During that conversation, Bernie promised me that Compulsions would be like nothing ever seen in web series. A drama written, shot, and presented with an intensity no one had yet captured in new media.

After seeing this most recent trailer, I’m starting to think he may not have been exaggerating.

-Broadcast Assassin out!

There is one category, however, that sticks out as blatantly uninformed and hopelessly out of touch: the nominees for Favorite Web Celeb.

In what amounts to a complete disregard for any understanding of what actually constitutes online entertainment, the nominees that we, the people will have to choose from are:

• Andy Samberg
• Miley Cyrus
• Ashton Kutcher
• Will Ferrell
• P. Diddy

While I don’t want to belittle the enormous contributions to online entertainment (*snikker*) made by the likes of Cyrus and Diddy, Broadcast Assassin presents our suggestion for the list of real Web Celebs, not just mainstream A-listers who think Twitter is kinda neat.

Felicia Day

Insanely popular star and creator of the insanely popular The Guild.

Other notable appearances: The Legend of Neil, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

Craig Frank

Star of the upcoming Compulsions, Craig has basically been in every web series, ever.

Other notable appearances: The Crew, Private High Musical, Craig and the Werewolf

Taryn Southern

Creator and star of Private High Musical, Taryn has appeared in Maxim and once was Hillary Clinton’s equivalent to ObamaGirl

Other notable appearances: Sorority Forever, The Wrong Hole, Blimp Prom

Hayden Black

Ultra-prolific creator and star of Goodnight Burbank, Abigail’s Teen Diary, The Cabonauts, and The Occulterers

Other notable appearances: He has time to be in other people’s shows?

Dennis Haskins

Star of Acting School Academy

Other notable appearances: Yep, that’s Mr. Belding from Saved By The Bell. He’s a web series guy now!

-Broadcast Assassin out!

Image credits: The Bui Brothers (Felicia Day), Craig Frank (Craig Frank), Taryn Southern (Taryn Southern), The Bui Brothers (Hayden Black), Dennis Haskins (Dennis Haskins)

Highlights from the Miss Florida competition, 2005.

 

2005: YouTube launches, Taryn Southern begins march towards fame

-Broadcast Assassin Out!

For a few glorious months this year, BroadastAssassin.com was the best (and only) place on the web to find an insider’s guide to producing independent video content for the web. We took an in-depth look at the people and processes required to get great shows like The Guild, The Crew, Groupthink, Gold: the Series, Issues the Series, Safety Geeks: SVI, and more.

I won’t get in to the toxic cauldron of bubbling events that led to the hiatus of the site. I know there were many, many people that found the information and forum community residing on BroadcastAssassin.com to be informative and helpful; a guidepost of sorts on the open, unmapped expanse of web video production. I know the disappointment when it disappeared was widespread (because you all made sure to tell me).

The plan right now is this: BroadcastAssassin.com will live again. The first brief go ’round was valuable for many reasons, including what types of content and features appealed to you most and what I can reasonably expect to accomplish as an unfunded start-up with one person basically running the show. In the meantime, this blog will bridge the gap between the old site and the new. Why? Because I have too many thoughts in my head not to have some kind of outlet. And because, while its time was short, Broadcast Assassin was too important to disappear quietly into the night.

For now, you can look forward to a series of articles offering tips, advice, and insight into the process of creating and distributing a web series, from the people in the trenches living that life every day. In words, images, and video I’ll continue to show how web television is being created, both the video content and the industry itself. This project began in recognition of the amazing efforts being made by a creative force that, for the first time ever, has not only the tools at their disposal but also a way to get their shows out where they can be seen. If anything, the web is an even greater opportunity for story tellers now than it was when Broadcast Assassin first started. I can’t wait to show it to you.

Until then,

-Broadcast Assassin out!

Post Script: I owe thanks to many individuals who have encouraged me continue. While this list is far from all inclusive, sincerest thanks are owed to Nic Baisley, Scott Nap, Amy Bradney-George, Wendy Rosoff, Angela Espinoza, Brandon Martinez, David Nett, Brett Register, Tom Konkle, David Samuels,  Brady Brim-DeForrest, and the countless others who noted the old site’s passing and encouraged me to do more.