Jo Bozarth and The Social Drinker nominated for an IAWTV Award!

I'm extremely proud to announce that the lovely and talented Jo Bozarth's writing on The Social Drinker has been nominated for an IAWTV Award in the "Best Writing, Non-Fiction" category.

Jo did all the research and writing for the show, diving into topics as varied as the history of the two largest Irish distilleries, the lives of poets and musicians, and the seldom talked about costs of playing golf. Not to mention, finding and adapting our cocktail recipes. 

She's nominated along 4 other great shows and their writers:

• Benny Fine, Rafi Fine, Kids React
• Tiffany Shlain, Sawyer Steele, and Arne Johnson, The Future Starts Here
• Stacey Crawford, Amanda Toye, and Gabe Michael, Technium
• Joe Hanson, It’s Okay to be Smart

In addition to being excited for Jo and proud of our little cocktail show, it's exciting to be have another Highway 9 show recognized by the IAWTV -- My first web series, The Further Adventures of Cupid & Eros was one of the inaugural nominees at the first awards.

The awards will be hosted by Roger Bart, and you can stream the show live on April 15th at 8pm PT via the IAWTV's website.

The Social Drinker: Weekly Reasons to Raise a Glass!

Back in January, Jo Bozarth approached me about doing a show that would blend our shared love of a good cocktail with what we feel is the best way to drink them -- with friends over great conversation.  What we ended up creating was The Social Drinker, a cocktail recipe show where fun facts about arts, history and culture are mixed with mixed drinks.

Whether you're cheering on your team, discussing your last book club book, or even just having a few folks over for brunch, each week Jo (who wrote and hosts) has got fun facts and trivia to spark conversation and recipes for what to toast with.

St. Patrick's Day seemed like a perfect way to start and you can watch the first episode below.

For more, you can check out new episodes every week at Youtube.com/thesocialdrinkertv and at thesocialdrinker.tv.

Cheers!

Highway 9 at New Media Expo 2014

2014 is here and January means a Vegas and New Media.

As with years past, Vegas is hosting 3 of the biggest New Media related events of the year, New Media Expo, the IAWTV Awards and CES.

And as with years past, I’ll be there flying the Highway 9 banner.

Sadly, I’ll have to miss out on the IAWTV Awards and CES this year, but I will be at NMX.  I’m on two panels this year alongside some really fantastic web content colleagues. 

First up, on Saturday Jan 3rd, is “Pitching You Web Series” moderated by Tim Street.

Tim, is one of the true pioneers of web-based storytelling , I first met him in Vegas during the inaugural IAWTV awards and he’s been kind enough to let me pick his brain about the space ever since.  His panels are always one of the highlights of any web TV conference I’ve been at, and I feel really honored that he asked me to be a part of this one.   Info on the panel is here.

Then, on Monday Jan 6th, I’ll be joining Highway 9 Collaborator Jared Hoy (DP on “Pro Tips For: Date Night” and fellow directors Sandra Payne and Collier Landry for a panel devoted to Directing for New Media.  The panel is moderated by Director Jenn Page who, as it happens was one of the creators I watched pitch at Tim’s panel during the first IAWTV Awards.  Details for that panel are here.

I’ll also be spending some time at the JTS.TV booth, promoting Cupid and Eros and The Ladies and Gents, both of which can be watched ad-free on JTS.  I’ve got C&E merch with me, including posters signed by the cast and season 1 DVDs.  Not sure how we’ll be giving them away, but I’ll come up with something.  I’ll be tweeting exact details on that once I have them.

In addition to the panels I’m a part of, there’s a ton of great stuff in the NMX Web TV Track this year.  Details on all of the web-based moving picture goodness can be found here.

Over at CupidandEros.com: Cast Interviews!

On the blog over at cupidanderos.com we’ve been running occasional interviews with the talented actors involved in the show. 

It’s been a really fun way to not only highlight the work they did on C&E, but talk about the other cool projects they’re involved with.  And, it helps drive home the idea that our tagline around here, “moving pictures by Avi Glijansky and friends,” isn’t just for show.  I see all of the people I collaborate with as being just as integral a part of Highway 9 as I am.

So far, we’ve spoken to Kiera Anderson (Cupid’s love interesting episodes 1-3), Bradford Anderson (Achilles), and of course, Cupid and Eros themselves, Josh Heine and Jo Bozarth.  We also spoke with Ashley Cozine who, while technically not a Highway 9 collaborator yet, was instrumental in helping to bring about C&E.  To find out why, you’ll just have to read the interview.

I hope you’ll take a read and I hope you enjoy.  And if there’s anyone else from C&E or any of the other Highway 9 projects you’d like to see an interview with, let me know.

• Interview with Josh Heine (Cupid)
• Interview with Jo Bozarth (Eros)
• Interview with Kiera Anderson (Josephine)
• Interview with Bradford Anderson (Achilles)

&

• Interview with Ashley Cozine (Actor/Producer)

Creators Watch Interview - "Is Love Different on the Web?"

On February 27th, Web Series Watch hosts, Cindy Marie Jenkins and Patty Jean Robinson welcomed myself, Josh, Jo and fellow web creators Darren Chadwick (The Bloody Mary Show), Otessa Ghadar (Orange Juice in Bishop's Garden) and Caryn C. Hayes (Breaking Point) to talk about telling love stories on the web.

Livestreamed and recorded via Google Hangout, the conversation was part of the CREATORS WATCH spin off series of Web Series Watch, a review show dedicated to helping viewers navigate the wild west of the web series world.  During the 46 minute show we talked about the freedom of the web, telling different kinds of love stories, bad 90's flannel, trained monkeys, and exploding queens.  It was awesome.  Check it out below.

New Media Expo Panel, IAWTV Awards and CES

It would seem that Vegas in early January is gearing up to become to New Media Creators what the Austin of March is for Indie Techies, Filmmakers and Musicians. Not unlike the triple threat of SXSW Interactive, Film, and Music (which by the way run from March 8th-17th this year), this month will see 3 separate but related events taking place around the Vegas strip - CES, the IAWTV Awards, and the New Media Expo.

First up is New Media Expo (formerly Blogworld) which will be held from Jan 6th-8th and will feature an entire track devoted to Web TV.  I'll be speaking at "Ready, Set, Shoot - A Beginner's Guide", a panel on taking your first steps into production for new media.  In addition, core Highway 9 collaborator (and my beautiful fiance') Jo Bozarth will be moderating "Acting Up! - Advice from Award Winning and Nominated Web Series Actors."  A full list of the Web TV Track (as well as the rest of the conference) can be found here.

Then, on the evening of Jan 8th, the Venetian Hotel will play host to the 2nd Annual IAWTV Awards.  As with last year, the IAWTV Awards will technically be part of the CES conference.  That said, the awards and the education track that goes with them (both organized and run by the International Academy of Web Television) shine a much more specific light on web series--the folks creating them, the shows that are out there, and the way the medium is growing.  Last year, "Cupid and Eros" was one of the inaugural nominees in the "Best Supplemental Content" category so I was lucky to have been able to attend as a nominee.  Sadly, this year no Highway 9 projects got nominations, but Jo and I will still be there to support our friends and fellow IAWTV members who are being honored.

And of course, the grandfather event of the month is CES, the Consumer Electronics Show.  CES, which runs from the 8th until the 11th, has been held in some form or another since 1967.  It's the largest trade show of it's kind in the world and one devoted to a lot of the technology that will help fuel the growth of content created specifically for new media.

Whether this trio of new media events continues to be held concurrently in future years remains to be seen.  But at least for now, I'm happy to be able to get a lot of bang for the buck in only one trip.

-avi