It’s always been really special to me that Kenny chose me to share this show with. Kenny is one of the most caring, unselfish people I’ve ever met and just having him in my life has been a pure joy, but being able to share in his passion for the show with the fans has been undescribably amazing. I credit The Guild and everyone who has ever worked on it for putting my life in a direction I never knew possible and being able to celebrate that every month is a true honor indeed.

Kenny does 90 percent of the work on the show: he created the format, spends hours online interacting with fans, creates detailed outlines for each and every show, makes sure all our equipment is up-to-date and functioning, and does all the edits and uploading. He’s a podcasting mastermachine and makes it so that pretty much all I have to do is show up and try to be funny. Which I am told I am moderately successful at, especially when eating unicorns is involved.

I really believe the podcast is deserving of some recognition for all the hard work that is put into it and the 2010 Podcast Awards are coming up. I’m hoping those of you who aren’t familiar with the podcast and are finding out about it from this blog will take a moment to go check it out. If you like what you hear, it’d mean a great deal to me (and Kenny) if you took a few minutes to vote for us in the Peoples Choice and Entertainment categories.

Cookies and Love!

What’s really special about this project isn’t just that it’s well-written with a simple yet engaging story, though it always helps to enjoy the material you are working on, but how it is going about trying to put together funding for the project. Jessica Noboa, who is not only on the producing team but will also star in the film, has put together some fundraising events that are not only enjoyable but that take advantage of talents at her disposal and fit in with the theme of the film.

The first of two events is a Massage and Mimosa day. Jessica is a masseuse and she is using those skills to provide a relaxing afternoon of inexpensive massages and free mimosas. I know I’ll be there and boy will my aching muscles thank me for it! And 100 percent of the proceeds go straight back into making the film.

If any of you have July 11 free and want to partake of this luxurious event, here are some more details:

Kenmore House
1323 N Kenmore Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Massages will be begin at 10 AM and you will have your choice of a 10 minute chair massage for $15 or a 20 minute table massage for $25.

Hope to see you there!

There is nothing quite like a sexually suggestive title, is there? I assure you, for the most part, this entry with stay PG…or at the most PG-13.

I’ve had the distinct pleasure of picking up producing duties on the web series Bumps in the Night, which on our Facebook Page is listed as a “Supernatural Procedural Comedy”. What’s not to love about that?

The series started out on StrikeTV but we’re going to brave it on our own and go independent this time around. I met the guys who created it; Emmett Furey, John Reha, and Greg Benevent; a while back through my old roommate Adam Daroff, who went to Drexel University with them (though he didn’t know Emmett until they were both in LA). It seemed like a natural fit to take my web experience as well as being a fan of the show and have me jump on board for the new season. Story of my life: “hey, I like your show…can I work on it?” “Sure!” As my buddy Sam Proof pointed out recently…it never hurts to just ask.

Incidentally, Sam will be directing our first full episode of the season, which is going to be released on February 17th. Because…he asked.

In the meantime, check out the first of our Live Tips. They will be airing on the Wednesdays between our main episodes. Also check out our kickass blog and subscribe to our Twitter feed.

Happy Haunting!

Those who know me well know how I got started working in web video. For those who don’t know me that well, here is the Cliff’s Notes edition so you can now say you do know me well!

Back in 2006, a friend of mine had seen some videos on YouTube that were causing him some concern. There was a young home-schooled girl that had gotten a camera and started to video blog. He didn’t think much of it except for the fact that she was apparently preparing for some kind of ritual associated with the religion she was a part of. She didn’t talk about it specifically, but on further inspection he noticed she had something resembling an alter in the background of her videos containing a picture that looked like it could be Aleister Crowley.

The girl was Bree and her YouTube account handle was lonelygirl15.

“This a show, right,” I asked. He wasn’t convinced until several weeks later when The Creators (as they are called in the lg15 community) let the cat out of the bag that this was a scripted show trying to take advantage of YouTube as a form of storytelling.

By that point, I was already hooked. I spent the next several years getting to know Bree and her cast of friends, enemies, love interests, siblings…but I also was getting to know people that were going to mean so much more to me and who would change the course of my life forever.

They were: The Community.

It started when I went from heavily participating in the OpAphid ARG that formed around the lonelygirl mythology to producing a fan parody series of lonelygirl15 called LonelyJew15 (”What if Anne Frank had a webcam?”). Besides walking a very thin line where I was afraid I’d be struck by lightning by a higher power at any moment, something completely opposite of that began happening: fans of both lg15 and my fan-created project began reaching out to me wanting to be a part of the show. I found parts for as many of them as I could and ended up producing over 60 episodes of the parody over a span of a little over a year. And then Amanda Goodfried, one of the C’s, asked me if SHE could have a role on the show.

And the rest is history. Amanda ended up inviting me to join the crew of lonelygirl15 as a production assistant (which they had been working without up until this point, with Amanda pretty much holding 75 percent of the crew roles herself). It had it’s ups and downs, producing content at a rate of 5 videos a week on an extremely tight budget and a crew of four (the director, the director of photography, Amanda producing and myself PAing) was often nervewrackingly exhausting. But in the end, I probably learned more about production (and I mean ALL production…I’ve worked in film and television as well over the years) than any other project I’ve worked on before or since.

Okay, so that Cliff’s Notes version got a little long…so here is The Point:

The lonelygirl15 Universe is about to embark on it’s newest journey. Helmed by an extremely talented filmmaker and member of the Community, Austin McConnell, Outbreak is the winner of The Show is Yours 2: a contest created by the original Creators of lg15 where they ask a fan to continue the mythology of their world by giving them the opportunity to produce and run an 8-week series.

So The Point my friends is I AM PUMPED. Knowing Austin personally and having witnessed his talent and tenacity, I think he’ll be a perfect match for tackling the not-so-easy task of pleasing a not-so-easy-to-please audience who have shared going on 4 years (!) worth of story together. And here is what I think can be so special about Outbreak: I think it can stand alone and bring in a whole new audience that could revitalize the brand that began with just a lonely girl with her web cam.

Yup, I said it: I THINK YOU SHOULD ALL WATCH THIS!

If you’ve stuck with me up until this point and you’d like a little more convincing, I’d like to send you over to a place I spend a great deal of time. It’s a blog called LG15Today and it’s a real testament to what a community of viewers can do if given the opportunity to do so. It’s not always pretty and sometimes the discussion can get downright cruel…but in the end, opinions are respected for the most part and it gives a group of individuals who have been through a lot together a place to relive past experiences and plan for what comes next.

Oh and Modelmotion, the bot behind it’s creation, is one smart fella.

So check out his Open Letter to the Web Series Community and please check out the premiere of lg15: Outbreak tomorrow, January 11, 2010. And come back here and let me know what you think!

At this very moment, I am sitting in a production meeting for this weekend’s shoot of Simply Simon. Here are the types of things that have been said:

“You have a teenager, you must have white bread!”

“We’ll just find two Olivia Newton-John looking girls.”

“An Eggo would be funny.”

“This is happening on that day after Saturday.” “You mean Sunday?” “Yes! Sunday!”

“I swallow bees motherfucker.”

I think six weeks of shooting may be getting to us. But if there is one things I’ve definitely learned is that a strong team gets through the insane moments and comes out stronger for it.

Now excuse me while I keep the bees away from our associate producer…