At the most recent Tubefilter meetup, we utilized a new livestreaming and chat network called Chill. It also has the ability to share YouTube videos to a chatroom of people. I saw this a perfect opportunity to return to my roots but in a slightly modified version.

So starting this Sunday, October 2nd, at 2 PM PST / 5 PM EST I’m going to start a weekly live VJ show where I share some of my favorite YouTube videos new and old. I see it as a way for friends and fans of web video to come together and unwind after the weekend and before the new week begins. I’m going to simply call it “Jenni Likes It!”

I hope you will join me this Sunday! You’ll have to sign up for Chill, but it’s quick and easy. And you get to make an adorable avatar! Once you’re done with that, you just have to click here to get into the Jenni Likes It! Lounge. I hope you’ll love the service as much as I do. And no, they didn’t pay me to say that.

…And it’s the perfect time to let you all know that Team Fortress Cinema, led by the always amazing Joey Harris, once again braved lack of sleep and overcaffination to attempt yet another 48 Hour Film Project. The results were ultimate victory as we took on an even more ambitious script than the amazing Earthbound. The result is a gritty cop drama titled Live With It. That’s not a demand, it’s a title. But you will have to live with it.

I really would be honored if people made it out to see it as we really did work extremely hard on it, some of us braving illness and lugging dead bodies (no, really) to make it happen. I have to give a special shout-out to my wonderful partner-in-crime and boyfriend, Stuart Davis, who not only ADed like a champ but made sure I had encouragement and hugs at all times. He hugged the rest of the crew too, I’m sure.

Here are the details of the screening:

Laemmle’s Town Center 5
17200 Ventura Blvd.
Encino, CA
Thursday, August 18 7:00 PM

You can purchase tickets here, they are only $11 and you get to screen a block of films, not just ours. Be sure to purchase the Thursday, August 18 7:00 PM showing as there are several different screenings.

Last time we had the honor of taking home the Audience Choice Award and we’d love to make a play for a repeat. But mostly, we just want to share our hard work with you all!

The film we created, called Earthbound, and staring the enormous talents of Amy Bloom, Brian Majestic, and Woody Tondorf (with cameos by myself, Stuart Davis, and Andrew Seely). The film screens Thursday, February 24th and it would mean the world to us if you had the time that you could attend.

Here are the details:
Date: Thursday, February 24th
Time: 9:30 PM
Place: Laemmle’s Town Center 5, 17200 Ventura Blvd Encino, CA 91316

Be sure that when you buy your tickets you buy them for the 9:30 PM screening group. The other group is screening at 7:00 PM and does not include our film. Unlike last year, there will not be a second “best of” screening, so this will be your only chance to see it in theaters. And more selfishly, we hear that the Audience Choice Award (which is decided by vote at the screening) is one of the things taken into consideration when the judges decide the winner for Los Angeles.

It was announced this morning that due to flaws discovered in the IAWTV online voting system for the Board of Directors elections, the current election process was nullified and a new election process will take place from the beginning. Though it is still too soon to tell how the membership as a whole is going to process this news, I can personally say that the news definitely came to me as a double-edged sword and I had to consider which side of the blade I would let cut the deepest.

Side one: as a candidate, the process of any election is a stressful one. If you are extremely passionate about what you are running for, which I am, you spend a considerable amount of time analyzing your every action and every word you put out into the world, because you want so badly for it to accurately portray yourself and and how you hope to serve the organization and the members of it. It’s an exhausting process on the first go-around, not to mention having to do it a second time wondering if you should/would change anything if you had it to do over again.

Which leads to side two: this is an opportunity, not a setback. This is only the second election process the IAWTV has gone through and this go around, several key issues became heavily discussed at points in time where it seemed they were being brought to light after-the-fact. The largest issue being the lack of candidate options from outside LA and NY or International candidates.

Obviously, the thing that should not change this time around is that the most qualified candidates should ultimately take office regardless of location. But perhaps someone in Omaha, Nebraska or Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Wales (yes, it’s a real place) is infinitely passionate about telling stories on the web, or editing content for the web, or sound designing for the web, and especially for seeing us work together to grow legitimacy for this space.

Now is your chance.

There are of course a lot more discussions that may spring out of this, including the fact that the flaws in the system were discovered in part by someone taking the time to try to cheat the system in the first place. That is indeed unfortunate and something that should make the organization wiser in the future but let’s not take this opportunity to focus on finger-pointing and witch-hunting and instead move forward to make our second go-around fairer and stronger. Not to mention get this Board fully-formed so we can all get back to work!

My name is Jenni Powell. Since 2006, I have done jobs in web entertainment ranging from production assistant on lonelygirl15 and The Guild, to independently producing series such as Bumps in the Night and the yet-to-be-released Pryce, to currently holding a Staff Producer position at DeFranco Inc headed by prominent YouTube influencer Philip DeFranco. Having held a wide-variety of positions has instilled in me a deep respect for this space that I now plan to spend my life working and growing in.

I feel our future goals at the IAWTV should focus on defining ourselves fully as an organization. We have wonderful committees of people working very hard towards individual goals that are themselves important but without a fully fleshed-out overall Mission Statement to bring them all together.

I would also love to see more outreach to the supportive elements of series creation: the equipment rental companies to supply discounts for IAWTV members; working with insurance companies, both personal and for productions, to ease the costs to members while also promoting production and personal safety.

The only way to do any of this is to define what we are and what we hope to accomplish. We need a Board that is comprised of people that can work together to inspire action. I implore you not only to consider who you vote for as individuals, but who you feel as a cohesive whole will spur on the most change. Whether that includes myself is up to your discretion. Thank you.

Over the last few months of the organization’s existence, we’ve seen a lot of changes. Most notably, a change to open enrollment and the decision that the organization will put on it’s own awards show as opposed to being affiliated with the Streamy Awards. Both issues opened up intense dialogues, the majority of which took place AFTER the actions took place. I’ve gone back and forth several times on both issues with my feelings, ranging from frustrated at being ill-informed beforehand and illuminating in the call-to-action each spurred in me. I also spent a lot of time thinking there MUST be a happy medium between the two, a way to open up honest and straightforward dialogue while also moving the momentum forward, so as to continue progressive actions.

There are issues specifically important to me at this juncture in my career within this organization: I hope for more communication and mutual-respect between the so-called “web series creators” and “YouTubers” (both terms that aren’t perfect, but that is another issue entirely), I want members to be able to get access to resources that will improve their skills AND quality of life, such as IAWTV equipment rental discounts and access to insurance and healthcare.

There are other issues that are important to me but that I know others are more qualified to take the lead on: the passion Felicia and Derek feel for improving the technology of the organization, Zadi and Jack’s tireless efforts to be in constant contact with new members, Matt’s undying energy when it comes to improving communications within the organization and with media outreach, and Amber and Dina’s incredible skills and organization when it comes to co-chairing the Awards Committee, just to name a few.

And this brings me to the final section of my statement. One of the people I most admire, living or dead, is Abraham Lincoln. Besides the basics they teach you in school: the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, his assassination by John Wilkes Booth, the reason he was such a brilliant leader was that he surrounded himself with people who had different skills then himself, sometimes appointing people that held exact opposites views as he in order to keep a sense of balance in his thought processes. Something similar to this is what I think will make the IAWTV Board strong and lead to the most progress is the coming years of growth. And since the board is not like a presidency, and there is not one person appointing their advisors, it is up to Academy members to attempt to vote in a well-balanced Board for themselves. I hope that this is something that can be accomplished and that is what I am currently most passionate about. I hope members will keep it in mind when making their choices in the voting rounds to come.

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 on earth is Jenni talking about? Has she gone off her rocker?”, you ask. I assure you, I have not. But instead have spent a few months moving outside of myself and the things I used to hold important and really see what is still important and what has been a distraction.

And honestly, I HAVE been busy. My current job has put me in a place that challenges me to learn to do things I haven’t already done and/or take what I know and multiply it by 100%. I’m doing new things and I’m doing a hell of a lot more of them. I feel like the 7 years of struggle and freelance and part-time office jobs and months eating nothing but ramen noodles with A1 Sauce have actually been worth it.

But because of that, I haven’t been able to take the time and energy to be the unselfish and serving person I prefer to be. I’ve been hearing a lot of “put up or shut up” when I know I WANT to do the former but should probably actually just do the later. I’ve never handled change particularly gracefully, I’m very much “burn first, sweep up the ashes later” (don’t know why that’s in quotes, because I’m not sure it’s even an actual saying). I’m not always apologetic about it. I don’t think I’m going to be now.

I’m being purposely vague because I don’t want to start controversy. I don’t want to shove my opinions down your throat. I want to put words out that can mean what you want them to mean but still make me feel as if I’m getting my emotions out into the world. In private, I may be willing to go into more detail. If I can.

And no, I haven’t actually been broken up with. But I know some of the people I care about feel like they have.

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!

Now is one of those times and you can help. The NCCC is holding an online auction to try to raise funds for their organization in order to broaden their abilities to be able to help even more individuals effected by this disease. Ninety percent of cervical cancer instances are caused by the HPV virus and THERE IS A VACCINE FOR IT. We have the capability to wipe out this virus and yet so many people are still so undereducated about it.

The auction will run from June 25, 2010 to July 7, 2010, with 100 percent of proceeds going to National Cervical Cancer Coalition (NCCC). Items include Costco gift certificates, hot air balloon rides, even a 7 day vacation to an exotic location in the Caribbean. There is truly something for everyone.

So please, consider making a bid or please take a minute to refer interested friends to the auction. I truly appreciate you taking the time.

Due to our extremely busy production schedules (we do after all not only love web content, Kim Evey and I are producers of it!) it became clear that we’d need to bring on some additional partners who were just as passionate (if not moreso) about the web community as we were to continue to take this event in the direction we’d envisioned it and keep the spirit of it fresh and exciting to the community. I had been approached several months ago by the fabulous and talented web community multi-hyphenates Stephanie Thorpe (Hurtling Through Space at an Alarming Rate, After Judgement, GOLD: Night of the Zombie King) and Taryn O’Neill (Hurtling Through Space at an Alarming Rate, After Judgement, Compulsions, Continuum) about helping to produce an event during the weekend of Comic Con in San Diego that would help fill the demand for more of a web series presence during the Con. Over the course of trying to plan both events, it became clear that we all had the same vision: one of giving fans and non-fans alike a chance to be exposed to and to celebrate the awesome web content that is being created by extremely talented individuals.

It became clear that the best way to make a truly unique and quality event would be to merge these two events into one, while keeping the strengths of what worked with Celebrate the Web (a relaxed atmosphere where fans and creators can come together, whether in person or online through livestreaming) while also celebrating the unique energy that exists during Comic Con and making a strong web presence there.

The format of this event will be slightly modified from our first event: instead of individual speakers, we will be hosting a series of two panels that celebrate Genre (scifi/horror/fantasy/gaming) web series at a beautiful offsite (but within very easy walking distance) location from the Con. These panels will be livestreamed for anyone not in San Diego that weekend to enjoy. A mixer will follow where creators and fans can interact with one another.

As well as the panelists that will be featured, we’ll be giving creators who cannot be at the event an opportunity to provide any materials about their shows (flyers, t-shirts, DVDs, whatever swag they wish to provide) to be made available for attendees to enjoy. Any show interested in participating in this should contact me (jenni dot powell at gmail dot com) and I will get them all the information.

The event will take place on Saturday, July 24th so please save the date. We will have more details for you very shortly!

We hope you’re all as excited about this new prospect as we are and as always, we’re doing this for you, the web series community so we are open for all feedback, so please comment on this post. Stephanie, Taryn, Kim, and I are all tremendously excited to have this great opportunity to provide an amazing event to all of you.