posted on July 1st, 2008 in Best Practices, Commerce, News 

Something Completely Different: Eyes on the Price

This is going somewhere, I promise.

posted on June 20th, 2008 in Despair, Inc., News, Videos 

ABC Nightline is completely in Despair

Sorry for the Despair overload lately but we didn’t want to miss this story. ABC’s Nightline recently profiled Despair and in turn showcased many aspects of Amplifier. Some of our systems and services can be spotted throughout the clip (Screenprinting, Print-on-Demand, Fulfillment and more). Video segment after the break.

posted on May 27th, 2008 in Ask a Ninja, Content, Despair, Inc., News, Penny Arcade, Rooster Teeth, Tiki Bar TV, Undies 

upTweets: Undies doin’ it for themselves.

I am going to go on an extended non-blogging break.

If you’re following along on Twitter, you haven’t missed this good stuff:

• Despair’s latest vividly demonstrates awesome longer-form storytelling via video (here you go, Mr. Eisner), parts 1 and 2;
• Ask A Ninja isn’t shy about anything talking web video;
• Rooster Teeth has launched Red Vs Blue: Reconstruction;
• Laughing Squid captured the world’s largest lolcat;
• SoHo has a 20′ Lala;
• Diesel Sweeties celebrated a six-year undiversary. Congrats, yo!
• AppleGeeks honored Memorial Day;
• Kris Straub has opened his sketchbooks. So cool.
• Go inside PAA Episode 1.

More soon. Promise.

posted on April 23rd, 2008 in Community, Conventions, Dumbrella, Flash, Homestar Runner, JibJab, Live Action, Machinima, News, Penny Arcade, Rooster Teeth, Series, Web Comics 

ROFLCon kicks off Tomorrow

The guest list really is a who’s who of Internet fame and/or ignominy. Amplifier’s own Joel Bush will be there to hopefully document the event. We gave him a great video camera so honestly, he’s without excuse!

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posted on March 6th, 2008 in Achewood, Content, Music, News, Penny Arcade, Rooster Teeth, Undependence, Undies, Web Comics 

Undies Remember Gary Gygax (1938-2008)

The death of Dungeons & Dragons creator Gary Gygax earlier this week wasn’t just a loss for gamers and fantasy fans, but for creative types and undependents all over the world. Some of the web’s best and brightest undependents have been remembering the role-playing game titan as only they can.

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posted on February 14th, 2008 in Best Practices, Content, News, Undependence, Undies 

Plug in to the Undies!

Micropersuasion.com’s Steve Rubel recently described the revolution underway as (i.) content production and distribution explodes and (ii.) creators bypass intermediaries to go direct. Providing an apt metaphor, he called for Digital Curators to help audiences discover, experience, and understand the best “finds” within this ever-increasing flow of content.

Nice call, Steve. Thank you.

We help audiences (all of us) find, follow, and enjoy the best work from the emerging class of self-sustaining Internet-based artists, aka the Undependents or Undies, who are telling amazing stories within podcasts, video, webcomics, machinima, animation, etc.

As curators, we feature these programs:

• Undependent.com, which focuses on success stories, trends, insights, and practical advice.
• The Undependent Del.icio.us feed, compiling excellent reference material and news;
• The Undependent Twitter feed, a quick spotlight on great new content, merch, and news;
• The Undependent Universe, our living museum showcasing the best Undies. (Thanks, Netvibes).

The Undependent Universe’s Collection continues to grow. It currently includes the following, in no particular order (visit the site for links):

• Webcomics: The Perry Bible Fellowship; Girl Genius; PvP; Starslip Crisis; Sheldon; Evil, Inc.; Piled Higher and Deeper; Wondermark; Unshelved; Dinosaur Comics; xkcd; A Softer World; Cat and Girl; Dresden Codak; AppleGeeks; Ctrl+Alt+Del; User Friendly; White Ninja Comics; and Octopus Pie.
• The Drumbrella Exhibit: Boy on a Stick and Slither; explodingdog; The Creatures in My Head; Diesel Sweeties; Overcompensating; Scary Go Round; Goats; Wigu; as well as RSS feeds from the creators;
• The Achewood Exhibit: featuring all character blogs;
• Videos/shows: Funny or Die; College Humor; The Onion; Heavy.com.
• Others: Penny Arcade; Rooster Teeth Productions; Angry Alien Productions; JibJab; Despair, Inc.; Ask A Ninja; Smosh; Homestar Runner; Those Lil’ Rabbits; Tiki Bar TV; Engrish.com.
• How To’s and News: Fleen; Webcomics Weekly; Comixtalk; Cold Hard Flash; NewTeeVee; Halfpixel; Web TV Wire; Thinking Machinima; Digital Strips.
• Rotating special exhibits highlighting great stuff, and much more!

We hope our programs help you enjoy the Undies more easily and regularly. We live in such an exciting time, eh? Creative expression flourishes, and newly empowered creators keep inventing more ways to delight their fans.

Thanks again, Steve, for your great post and ongoing work. And thanks, too, to all the Undies and especially all the fans who support them. Without you, this revolution doesn’t happen.

posted on February 1st, 2008 in Achewood, Content, Merch, News, Web Comics 

Time: Achewood Is The Best Graphic Novel of 2007

Time Magazine’s Lev Grossman calls webcomic Achewood (which is, perhaps, the best comic strip in American history) the best graphic novel of the year, noting “(i)t’s not a graphic novel in every, or maybe any, traditional sense, since its primary venue is the Web, but Achewood is so profoundly genius it would be a crime to put it anywhere but on this list, and at the top of it.” (more…)

posted on January 11th, 2008 in News 

Undependent™ v.1.0 – See How they Run.

Meet the new Undependent.com. Underneath the hood, it’s still Wordpress, but in the world of new blogs (as in life) we all know it’s really what’s outside that truly counts. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Nicolò Volpato and GNV Partners for their great work.

We chose the minimalist color scheme to emphasize that it’s not about us.

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posted on December 30th, 2007 in News 

Interview with the PBF’s Nicholas Gurewitch

Perry Bible Fellowship is easily one of the best comics around. It’s so rare to find such a truly original and consistently funny strip with such a unique and complex illustrative technique. In fact, Nicholas Gurewitch has crafted a series of completely different styles and he’s only 25. (“Keats, big poet Keats, was DEAD by twenty four!*“) So he’s going to be around a longgggggg time. He’ll probably have an empire on the order of The Far Side in 10 years so long as he can resist the temptation to do bad and dilutive licensing deals*.

NICHOLAS GUREWITCH ON THE PERRY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP – NEWSARAMA

The Perry Bible Fellowship, named for a random church in Perry, Maine, has very little to do with the Bible. In fact, laughing at the strip’s outrageous dark comedy might make you worry that you’re going to Hell.

The brainchild of 25-year-old Nicholas Gurewitch, the comic has become a runaway hit since he began it in college in 2001. It’s grown to appear in more than 20 newspapers, Maxim magazine and of course on its own web site. Now, it’s poised to conquer the publishing world with The Trial of Colonel Sweeto, a hardcover collection from Dark Horse Comics. Already a bestseller, it’s the perfect introduction to Gurewitch’s world of doughy humans, sarcastic aliens, and really, really horrible things happening. We chatted with Gurewitch about his strip’s success, his inspirations, and just how he creates his horrifying hilarious strip.

posted on October 15th, 2007 in Machinima, News, Rooster Teeth 

Europe’s first machinima festival awards announced

Awards Announced For Europe’s First Machinima Festival // GamesIndustry.biz
The first machinima festival to be held in Europe took place at DMU in Leicester and in Second Life this weekend (12-14 October) and included a packed awards ceremony which recognised some of the best talent in this quickly-growing genre.

Machinima is a fusion of film-making and computer gaming, which is increasingly used as a quick and cost-effective way to create animated films and has a rapidly growing following. See www.machinimaeurope.co.uk for more info…

Burnie Burns and Jason Saldana of Rooster Teeth Productions, makers of the popular online sitcom Red vs Blue, performed during the festival and took part in panel discussions.

Click through to read the full article. Get to know these creators and their work. Buy their stuff.

Winners included:

• Best Picture, Best Visual Design, & Best Direction: Stolen Life by Nanoflix Productions
• Best Series: Grid Review
• Best Technical Achievement: Machinima Island
• Best Experimental: Cirque du Machinima, Cuckoo Clock
• Best Student Film: Machinima! with Officer Dan
• Best Story: Snow Witch by Britannica Dreams

Related readings:

• The Future of Machinima, Business Week
• Wikipedia entry on machinima