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ElfQuest: A SAG New Media Premiere
Our ElfQuest fan trailer came out a few weeks ago and the Screen Actors Guild held a red carpet premiere to celebrate its’ release. It was a fun event complete with popcorn and a Q&A with producers Paula Rhodes and Stephanie Thorpe. My friend Kristyn Burtt was also on hand interviewing cast members on the red carpet for Mingle Media. Here’s the interview she did with me:
Thanks to SAG for making our premiere a special new media event. Also, thanks to all the great press we received, the trailer is now listed on IMDb. If you have a moment, be sure to rate it for us!
Dial M for Mature
Last weekend Rockstar Games invited me to a private demo of L.A. Noire at the historic Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. As a girl who went 100% on Red Dead Redemption last year, I’ve been seriously looking forward to this game, so there was no way in hell I was going to pass up a private demo!
Since my mother was in town, and I never meet strangers without bringing someone along, I brought her to the demo. We were led to a swanky room with haunting jazz playing, and the words “L.A. Noire” lighting up a big screen TV. After a briefing on the technology and basic information on the game, Tim – the guy showing me the demo – clicked Start. A moment later he paused dramatically to warn us that the video game is rated M. I turned to my mom and whispered “M is for Mature” then sat back to watch the show thinking the worst I’d see is what I’d already seen in previous Rockstar Games titles Red Dead Redemption and the Grand Theft Auto series. Holy shit, was I wrong.
Tim loaded up “The Red Lipstick Murder” and it showed graphic violence of a mysterious man pulling a woman out of a car trunk by her hair, then beating her over the head with some kind of metal object as she screamed and blood spurted from offscreen. It was chilling, but that wasn’t all. After a homicide briefing the next day, Detective Cole Phelps went to investigate the scene of the crime… and lying on the grass was a full-frontal naked female corpse with a hairy private area and the chilling initials “B.D.” (see Black Dahlia) written in red lipstick on her torso.
At this point I felt extremely uncomfortable. I was in a dark room, sitting next to my mother, watching a detailed naked, mutilated female corpse being thoroughly examined on the TV. This certainly wasn’t Pac-Man.
The rest of the demo was great. I got to see how realistic the technology used to capture the actors’ faces really was, and also heard how guns in this game, as they are in the real lives of police officers, are a last resort. It was refreshing, and made the game feel truly mature.
That said, this is a game made for adults. Though Red Dead Redemption was also rated M for Mature, I was consistently running into bratty kids playing it in multiplayer on XBox Live. Red Dead Redemption and the GTA series appeal to adolescent boys because it satisfies their aggressive teen fantasies with murder and crime, but L.A. Noire is a gentleman’s game of intelligence, skill, and patience. While I’m still uncomfortable with the extreme nudity and the idea that someone may eventually hack the game to make a rather disgusting necrophilia scene (see Hot Coffee mod), I’m happy to see how Rockstar Games is growing up with its’ players.
L.A. Noire hits stores on Tuesday, May 17th, and is available online for pre-order. Thanks to Mike and Tim from Rockstar Games for the awesome demo and the fancy water! ;)
ElfQuest: A Fan Imagining now online!
After producers Paula Rhodes and Stephanie Thorpe showed a teaser at Wondercon last week, we’ve got a lot of great coverage everywhere from io9 to BoingBoing! In fact, Attack of the Show will be doing a segment about it today on G4!!!
I hope you enjoy the above “trailer” we all made with lots of love and respect to the ElfQuest comic series. We had an amazing time making it and would do it again in a heartbeat. Thanks to Paula and Stephanie for all their hard work… I still can’t believe Paula made most of those costumes BY HAND!!!
Please share and enjoy! ;)
Becoming Brownberry
Our ElfQuest fan trailer should be coming out really soon, so I thought I would post a few behind the scenes photos of my transformation from Casey McKinnon to Brownberry!
Thanks to all the hard work of Jamie Blair (makeup), Genevieve Garner (hair), Paula Rhodes (costume), and Cathy Baron (jewelry) for making this all possible. XOXO
ElfQuest teaser to tease Wondercon attendees!
Good news, ElfQuest fans! If you plan to attend Wondercon in San Francisco this week, be sure to check out the ElfQuest panel. Not only will the legendary Pinis be speaking about their recent exploits, but ElfQuest fan film co-producers Paula Rhodes and Stephanie Thorpe will also be there showing an exclusive teaser!
Yes, I just said exclusive teaser… so go check it out on Friday, April 1st!
Panel details:
6:30-7:30 Let’s Do the WaRP Time Again: Wendy Pini and Richard Pini— Wendy Pini (Elfquest, Masque of the Red Death) and Richard Pini (Elfquest) are the W and R in WaRP Graphics. Join them for an unscripted progress report on Elfquest: The Final Quest, the Masque of the Red Death graphic novel (and musical), and last but not least, the Elfquest movie. Room 220
Buy a piece of Galacticast!
Rudy and I just moved to a new apartment (W00T!) and are selling some of our stuff… ALL of which have been in Galacticast!
If you live in or around Los Angeles and need stuff for your place, or just want a piece of web series history, check out the following items on Craig’s List:
- Used Countertop Microwave with Sensor Cooking- Panasonic NNS560BF – $20
The microwave that made me into CASEY HULK in Project Gamma!!! Works perfectly, but our new place has a built-in microwave so we don’t need it anymore. - Used 27in Flat CRT Television – Sanyo – $20
The TV Rudy was watching awesome gay-targetted programming on in Sci-Pride! Works perfectly. - Used Leather Sofa – IKEA Kramfors 3-Seat – $200
Used in SO MANY episodes of Galacticast, like Stargating, Amok Time, GalactiCut, and much much more. The leather is in great condition, but the stitching on the seams need to be re-stitched (that should cost about $70 at an upholsterer). - Used Leather Footstool – IKEA Kramfors – $100
In most episodes the accompanying couch are in. In PERFECT condition… so nice. - Used Office Desk w/ 2 chairs – IKEA GALANT – $50
From the episode Sci-Fi Challenged, The Ducky Horror Picture Show, and Feedback. The table is in AWESOME condition, the chairs are chairs :P
Go shopping!!!
Don’t Pitch Me, Bro! (i.e. Web Series Marketing 101)
It’s tough being indie. You work so hard writing, producing, acting, directing, editing, VFXing, scoring, encoding, and uploading… and just when you think your job is done, you realize it’s just the beginning. No one’s going to find your videos if you don’t get the word out.
Obviously the first people you think to tell about your videos are your family and friends. You use your personal social networks to get the word out and are probably very pleased at all the attention. Great! But what’s next?
Sadly, this is where a lot of web series creators get lost… I see a lot of people printing flyers and going to web series meetups trying to market their shows to other web series creators. I also see a lot of people forging fake friendships on Facebook to further market their shows to unsuspecting peers. The problem with this approach is that these people are most probably not your target audience (unless you’re making a resource web series for fellow creators), and ends up bothering peers instead of interesting them.
So how should you be marketing your web series? It’s pretty easy, actually… here are some tips:
- Identify your target audience: Think about who will love your show. This could be as general as identifying “RPG gamers” (e.g. Gold the Series), or as specific as “fans of Battlestar Galactica” (e.g. BSGcast).
- Once you know who they are, find out where they are: Do they have online forums (e.g. SyFy)? If so, start posting and building relationships while using an attractive signature that promotes your web series! Do they hold their own conventions (e.g. DragonCon)? Get a booth and host panels! Do they have news sites or fan sites devoted to them (e.g. io9)? Send them a news-worthy tip!
- Personalize your story: Whether you’re pitching a story to a major news site or a fan site, write them a personalized message. For the most part, no one’s going to write about just another web series, so give them a little background on what makes it different/special. The best way to get your story picked up is to inspire the writers. When A Comicbook Orange was nominated for a Streamy Award last year, I sent out a press release to Canadian media outlets with a personal message suggesting a story on all the great Canadian web series that had been nominated for this prestigious international award.
- Give your new-found audience a reason to stay: Give them ways to stay engaged; multiple subscribe options, feeds on all their favorite social networks, a behind the scenes series (blog or video), a way to participate in the show itself, etc.
The most important thing to remember is to do everything you can to find and consistently engage with your target audience. In time you might be lucky enough to build the kind of audience that propagates itself… but until then “never give up, never surrender!“
Stepping Into (the) Elevator
Back in early November, Elevator creator Woody Tondorf invited me to take part in the final season of his hit web series. I was asked to write a script and show up with whatever clothes/props I need. I said something along the lines of “HELLZ YEAH!” and racked my brain to come up with an awesome script.
While on set, I was told that an actress didn’t show up and they needed someone to play the role of Lucy in the episode entitled Harold the Janitor’s Dad. Again, “HELLZ YEAH!” was probably uttered. After some last minute memorization, here’s the result:
Stay tuned for the episode I wrote and starred in called Future Kate. I hope it comes out soon, but I know it takes a little more editing than most Elevator episodes, so keep your fingers crossed or tweet @WoodyTondorf to put the pressure on! ;)
The Elfpocalypse will be Web-Televised
Remember when vampires and zombies were the big thing and everyone was wondering what’s next? A lot of people thought werewolves would get big, and some even jokingly predicted mummies, but a couple of weeks ago we wrapped on our ElfQuest fan trailer shoot and a few days later my friend Felicia Day announced her next web series, Dragon Age: Redemption, in which she plays a badass knife-wielding elf!
I was never a huge elf enthusiast, but as a former Pixie (a Brownie in the Girl Guides, to be precise), and a girl obsessed with fairies after reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream in grade 8, I have to say that I’m pretty excited about the whole thing.
Our ElfQuest fan trailer should be online in early April, so until then be sure to check out all the great behind the scenes photos on Facebook and Flickr. I’ve also heard that G4TV‘s Attack of the Show will be showing some behind the scenes footage and interviews on an upcoming show, so I’ll try to keep you updated on that.
And for other elven awesomeness, check out Felicia’s Dragon Age: Redemption photos on Flickr and her behind the scenes interview that aired on X-Play last week. The web series is set to launch in August.
So, whether it’s our upward pointing ElfQuest ears, or Felicia’s backfacing Dragon Age ears, prepare yourself for the impending Elfpocalypse!
Damn it, Jim! I’m an actor, not a social media guru!
This past week my Twitter follower count crossed the 8000 mark (W00T!). It’s truly amazing to have such a big nerdy audience to share my geek references and get entertaining replies in return. I’m proud that my hobbies and my work has garnered such an awesome audience… and although I understand social media more than a lot of people in the entertainment industry, I am not a social media guru.
Every week I get emails and tweets asking me to link to someone’s online project, usually a web series or web comic. I don’t mind getting emails asking me to check something out, but asking me to link to it puts pressure on me to take action, even if I hardly know the people asking. After getting way too many of these requests, the straw has finally broken the camel’s back… and I feel it’s important for me to outline that there are really only three instances when I would consider linking to someone’s work:
- I have a prominent role in the work as an actor.
- A good friend has sent me a personal request, and I know that they would do the same for me.
- I happened upon something on my own and truly believe in it.
The best way to get me to link to your project is to involve me in it. I have built my audience with my passion, intelligence and hard work, and that audience, whether it be the 3000+ subscribers that read this blog, the 1100+ “Like”rs on Facebook, or the 8000+ followers on Twitter, is something valuable to me that I would never take for granted. So, if you really want to tap into that audience, hire me as an actor… the marketing will follow.
