Tuned in at Digital Hollywood – The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries team screens and talks about the show. Left to right: The moderator and panelists: Jay Bushman, Margaret Dunlap, and Ashley Clements.

On May 1 the Lizzie Bennet Diaries team of Jay Bushman, Margaret Dunlap, and Ashley Clements spoke on the panel Screening Series: TV and Web Series – Musicals and Millennials at LA’s Digital Hollywood Content Summit.

After a screening of episode 78 – The Pemberley Digital Arc, they explained the transmedia production process used to highlight character subtext with sites such as Instagram and Twitter. Next they described the impact of the huge positive response to the series, even showing off a few pieces of fan art.

Ashley Clements, who played the title character, noted the amazing success of the LBD DVD project on Kickstarter which launched at the end of March shortly after the show ended. With more than a 700% reach beyond the original goal amount of $60K, she described the sentiment behind that effort as a strong show of support and also some fans’ way of ensuring that her cat would continue to be well fed.

The trio also addressed a few behind the scenes questions about the show and a pressing question about pressure from fans eager to see William Darcy.

Q: Why such a long wait for Darcy to make a physical appearance in the show?

A: The quality of storytelling comes first. ”We listen to the audience but ultimately we control the outcome of the show,” said transmedia producer and writer Jay Bushman. Co-executive producer and writer Margaret Dunlap said, ”Darcy didn’t appear until episode 60.” “We saw his torso in episode 59,” said Ashley Clements. Margaret Dunlap agreed and added “We knew [the audience] would forgive us for not giving them Darcy sooner but not for not telling a good story to get there.”

While Ashley is prepping for her next closeup, next up for the producers: Welcome to Sandition… make that Welcome to Sanditon, coming very soon!

Checkin’ out Digital Hollywood this week!

I’m heading to Hollywood from April 29 – May 2. The Digital Hollywood Tech and Brand Ad conference that is.

Thanks to the lovely folks at TechJobs LA I was able to snag an all-access pass to this jam-packed extravaganza.

Source: dhcontentsummit.com/

I’m looking forward to seeing sessions in at least 5 different tracks. The toughest part will be choosing which ones to attend. By this time tomorrow I should have it all worked out and I can’t wait to share. Stay tuned for the exciting conference recaps and photos throughout the conference. In the meantime you can follow the fun here:

DH Content Summit website

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I’m growing a tree + mini-review: The Life of Pi

The last picture I posted on my blog showed that I’m attempting to grow some things currently skewered and suspended by toothpicks in two glasses– which I hope will sprout any day now. If you guessed they were acorns well, no. They’re not acorns. If you guessed avocados then you’re right! I’m growing an avocado tree and I hear that it could take a few years.

I don’t see any difference from those photos to now but I’ll keep an eye out for a root or a shoot sneaking out of one of the pits. Have you ever tried to grow a tree? Did you ever end up with seeds that turned out to be duds? Time will tell how these turn out. Now, time for a mini book review.

Mini-review: The Life of Pi

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’ll try to keep this spoiler free of specific story details, but you may be slightly spoiled on plot devices used in the storyline. If you’re okay with that please continue.

I was in junior high when I first read the oh-so-memorable short story “The Lady or the Tiger.” I’ve since read and seen enough plots to recognize the familiar tailspin into ambiguity leading to the somewhat disappointing “This was all a hallucination/dream. Or WAS IT? dun dun dun…” that makes you roll your eyes.

I liked that “Life of Pi” was entertaining in the sense that enough was going on to keep me turning pages steadily for most of the book, although the story was a bit sad. Some of the conflicts even produced a visceral reaction which kept me up at nights reading for longer than intended so that I could finish the chapter.

What I didn’t like was at some point I realized that the reason I enjoyed this book as much as I did was because it felt like a mash-up of other stories I enjoyed. I was reminded of parts of the movie “Titanic”, the last episode of the tv show “Mash” (where Hawkeye yelled at the woman on the bus), the movie “The Sixth Sense” and “Robinson Crusoe”– the last one most likely because I haven’t seen “Cast Away”.

Overall I would recommend it for a reader who doesn’t get easily put off when reading about wild animal predation or descriptions of carrion in various states of decay. And lots of poop. Hey, when you’ve got a tiger in a small boat what else would you expect?

All that’s left for me to do now is to watch the movie but if it’s true to the book I’m not sure my stomach can handle it.

View all my reviews

Happy Resurrection Day!

Love to all who celebrate this wonderful day!

Speaking of new life I’ve started a new life experiment of my own as of March 27.

Trying to start life from these two seeds.

Those seeds are huge! Can you guess what it is I’m growing?

LA Marathon: People watching on St. Patty’s Day

Hydration station. Oranges are a refreshing source of energy especially after running 20km.

Throughout all four layers of clothing I donned this morning to take to the streets of Hollywood I wore nothing green. Sleep-deprived and still rising at 4:30AM made me care as much as a honey badger about reducing the possibility of getting pinched for not wearing the customary color on St. Patrick’s Day.

After a hot breakfast I made my way to the LA Marathon route’s  20 km/ mile 12 marker to greet my team of friendly fellow volunteers and set to up a hydration station. Due to the recent time change it was still dark when I arrived. I wasn’t too thrilled about having to walk an unknown distance from ‘fend for yourself’ parking back to the station. Hollywood has limited non-metered/ unrestricted street parking for non-Hollywood residents. I found a spot only a couple blocks over and appreciated that I got to experience watching the sun come up over Sunset Blvd.

It was beautiful. The picture I managed to take with my old phone camera was not. Ugh. Soon afterward the battery died. Ugh, again. At least I got a photo of the table of freshly-cut oranges and a perfect opportunity to people watch.

It’s not easy to articulate the impact of watching thousands of people make their way to the Pacific Ocean from Dodger Stadium. What I can say is that my senses were full. The sight of people in all kinds of outfits. The sounds of cheering and feet pounding the pavement, with the occasional shout of “Thanks for volunteering,” from a passing runner. The smell of the oranges at the table next to me. The small moment of connection when handing a partially-filled cup of water to an outstretched hand belonging to a parched runner and the feeling when he or she makes eye contact or nods to convey gratitude but just as quickly refocuses on the long journey ahead. I had an energy and inspiration recharge. That said, I still have no desire to run an entire marathon but I would be there in a heartbeat next year to cheer on my friends who do.

Off on other adventures

Ready to ride?

Over the last few days I’ve done at least two cool things I never anticipated doing at this time last week. Gotta love how that happens. The first thing is that I got to take part in a web series I enjoy called Video Game High School, shot at the new YouTube Space in LA. The general area is still under construction but the finished facilities look amazing. I can see why YouTube partners would want to hang out there and create.

The second thing is I completed my first long bike ride of the year.  The opportunity to ride locally came up and I thought to myself ‘Eh, why not?’ After a brief bike inspection, after a small tug of war with a spider– me: 1, spider: 0 — I grew confident my tires were sound and my chain looked good since I’d stowed it properly from my last ride.

I pedaled off from Harbor City and with a small group rode about 30 miles around the South Bay to PV and back. We saw amazing views of the ocean and got to experience commuting to the beach in a very sensory way. Not sure if you can get a biker’s high like you would a runner’s high, but riding downhill made me wish I had a camera to mount on my helmet or bike to capture that sensation.

That I wasn’t sore at all the next day was very encouraging. I may have to do that again soon.

Is it really March already?

The bottom line is that I didn’t sign up for the Malibu Triathlon last week, but it’s okay because I know there will be other races in my future.

February really is a short month! March snuck up on me quite like a ninja even through I was fully expecting it. In the last month I’ve recharged and reconnected with a few friends and explored some online territories. I joined  Quora and also made Foursquare my geolocation app of choice since BriteKite went away last year. Other services and apps on their way out are Stickam and Posterous.

This week I am ready to dive in to learning more about a couple more social media tools that I’ve not yet explored. Or at least I will as soon as I can find a username I like that’s not already taken. [/geek problems]