As we expand UH into a resource for the talent community exploring
the creative and business aspects of new media, we will post bits of
news about what's going out there. Comment, question, send us posts
about what you know and what you're doing, and look for the new UH: Artists l Audience l Business in the coming weeeks.  -TES

NewTeeVee writes
today about UNDER THE ARCHES, a "reality" show that began as a series
of short videos online and is now being turned into a "pilot" by a
company called Madwood Entertainment.

NYU student Sean Patrick Murray, who created the show, describes it on Facebook as "8 college kids in NYC, the real "Gossip Girl."  You can see the 7-minute pilot there or get a taste here
on the Gawker post, which described the show as "reality schtick -
[all] about the fast-moving-cloud shots, the angsty Z-100 soundtrack
and the whiny blond chicks" and creator Murray as "either a complete
genius or a total tool."

It's not usual to hear the same tune being played in an MGM cartoon and in a Warner effort so I thought it would have been fun to devote a post about it.
Here's a scene you all know, from "Fast and Furry-Ous" (1949)[this same tune is used in a great number of Coyotes/Road Runner shorts though]

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and here two clips from "Barney Bear's Polar Pest" (1944)

The New York Times reports today that Warner Brothers will start making internet original content the old fashioned way: shoot first, get advertisers later. This is a good thing.  It means talent generate the ideas, not marketers.  Like others, Warner Brothers has found getting advertisers to finance production can be more hassle than it's worth.  Better to shoot the shows fast and cheap, push them out of the nest and see if they fly. 

The Times mentions three other recently launched internet original producers: 60Frames, Generate and Michael Eisner's Vuguru.  More info about these companies and others in the coming weeks.    

Here's a sample from THE JEANNIE TATE SHOW, from Warner Brothers Studio 2.0. 

Samples from 60Frames, Generate and Vuguru are below the break.

In the last days I've highlighted what I judge some of the best moments from Terrytoons, but there are several reasons why Terry Studio was considered a B one.
The animation was nothing worth of note, with exceptions being the works of Tytla, Vinci and Tyer. The sound effects (I consider them one of the most important elements in a cartoon) were of the lowest quality one can imagine(no matter if a character falls from the top of a mountain right into a lake or from a diving board into a pool: you'll always hear that same darn "splash"), musical score was rarely good (the posts I've made show some very good exceptions).
There's more but the main reason to classify Terry as a B Studio was the reuse of animation (and even soundtrack). So you can see the very same sequence originally made for a 30s cartoon reused even in the 50s (!!).

Judge for yourselves with what I consider a good example.

Catnip Capers (1940)

Two clips, one from "Woody meets Davy Crewcut" and the other from "Boogie Woogie Man", included in one of the DVD sets of the year!

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WSJ today gives overview of social networking sites getting into business of producing online video.  Article features three shows:

- Kate Modern, a mystery on social networking site Bebo.
- Roommates, a soap opera on MySpace TV
- Special Delivery, a hidden camera reality show on MySpace TV.

It notes that while MySpace and Bebo push into original content, Facebook hasn't and other internet companies - AOL and Yahoo, specifically - are backing away from it.   

Article doesn't disclose budget for KATE MODERN but says Bebo sells sponsorships at $400,000 for six months. 

Claims production budgets for Roommates and Special Delivery are about $1000 per minute.

Article also notes that the shows themselves aren't very profitable to their writer / producers, who are portrayed as doing internet stuff to build assets and relationships "in a bigger entertainment medium." 

Current TV's amusing commentary on the state of social networks.

I knew it was a good sign when the AMPTP resorted to buying full-page newspaper ads last week. Because you know who has to buy full-page newspaper ads? People who have grounded tankers spilling crude into a bay. People who have stepped in it. Even the font looked guilty. We're in a negotiation over the digital future, and they take out a newspaper ad? Maybe these guys actually can't figure out the Internet. And speaking of that ad, this video by Tim Carvell shows you the reality of digital download residuals:

Let's hope when conglomerates waddle back to the table on 11/26 they bring more than an "imaginary offer."

Holy crap! I'm on seesmic and I have NOTHING to say!

With a web site and press release that push hard to position the company as revolutionary, Disney today announced the launch of Stage 9 Digital Media. They claim to have 20 web series in various stages of development, ranging from comedy to science fiction. 

Tech Crunch's Eric Schonfeld wasn't impressed by Stage 9's first series, SQUEEGEES: "Lame doesn’t begin to describe this three-and-half-minute comedy about the hijinks of a window-washing crew ... What ABC fails to understand is that when it comes to Web video, authenticity trumps production values." 

NewTeeVees's Chris Albrecht characterizes SQUEEGEES as another example of big-media creating web shows that are merely "shorter versions of what already exists in old media." He calls the show "sit-comy" but funny, and he faults Disney for a cardinal internet sin: not allowing users to embed the show in their own sites. 

UPDATE: WGAw membership meeting this Saturday, February 9, at 6:30 PM. Shrine Auditorium, 649 W Jefferson Blvd 90007.

Last Friday, WGAw President Patric Verrone gave this interview to United Hollywood's Jeff Berman. When asked about rumors, Verrone says flatly, "They're never true."

Fallon strategic planner Avin Narasimhan presents the latest helping of Brainfood, giving us his perspective on the meteoric rise of China and what it could mean for us (as a global business, as advertisers, as...people).

| View | Upload your own

For those of you who might have missed all the fisticuffs and tomfoolery from last night's Red Sox-Rays game, here is the complete brawl between Coco Crisp and James Shields, as many of his Rays buddies jump in and wail on a pinned Coco as he lies on the ground.

And here's the dugout "disagreement" between Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis. Nobody's talking about it, so make of it what you will.

Food Stylist Patrick shows how to make shortbread cookies:

Interview with Dame Helen Mirren:

The very gag that "killed them all in Naples" and got the greatest reaction in one of my screenings!

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Well, I'll be seein' ya,
Duck Dodgers

Will I Am (and friends) recorded a song/video inspired by Barack Obama's "Yes, We Can" speech. Obama clearly inspires folks in a way that many candidates can't really match. This is an interesting phenomenon to watch.

...and well, from the profound to, uh, ObamaGirl is back with another hit at 1.9Million views already.

Nothing of particular interest in this 1940 effort, except for.....??

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Well, I'll be seein' ya,
Duck Dodgers

Here's a delightful Huey short, one of his best entries ever.
No particular reason to post this, but it makes the first page of my blog look more PC.

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See youse,

Andrea

(Karyl Miller, San Diego WGA Strike Captain, sent us these clips along with the following note.)

Guess the only way to explain this penny-pinching is just the line "Well, it's Terry".
I would figure that someone producing his first Technicolor would have run inside the Studio yelling "Let's do it grand, kids!" not economizing on such a detail.

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Well, I'll be seein' ya,
Duck Dodgers

In the last days I've been rediscovering Disney's "minor" features ("Make Mine Music", "Fun and Fancy Free", etc.).
Among them my favorite one still remains "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad", expecially for the beautiful animation and enjoable characters.
In fact I do consider it one of the best Disney's works. Classification as a feature is straining though, considering those are actually two featurettes tied together with very little link among themselves.
If you have not seen this production, buy the DVD because Disney officially released it years ago. I was extremely pleased to discover it in his uncut beauty (the Toad's featurette was baly edited in Europe, expecially in UK and in Italy, were many scenes were cut or shirtened).

I hope you'll like this charming musical bit from the first half of the movie. Now wouldn't you want to be for one day one of those two happy-go-lucky fellows?

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Enjoy this rarely seen WW2 effort by Bob Clampett.
The highlights are the marvellous sequences animated by Scribner.

Wacky Blackouts
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Best,
Duck Dodgers

Project Strike Life presents their latest video. Producers, Chris Nolan and Laurie Nolan.

Try to find what kind of relation to our beloved world of classic animation there's in this Harold Lloyd clip (Thad, give them a chance to guess). Next wednesday I'll give you the answer if you cannot come out with it.

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Best,

Andrea

Interview with John Cusak:

Interview with Christina Milian:

We'll have to wait till the end of the year or maybe even 2009 to have this on DVD, so enjoy a great copy of it. One of the best Popeye entries in my opinion, and one of the best shorts made at Famous.

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Well, I'll be seein' ya,
Duck Dodgers

Interview with Mark Steines:

Deborah Norville shows Rachael how to make a Gratitude Cake:

With the assistance of Christina Applegate, Samantha Who? writer Bob Kushell helps you survive your marriage during the Writers' Strike.