Tag: Web Series (1-9 of 9)

Jun 10 2013 11:23 AM ET

Why are actors dressed like 'Game of Thrones' characters playing piano in exotic locales?

Because the Internet, that’s why! Behold the fourth episode of a webseries called “Cosplay Piano,” in which 19-year-old pianist Sonya Belousova dresses up as your costumed favorites and plays new arrangements of their iconic themes. She’s already tackled the worlds of The Walking Dead, Batman, and Superman — so naturally, the universe of HBO and George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones was next.

And though the clip opens with a facsimile of Daenerys jamming in the desert, there’s more to it than just the Khaleesi. In the span of just three and a half minutes, “Cosplay Piano” will take you from the Red Waste (where Dany tickles ivories and dragons fly) to a brothel in King’s Landing (where Tyrion grins at Shae, and the women are surprisingly clothed) to the tundra north of the Wall (where the video’s version of Jon Snow could really use a new wig). Guess a sprawling series deserves a sprawling video tribute.

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Mar 18 2013 02:14 PM ET

Reddit launches original web series, 'Explain Like I'm Five' -- VIDEO

The Internet’s front page is expanding. Today, social news site Reddit officially launched Explain Like I’m Five — a new web series inspired by the site’s popular, eponymous subreddit.

Reddit’s “Explain Like I’m Five” section asks posters to untangle thorny issues in the simplest way possible. The videos take that idea a step further by having a pair of very patient grown-ups (Michael Kayne and Langan Kingsley, two veterans of New York City’s improv comedy scene) explain similarly complicated concepts to actual five-year-olds. The series is sponsored by DonorsChoose.org, an online charity aimed at helping public schools.

So far, Reddit has posted three Explain videos, each of which concentrates on a single topic: the crisis in Syria, existentialism (a.k.a. “eggsalentlalism”), or how the stock market works. Here’s the latter, which would have really come in handy in 2008:

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Mar 12 2013 01:57 PM ET

Ridley Scott promises 'high octane' sci-fi with new short-film web venture

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Image Credit: Michael Tran/FilmMagic

Ridley Scott was most recently behind last year’s (sadly misunderstood) Prometheus. Next, he’ll tackle the Internet, announcing yesterday that he was partnering with Machinima, a video entertainment company you’ve probably watched on YouTube. (The company reports that its videos were viewed almost 2 billion times… in February.)

The prolific director-producer will executive produce 12 short films in partnership with the company using talent pulled from Scott’s own production company, Ridley Scott and Associates. Each of the films will be “high-octane science fiction.” The most successful of them will be further developed, meaning they could each spawn a feature film or a web series or a line of high-octane greeting cards.

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Mar 12 2013 10:35 AM ET

'Game of Thrones' gets transported to high school: 'Prom Night Is Coming' -- VIDEO

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Between the constant backstabbing, betrayal, and ever-shifting alliances, Westeros really is a lot like a big, medieval high school. So it was only a matter of time before somebody decided to give Game of Thrones the Carrie Diaries treatment. (Minus the ’80s, plus some really awful excellent wigs.)

In the first episode of the new web series School of Thrones, new girl Dani Targaryen gets a Mean Girls-style introduction to the cliques of Westeros Valley High School. The Starks are cooler-than-thou hipsters in thick-framed glasses; the Lannisters are wannabe rappers, for some reason; the Baratheons are dumb jocks, except for nerdy outcast Stannis; the Greyjoys are all members of the swim team.

It’s a pretty clever re-purposing of George R. R. Martin’s characters, complete with a truly excellent credit sequence that apes HBO’s 3-D map with a set of drawings on notebook paper — and fans of The Lizzie Bennett Diaries will be pleased to see Mary Kate Wiles, a.k.a. Lydia, starring here as Sansa Stark.

Check out the first episode, “Prom Night Is Coming,” below; along with EW’s Thrones countdown, it just might tide you over before GoT returns March 31.

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Mar 11 2013 11:32 AM ET

Jane Lynch teams with Lisa Kudrow for 'Dropping the Soap' web series

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The team behind Lisa Kudrow’s Internet hit Web Therapy is at it again with a new web series set in the dying world of daytime soaps. Glee‘s Jane Lynch will star in the 10-episode comedy Dropping the Soap playing Olivia Vanderstein, the new Head of the Network, who’ll try anything to save the long-running soap opera Colliding Lives.

Lynch and Kudrow are exec producers, along with Kudrow’s Web Therapy co-creator Dan Bucatinsky, screenwriter Don Roos (Marley & Me) and Damon Bethel and Joseph Gomes of Digital Broadcasting Group (which recently produced the Webby Award-winning drama The Confession, starring Kiefer Sutherland and John Hurt). Paul Witten costars as Julian Drake, the soap’s leading man of “questionable talent and moral compass.”

Read more:
‘Glee’ star Jane Lynch to make Broadway debut as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie
Jane Lynch, Wilmer Valderrama cast in Fox’s animated comedy ‘Murder Police’ — EXCLUSIVE
Sarah Silverman, Michael Cera, Tim & Eric, and Reggie Watts form JASH Internet network

Feb 19 2013 12:07 PM ET

'Mortal Kombat: Legacy II' trailer: Liu Kang enters -- VIDEO

Mortal Kombat: Legacy proved to be a decent-sized hit when the web series debuted on Machinema back in 2011. Now that the show is returning, the floodgates have officially been opened for every deep-cut character from the fighting-game videogame series. A new trailer just released for Mortal Kombat: Legacy II loudly trumpets the arrival of Liu Kang, the original nominal hero/most boring character in Mortal Kombat. (Important Information: Kang is played by Brian Tee, a.k.a. The Drift King in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.)

Also, Caspar Van Dien is now playing Johnny Cage, and the series apparently involves an appearance by Ermac. If you understood anything about that last sentence, you probably lived at the video arcade in the mid-90s. Watch the trailer: READ FULL STORY »

Feb 5 2013 11:00 AM ET

Vote for the Streamys Audience Choice Awards!

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Image Credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Vote early, and vote often. The polls are open for the 3rd Annual Streamys Audience Choice Awards for the categories of Personality of the Year and Series of the Year, and you can go to the site to vote for your favorite show and personality once a day until February 11.

But now comes the tricky part: deciding who to vote for. The finalists are all over the place, ranging the very sincere to the very silly. Some are dramatic, some are just for laughs, and some…are actually pretty explicit. If you’re not a devoted follower of any web series, this is actually a pretty good and diverse primer on some of the current options out there. Take a look at the finalists after the jump, and then head over to streamys.org to vote.

Winners will be announced during the Chris Hardwick-hosted ceremony, scheduled to be broadcast live online, Sunday, February 17 starting at 6 p.m. EST.

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Jan 24 2013 10:57 AM ET

Check out the trailer for season 2 of Ken Marino's 'Bachelor' parody 'Burning Love' -- EXCLUSIVE

Last season on Yahoo’s Burning Love, Julie Gristlewhite (June Diane Raphael) had her heart broken by hose-happy fireman Mark Orlando (Ken Marino). But this season, the tables have turned — and now Julie’s the one who gets to select a mate from a wide pool of eligible bachelors played by the likes of Adam Scott, Jerry O’Connell, Michael Cera, Adam Brody, Colin Hanks, Joe Lo Truglio, Ryan Hansen, Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, Nick Kroll, Nick Thune, Martin Starr, and Kumail Nanjiani.

Appropriately enough, the series — created by Childrens Hospital writer and directed by comedy vet Marino — won’t return to Yahoo! Screen until Feb. 14. But in the meantime, here’s a taste of what you can expect from Burning Love‘s Bachelorette season — which will feature some very dramatic puppet-making, plenty of makeouts, and several all-important “box ceremonies.” (Get your head out of the gutter — that’s how Julie chooses who will make it to the show’s next round.)

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Dec 17 2012 03:00 PM ET

Milo Ventimiglia is 'Chosen' in new series -- EXCLUSIVE TRAILER

Heroes alum Milo Ventimiglia plays an antihero in the new Crackle series Chosen.

The show follows Ian Mitchell (Ventimiglia), a lawyer who wakes up one day to find a mysterious box on his doorstep containing a loaded gun, a photo of a stranger he’s instructed to kill, and a ticking timer set to three days. Oh, and a shooter waiting across the street to kill him if he doesn’t meet their demands. In the exclusive extended trailer, the family man tries to resist “playing the game” until his wife is dragged into the mess and his young daughter is kidnapped.

Ventimiglia, who also executive produces the drama, has worked on several other web series, including Ultradome and It’s a Mall World.

Sony’s digital platform Crackle has ordered six half-hour episodes of the thriller from creators Ben Ketai (30 Days of Night: Dark Days) and Ryan Lewis (High School). Office Space‘s Diedrich Bader, Hall Pass‘ Nicky Whelan, Awkward‘s Brett Davern, and Spartacus: Vengeance‘s Katrina Law also star in the show, which will premiere across all Crackle digital platforms on Jan. 17.

Watch the trailer below: READ FULL STORY »

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