…at an Alarming Rate. Link

My guest appearance on sci-fi comedy web series Hurtling Through Space at an Alarming Rate went up last month! Be sure to check it out, if you haven’t already. There could be a Streamy Award nomination for Best Guest Star in there somewhere…

I was really excited when creator Mike Davies suggested I play the role of Kalm. Not only am I a lover of old Trek, but I’ve even read The Eugenics Wars series that explained the rise and fall of Khan Noonien Singh (which I was critical of, but still quite enjoyed) and, as an actor, I was ecstatic to be stepping into Riccardo Montelban’s Shakespearean shoes.

My only disappointment was that I felt the final edits downplayed the lesbian undertones I was going for with the character. However, to their defense… the character wasn’t written with lesbian undertones in mind, that was just my creative interpretation. In fact, at one point we were even talking about having a lesbian kiss between me and Taryn O’Neill! I felt that after Mike Davies grabbed Hottie McHotterson to make out in the middle of the video game face off, Kalm’s naturally vengeful reaction would be to grab Taryn’s character and kiss her, therefore undermining Mike’s attempt to throw Kalm off. I even got the “ok” from my boyfriend Rudy… what a forward thinking man!

Unfortunately, we never shot the kiss and the lesbian flirty looks between me and Taryn O’Neill were pretty much cut out… but I can always hope that Mike’ll write it in a future episode… Right, Mike? Pretty please…?

And, for the record, I’m not the only one who wants more hot girl-on-girl action… here’s the IM chat I had with Rudy just after he showed the episode to his co-workers:

The struggle to get web series listed on IMDb is a long and epic one. Although our production company has 2/3 of our major web series titles already listed on the database as TV series (A Comicbook Orange and Galacticast), my own profile is still so barren that it makes me look like a n00b because I haven’t submitted other minor titles like work for hire hosting gigs, the miniseries we made for Next New Networks, guest starring roles I’ve done for other web series and video interviews people have done with me online.

At South by Southwest this past March, IMDb founder Col Needham said that a web series category will be added to the directory in the second or third quarter of this year (ie. anytime between April 1 – September 31). Unfortunately, I realized in early October that they still hadn’t made the change and I contacted Needham for a comment. On October 5, 2009 I wrote:

Hi Col!

Last time we spoke (SXSW last March) you said that labels for web series on IMDb should be pushed out in the 2nd or 3rd quarter. I just wanted to touch base and see if that’s gone through since I haven’t seen any changes to existing listings. Any updates on the subject that you can share?

Best,
Casey

I hadn’t heard back from him for a while and was starting to think the company was avoiding the issue, but on November 27, 2009 he replied as follows:

Hi Casey,

Sorry for the delayed reply … we’ve been finalizing our plans for 2010. Unfortunately circumstances changed following March and we have not yet been able to complete the work required to support web series. Much of the delay is because this area is incredibly complicated and affects a large number of IMDb software systems. We want to do this work properly to ensure that new title types of all kinds can be added more easily in future. The work has been rescheduled for 2010, but learning from past experience, we cannot be more specific on a launch date, sorry. In the meantime web series can continued to be added as if they were TV-series and will be converted over once they are properly supported.

Cheers,
Col

So, for the time being, I encourage all web series creators to go ahead and submit their show as a TV series. Let’s take over the site with our awesomeness… seriously. Here are a few pointers I’ve written down to help you get your show listed:

• Provide detailed credits of all the people who’ve worked on your series
• Include links to all of your show’s online profiles, especially fan pages and Twitter profile if you have a large audience of followers
• Link to all your major video upload sites, making sure to include sites that display high viewcounts
• Be sure to mention any public screenings or film festivals your videos have appeared in
• If you’ve received any mainstream press (newspapers, magazines, TV), provide a link to the article/segment online

No matter what you do, your title will probably not be accepted the first time. When they send you an email explaining why, wrack your brain, add more information and re-submit the title. Once the title has been added (and you may not get an email notification that it’s up), go ahead and add information on specific episodes… I’m planning to do this over the holidays

Hope this helps you. I also hope that IMDb follows through with their plan to add a web series category… this is a popular industry we’re in, and it ain’t “new” media anymore.

Above: Since today’s my four year anniversary, I figured I’d better cut together a frakking video! Here are the long awaited self-portrait outtakes from May-October 2009

Four years ago today, Rudy and I launched the first episode of Kitkast. Though Rudy had made some web videos (video blogs, vlogs, video podcasts, umm… vodcasts?) before, this was the first time we launched a web series… a serialized show. We’ve devoted countless hours to our passion ever since, and I thank every single person whose clicked play, commented on, and shared our videos with their friends.

So what am I doing today to commemorate the occasion? Acting in another web series, of course! I’m up in Vancouver right now, and I can’t say anything much, but it’s going to be EPIC… and reminiscent of Galacticast in some respect. I’ll give you the details when they’re public.

Year five promises to be even better. More guest spots, collaborations, and new content! Thanks for all your support… you make the late nights worthwhile.

Speaking of late nights… this week’s A Comicbook Orange video gave me a late night a couple of nights ago. Enjoy!

For over two years I’ve been advocating the need for a web series category on IMDb. At SXSW this year, I was given hope when IMDb founder Col Needham announced their plan to roll out tags for both web series and individual web videos in the second or third quarter of this year. Well, the third quarter ended a week ago, and I still don’t see either tags on the title submission page.

How much longer do we need to wait? How much longer must we submit our web series as “TV Series” or (straight to DVD) “Video” titles?

I sent Needham an email the other day asking for an update, and just sent an email through the IMDb contact page last night. If you’re a producer with the same concerns, I suggest trying to touch base with them through your own networking channels. Let’s get this pushed through!!!

Thanks to Rick Rey, NewTeeVee, Tubefilter and Tilzy.tv (David Nett) for also writing about this subject earlier this year.

Zod bless the Dominion of Canada! I’ll be judging the Social Media category of this year’s Canadian New Media Awards. No, I will not take bribes (unless they’re Dark Chocolate cupcakes from Sprinkles in Beverly Hills which would be next to impossible for any Canadian entrant… HA!).

All jokes aside, I’m really happy to be chosen…

The event will take place at nextMEDIA Toronto on December 1st, so go enter your web site or show so I can judge it, fellow Canadians! (Warning: it’s not free to enter, but there’s an early bird special of $125 if you enter before September 18th.)

And to those yanks out there who didn’t already know it… I. Am. Canadian!