SXSW is starting up Friday. The Interactive and Film Festivals are going on from March 12 – 16. I’ll be there for the whole thing and sending in updates through the blog and twitter. If you’re not following Twitter, give us a look at @ut_markle or @CELLwebseries.

If you’re going to be at the festival drop me a line. I’d love to meet a lot of you.

We’re also going to start a little more with the conversation about what we want to do with LVP and the shows that we’re producing. Stick with us because we really think you’ll like what we’ve got going on. Until then, take a look at episode 3.

One lucky t-shirt winner, Kendra!

You know those nifty Lovable Varmint Productions t-shirts everyone had been talking about? Of course you do! Now’s your chance to get your very own LVP crew shirt. To help celebrate our distribution of CELL with Koldcast.TV, we’re going to be giving away Lovable Varmint Productions t-shirts. (Well, a few at least.) All you have to do is make your own poster for CELL. Find out more after the jump, or just go to…

http://cellthewebseries.com/contest/CELL%20Poster%20Contest.zip

to get your pics and start work.

We know the show’s not out yet so you’re not entirely clear on what’s going on. And that’s a good thing. It’d spoil all the surprises if we told you all the secrets right now. But we can still help you out. Here’s the logline for the show…

A man wakes up in a cell after a night on the town. When he realizes he’s not in jail and he’s not alone, he fights to stay who he is while helping someone else remember who they were.

So that’s all you get. Now be creative and make some great posters.

Oh but wait, where do I get the pictures I need to make these things?

It’s simple. Just go to  http://cellthewebseries.com/contest/CELL%20Poster%20Contest.zip and download the ZIP file. Inside that lovely ZIP file you’ll find instructions and images that you can use to make your own promotional poster for CELL. There will be instructions on how to submit as well as a few rules. (Lawyers make us do these things you know.) The deadline for submission is January 31st, 2010. E-mail your entries to the e-mail listed in your packet. (contest at lovablevarmint.com) We’ll announce the winners February 2nd, just in time for our premiere.

Digital submissons only please

I can’t wait to see what you guys put together. Good luck!!

Oh yeah… legal stuff…

By submitting material through this contest, you are allowing Lovable Varmint Productions, LLC (LVP) to use the material for the purposes deemed appropriate by LVP. All submissions become and will remain the property of LVP. No compensation is due to the submitter. Submitted material will not be returned. The selection process and whether or not a winner is chosen, is solely within the discretion of LVP.  Any submissions may be edited by LVP at the sole discretion of LVP.  Participation in this contest does not guarantee that you will win. (Wouldn’t it be nice if contests did that? But they don’t.) LVP reserves the right to cancel the contest at any time without prior notice.

Just a couple of days ago an article came out in Broadcasting & Cable about Comedy Central and their relationship with web content. They’re using the internet to test out 3 new series they have in the pipeline: Workaholics, Ugly Americans, and The Fuzz. The network’s outgoing programming president Lauren Corrao said, “I think it is a great way to develop, it is low cost, there is a lot of creative freedom and we are not putting up the same kind of money we would be putting up for a television pilot.” And Comedy Central isn’t the only one.

Let’s start with Sanctuary. They started off as a web-series that was one of the first to really push the limits of web content. They got sci-fi stars, shot on a RED and told some interesting stories. Next thing you know, SyFy picks them up and now they’re on a big cable  network.

The Bannen Way looks slick and is really well produced... and they have a Jag.

And I have to talk about The Bannen Way. It started out as an indie production was going to the web. Their trailer got a lot of buzz and now they’ll be launching in January with a deal From Sony rumored to be in the low to mid 6 figures.

Should I even take the time to bring up shows like The Guild, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog, Fred, Autotune the News?

What I’m trying to say is that success for web content is out there. It may be elusive and people with money (advertisers? maaaaaybe) might be scared of the medium of internet delivery, but that doesn’t mean success isn’t there. So how do you get that success? How many times can I dress up my cat and have her play an instrument? You ever try to get a cat to play trombone? It’s not pretty.

“Anyone can make something and throw it up on the web, but building a successful web series franchise takes a whole other level of commitment.” That’s from a Tubefilter article from Marc Hustvedt from December 2008 and it’s just as true now as it was back then. A successful web series isn’t just a weekend shoot with your friends or something you work on when you have time. It’s a startup business that takes time and effort to be successful. The problem isn’t that there’s no way to make a successful web series. The problem is that most people aren’t working to make their web series successful.

And that’s why we want to talk to all of you reading this. Tell us what you think. Ask us questions and let’s get in this together. Because new media is a game changer. Like it or not, it’s making waves in the entertainment world. We want to be a part of that wave and we want you along for the ride.

I knew there were comic book tie-ins to TV shows and movies. That was never anything new. What really got me interested was when I heard that Buffy the Vampire Slayer was coming to comic books. Not as a tie-in, but as a full-fledged continuation of the story produced by Joss Whedon with some of the original writers contributing scripts. As a die-hard fan of the franchise I was excited, albeit a little nervous.

Buffy Season 8

When I finally got the first issue, I was sold. Here was a real crossover into a new media stream that accurately reflected the things that were great about the TV show. I’m sure there are others but I haven’t really experienced them. What are some other examples that you know? Leave them in the comments so I can check that out. (And no, Angel:After the Fall, even with its apparent financial success, is not another example IMO.)

Since then I’ve dipped my feet in a couple of other comic franchises, with mixed results.  But through all of that, I’ve found some great stories in the comic book world. I’m not talking Iron Man and Batman or all the other huge tentpole franchises. Everyone knows about those characters and the recent movies have been spectacular. I’m talking about the other stories out there that no one outside of the comic world really knows about.

Runaways

My latest favorite that I’ve just started delving in to is Runaways from Marvel Comics. I can’t tell you how much I’m enjoying this series so far. I’ve only gotten a little bit into it and I can’t wait to get a hold of the next compilation. In fact, I like it so much that I want to see it as a film. Well, actually as a series. But you know what I mean. Fortunately for me, word is that Brian K. Vaughn (who started the series) is writing a film adaptation that should hit the screens in 2011. Although I was kinda hoping that I could do the adaptation. *sigh*

So let’s see… we’ve talked about a successful crossover into comics for a great television series. We’ve got a relatively obscure comic book property getting a treatment for a feature film. And these are just a couple of the many examples for crossovers from one media type to another. (There’s even a one-shot Dr. Horrible comic book that just came out.) In another post I talked about ARGs on the internet. So what does all of this mean for us indie producers?

It means there’s a market and that means there’s a way for us to finance all our projects.

More on that next time.

Leave a comment and let’s start a conversation. I’m curious what you all think.

We also have another poster for CELL made by our still photographer Dale Kennemer.

I can’t even begin to list the amount of great stuff going on behind the scenes for CELL, partially because I can’t. But rest assured good things are in the works for CELL. Loren and Chris are working like mad to get rough cuts of the episodes done. They just got Episode 2 finished and I should have eyes on that soon.  Our sound mixer Debbie is working like mad to get sound set for the shoot and she’s also taken on sound design. I don’t think she’ll ever sleep.

The rest of the stuff about CELL I can’t really talk about yet. But as soon as I can I’ll make sure to let you all know.

And on an unrelated note, we’ve started the development process for more shows with the Lovable Varmint brand. Things are going so well that we’re going to keep pushing ahead and keep making new content to bring to you. Our goal is to push the boundaries of indie web productions so that we can compete with the big money out there. If you like what we’re doing, keep visiting and keep supporting us. With your help we can bring you more great content.

Thanks for everything you’ve been doing and keep an eye out for more video goodness.

Second, at this point every day is pretty full with rehearsals, business talk, meetings and the like. This week has been no different, but it’s led us to some great news!Yesterday we had rehearsal again for 3 of our principal actors. We also has Jason come in to start getting measurements for costumes and to start pulling wardrobe. Even Natalie made the 3 hour drive to Austin to get her wardrobe squared away. (Not gonna lie, I’m feeling a little guilty that we really didn’t have the time to get to her part in the script.) Jason had his camera so he took some shots of us hanging out at the house for rehearsals. I’ll post some of those up here pretty soon.

Some big news on the crew side of the fence.  We’re very happy to have Iskra Valtcheva on board as our DP. Iskra was a finalist in the 2008 Student Academy Awards for her DP work and is already really well respected in the Central Texas film community, even though she’s only recently out of grad school where she got a MFA in Film Production from the University of Texas. We’re very excited that she’s going to bring her great eye to “Cell.” If you get a chance to look at her reel, take a few minutes. She does amazing work behind the camera and she’s a great person as well. She’s going to add something great to this project.

Another crew position we’ve filled is our Script Supervisor. Nancy Smith from First Look Script Analysis has just come on the crew as our Script Supervisor. I’ve known Nancy for a couple of years from the Austin Screenwriter’s Group. I haven’t been to the meetings in quite a while being swamped with pre-production but happened to run into her last night at a party thrown by Robin Blesch and WPFG Studios threw to celebrate the Texas Motion Picture Alliiance and passage of the new Texas Film Incentives. Anyway, we started talking and I mentioned we needed a Script Supervisor and she jumped on board. How great is that? Nancy’s a very talented, award-winning  screenwriter and I’m really happy to have her watching over things for “Cell.”

Kevin McCarthy has also just added a Facebook Fan page for “Cell.”  We’ve also got one set up for Lovable Varmint Productions. Go check it out and become a fan.

We’re also working on forums so you can join and start discussions about Lovable Varmint and about “Cell.”

We’ve had some great feedback about our blog posts so keep those coming. Leave a comment and let’s start talking. What posts do you like the most? What do you want less of?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Take a second to watch some of The Lone Filmmaker. He’s been working on making a feature film ENTIRELY by himself. I haven’t seen them all but the ones I have seen are interesting about the process as well as some of the specifics about making film.

Music starts at 7pm at Maggie Mae’s, 323 East 6th St. on September 23rd.

Live Performances by: Aimee Bobruck, Infinite Partials, Chris Hawkes, Harry Bodine, Will McGowan, and Afrofreque (listed in order of appearance).

Purchase Tickets! Buy tickets in advance here for $12 OR at the door for $15.

Remember that all the proceeds go to supporting the local and independent media community.

We’d love to meet you all. Much of our cast for “Cell” will be there so be sure to stop by and say hello.

If I were to pick out one thing missing, it’s that a lot of people don’t understand or don’t take advantage of something unique to the web that you can’t find in traditional media: Community.

Read Clay Shirkey’s book “Here Comes Everybody.” You can get a great overview of the way the stream is changing society. One thing that Shirkey talks about is the ease with which people can form communities now. Years ago it took a massive effort just to organize people getting together for a meeting at the local library. Now you can have a video conference, join a message board, jump on Twitter… You name it. Organizing groups is easy.  And organizing groups gives people power.

Look at what happened with the TV show Jericho.

Click here to view the embedded video.

After it was cancelled, a community of fans rallied together and lobbied the  network to give their show another chance. It worked. Jericho was brought back for another try. It didn’t last long before it was cancelled again due to poor ratings (which I think has to do with the network not understanding the value of an engaged viewer as opposed to a casual viewer. Or time shifted viewing. Or any of a number of other factors that might have saved Jericho like it saved Dollhouse. But that’s another article.). What matters is that a community got together and organized into action based primarily on the stream.

That’s important and should be a model for anyone wanting to be successful in online video. We’re all part of a community. If we all band together to help, encourage and promote each other then the chances for all our success goes up drastically. That’s why it’s important for Lovable Varmint Productions and all of us involved to actively engage the web community to show that we don’t only care about our success, we care about everyone else’s success and the success of the medium.

One of the biggest hitters in online video right now has to be Felicia Day. Her series “The Guild” started out with everyone donating their time to the production and hoping to make something in the end. “The Guild” is a great concept and caught on. Fans donated their own money to keep the show running. Not long after, they were able to get sponsorship from Sprint and now they’re on the XBox Marketplace with a community site all their own with over 5000 members. They even did a music video that was #1 on iTunes when it first came out. You might say they could be a role model for success.

Well the Felicia Train is still running. Season 3 of The Guild is just hitting the stream and they’ve grown even bigger. One of the big surprises is the addition of another web celebrity… Wil Wheaton. The first episode is fun and really gets you ready for the season to hit. I can’t wait to see what happens with Wheaton. Such excitement in the geek circles. So take a few minutes to watch “The Guild: Episode 1, Season 3.” Then go catch up with the other seasons. And don’t forget to watch the video for “Do You Want to Date My Avatar.” By supporting other online video you’re supporting the medium as a whole and helping to support other indie producers fighting to get good content in the stream.

Can you see the fox in there? I can. Was I wrong? Yup.

I think maybe I went too far in what I was asking for. This guy just looks a little on the menacing side. I have this scary dream that I wake up and this little guy is sitting on my chest carrying a steak knife and laughing like Muttley. Yikes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This should prove to everyone that furry is not always cuddly. I definitely learned my lesson.

So I went back to John (for those of you just tuning in… John Rauschelbach is the awesome artist that was working with us on our mascot) with hat in hand and asked if he could maybe step back to a little earlier version. While I’m sure he was cursing my name on the other side of his e-mail, John was great and went back to work.

I asked him to go back and pull more of that first sketch in and he knocked this one out of the ballpark. When we got our final sketch… this is the result.

Much cuter, don’t you think? Dare I say “lovable?” I do dare. Come on, you know you’d want one of these as a stuffed animal. And don’t ask what it is because really, I have no idea. It’s a varmint.

So there’s the story of how we got our mascot. The only sad part… he doesn’t have a name. Any suggestions? Drop us a comment. We’d love to hear from you!