Webisode: Red Weather

"Red Weather" by Jordan Downey

Fear Is The forecast in this pilot episode of Red Weather, a horror web series pitch from creator Jordan Downey. Simply put, it’s The Twilight Zone or Tales From the Crypt in under 5 minutes.

Red Weather aims bring a fun, whimsical nature to anthology horror. With a catchy theme song and memorable title sequence, episodes begin in the “bleeding storm” which departs to reveal the setting of each episode. New characters are introduced, often times unknowingly facing an ironic demise.
Nothing is off limits — monsters, ghouls, killer inanimate objects, evil government agents, dolls and demons are all part of the Red Weather folklore. You’ll never know what’s coming when the storm chooses you.

Driven by mystery and suspense first, Red Weather carries with it a cautionary theme: Be careful what you do, how you treat others and what you say because it might just come back to haunt you.
“We’ve developed a number of other episodes that are even scarier and more bizarre. But from the start, this has always been one of my personal favorites which I just felt was the best showcase for the style and tone of the whole series.”, Downey said. “I’ve always loved short horror films, especially when they’re essentially just one scene, and I hope we get to do more of these.”
Because in the Red Weather, every storm has a story!

Documentary: Our Star Trek

"Our Star Trek: The Fifty Year Mission" by Chris Tevebaugh

The new documentary short "Our Star Trek: The Fifty Year Mission" focuses on the fan series Star Trek Continues.

"Star Trek - it's iconic, but many do not fully understand what it means to the world.

In the wake of the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek, is Gene Roddenberry's original vision for humanity still alive? Centered around the fan production, 'Star Trek Continues', this documentary film explores some of the people who create Star Trek today and their quest to get it right.

This film is a fan production about a fan production, but possibly about much more than that. The cast and crew of 'Star Trek Continues' facilitate an important discussion about what makes something truly Star Trek.

There are MANY other fantastic Star Trek fan productions out there - I encourage people to go check those out too. Budget limitations forced us to make only one trip and the STC Enterprise happened to be closest to us.

My hope is that this film, in a very small way, will help make sense of what Star Trek means to the world. As the old Vulcan saying, popularized by the late Leonard Nimoy goes, "Live long and prosper"."

Video: Con Man Teaser

"Con Man Teaser Debut" from PJ Haarsma

Alan Tudyk’s IndieGoGo campaign for Con Man smashed through their target of $425,000 in a few hours, and they currently have over $1.6 Million! That means we are going to get a full season.

"Wray Nerely (Alan Tudyk) was a costar on Spectrum, a sci-fi series which was canceled -Too Soon- yet became a cult classic. Wray’s good friend, Jack Moore (Nathan Fillion) starred in the series and has gone on to become a major movie star. While Jack enjoys the life of an A-lister, Wray tours the sci-fi circuit as a guest of conventions, comic book stores, and lots of pop culture events. The show will feature all the weird and crazy things that happen to Wray along the way to these events."

Fan Film: Dragon Ball Z: Light of Hope

"Dragon Ball Z: Light of Hope" by RobotUnderdog2

"Dragon Ball Z: Light of Hope" is a pilot episode for a web-series that Machinima hopes to launch.  It's incredibly well made.  In fact, it puts the actual 2009 live action film to shame. 

"Hope is worth fighting for. In Dragon Ball Z: Light of Hope, Gohan and Trunks fight against the unstoppable Androids #17 and #18 and try to save as many human lives as possible. The young Trunks must grow up quickly and learn from his mentor, Gohan; but with battles to fight on both the outside and inside, how long can they endure, and where will they find a light of hope? Subscribe, support and share if you want to see more episodes!

This series is an adaptation of “The History of Trunks” TV Special. In this timeline, Goku and the other Z Warriors are dead. This is the story of Gohan and Trunks in their battle to survive against the Androids."

Fan Film: Nightwing: The Series

"Nightwing: The Series - Episode 1" by ismahawk

The first episode in the part series of fan-made web series debuted this week.  The rest of the episodes will be released on a weekly basis.  In the series, Dick Grayson tracks Deathstroke from Gotham to Bludhaven. 

The eight minute short has some rough spots, particularly in the visual effects during the fight scene, but the film's great direction and and production design, particularly the costumes, more than compensate for those shortcomings.

""Nightwing: The Series" follows the story of Batman's former sidekick, Dick Grayson aka Robin. After a falling out with his mentor, Dick abandons Gotham and everyone in it. Emerging in the City of Bludhaven years later, Dick takes on the guise of "Nightwing” easily defeating the petty criminals who infest it. But he soon realizes he may have bitten off more than he can chew when a mysterious and dangerous assassin only known as ‘Deathstroke, begins targeting Bludhaven citizens. Can he defend his new home and the lives of it's inhabitants from the most dangerous foe he’s ever faced!? Only time will tell in this epic 5 part mini-series!"

Webisode: Dark Dungeons

"Dark Dungeons Episode 1" by Zombie Orpheus Entertainment

The ridiculously outdated forces of anti-Dungeons & Dragons righteousness are about to rear their ugly head in the most modern way possible- with a video available to stream via the internet.  The movie is called Dark Dungeons, and it's very appropriately based on Jack Chick’s tract (mini-comic) of the same name, which reveals the link between D&D and witchcraft.

It’s full of ominous messages like “roleplaying games are the perfect gateway to embracing Satan” and (unspoken) "frat guys are starting to host massive rpg parties", and the only real problem with this movie lies with the people who actually take it's message seriously.

"Innocent students Debbie and Marcie arrive at college eager to save souls, but will they be able to save their own when they're seduced by the exotic and sinister world of role playing games? Based on "Dark Dungeons" by Jack T. Chick."

The tongue-in-cheek nature of the film is undeniable, and the filmmakers clearly find the Chick tracts as hilarious to read as I do, but is it worth the five bucks to watch the whole thing?

Check out the first eight minutes and decide for yourself, and if it’s a go head to the official website to stream the movie, download some sweet anti-rpg propaganda, and discover the dark truth about roleplaying games- the gateway drug to magical evil.

Webisode: Antiheroes

"Antiheroes" by Cracked Studios

Antiheroes is a five episode superhero comedy from Cracked Studios that follows the misadventures of a group of slacker friends who all have amazing superpowers.  The twist is that, being slackers, they would much rather not use their special abilities for good.  Episodes of the new series are being released every other day on Cracked.com, with the fifth and final episode coming August 13th.

"The ‘Workoholics‘ meets ‘Heroes‘ comedy focuses on this powered group of coworkers going out of their way to not use their powers to fight crime, because fighting crime looks “just, like, way too hard, man.” Writer Cody Johnston says, “We saw ‘The Avengers‘ and wondered why no one ever tried to take a little nap or just dick around on their phone to unwind, so we made this. We’re hoping Thor is introduced to the concept of ‘vegging out’ in ‘Avengers 2‘, but in the meantime we hope you enjoy our fun, action-packed series that was made for more or less the same amount of money as all of Marvel’s past and future films."

Webisode: Cubicles & Careers

"Cubicles & Careers Episode 1: Orc" by FantasyCon

Here's an hilarious series of videos promoting FantasyCon, which was held last weekend (July 3-5) in Salt Lake City.  In the series, characters from a fantasy world play a game very similar to Dungeons and Dragons called "Cubicles & Careers."

Webisode: Lords of the Playground

"Lords of the Playground: The Countdown " by Parents Magazine

Parenting.com presents the first season of comedy web shorts, "Lords of the Playground," a "dad-comedy" that satires the lives of modern dads.  The first eleven-episode season stars actors Matt Servitto (“The Sopranos”) and Jason Kravits (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”).


For more about the show, find Lords of the Playground on Facebook and Twitter.

Webisode: 00c6

"00c6 - Prologue" by ID00c6

"00c6" is an intriguing project that employs social media and a science fiction webseries to draw attention to China's carefully hidden, but very really gendercide crisis.  The series was recently recognized as the Best Fantasy/SciFi Series at the first Baja Webfest in Tijuana, Mexico.  The first five episodes depict a post-apocalyptic Hong Kong where male tourists flock to what remains of the city.

Project producer Marco Sparmberg, of Haexagon Productions, explains, “We use the sci-fi genre to reach out to an audience that would normally not been exposed to this pressing social topic. So far, the gendercide issue is being advocated by a number of human rights organisations but it barely reached beyond the political or activist scope and has yet to be discovered by media artists who could create more momentum.”

To learn more about the issue of female gendercide, visit the All Girls Allowed website.

Webisode: Time Keeper

"Time Keeper Season 1.0 Trailer" by Time Keeper

Time Keeper is a sci-fi, mystery, time-travelling, adventure series. Produced in Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida, the series is a showcase of local talent dedicated to demonstrating just how much a small dedicated team of independent film makers can accomplish.

Matt Lunsford plays Mitch Manners, a wayward hero thrown back in time, where he is forced to make his way through his own past without the memory of living it.  Each jump comes with a job, a mission, and a freshly blank mind.

Daryn Murphy, Time Keeper’s writer, director, and editor describes the ride as “ . . . being strapped to a bullet, fired from a gun that’s headed in the wrong direction.”

Webisode: Voyage Trekkers

"Voyage Trekkers - Episode 1: Rescue From The Lizard Men" by Squishy Studios

Voyage Trekkers is a parody all those science fiction series in which a crew of intrepid explorers travels across the galaxy, defeating evil doers.  It follows the adventures of the crew of the Remarkable, the last group of people you would want coming to your rescue in an emergency.

Positive reactions to the series have led to the creation of an online campaign to raise money for a Voyage Trekkers feature film.  Creator Nathan Blackwell felt that a film would be the best way to take the series and the characters to a more exciting level. The Indiegogo campaign has already raised over $12,000 of the initial $10,000 goal, so the film should be in production soon.

Webisode: Jedi Break Room

"Jedi Break Room - Episode I" directed and edited by Matt Dundas

Have you ever wondered how the Jedi would pass their time when they weren’t out on missions? Jedi Break Room is a hilarious web series which follows two Jedi Knights (played by Brock Snyder and Jonas Tavela) as they discuss their personal lives and day by day issues being Jedi Knights.

"It is a time of transition in the galaxy, and Master Yoda has an addiction problem. Also, Brock Skysnyder's nephew is never going to be a Jedi."

Fan Film: Star Trek Continues

"Star Trek Continues E01 "Pilgrim of Eternity"" by StarTrekContinues

The fan-made web series Star Trek Continues, directed by Vic Mignogna, picks up of story of the crew of the Enterprise immediately after the end of the original series.  The cast does an admirable job capturing the spirit of the original series and an even better job emulating the look of the series. It's a jarring reminder of just how far consumer-grade technology has come when hobbyists can re-create the experience of what was a cutting-edge network series this well.

This episode, "Pilgrim of Eternity," was written by Mignogna, Steve Frattarola, and Jack Treviño, and follows up the original Star Trek episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?" In fact, Michael Forest reprises his original series role as Apollo. And there are a few more surprises in this episode, including a very special guest star. Also, be sure to listen closely to the ship's computer.

Webisode: Doctor Puppet

"Doctor Puppet Episode 1 - The Red X" by Nerdist

Doctor Puppet is a charming stop-motion-style animated takeoff of Doctor Who.

"The Doctor Puppet, based on Doctor Who, finds a strange note on his TARDIS that leads him on a mysterious adventure. Who will he meet along the way?"

Webisode: The Night of the Doctor

"The Night of the Doctor: A Mini Episode" by BBC

It’s a Doctor Who mini-episode that sheds some light on events fans have been wondering about for quite some time, starring Paul McGann

Anyone catch some regeneration loopholes, there? And was that a pun on “hurt?” :) And in case the Sisterhood of Karn seem familiar, they appeared in the Tom Baker-era episode, “The Brain of Morbius.”

I wish we’d gotten more McGann, though given the era and the writing involved at the time, maybe it’s best we waited until 2005. Besides, he did some smashing audio stories, so there’s that.

Webisode: Codefellas

"Codefellas EP1: When Topple met Winters" by Wired

WIRED has just launched a hilarious new animated series called Codefellas.  Codefellas is a series of phone conversations between a young new NSA analyst and her agency mentor, the eccentric Agent Topple, who is voiced by John Hodgman.  It's a bit like a supercut of all the CIA jokes from American Dad.  I'm looking forward to it.

Crafts: The Guild Plushies

Handmade The Guild Plushies by  Jessica MacLean

Complete sets available for purchase from Etsy. US$110

Webisode: School of Thrones

School of Thrones Episode 1: "Prom Night Is Coming"

Directed by Zach Grafton and Matthew Mercer

Dany Targaryen's first day at Westeros Valley High.  Who doesn't love the shit out of dragons?