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Artificial intelligence (AI) is here to stay, but its potential use in Hollywood movies has sparked some real fears that many jobs could be lost. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are even considering requiring films to disclose any use of AI for next year’s Oscar ceremony. Well, Staircase Studios AI has released the first five minutes of The Woman With Red Hair, an AI-driven movie that the newly launched studio hopes will be the first of many.

Staircase Studios AI was launched by Pouya Shahbazian, a producer on the Divergent franchise. Using its own proprietary AI workflow, known as ForwardMotion, the studio claims it will be able to create “near-studio-quality” movies for under $500,000. The studio plans to produce close to 30 low-budget movies over the next three to four years. “After packaging and selling 150 projects into the studio system over the past 15 years, I’ve borne witness...

“Divergent” franchise producer Pouya Shahbazian has revealed the investors and the first productions planned for his recently-founded Staircase Studios AI, a film, television, and gaming studio centered on an AI workflow. The venture aims to produce more than 30 projects in the next 3-4 years at budgets under $500,000.

The key members of the team include partner and lead investor Kenneth Lerer, who co-founded The Huffington Post and is managing director emeritus of the venture capital firm Lerer Hippeau. Additional investors are Aryeh Bourkoff, CEO of Liontree; Robert Pittman; Tad Haley of Rafiki Ventures; and venture capital firm Red Sea Ventures.

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (“Transformers”) is an advisor to Staircase Studios.

“After packaging and selling 150 projects into the studio system over the past 15 years, I’ve borne witness to far too much inefficiency to continue the status quo,” said Shahbazian, Staircase’s CEO. “The past year, I’ve dedicated myself to...

Staircase Studios AI, a new maker of films, TV series and video games, is promising to deliver “near-major-studio” levels of quality at budgets under $500,000.

The new company was founded by Pouya Shahbazian, producer of the Divergent franchise. With input from Brett Stuart, Head of AI Filmmaking, Staircase has built a proprietary AI workflow called ForwardMotion, which the company says “revolutionizes the process of studio filmmaking.”

The studio says it will aim to produce more than 30 projects in the next three to four years, with photorealistic results. (Take a look at the first film in the video above and read on to see more film and TV titles on the company’s launch slate.)

“Near-major-studio-quality releases” will be the goal, a press release from Staircase said, at budgets under $500,000.

Joining the company as a partner and working as the lead investor in the venture is Kenneth Lerer, who co-founded The Huffington Post...

Technologists Todd Terrazas, Max Einhorn, Mike Gioia and Ian Eck have posed a challenge to nine up-and-coming filmmakers: create short films using generative AI in only 48 hours. The Cinema Synthetica filmmaking competition is the first of its kind, founded in hopes of demonstrating the potential of AI tools to influence the future of filmmaking.

The completion is part of the AI on the Lot conference, a one-day summit to be held next week in downtown Los Angeles where Hollywood creatives can collaborate with those at the forefront of artificial intelligence. The nine Cinema Synthetica participants were carefully selected for the challenge and then divided into teams of three. After two full days of work, the films will be presented at AI on the Lot on May 16 to a panel of judges that will include such industry insiders as Einhorn, Jeff Clanagan, Kathleen McCaffrey, Momo Wang, Rachel Joy Victor and Jackee Chang.

Exclusive: Kate Rorick, the Emmy winner who currently serves as executive producer and showrunner of the IMDb TV series Leverage: Redemption, has signed with APA for representation.

Rorick is a TV writer, producer and novelist who has also worked on series including Hulu’s Ghost Rider, TNT’s The Librarians, and Freeform’s Cloak & Dagger. She won her Emmy in 2015 for co-executive producing Emma Approved, the winner of Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media – Original Interactive Program. She also served as a consulting producer on popular web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, and co-wrote the novels based on it with Bernie Su.

Rorick is also a bestselling author whose 2020 novel, Little Wonders, offers a glimpse into the high pressures of modern motherhood. She has penned two additional historical romance series under the nom de plume, Kate Noble.

Rorick continues to be represented by Brillstein Entertainment Partners, Jackoway Tyerman, and Jane Rotrosen Agency for publishing.

Bernie Su, the creator of several Emmy Award-winning interactive web series, is partnering with new video game broadcast network Venn to create gamified television programming. Su gained notoriety in 2012 for his video adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice,” called “The Lizzie Bennett Diaries,” which reimagined Jane Austen’s classic love story in the 21st century in the form of fictional social media posts and vlogs, usually filmed from Lizzie’s bedroom. Every ten episodes or so, Su would open the video up to the viewers, with Lizzie (played by Ashley Clements) answering live questions from the audience. The effort won Su the Emmy Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media, and two Streamy Awards. “If anything, I’ve found that my career has generally been more interesting in the interactive spaces,” Su told TheWrap. “I’ve done TV development, which is great, but I think the intrigue comes more when...

Co-created by writer and producer Bernie Su and author Evan Mandery, Artificial made history by winning Twitch its first Emmy. The first scripted series for the live video streaming platform also earned a Peabody Award. With all of its accolades and two seasons under its belt, a third season was underway for the groundbreaking interactive series where viewers drive the story. That said, Su was more than ready for the new season.

“We were already in discussions about it before the pandemic with Twitch and then the pandemic happened,” Su told Deadline. “Then I was asked the question ‘Can you do this as a remote production?'”

After a beat, he answered his own question: “I, of course, said yes.”

The third season of Artificial will be appropriately titled Remote Intelligence. Produced remotely, the 12 livestreamed two-hour episodes will debut May 21 at 6pm Pt/9pm Et on Twitch — and it ups the ante on all fronts.

In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix released the official trailer for Steve Carell’s new comedy series, “Space Force,” and Variety obtained an exclusive first look at Season 3 of Twitch’s interactive sci-fi series “Artificial.”

Dates

Comedy Central has announced Esther Povitsky’s debut standup special, “Hot For My Name,” is premiering on June 5 at 10 p.m. In it, Povitsky goes home to Skokie, Ill. to understand why her unique relationship with her parents motivated her to become a comedian. Documentary footage is intercut with Povitsky’s stand-up, giving audiences a look into her origin story. The special also includes cameos by Christine Taylor, Andrew Friedman and Priscilla Barnes.

First Looks

Netflix has released the trailer for “Space Force.” The series centers around decorated pilot and four-star general Mark R. Naird, who has dreamed of running the Air Force, but instead finds himself tasked with leading the newly formed Space Force.

The Emmy and Peabody Award-winning Artificial is coming back for a third season on Twitch. The new season of the sci-fi series will be dubbed Artificial: Remote Intelligence which, like the title suggests, is a remote production, fitting in with the current global landscape. The new season will include 12 two-hour episodes that will premiere May 21 at 6pm Pt/9pm Et on the video streaming platform.

From writer/producer Bernie Su and author Evan Mandery, the third season of Artificial will continue to push the creative envelope, adding the challenge of remote production to new capabilities for live audience interaction. Artificial: Remote Intelligence will follow a brand new artificial intelligence being guided by an idealistic young scientist named Elle on a live-streamed journey to become human. World-building episodes will be interspersed into the unfolding drama to involve the community in production as well as storytelling decisions.

“Artificial delivers an immersive, interactive...

Kayti Burt Feb 26, 2020

With Emma and Sanditon making waves (seaside resort pun!), we're listing up the best screen adaptations of Jane Austen's work.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that every Jane Austen novel must be adapted an infinite amount of times and we will be grateful for all of them.

There have been a lot of adaptations of Jane Austen's six major novels and some of her other works, including the recently-released Emma starring Anya Taylor-Joy. These are the ones we recommend watching.

Best Pride and Prejudice Adaptations

Easily the most adapted of Jane Austen's works, Pride and Prejudice is a foundational work in the broader romantic comedy genre and in so much of our mainstream storytelling. People tend to have opinions about which of the P&p adaptations are the best. (Who is the best Elizabeth? Who is the best Darcy? Which is the most faithful? Does it matter?...

Ahead of the Primetime telecast on Sunday, September 22, winners for the 2019 Creative Arts Emmys were announced at two ceremonies on Saturday, September 14 and Sunday, September 15 in Downtown Los Angeles. (See a full list of Saturday’s winners here and a full list of Sunday’s winners here.) Over the last few months, Gold Derby has conducted video chats with 27 of the lucky victors, including Rachel Bloom (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”), RuPaul Charles (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”), Dan Reed (“Leaving Neverland” director) and Bradley Whitford (“The Handmaid’s Tale”).

See Creative Arts Emmys 2019 (Sunday): 13 exclusive red carpet interviews with Natasha Lyonne, Michael McKean, Carice van Houten… [Watch]

Click on any name below to be taken to their full interview.

Hisham Abed – Best Directing (Reality), “Queer Eye”

Marco Beltrami – Best Score (Documentary), “Free Solo”

Rachel Bloom – Best Music and Lyrics, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”

Nicholas Britell – Best Main Title Theme, “Succession”

RuPaul Charles – Best Reality Host,...

Netflix is taking the early lead at this year’s Emmys race, with six wins, thanks to the Television Academy’s juried award winners for animation, choreography, interactive programming and motion design, which were announced on Friday.

The outstanding individual achievement in animation category, a “juried” prize that means several, one or no winners could be named, wound up with eight honorees this year: Five from Netflix and three from YouTube.

Also landing its first-ever Emmy was Twitch, the live streaming platform popular in the gaming community and owned by Amazon. Twitch landed an Emmy for outstanding innovation in interactive media, for “Artificial.”

The CW, which is often snubbed by the Academy in general nominations, is the first linear network out the gate with an Emmy: “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” won the first-ever juried prize for outstanding choreography for scripted programming. Choreographer Kathryn Burns won the award, making it her second Emmy.

The Television Academy announced today the juried award winners for the 71st annual Emmy Awards in categories from Animation, Choreography, Interactive Programming, and Motion Design. Winners will be anointed at the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremonies on Saturday, September 14, and Sunday, September 15 in at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

Netflix, which this year had 117 Emmy nominations altogether, won big among the juried awards, with Tim Miller’s animated series “Love, Death & Robots,” “Carmen Sandiego” and comedy talk show “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj” all taking home major prizes.

YouTube also shared in the bounty in the Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation category for the Google Spotlight Story “Age of Sail,” co-produced by Boathouse Studios, which is an immersive animated short directed by Oscar-winning animator John Kahrs. The Twitch platform received its first Emmy, for Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Media for Artificial.

The 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards presentation, executive-produced by Bob Bain,...

Lizzie Bennet Diaries creator Bernie Su has won Twitch its first Emmy.

His series, Artificial, which is in its second season and airs by streaming new episodes live each week on Twitch, nabbed the juried 2019 award for ‘Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Media,’ the Television Academy announced today. Su’s show, produced by his studio 96 Next, is the livestreaming platform’s first winning program.

Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.

The TV Academy unveiled the winners of its juried awards on Friday, with “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj” and “Love, Death & Robots” among the winners.

The awards — which cover categories from animation, choreography, interactive programming and motion design — will be presented across the two nights of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremonies next month.

The Emmys’ juried categories are evaluated separately from the rest of the awards, and require all entrants to be screened by a panel of professionals in the appropriate peer group. There are no nominees, and any given juried category may result in one, zero or multiple winners.

Also Read: Here's Why James Corden Is King of the Emmys This Year

The 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards presentation, executive produced by Bob Bain, will be held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Saturday, Sept. 14 and Sunday, Sept. 15. An edited broadcast will air Saturday,...

The Television Academy has unveiled the juried award winners for the 71st Emmy Awards in Animation, Choreography, Interactive Programming and Motion Design categories. Read the full list below.

There are seven first-time winners and one second-time winner in Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation from programs across two platforms, YouTube and Netflix. Kathryn Burns lands her second Emmy and the first awarded in the new juried category Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming. The Twitch platform received its first Emmy for Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Media for Artificial. Netflix comedy commentary Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj won for Outstanding Motion Design.

Juried categories require all entrants to be screened by a panel of professionals in the appropriate peer group with the possibility of one, more than one or no entry being awarded an Emmy. Therefore, there are no nominees but instead a one-step evaluation and voting procedure. Deliberations include open discussions of...

Ashley Clements, the powerhouse actress who starred in Hank Green and Bernie Su’s Emmy- and Streamy-winning YouTube web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, has successfully funded a new creative project.

She and her team raised $31,560 on Kickstarter to produce 10-episode series A Tale Told by an Idiot. Pitched as “Shakespeare meets Silicon Valley,” the series is a modern retelling of Macbeth where the titular and main characters run an indie virtual reality game company.

Clements is the series’ co-creator, writer, producer, and lead actress. She’ll play Beth, the modernized Lady Macbeth — who, as in the original play, may be the story’s real star after all…

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“We try to build the audience into our show as much as we can,” says “Artificial” creator Bernie Su, “meaning that the audience gets to decide and sway a lot of plot deviations in the story.” Watch our exclusive video interview with Su above.

See Emmys 2019 slugfest: We debate the top limited series and TV movie races [Watch]

“Artificial,” which Su co-created with Evan Mandery, is a scripted and interactive science-fiction series about an A.I. (Tiffany Chu) learning how to be human. Because it is presented live, audiences get to directly influence the story through comments and polls, to often surprising results. It is the first original program on Twitch, which is primarily a gaming platform.

“It’s all participatory narrative,” explains Su. “We like to call this the collective narrative experience.” An at times the audience polls can have “longstanding consequences to the show.” For instance, in a scene where the A.

Exclusive: As people of color and marginalized continue to work to move the needle when it comes to equity and inclusion in Hollywood, the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (Cape) is doing its part for the culture with the eighth annual Cape New Writers Fellowship. Today Cape announced the emerging writers for the professional development program and unveiled some of the top industry players who will serve as mentors and speakers for the fellowship co-founded and co-chaired by Steve Tao and Leo Chu.

As the landscape of authentic representation in film and TV continues to move forward, the industry is realizing that audiences crave diversity and inclusion — and it starts on the page. Graduates of the Fellowship have been staffed on every major broadcast network, premium cable channel, and streaming platform. This year, Cape plans to continue to diversify...

“This is definitely the era of the producer,” declared Caroline Christopher, Head of Development at Oath Studios, during a panel at Stareable Fest 2018.

In doing so, she aptly summarized several pieces of recent news, from FX Chief John Landgraf acknowledging that peak TV has yet to peak as we enter a “gilded age of television,” to At&T’s new mandate for HBO to dramatically increase its programming slate, which itself came on the heels of Netflix’s hiring spree of TV mega-producers like Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy, and networks cultivating digital-first creators like Insecure’s Issa Rae and Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer. Perhaps the only thing that is clear about the state of the television industry is that change is coming to how Hollywood creates content.

As part of our goal to help talented digital creators get the audience and recognition they deserve, Stareable recently held its inaugural festival,...

We’re not going to bother trying to play it cool: This week’s series is downright awesome. Artificial is notable, yes, because it's helmed by Emmy winner Bernie Su (The Lizzie Bennet Diaries) and co-created by prolific author Evan Mandery, but it's extremely notable because it's the first ever show to air on Twitch where the viewing audience can interact directly with characters in real time, as the show is on.

Here's how it works: Episodes air live, with actors in front of the camera in real time, acting and reacting to audience input. Input usually comes in the form of questions and polls, where viewers can mold the outcome of the show by voting. Outcomes of the polls sometimes have relatively small impacts on Artificial’s direction — for instance, in the most recent episode, the main character, artificial intelligence Sophie (Tiffany Chu), asks viewers to help her choose a favorite color.

In July, Stareable will celebrate a community of self-starting digital video creators through what it hopes will be a busy gathering. The media company, which offers a host of indie web series and discussion forums on its platform, is gearing up for Stareable Fest, a three-day event that will take place at New York City's Town Stages from July 20-22.

To entice creators, executives, and other online video industry people to pony up for one of Stareable Fest's $50 passes, Stareable is filling its event with panels, screenings, speeches, networking opportunities, and, like any other web festival, an official competition. Noted showrunner Bernie Su will deliver a keynote address on the festival's first night, and representatives from Patreon, Seed & Spark, Oath, Vice Media, and PBS will be among the weekend's featured panelists.

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In the burgeoning world of festivals that honor achievements in web series and video, the Vancouver Web Fest has emerged as one of the leading destinations for quality web content. Now in its fourth year, the Vancouver-based festival takes place in a city often hailed as the “Hollywood of Canada,” and a popular production destination for film, television, and now web series. The festival will take place March 17-19, 2017, with public screenings, panels from leading industry professionals, and “speed-dating” pitch sessions between creators and developers.

Read More: Dracula-Based Web Series ‘Mina Murray’s Journal’: ‘Doctor Who’ Writer Re-Vamps Vampire Classic

“Vancouver Web Fest creates an experience that brings people together to discover extraordinary digital series and web content from around the world,” writes Executive Director and Founder Suzette Laqua. “It fosters a welcoming environment that encourages exploration into new formats of storytelling.”

Previous panelists have included New Form Digital...

Canadian entertainment company Entertainment One (eOne) has announced today an equity investment in Canvas Media Studios (Cms), the digital startup founded by the Emmy-winning Lizzie Bennet Diaries creator Bernie Su and noted media veteran David Tochterman.

While eOne is an indie studio that acquires, distributes, and produces content, Cms is behind the upcoming MTV crime thriller Socio, about a social media-obsessed teen who investigates a serial killer. The digital-first studio also recently inked a development deal with the actress Jennette McCurdy, and produced the Emmy-nominated Vanity series for StyleHaul.

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Entertainment One (eOne) announced Thursday that it has made an equity investment in Canvas Media Studios, the digital-first media company founded by Emmy-Award winning creator Bernie Su and media executive David Tochterman. Through this investment, Canvas will expand its distribution, production and financing of scripted content for digital and traditional media, as well as emerging VOD and Ott platforms. Canvas Media Studios will work closely with eOne Television on a first-look basis for production and distribution to bring its content to worldwide audiences across all media. eOne joins Allen DeBevoise’s Third Wave Digital and Mnm Creative as investors in Canvas Media.

Digital production company Canvas Media Studios has a new backer joining Allen DeBevoise's Third Wave Digital and Mnm Creative: Toronto-based Entertainment One (eOne) says today that it has bought equity in the operation founded by Bernie Su and David Tochterman. The companies didn’t disclose the size of the investment. But Canvas says it will use the cash to distribute, produce and finance “premium scripted content for digital and traditional media, as well as emerging…...

The Oval Office is known for its round shape, so what better way to shoot it than in 360 degrees? That’s the idea behind The Mobile Oval, a new series written and directed by Canvas Media Studios co-founder Bernie Su and produced by Canvas and The Young Turks.

The Mobile Oval was filmed on the newly-built Oval Office set at YouTube Space La, which is equipped to support 360-degree videos. In the case of The Mobile Oval, however, YouTube’s set isn’t standing in for the presidential workspace itself, but for a mobile replica that can travel across the country for President Bill Clinton. The show, led by a cast of young leads, shows the West Wing-esque squabbles of the Mobile Oval’s staffers as they debate the last two decades of American politics.

The first two episodes of The Mobile Oval have been posted to The Young Turks’ YouTube channel.

Bernie Su and David Tochterman’s Canvas Media Studios and Judy McGrath’s Astronauts Wanted plan to tell the story of a social media-obsessed teen who investigates a serial killer. Now, MTV has joined that mission. As first shared by The Hollywood Reporter, the music television network has signed on the co-develop the crime thriller Socio.

We first heard about Socio back in February, when its pilot had already been shot and Astronauts Wanted and Canvas were on the hunt for a distributor. The two production companies have since settled on MTV. Its unclear where the Viacom-owned network, which maintains an expansive digital presence to go along with its popular TV channel, will distribute Socio, nor has the project’s release date been revealed. No matter the ultimate details, Socio will serve as a reunion for McGrath and her former colleagues. Before launching Astronauts Wanted in 2014, she worked at MTV Networks,...

A company known for producing shows that span multiple social media platforms is teaming up with a leading lady who has a big social presence of her own. Canvas Media Studios, founded in 2014 by Bernie Su and David Tochterman, has signed a development deal with actress Jennette McCurdy, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The deal will include multiple scripted projects, all of which will tie in the sort of “transmedia” integrations that have defined Su’s work over the past few years. McCurdy is a sensible partner for Canvas’ brand of content; she has shown her digital media prowess since iCarly’s 2012 end, particularly through a series called What’s Next For Sarah in which she poked fun at her teen sitcom career. She also has a lot of fans on social media; one would think that many of her 6.3 million Twitter followers will happily engage with Canvas’ interactive programming.

A little more than a year after its launch, Canvas Media Studios has raised a major funding round. The production company founded by Bernie Su and David Tochterman has announced a “significant” investment from Third Wave Capital and Mnm Partners.

The fresh funding round allows Canvas to link up with Machinima founder Allen Debevoise, who serves as the Managing Partner of Third Wave. Debevoise, who has previously investment in digital video companies like DanceOn, MiTu, and Tubular Labs, now has his on Canvas and its social media-spanning projects. “Canvas Media Studios, with its unique blend of business and creativity, is well positioned to take advantage of the changing media marketplace,” he said in a press release. “Bernie and David are a great team with a long and successful track record and a very clear vision for the future.”

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With his team at Pemberley Digital, Bernie Su adapted several works of literature into web series led by teenage and young adult stars. Now, with his new production company, he will have a chance to add to that library. Canvas Media Studios, founded last year by Su and David Tochterman, has inked a deal with New Leaf Literary & Media through which it will adapt four young adult (Ya) novels into digital series.

According to Variety, which first reported the agreement between Canvas and New Leaf, the four titles included in the deal are Cora Carmack’s “Losing It” series, which follows a college student trying to lose her virginity; Mindee Arnett’s “The Nightmare Affair,” a sci-fi boarding school story; Kelly Fiore’s “Thicker Than Water,” in which a high-school student begins selling drugs; and April Genevieve Tucholke’s “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” and “Between the Spark and the Burn,...

A pair of digital studios are teaming up for a new web series. Astronauts Wanted, the production company founded by former MTV exec Judy McGrath, will team up with Bernie Su and David Tochterman’s Canvas Media Studios for Socio, an upcoming crime thriller.

Socio will star actress India Eisley as a social media-obsessed teenager who teams up with a detective to hunt down a serial killer. Su described Eisley’s character to The Hollywood Reporter as “a teenage sociopath who operates on social media,” so viewers should expect a darker tone, especially when compared to previous Su projects like The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Emma Approved.

Both Astronauts Wanted and Canvas are known for productions that use social media as a storytelling device, so their collaborative effort will naturally feature a large number of transmedia integrations. Viewers will be able to follow the main characters on Twitter and interact with them across social sites,...

New Form Digital has turned to a book for inspiration for its next web series. The digital content studio, founded by filmmakers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer in conjunction with Discovery, has officially optioned the novel Being Audrey Hepburn for adaptation into a digital series.

Written by Mitchell Kriegman, Being Audrey Hepburn tells the story of an underprivileged teen girl named Lisbeth whose life changes after she tries on the little black dress Hepburn wore in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. New Form Digital plans to take the Being Audrey Hepburn book and turn it into a 12-part series, much in the way Bernie Su and Pemberley Digital have turned Jane Austen novels into Emmy-winning digital series. New Form’s adaptation of Kriegman’s debut novel will premiere sometime in 2016.

Being Audrey Hepburn seems like an appropriate candidate for adaptation. Emmy-winning Kriegman has a long history with storytelling in the media,...

At the Emmy Awards, Bernie Su’s digital adaptations of Jane Austen are two for two. Emma Approved, Su’s web series version of the novel Emma, has won an Emmy Award for Original Interactive Program.

The Original Interactive Program category celebrates series that successfully link together multiple platforms, and no one accomplishes that goal better than Su. His previous Austen adaptation, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, won an Emmy 2013 thanks to its own transmedia touches. For Emma Approved, Su and his team took interactivity to another level by linking together video, social media, images, text, and music in a manner that invited fans to engage with their favorite characters. It’s an approach that impressed us, and it comes as no surprise that the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences took a shine to it as well.

Emma Approved’s Emmy win was announced as part of a press release...

Denise Richards is back on the small screen – this time, playing a "notorious cougar."

Richards, 44, will guest-star in the Aug. 10 episode of the new comedy Significant Mother – and People has the exclusive first look.

Significant Mother tells the story of pals Nate Marlowe (Josh Zuckerman) and Jimmy Barnes (Nathaniel Buzolic, who CW fans should recognize as the deliciously devilish vampire/witch Kol Mikaelson from The Vampire Diaries and The Originals), whose friendship is tested after Jimmy sleeps with Josh's mom Lydia (Krista Allen).

Richards plays Pepper Spinner, described as Lydia's frenemy who goes out with Nate. If these photos are any indication,...

In May, Pemberly Digital founder Bernie Su and digital strategist David Tochterman announced Canvas Media Studios, a new venture devoted to branded content. Just a few days later, Su took the stage during StyleHaul’s Newfronts presentation to announce Canvas’ first project: Vanity, a web series branded by Maybelline. A month later, the first episode of Vanity has arrived on StyleHaul’s YouTube channel.

In Vanity, Alex Frnka stars as a college student who attempts to learn more about a famous designer (Denise Richards) by talking to her assistant (Karrueche Tran). Much of the series is told through flashbacks, and there’s plenty of drama to appeal to StyleHaul’s young, predominantly female audience. Of course, more than anything else, the women of Vanity are very well-dressed. We wouldn’t expect anything else from a fashion and beauty-oriented network.

When we first spoke to Su about Vanity, the Lizzie Bennet...

Bernie Su and Pemberley Digital’s The Lizzie Bennet Diaries will live on, but this time in another book. The story of hit web series, which garnered over 58 million views on its channel, will continue with an original book called The Epic Adventures of Lydia Bennet, based on Lizzie’s rambunctious youngest sibling.

The Epic Adventures of Lydia Bennet will pick up where Lizzie Bennet left off. Now that Lizzie and Jane are out of the house, Lydia (played by Mary Kate Wiles in the web series) must take charge of her own future after being humiliated online by her ex-boyfriend. The youngest Bennet sister has matured, is working to finish her college degree, and is learning how to become an adult by figuring out who she can (and can’t) trust.

The newest addition to the Lizzie Bennet franchise will be the first book to tell the Bennet family...

The biggest headline from StyleHaul’s presentation at the 2015 Newfronts concerned its partnership with Amazon, where several of its fashion, beauty, and style experts are offering product recommendations. At the same time, the network aimed at young women also discussed several other projects, including Vanity, the first series to be produced by Bernie Su and David Tochterman’s new digital studio, Canvas.

Su announced Vanity at Stylehaul’s presentation, just one day after he first lifted the curtain on Canvas. He described the series to Tubefilter as “a revenge drama set in the world of beauty and fashion. It centers around orphan Lily (Alex Frnka) as she tries to discover her identity while injecting herself into the world of designer Marion Bellerose (Denise Richards) and her fashion influencer and muse Vanessa Ivy (Karrueche Tran).” The supporting cast include a few other notables, including StyleHaul partner Allie Marie Evans and Joanna Sotomura,...

Bernie Su is applying his knowledge of the online video world to a brand new venture. The creator of popular web series such as The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Frankenstein, M.D., and Emma Approved has teamed up with former television executive for That ‘70s Show and president of management/consulting firm Versatility Media, David Tochterman to create Canvas Media Studios.

Canvas Media’s goal (as described in a press release) is to “develop original, scripted, and multi-platform entertainment properties for brands, publishers, and traditional media companies.” To maximize the impact of Canvas’ work for these brands, Su and Tochterman plan to utilize the power of social media integration, as well as a transmedia cross-platform storytelling method, which made Su’s past web series with Pemberley Digital studio so engaging to fans.

"Canvas is an entertainment studio that designs narratives for any and every 'canvas',” Su explained. “We're storytellers, whether we're telling an original,...

Two-and-a-half months after its August 19th debut, Frankenstein M.D. has arrived at its conclusion. The web series adaptation of Frankenstein's final episode has been released, and fans of the series will know what to expect. Frankenstein M.D. was born out of a partnership between Pemberley Digital (the studio behind hits like The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Emma Approved) and PBS Digital Studios, which distributed the series as its first ever scripted program. Across 24 episodes, viewers got to know Victoria Frankenstein, a gender-swapped version of Mary Shelley's infamous doctor. At the end of the series, Victoria looks to run away with her friend Eli, though her monster shows up to throw a wrench in that plan. As with all Pemberley Digital productions, Frankenstein, M.D. is accompanied by a wealth of transmedia elements. The most interesting tie-in to the final episode is an open letter from Victoria to her medical school classmates.

The Streamys have spoken! Of the winners, here are seven Web series you should be watching right now! Comedy: “My Drunk Kitchen”Using only a camera, a kitchen, and substantial amounts of alcohol, Hannah “Harto” Hart has dominated homemade comedy on YouTube. “My Drunk Kitchen” chronicles Hart’s attempts to cook and explain cooking while sipping beer, rosé, or themed cocktails. Her first video, “Butter Yo Shit,” has amassed over 3 million views since 2011. Part improvised comedy and part legitimate cooking show, the series previously earned Hart best female performance in a comedy. Drama & Actress in a Drama: Ashley Clements, “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries”Two centuries after “Pride and Prejudice” appeared in print, Hank Green and Bernie Su decided to give Jane Austen’s classic tale a makeover. “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries” is more than just a retelling of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy’s entangled courtship; it uses its source...

In 2013, Buffer Festival brought a YouTube-focused film festival north of the border. This year, Buffer Festival is back, and it is appealing to online video professionals with an "Industry Day" that will precede three days of screenings and meetups. The Industry Day, which was launched in partnership with the Canadian Film Centre, will go down on October 16th and will resemble the similarly-named event that occurs during the first day of Vidcon. YouTubers, multi-channel network executives, and digital businesspeople will take the stage at the Hyatt Regency Toronto and will share their thoughts on relevant topics. Presenters will include top Canadian YouTubers like Harley Morenstein of Epic Meal Time and Mitchell Moffit of ASAPScience. Some American creators--such as ShayCarl, Craig Benzine, and Frankenstein, M.D. creator Bernie Su--will also speak. “We were beyond delighted with the success of Buffer Festival last year, with the participation of dozens of YouTube creators and thousands of attendees,...

PBS Digital Studios, in partnership with Pemberley Digital, just released its first-ever series based on a story that’s nearly 200 years old. Frankenstein, MD, a modern, online video adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic novel came alive on August 19, 2014. Created by the same team who gave us The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Emma Approved (which includes Hank Green of Vlogbrothers fame and Bernie Su), the transmedia web series introduces viewers to Victoria Frankenstein, a highly-driven woman dedicated to proving herself in the male-dominated fields of math and science. And much like in Frankenstein MD’s spiritual predecessors, fans will be able to follow Victoria’s experiments in the lab not just through video, but on her blog, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram. New episodes will be released every Tuesday and Friday at 9 a.m. Pt on PBS’ YouTube channel, while extras can be found over on Pemberley Digital’s channel.

The team that created The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Emma Approved is close to releasing its latest web series adaptation of classic literature. Pemberley Digital's Frankenstein, M.D., which will bring Mary Shelley's most famous work to YouTube, will debut on August 19th through PBS Digital Studios. Frankenstein, M.D. will bring Frankenstein to the modern age by reimagining its titular doctor as a Ph.D. student named Victoria. Dr. Frankenstein's gender seems to be a calculated choice, since the majority of Pemberley Digital's fans are women. A press release regarding the series claims Victoria is "determined to prove herself in the male-dominated fields of science and medicine." Actress Anna Lore will portray Victoria, and she will be joined in the cast by SourceFed host Steve Zaragoza, who will play Igor analoge Iggy DeLacey. It's Ok To Be Smart host Joe Hanson is involved in the series as...

16 months after the final episode of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, creator Bernie Su has adapted his literary web series into a book. Su and collaborator Kate Rorick have authored The Secret Diary Of Lizzie Bennet, a novel based off of Pemberley Digital's YouTube adaptation of Pride And Prejudice. The Secret Diary Of Lizzie Bennet was first announced in January, when it was given a July 1st release date. Instead, it arrived a week before that date, hitting shelves just in time for VidCon. To promote the release, the Lizzie Bennet team returned to the web series' main channel for a pair of bonus vlogs starring lead actress Ashley Clements. The goal of The Secret Diary is to appeal to both diehard Lizzie Bennet fans and newcomers who have not yet fallen in love with the clever Austen adaptation. The novel satisfies the latter group by retelling many major plot points from the web series,...

The “Lizzie Bennet Diaries” is set to be released on iTunes after being acquired by Starz Digital Media. The “Pride and Prejudice”-inspired Web series, which was created by Bernie Su and Hank Green, will also be available—along with bonus material—on Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, Xbox Video, Nook, CinemaNow, and Vudu starting June 23. Aftter beginning life as a Web Seires, “Diaries” subsequently became a book. It’s acquisition by Starz is a testament to the reach of content created by producers working outside the mainstream of the entertainment industry. “Starz Digital Media is excited to offer ‘The Lizzie Bennet Diaries’ as part of its continuing efforts to identify and create an ‘indie TV’ marketplace for fans in the digital space,” stated David Katz, VP, Digital, who leads digital original content acquisition and production for Starz Digital Media. “Fans can now own the series that they helped make into a tremendous success.

PBS Digital Studios just delivered its first ever presentation at Digital Content Newfronts, and the network's biggest news involves its first ever scripted series. PBS' online video arm has teamed up with Bernie Su and Hank Green's Pemberley Digital for Frankenstein, M.D., a modern day adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Frankenstein, M.D. will be Pemberley Digital's fourth adaptation of a classic work of literature. The studio first put itself on the map with The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a critically-acclaimed vlog version of Pride and Prejudice that struck a chord with a large fan base of (mostly) young women. From there, Pemberley adapted two more Jane Austen works through Welcome to Sanditon and Emma Approved. “We're eager to take the format that we’ve cultivated with our previous multiplatform series into a new genre with a darker tone," said Su. One of Pemberley's hallmarks is it expansive...

For the third time in five weeks, the series featured in our Indie Spotlight adapts a classic work of fiction. This time, the target is Romeo and Juliet, and the modern twists are a vlog format and a fratty college setting. That's the one-line description of Jules and Monty, which has now completed seven episodes. The words "vlog retelling of..." will instantly make any seasoned online video fan think of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Bernie Su's award-winning adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. In the comment section of the first episode, the Jules and Monty creative team admitted the influence of Lizzie Bennet. Jules and Monty has a few things going for it, though, that make it more than just a Lizzie Bennet clone. For starters, it eschews Lizzie Bennet's Vlogbrothers-inspired editing in favor of a less jumpy, 'shakier' style. It is also mixed in the original text more liberally.

Last August, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries won an Interactive Emmy Award, adding shiny gold feathers to the caps of creator Bernie Su and transmedia director Jay Bushman. Lizzie Bennet was able to win its Emmy because of its impressive transmedia presence, which includes 35 different Twitter feeds for individual characters and a handful of spin-off vlog channels. During a panel at SXSW, Su and Bushman discussed the transmedia elements of their new series, Emma Approved, which takes social storytelling to a level beyond Lizzie Bennet. The Basics At their most basic, the transmedia elements attached to Emma Approved are similar to those of Lizzie Bennet. The main focus is still YouTube, where 35 videos have been released across two channels. Once each episode ends, the series' devoted fans take to social media platforms like Twitter, where each character posts thoughts from his or her point of view. Main character Emma Woodhouse currently has more than 16,600 followers.

It has been almost a year since The Lizzie Bennet Diaries released its final installment, but interest in the vlog-style retelling of Pride and Prejudice is still high. In order to appease the series' vociferous fans, Lbd creator Bernie Su has teamed up with writer Kate Rorick and publisher Touchstone for The Secret Diary Of Lizzie Bennet, a companion novel to the Emmy-winning web series. The Secret Diary will be released on July 1st, 2014, and will feature a journal-style format similar to that of the web series it accompanies. Su and Rorick (who served as a consulting producer on Lbd) will use the book as a canvas for revealing more information about Lizzie Bennet and her family. "The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet provides more character introspection as only a book can," explains the book's publisher, "with revelatory details about the Bennet household, including Lizzie’s special relationship with her father,...