Gone Fishing

While I take a much needed holiday break, I will leave you with a couple of posts you may have missed.  I will be back posting away next week with all of my adventures and an upcoming event in Chicago for Women's Health Magazine.

1. The legend of Disney continues into 2010 with my post showing behind the walls of Club 33.  This was posted on Disney Food Blog and every week, I find new friends thanks to Uncle Walt.

2. This next article was written in 2009, but Demi Delia is an interesting woman.  As a former adult star, she is raising two successful and smart kids.  Crackle.com chronicled her life in an online reality show, Mommy XXX.  Demi also made headlines again a few months ago as an alleged mistress of actor, David Boreanz.

3. Who knew that one iPhone photo would cause such frenzy?  Yes, I was there for the 2010 fire at Cobo Hall in Detroit at the North American International Auto Show.  See what all the fuss was about.

4. This article gave me my first hate email.  It was about Publicity and Web Series, but someone got their panties in a bunch over what I had written.  Tubefilter also referenced the article in a recent post as well.

5. The Legend of Neil fans are exactly that.....legendary.  Their continued support for our episode of The Web Files with Sandeep Parikh and Tony Janning is amazing and I always appreciate them stopping by. Here's their behind the scenes feature:  Legend of Neil.

So, that's the Top 5 at the halfway point of 2010.  Let me know what your favorite article has been this year.  Leave a comment and tell me what you think.  Have a safe and Happy 4th of July!

Weekend Web Watch: Streamys Edition

Each weekend until Sunday, April 11th, The Web Files is running our Weekend Web Watch with one of the nominees for the Streamy Awards. This weekend, check out Best Reality/Documentary Web Series nominee, Mommy XXX. We interviewed Demi Delia in her home back in July of 2009 and it is one of my favorite episodes from 2009. So many people are quick to judge the person when they hear about their chosen profession and I don't always think that is fair. Well, I think you will see some new insights and changes with Demi when Season 2 premieres. But, take a closer look at the interview and be sure to check out the article about some of the controversy surrounding advertisers on the Crackle.com website and the power of the Mommy Blogger. It's worthy of a read before you see the interview. Judge for yourself and comment below. I would love to hear your thoughts on this one.

Article: Mommy XXX Controversy

Episode: Mommy XXX

If you missed our other Streamy Edition Weekend Web Watch Shows, click here: Weekend Web Watch Week 1 and 2.

2009 in Review: July

July arrives and The Web Files officially launches! We had a premiere party, I took off for vacation, and we continued to shoot more episodes all geared for the web space......and I cheated on this entry. I had to do 8 photos to accommodate all of the events surrounding The Web Files:

Kicking off the month with my annual 4th of July trip to the lake. I'm here with my puppy posing for a patriotic photo:

The first official image for The Web Files is launched with our press release and a trailer.

Our most controversial, but one of our most popular episodes with Demi Delia of Mommy XXX. This episode continues to have steady views even 5 months later. Episode: Mommy XXX

The queen of the web space, Felicia Day of The Guild. I guess I didn't need to introduce her, right? She's there with her producer, Kim Evey, on the red carpet of iTVFest. A coming out party for Web TV on the festival circuit. Episode: iTVFest.

One of the most hilarious episodes we have ever shot was with Gary Valentine of Dusty Peacock. We stuck him on a scooter and away we went. He was a great sport and a really nice guy. We are here with one of our makeup artists, Marybeth Bagonghasa. Episode: Dusty Peacock.

We've launched! So it's time to party! A fun night with Ariel Lazarus of The Crew, Stephen Leonard of My Life Plus Animals, and fellow host, Lindsay Caldwell.

In between all of this, I hosted a couple of events for Women's Health Magazine's "Are You Game?" in Chicago and NYC. I took a few minutes off to jump and flip......

Yes, it's Dave and Tom of Safety Geeks: SVI. We had a fun day on set working with the green screen. Check out their episode here: Safety Geeks:SVI
Phew! That's July. I am hoping to stick to the rules and do it in 5 photos or less the rest of the year. Fingers crossed.

Behind the Scenes of Daphne Brogdon of CoolMom.com

This interview was a rather exciting one for me. First, it was inspired by some controversy after we shot the Mommy XXX episode and a particular Mommy Blogger got upset over the Crackle.com show. As a result, one of the Mommy XXX advertisers pulled out of the show due to the pressure from the article and the author's readers. It made me realize how powerful the Mommy Blogger has become in our society. Now in order for it to fit within The Web Files framework, we would need someone who videos their work versus writing about it. So, off I went, scouring the Internet for the best Mommy Vlogger out there. I looked at many sites, but no one was as funny, irreverent, or as truthful as Daphne Brogdon.

I personally was thrilled to do this interview because I used to watch Daphne when she hosted a show on FX called The X Show. Not only did I watch, but I was a paid audience member who helped fill the seats if the tickets were not sold out. It was my first job in LA when I moved here in 2000. I did it for 2 months as it helped pay the bills while I got myself settled on the West Coast. I loved the show with its hodgepodge of hosts including Gillian Barberie, Craig Jackson, Justin Walker, and Gary Valentine, who I also interviewed this summer for his web series, Dusty Peacock.. I told Daphne our connection at the beginning of the interview and I wish it had made the episode because it was a fun moment, but it wound up on the cutting room floor.

What makes Daphne truly likable as a Mommy Vlogger is that she is real. She proves that while motherhood is rewarding, it also brings its own set of challenges. It isn't a perfect world, but it can be a funny, heartbreaking, sad, and joyous world. Daphne is married to Mark Peel, the chef of the famed restaurant, Campanile and La Brea Bakery. You may think her life is charmed, but they have endured challenges like the rest of us in this economic downturn and that is what CoolMom.com brings to the table.

We shot in her home at the kids' table where everything was perfectly tiny and cute including the tea set. Since we were not allowed to wear shoes in her house, Sandra made sure I had the most colorful socks for the shoot. They are actually Easter socks with bunnies at the top, making them perfect for the episode. I truly appreciated Daphne's candidness and I think this episode fits in well with the holiday season.

Episode 24 is our last show for 2009, so I want to take the time to thank you for your views, support, feedback, and appreciation for what we are doing on The Web Files. We managed to bring you 24 episodes this year featuring the best in web series, web celebs, and new media creators. We look forward to 2010 as our show grows along with the Web TV industry. Come back and see us in January when we launch new interviews featuring The Legend of Neil, Dorm Life, The Fine Brothers, and Casey McKinnon of A Comicbook Orange. Happy Holidays!

The Web Files Update

As anyone working in arts or entertainment, you plug away at your work and you hope people respond. Well, today we received a response we were not expecting, NewTeeVee's Reviews Editor, Liz Shannon Miller, reviewed The Web Files. I am thrilled that she took the time to watch multiple episodes and I think she gave us some really constructive feedback. It gives me some great ideas on what we have to work on in the future. For instance, Liz pointed out that we did not find out how MERRIme.com obtained their name actors like Tom Arnold and Tony Hale. In fact, we did ask the question, but it ended up on the cutting room floor. Tom Arnold is an old friend of Kaily Smith's family, David Weidoff and Kaily went to USC with Ryan Eggold, and many of David's castmates from ABC Family's Roommates were recruited for the web series. So, Liz makes a great point in some things we might want to focus on. Thank you, Liz. Read her article: NewTeeVee.

For our Weekend Web Watch, I am always looking back to episodes and pulling them back up for viewing because The Web Files episode may coincide with a web series' event. (e.g. Last week's Weekend Web Watch with Movies You May Have Missed and their Podcast Award nomination.) Well, this week, I am dusting off Crackle.com's Mommy XXX with Demi Delia, because this episode is a continual powerhouse for us. I realize her former adult star status draws a certain amount of attention, but her fans are loyal. They watch the episode, they comment on the show, and they come to this blog to read more about the behind the scenes scoop more than any other show we have featured. We are all looking for that fan enthusiasm in our web series, films, television shows, and music that we create. How do you create a loyal audience? Well, maybe we could all learn something from Demi Delia and how she maintains a fan base that will follow her beyond her adult industry career. View the episode: