This week I featured Canadian reality series Coolest Thing in the House in the LA Weekly. What is it with Canada and amazing web series?  I asked Coolest Thing creator Guy Georgeson. Check out our interview below for his answer.  Each three minute episode takes viewers on a quirky journey through a guest host’s home. They give a quick tour of their favorite objects, then reveal the COOLEST thing in the house. Like… a fifteen foot neon dinosaur?! I love the fascinating characters in this series and how much fun they are having sharing their home. Georgeson’s expert editing, shots and musical transitions make the whole thing a delight. You HAVE to watch the episode above. It’s amazing.

How did you come up with the show?

I’ve been an editor for twelve years, doing a lot of Home and Garden TV shows.  Whenever we were on location in a house, I’d always see something out of the corner of my eye and think, ‘Hey that giant dinosaur head is kinda cool. I wonder what that story is.” That’s more interesting than, you know, the kitchen tile we’re filming.

Maybe someone’s whole house isn’t really cool, but with a web series, you can make a whole show about one cool item. Sometimes an item may not seem that cool to look at, but when you hear the story behind it, it’s actually really cool.

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4.75 CLICKS!!  TOP CLICK SERIES! 

(out of 5)

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“A nameless cannabis delivery guy delivers his much needed medication to stressed-out New Yorkers in this character-driven web series. High Maintenance was created by husband and wife team Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld. They produce the series with their BFF Russell Gregory as Janky Clown Productions.” Watch High Maintenance at www.HelpingYouMaintain.com

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“Detailed and beautifully shot…what elevates High Maintenance above most digital content is its level of pathos” Read Igor’s full review…

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“…it might as well be on HBO given its stellar writing, acting, and production values.” Read Abdi’s full review…

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“Sinclair and Blichfeld have given birth to the answer to our cravings for a more natural version of Weeds, a more insightful version of Girls and dare I say it the Woody Allen humor for the twenty first century” Read Danielle’s full review…

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3.25 CLICKS    
(out of 5)

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“When the Jensen sisters (Christine Bullen and Scarlett Bermingham) are the first contestants kicked off the reality show MARRY F*CK KILL! they are not allowed to go back to their normal lives. Instead, for the remainder of production, they are forbidden contact with the outside world and held in an undisclosed location known as “Hotel Reject.”​ Watch Hotel Reject at www.HotelReject.com

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4.25 CLICKS! TOP CLICK SERIES!_______________________________________________________________

What happens after the world ends? Written and directed by award winning playwright Kit Williamson, ”EastSiders” explores the aftermath of infidelity on a gay couple in Silverlake.  When Cal (Kit Williamson) finds out Thom (Van Hansis) has been cheating on him with Jeremy (Matthew McKelligon), their relationship is turned upside down. Will the lies tear them apart or are they just stubborn enough to stay together forever?

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This week in my column for the LA Weekly, I featured the indie animated web series. Hell Yeah!, which follows the trials of Satan as he tries to convince Jesus to let him chill in Heaven seeing as everyone in hell is a total asshole. Co-creators Sam Yousefian and Craig Ginsberg animate online advertisements for company websites by day and develop animated shows for TV and the Web by night. To read my LA Weekly article on the show, click HERE. Below, you’ll find my full interview with Co-creator Sam Yousefian who also does all the voices on the show. Enjoy!

How did you come up with the idea for Hell Yeah! ?

My friend Cameron Fredman made this little comic strip that was almost word for word what our first episode ended up being. I thought it would be a funny cute little 30 second episode, for like, ‘welcome back to school,’ Satan’s incoming class.   The more we thought about it, the more fun we thought it would be to follow these characters. We knew Satan couldn’t like his job because the place has to suck. It’s full of all these crappy people.  His job in hell is to make What Would Jesus Do bracelets, but he can never meet his quota because all his workers are assholes.

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Just shy of 30, Brian Mcgreevy has been working as a successful screenwriter in Hollywood for years. He and writing partner Lee Shipman have had two scripts on the Black List and have an adaptation of Dracula currently in development with Russell Crowe and Eli Roth attached, among other projects.  His adaptation of his first novel Hemlock Grove premiered Friday as Netflix’s second original show. Mcgreevy also executive produced the show along with Eli Roth, and was kind enough to sit down with me and chat about how Hemlock Grove ended up at Netflix and the process of creating for New Media.  He also offeres some damn good advice for aspiring writers and artists of all types.  I know I was taking notes, and not just for this interview.

How did you come to sell your first TV show to Netflix?

I am a novelist in addition to a screenwriter and I had written a novel and sold it to Farrar Straus and Giroux. I didn’t really use a book-to-film agent because I’d been working in the studio game for a couple years so I had a pretty solid sense of the landscape.

I had my agency set meetings with producers and interviewed them personally. I basically went with the guy who was most aligned with my preexisting criteria for a partnership.

What was that criteria?

I was in a position that writers in this town rarely find themselves in. I had leverage because I owned the property flat out.  The two conditions I went in under were: One- I am executive producer on this project. You are not a producer over me. We are peers.  Two- this is a hard R.  The subject matter inherently lends itself to a kind of sanitization because it has paranormal themes and the main characters are adolescents. The execution of the book was very unsanitized.  There was a lot of fucking, violence and casual drug use, which, from my own perspective, is much more representative of adolescence than, for instance, Twilight.

I had a very high profile producer, who I like and have worked with, say to me, ‘This is the next Hunger Games!’  And my response was, ‘Have you read this? Did you get to the part where the protagonist is doing violent role-play with a prostitute yet? Out of boredom?’

It was great to find someone who said, ‘I’m OK with potentially making way less money off this and doing the way cooler version.” That was who I ended up working with.

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Creators & Cast of Husbands: Brad Bell, Jane Espenson, Sean Hemeon, Alessandra Torresani

Check out my article for the LA Weekly on Sunday night’s Third Annual Streamy Awards.  I was lucky enough to get to talk to Jane Espenson (Caprica, Battlestar Galactica, web series Husbands), Brad Bell (Husbands), Felicia Day (The Guild, Geek & Sundry), Yuri Baranovski (Leap Year, Break a Leg), Shira Lazar (What’s Trending), Burnie Burns (Red Vs. Blue), the creators and stars of web series Mortal Kombat Legacy and more.

In the article I observe how the worlds of old and new Hollywood are beginning to merge and the mixed feelings of creators on both sides.  Check it out!

Streamy Awards: Online Video’s Biggest Night Accepts Old Hollywood Into the Fold