Tweet Two years ago I mourned the death of the “gay show.” In the early-mid 2000s cable networks boasted scripted shows with all-gay leads — Queer as Folk, Noah’s Arc, The L Word, DL Chronicles, Dante’s Cove – following post-Will & Grace buzz and advertiser demands for targeting. After those shows went off-air, broadcast and cable nets alike [...]
Archive for the ‘uncategorized’ Category
Investigating YouTube at Hacktivision
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on January 30th, 2012
Tweet We’ve had a great couple of weeks over at Hacktivision! Of particular interest to our writers have been recent developments with YouTube as a cultural, legal and industrial entity. Here’s a sampling of what we’ve been talking about.
Looking Beyond Big Video in ‘Continuum’
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on January 30th, 2012
Tweet Click for journal article at Continuum As video networks become increasingly successful monetizing audiences — through either advertising or subscription — the question arises: what about everyone else? Most Americans are unaware of the rich ecosystem for video online, from smaller omnibus sites like Blip to minority networks like GLO. Yet as dynamic as the [...]
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Tags: academic, distribution, research, Video (Web/Mobile/Transmedia), web series 
No Comments »Outsiders After Viral Video
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on January 27th, 2012
Tweet Originally posted at Hacktivision If YouTube’s massive overhaul – many years in the making – revealed anything, it was our deep investments in the transformative potential of web video. Many observers have criticized the company’s move as selling out, a way to streamline the site’s chaos for the benefit of advertisers. (What else is [...]
Posted in uncategorized Tags: gender, race, Video (Web/Mobile/Transmedia), web series, youtube No Comments »’30 Rock’ Charms Producers Guild By Mocking TV — On the Web
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on January 25th, 2012
Tweet The Producers Guild joined the WGA this past weekend and honored original web programming. As Tubefilter notes, the nominees were usual suspects, a mix of web-grown originals (Ask a Ninja, The Guild), derivative programs (Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock) and web-to-TV success (Web Therapy). 30 Rock‘s Jack Donaghy: Executive Superhero won. Another of its series, [...]
Video Awards: Making a Market?
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on January 20th, 2012
Tweet Originally posted at Hacktivision! Why have awards? Award shows help media creators establish norms and values for audiences. They adjudicate quality, innovation, diversity and help raise awareness. The past two weeks have seen two big awards developments for professional web video: the IAWTV Awards held at CES January 12 and the WGA nominations. What [...]
‘Jack in a Box’ Creator On His WGA Nomination and Writing Jack “Happy”
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on January 18th, 2012
Tweet Originally posted at Tubefilter In last week’s 30 Rock sixth season premiere, Liz “Cranky Sue” Lemon was, all of a sudden, happy! Fans saw her skipping with animated birds and smooching on a mystery man (James Marsden). It was about time. Sitcoms about cranks have two options: cling relentlessly to the joke or allow characters [...]
In Search of Indie Cosmic
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on January 17th, 2012
Tweet Originally posted at Splice Today Indie film tends toward realism. It’s not hard to understand why: on a low-budget, the special effects necessary for fantasy and science fiction are hard to achieve. Creative filmmakers aren’t afraid of a challenge, though. In recent years, and especially 2011, a handful of art house movies ventured into [...]
Introducing: Hacktivision
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on January 16th, 2012
Tweet I couldn’t think of a more perfect time to announce a new blog about the future of video and television! Within the last month, YouTube’s re-launch has changed the video landscape, Hulu and Netflix announced more original content, and the web series community has been experimenting with award shows. Hacktivision is the brainchild of Josh Braun, a [...]
Posted in uncategorized Tags: research, social networking, TV, Video (Web/Mobile/Transmedia) No Comments »Is Liz Lemon Bad At Her Job?
Posted by Aymar Jean Christian on January 11th, 2012
Tweet Previewing the new (hit) Showtime series House of Lies, New York‘s Kera Bolonik offered a brief but pithy aside: Is anyone on TV bad at their jobs these days? Not if it’s a high-status gig. But feel free to be a bad waitress, or a crappy paper salesman or receptionist, or an ennui-ridden local-government intern, [...]
