fact I don't understand why my typewriter has a TV on it. I'M NOT SAVVY. But I really want this to be big. It's indie (which is the most important part), it's awesome, and it's made by people that I friended in the old-fashioned way of being friends with them. (Okay, technically, I brothered Jed before I friended him, but he's still super-talented.) So help me out. Let's go the extra mile here and DESTROY THE SWIFTBOT! Then I can get back to the business of making Dollhouse stranger.

Digg deep, people.

Smoochez! -joss."

• 3:09 PM @feliciaday tweets: "LOL Joss Whedon just posted a hilarious comment in this thread http://bit.ly/10jDv9 supporting us getting to #1 iTunes. #datemyavatar"
• 3:17 PM @feliciaday tweets: "Whoops, I just broke Whedonesque. Eep? AMAZON MP3:http://bit.ly/avatarsong ITUNES VIDEO:http://bit.ly/itunesvideo #datemyavatar"
• 3:37 PM @feliciaday tweets: "OMG you guys we're #1 in US (and Canada) now!http://bit.ly/itunesvideo Joss' call to arms against the "Swiftbot" worked, LOL! #datemyavatar"
• 4:09 PM @theguild tweets:"iTunes screen shot #datemyavatar hitting no. 1 - thanks Guildies for the support http://www.twitpic.com/eagb1"
• 7:33 PM @sandeepparikh tweets: "just watched it again and am SO DAMN proud of @feliciaday@kimevey @drhorrible & @theguild so i'm posting it again:http://bit.ly/avatarsong"
• 8:42 PM @feliciaday tweets: "Thx you guys, what a day, I'm blown away by all the support. Still can't believe we got to #1 over all the mainstream stuff :)#datemyavatar"

Now, I could go on. Seriously, yesterday was a real shift in paradigms and we were part of it. Those paradigms - all changed (and one day I'll learn what that word actually means!). Dani tweeted yesterday: "Is it weird that I, being just a fan, am so so so SO proud of @theguild right now? @feliciadayshould rule the world. Really. #datemyavatar" If it's weird then I'm weird too, because that's how I felt - proud.

And as a consequence of The Guild conquering all there is a metric crapload of blog posts from all over the interwebs. Luckily there's a neat way to view them all by looking at Friendfeed.

So many great posts...but I'll leave the last word to the one true b!x who posted this lovely little video this evening. The future is here, and you saw it first on an iPhone:

Breaking News: Do You Want To Date My Avatar? - Now on iTunes!

Sweet!

I've just downloaded the "Do You Want To Date My Avatar" video on iTunes and I'm listening it while I'm writing this! AND I LOVE IT! I blogged about how great the video is before, and very soon everyone will have the chance to find out for themselves. Felicia Day has confirmed via Twitter that we will be hearing all about when/why/how you buy it:

- but for now you can try this link to iTunes.

A word of caution

Since I've been writing this it appears that it might not be available in all iTunes, so we'll have to see what the news is about this tomorrow. Also - check what else is ticked on your playlist otherwise you might end up listening to "The Final Countdown', too.....:(

EDIT: More Breaking News!

Since I first published this (oh - 5 mins ago!) Felicia has confirmed what the availability will be for everyone:

Interview with Felicia Day on Knights of The Guild Podcast

(Knights of The Guild cool graphic - says it all! Used with kind permission from the KOTG website.)

Kenny and Jenni are back together again!

It's great to hear them both in Ep 7, Part 1 which is now up on KnightsoftheGuild.podbean.com (and can also be downloaded from iTunes). Jenni was absent for the last microcast and Kenny did a brilliant job on his own, but I missed the banter and it's great to hear them together again! Please leave a comment or even Digg the episode if you enjoyed it :)

I spoke to Kenny earlier about the show. It ranked #3 in the iTunes top 100 TV/Film audio podcasts today. That's a great achievement for a show that is barely 7 months old! And there's is plenty more coming to entertain and thrill us. Lots of interviews and discussions coming up. Plus - there are no details as yet - there is a possibility of some live broadcasts in the future. Yay!

Shocking revelations

Prepare to be shocked, though, because this podcast contains information of such magnitude that you may have to lie down afterwards. And I'm not talking about Jenni giving us the inside story of the stripper bus, or Felicia herself talking about the "Do You Want To Date My Avatar" video, or Poknish revealing that there are some people who haven't seen The Guild yet or even all Season 3 goodies. No, something MUCH MORE SHOCKING was revealed. I can't bring myself to tell you what it is, so you'll have to listen for yourself.*

And more to come!

Next week, starting tomorrow, is another bumper Guild-related week. On Sunday Jeff Lewis (Vork), Sandeep Parikh (Zaboo) plus Alexal Bretch and others will be performing in Improv at 8 PM (see the "Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em" Facebook page for details). Not only that but "Do You Want To Date My Avatar" is on general release on Monday (see The Guild's Facebook page for the details). And on Thursday Season 2, Episode 6 will be released on YouTube. Episode 5 is now up:

- you can Digg it here if you like!

And if that wasn't enough, Part 2 of Ep 7 KOTG podcast will be released next Saturday, with the second part of the interview with Felicia Day.

Talk about a packed week! I think I need a lie down - now, where did my gold coins go?

(Felicia relaxing her Avatar on a nice comfy bed of gold coins. Taken by Kenny and used with kind permission from the KOTG website.)

*You know I said there was shocking news on the KOTG podcast? Well I don't want to type the words but this tells you all you need to know:

'A' is for Avatar, 'X' is for Xbox and 'N' is for Neil: Monday's Legendary Guild!

WUT?!?

Okay, maybe 'Z' is for titles so enigmatic Google won't know what to do with it. Nevermind. If I wanted this blog to be in top 100 I would...do the opposite of what I do (apparently). What I mean is tomorrow is going to be a great day if you have an internet connection and an Xbox.

Let's start with the 'A'. And the 'X'.

Tomorrow the 'Do You Want To Date My Avatar' video is released on Xbox live. You won't need a code anymore, just go to the marketplace and click...easy! And if you don't know what 'Do You Want To Date My Avatar' is then:

1) Where have you been?!?

2) It's the stunning new music video by The Guild starring all the cast: Felicia Day (Codex), Sandeep Parikh (Zaboo), Amy Okuda (Tink), Jeff Lewis (Vork), Robin Thorsen (Clara) and Vincent Caso (Bladezz). And they are all in FULL AVATAR COSTUME!

I reviewed the video last week and I can tell you - you will absolutely love it! And if you haven't got access to Xbox live you only have to wait until a week tomorrow to see it. If you can't wait to get your Sandeep and Felicia hit then this will please you mightily:

Season 2 of Legend of Neil has started!

Episode 7 (which is S2, Ep 1) was released on 27th of July (warning: NSFW!):

Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | More Video Clips

sucked into the world of video game, Zelda (yeah, you don't want to know how...that won't stop you from finding out, though). People lucky enough to be at the LoN panel at SD Comic Con were treated to the first 3 episodes. And the word is - OMG it's awesome! (Yes, that's 3 words. Sue me). To read a first-hand account you would do well to visit Dani Figueiredo's Comic Con reports on the Guildies Posterous blog. There are reports from other Guildies, there, too. They capture all the excitement, wonder and sheer joy of CC. She talks about the LoN panel in Part 5, but I recommend reading all of them. They are long but well worth it.

Episode 8 of LoN is released tomorrow and then every 2 weeks. I can't wait to see what going to happen!

Knights of The Guild at Comic-Con: The Panel, Booth and More!

Want to hear the inside story of The Guild at Comic-Con?

The Guild cast signing at Comic-Con 2009 (thanks to Kenny for the pic)

Then you need to head over to The Knights of The Guild (KOTG) website at knightsoftheguild.podbean.com and listen to the latest microcast. Kenny does a great rundown of all his adventures during Comic-Con, and there's lots of juicy tidbits in there! And not only all about the parties, panels and signings, but also what the fans thought. This is the great thing about KOTG - it gives the inside track on all The Guild info and lets the Guildies literally have their say! And it's a great defense against Guild Deficiency Syndrome. There are some familiar names talking about Comic-Con. And if you listen to the end you'll hear me talk about how the pain of not being at Comic-Con was mitigated by following it all on Twitter. And then seeing that video...

Do you want to watch "Do You Want To Date My Avatar?"?

Of COURSE you do! And the good news is that if you have an Xbox you get to see it on 10th August and a week later it will be on MSN Video and elsewhere. As all the Guildies who have seen it will attest - this is a brilliant song and it won't be a surprise if it charts. If you want to share your opinions about Comic-Con and the video you can email KOTG at knightsoftheguild@gmail.com with either written or audio comments (if you have a microphone on your computer you can record a comment and attach it to your message). And congratulations to Kenny for doing the microcast solo - you did a great job. Jenni was apparently MIA but will return! You can also follow KOTG on Twitter - you know it makes sense :)

Another podcast?

And Omnibus 8 (Chapters 36-40) of my novel "Turning Left at Albuquerque" is now up on turningleft.podbean.com. Each omnibus is about 21 mins long and follows the fortunes of Jason, a geek in crisis since losing his job. We've had some great feedback so if you listen and have something to share - let's have it!