The Great Cupcake Caper

I received a knock on my door today to find half a dozen cupcakes greeting me from Crumbs Bake Shop.  Anyone that hangs out with me or follows me around the internet knows that I love cupcakes.  The note read "Get Well Soon, Matthew".  Hmmmm, no last name and no indication of which Matt in my life it was from.  I sent a text to my co-host of Toyota Live, called my Paris pal, Crabby, and I started to formulate an email to my cousin in Chicago.  I put a photo and tweet out on Twitter and on Facebook and the culprit was found!  A big thanks to Mathieas AKA Matthew for my Crumbs Cupcakes.  I already feel better after downing a ginormous Red Velvet cupcake.  As you can see, the cupcake never stood a chance:

Behind the Scenes of The Web Files Buzz, Episode 6

In this episode of The Web Files, it's all about TheWB.com.  We were lucky enough to spend the morning there interviewing both Jace Hall with his new show, Chadam, and the cast and creator of EXPOSED.  Even though I have lived in LA for ten years, I still get giddy when I pull up onto any studio lot.  I never had designs on an acting career, but I love the allure of a studio lot where all of the Hollywood magic occurs.  We pulled up and unloaded the gear onto the requisite studio golf cart and off to Jace Hall's HD Films we go!

If you haven't met Jace before, he is tall-not like kind of tall, like super tall. We had to balance out the height difference on the chairs by stuffing pillows under and behind the cushions I was sitting on.  Once we established a normal eye line for the interview, we were off and running to talk about Chadam, a fantastical animated series with the classic tale of good versus evil.  With an impressive list of voice actors like Katey Sagal, Carl Weathers, and Jeffrey Coombs, bringing the characters to life, Chadam offers a new perspective to animation on the web.  Be sure to follow Jace on his blog because he has a robust slate of web and television projects from his production company, HD Films. (Especially for you V fans, he's the Executive Producer.)

Next up, a long awaited series and interview with Streamy Award winning director, Blake Calhoun about his new series, EXPOSED.  This was our first interview on The Web Files via Skype.  Technically, the Skype interview worked well, but I am still waiting for even more resolution on a Skype connection.  If it looks a bit muddy on Oprah's show, well, it's definitely going to on our end too, but I think it worked out with our two-camera shot on the Skype interview.  In the interview, Blake made some great points about working with local actors and creating work outside of the "LA web series bubble".  It can be done and with success, it is just a matter of creating a piece that has tight writing, high production value, and the momentum to get noticed.  I know it isn't easy, but Blake is a great example of working outside the Hollywood structure.      
                                           
We also had a chance to talk to Chase Jeffrey and Kimberly Matula about their experiences in working with Blake.  They each are a part of Calhoun's stable of actors, so you will see them in other series like Pink and in his upcoming film, Spilt Milk.  Poor Kimberly got stuck in massive LA traffic when an oil rig overturned on the 134, but like a trooper she plowed through and gave us a great interview about EXPOSED.  And if you are a soap fan, you can catch Kimberly playing Hope Logan on The Bold and the Beautiful.  

For more information on this episode, check out the article written by Mathieas McNaughton:  Tubefilter

To catch this episode of The Web Files Buzz, watch below:

The Web Files in the News: October

There has been some fantastic news in the web series world and we are so excited by the leaps and bounds content producers are making in the industry. It thrills me when I hear that shows we have interviewed are gaining the recognition they deserve. So, we are happy to throw our continued support to:

1. The cast and creators of The Crew for not only launching Season 2 yesterday, but for securing an exclusive deal with Babelgum.. I truly appreciate this cast and the show's creator, Brett Register, because they were one of our first interviews when we were launching The Web Files. Be sure to check out our interview with them and our behind the scenes look: Interview and Behind the Scenes.

2. More good news abounds with the cast of Oz Girl. Nick Carlton just inked a distribution deal with Virgin's V Australia as a part of their on-demand in-flight entertainment for Oz Girl. Nick also launched his own digital media/entertainment studio in Melbourne called
Carlton Digital. This 19-year-old truly is a forced to be reckoned with. You can find our Web Files interview here and the behind the scenes of the shoot here. Many thanks to Marc Hustvedt at Tubefilter for linking to our interview in his feature piece on Nick's breaking news:
Tubefilter.

3. One of my favorite people, Mathieas McNaughton, continues to be one of our greatest champions. He featured our episode with the amazing Tim Street on his blog:
LG15 Today.

4. Finally, a new friend to The Web Files is Larry Kless who kindly picked our Tim Street interview as his "Web Video Pick of the Week". I think Tim's interview has resonated with many web series producers and new media creators, so I am thrilled that this episode of The Web Files is gaining attention. Thanks, Larry. Check out the article here: Kless Blog.

Thank you for all of your support. We will continue to bring you the latest in-depth interviews with established and up-and-coming talent in the web series world. Get ready for Wednesday, we have Hayden Black with his upcoming series, The Cabonauts!