From Peru to Peru is a Webby nominated documentary short that tells the story of a bus load of Peruvians, from the country of Peru (this needed to be stated), show up in the city center of Peru, Nevada. Their mission is to expose these Peruvians of Nevada to the culture and lifestyle of Peruvians from the country of Peru. It’s a playful attempt to share their South American culture with all of us, this documentary’s audience.
The documentary starts by sharing food, then dance and, after, play. These “foreign” Peruvians even manage to convince the local Peru, Nevada sheriff from giving up his doughnuts for a taste traditional Peruvian pastry.
This is a heart warming film that celebrates culture, humanity and friendships. It’s about people being people, loving people. It’s gently funny with a full length smile throughout the entire film. Watch it. It will make you feel good. Click the image above and prepare for a warm tingly side effect. This gets a big fat full sized pumpkin.
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Tags: awards, danielle turner, documentary, drama, From Peru to Peru, indie films, indie web programs, new programs, new videos, original content, original programs, original web series, programs, reviews, the pumpkin press, velvet pumpkin, video reviews, watch tv, watch video, web shows, webby nomination
Online viewership is growing in leaps and bounds. And it’s not just streaming TV shows that are being watched. The web has become the perfect broadcaster for originally produced indie series – from info-shows to good old fashioned entertainment.
In fact, online original programming has risen so high on the internet that an award ceremony has been fashioned to celebrate the successes of this new venue for programming. It’s called the Streamy Awards. Better titles could have been chosen for this award, in my opinion, but it is getting tons of attention. It’s even being taken very seriously by Hollywood and it’s celebrities.
(click this image to see who won the 2010 Streamy awards)
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Bandwagon is a docu-comedy that follows a character called Emma Caulfield; a blond haired, blue eyed actress on a mission to make a difference in the world by producing a “Glee” like show for the black community. Actually, the character Emma Caulfield is a tangible person – one of the creators of this show, in fact. Is this as real a documentary as is the star of the show? I ask with tongue in cheek.
While this show has wicked characters and a cool plot line, it can be a bit cliche at times. Characters are predictable and sometimes a bit over the top in their personalities. However, with that said, it’s a blast to watch and down right funny! Bandwagon has some truly funny scenes and the actors are well cast, each performing their characters wonderfully – which could be because they are all possibly playing themselves like Caulfied. Who cares. It’s entertaining!
(click this image to watch this show)
I can’t give this series a full on pumpkin. But I have to say, I’d give it a pretty darn close one. It gets a half squashed pumpkin with a strong recommendation from me to go check it out!
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Tags: actress, bandwagon, comedy, danielle turner, Emma Caulfield, glee, hollywood, humour, indie web programs, indie web shows, new programs, new videos, original content, original programs, original web series, parody, programs, the pumpkin press, velvet pumpkin, video, video series, watch tv, watch video, web series, web shows, web tv, webisodes
The Specials is a British reality, soap-opera style show starring some of the most extraordinary young people just starting their adulthood as fellow roommates. What makes these young adults so special is that each of them has Down syndrome. The series follows these 5 roommates as they work together trying to figure out what it means to be on their own in the world.
I’ve cried and laughed while watching this heart warming story, filled with integrity and every emotion. I couldn’t help but fall madly in love with each of these stars of their series. I am addicted to this show. There isn’t an episode I haven’t enjoyed. It is very well produced. I’m surprised it hasn’t received an audience in the millions. I hope this blog helps spread the word about this show. It should go absolutely viral.
(click this image to watch this show)
This pumpkin does NOT get squashed at all. Fully in tact. WATCH THIS SHOW!
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Tags: british drama, british show, danielle turner, down syndrome, drama, humour, indie web programs, indie web shows, new programs, new videos, original content, original programs, original web series, programs, reality show, reviews, romance, soap opera, the pumpkin press, The Specials, velvet pumpkin, video reviews, video series, watch tv, watch video, web series, web shows, web tv, webisodes
Dog Files is a web series focusing on one subject: Dogs. It’s designed to be a compilation of short documentaries. Each episode is on a different topic. One episode shows how best to photograph your dog. Another episode focuses on the history of the pit bull breed of dog. And so on.
I’m on the fence about this show as full series. Aside from the opening credits, there isn’t a common energy or common look to the show, making me feel as though I’m not really watching a “series”. It just feels like a bunch of different short independently produced documentaries clumped together under one main title. However, with that said, there are still some very exciting episodes worth watching (in amongst some slow, not so exciting ones too – but you can just skip past those).
I loved the episode that focused on a wolf sanctuary and, surprisingly, I also enjoyed the episode that focused on the history of the pit bull. I could list all the other episodes that I enjoyed but I think you should poke around and find your own dog stories to relish.
(click this image to watch the show)
While I do recommend that you give this web series a try, I still have to give it a half squashed pumpkin. It does need some work on the uniformity as a series and, among some fun episodes, there really are some long, tedious ones too. But go check it out. Have fun!
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The Sessions Project is an interview between musical wonder will.i.am and filmmaker Norman Seeff. This is a production that is co-produced by the new Oprah network, OWN. We get to first see half the interview here in the net broken down into 4 parts (episodes), broadcasted on the L/Studio website. The full one hour interview will air later in the year, on OWN. This is a brilliant marriage between the internet and TV broadcasters. I love this idea. Bravo.
But back to the show… is it worth watching and waiting for the rest on OWN? It certainly is. Even if you aren’t a fan of will.i.am, you are highly entertained by a very well conducted interview. Seeff keeps the audience engaged by poking will.i.am with questions that just keep him talking and talking. will.i.am is a fascinating guy and I found his whole music making process quite interesting.
(click this image to watch the show)
This pumpkin is definitely not squashed! I hope there are others like this one coming down the pipeline!
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Tags: black eyed peas, danielle turner, indie web programs, indie web shows, L Studio, L/Studio, music, new programs, new videos, Norman Seeff, oprah winfrey, original content, original programs, original web series, OWN, pop music, programs, review, reviews, the pumpkin press, the sessions project, velvet pumpkin, video reviews, video series, watch tv, watch video, web series, web tv, webisodes, will.i.am
Pop!Tech Mashup is a series inspired by audio recordings from the POP!TECH conference. As of this blog post, it’s a short series with only 3 episodes right now. I hope more are to come. I enjoyed all three episodes thoroughly! Each subject matter was vastly different from the other. The animated visuals that went with each of the audio recordings were wonderfully engaging. It reminds me a bit of TED Talks. Only these episodes are much more visually entertaining than simply watching speaker stand on a stage giving their speech.
(click this image to watch the show)
You will not find any other show like this one. It’s intelligent and stimulating. It IS a must see!
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Tags: animation, danielle turner, documentary, found, indie web programs, indie web shows, moons, new videos, non-fiction, notes, original content, original programs, original web series, POP!TECH conference, programs, reviews, saturn, space, the pumpkin press, video, video reviews, video series, watch tv, watch video, web series, web shows, web tv
$5 Cover: Seattle is an MTV production being broadcast online. This series showcases local Seattle musicians in a docu-drama like setting. I can’t quite figure out if the lines are scripted or if it’s all improvised as it happens. Perhaps, it’s a bit of both. The storyline is thin but the music is kick ass good!
Each episode covers a new artist and then sometimes goes back to a previously showcased artist. Personally, I think the show would have done better to have picked one band and followed it through a summer tour. We would have gotten a better chance to know the musicians and their music.
(click the image to go to this show)
This show gets a half squashed pumpkin for the lack of storyline and structure but it is still worth checking out for the amazing music.
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Tags: $5, $5 cover, 5 dollar, band, drama, grunge, guitar, indie films, indie web programs, indie web shows, mtv, music, musical, new programs, original content, original programs, original web series, programs, reviews, Rock, seattle, seattle music, the pumpkin press, video, video reviews, video series, watch tv, watch video, web series, web shows, web tv, webisodes
