Everyone’s Welcome at Current TV’s ‘Bar Karma’

By Mike Snider, USA Today

Keith Olbermann is not the only new face coming to Current TV.

Journeyman actor William Sanderson (True Blood, Deadwood) and relative newcomers Matthew Humphreys (Obsessed) and Cassie Howarth (Mao’s Last Dance) star in the first crowd-sourced TV series, Bar Karma, which premieres Friday at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on the network. (The premiere also will be streamed on current.com after the broadcast.)

The premise for the series — a bar at the edge of the universe — was conceived by an online community started a year ago by The Sims creator Will Wright. Everything from the costumes to the plot twists are proposed, discussed and voted on by participants on Current’s Creative Studio site. The site has already served more than 12 million visits.

All that participation results in an opening episode with a Cheers-meets-Twilight Zone vibe tailor-made for fans of Lost. Doug (Humphreys) finds himself transported to the mystical bar. “Think of it as a karmic rest stop,” says the bartender, James (Sanderson).

But the bad karma kicks in when James and waitress Dayna (Howarth) inform Doug that back in the real world, he has been arrested for the murder of his paramour. While the trio try to unravel Doug’s situation, each week a new customer comes into the bar to face his own cosmic conundrum.

Viewers may revel in the spontaneity that crowd-sourced TV produces, but the actors find it thrilling and nerve-racking in equal parts. “It’s a little terrifying. The community makes all of the suggestions, and you don’t know what they are going to say,” Sanderson says. “They suggested (James) wear a suit, and I love that because I have played so many renegade types. But what if they ask me to wear a Speedo or something?”

Sanderson may be safe on that account; the production company Worldwide Biggies, run by former Nickelodeon and Spike TV president Albie Hecht, does have ultimate creative control. But the producers regularly seek guidance from the online community in narrowing the direction of each episode. They are currently shooting the fourth of a dozen episodes planned for the first season.

“We’ve been evolving to this true intersection between user-generated, community-driven content and professional Hollywood storytelling and characters,” Hecht says. “We just threw out a challenge that a football player is coming into the bar, ‘What’s his favorite drink?’ That is almost in real time, and as soon as we clear it, then three or four days later, we can be shooting it. When we need this or we need that, we reach out to the community as often as we can.”

Online collaborators submit plots for episodes using Wright’s video-game-styled Storymaker software to create, in essence, storyboards for the series. “It looks like a graphic novel,” Hecht says. As part of the process, members of the production team — writers, directors or producers — might join the community in commenting on the storyboards. Eventually, three plots for an episode are chosen to be voted on. Those whose stories are chosen get credited on the episode.

Viewers can still get involved in the development process through the online community. “The whole second half of the season depends on them and where the character arcs go,” Hecht says. “The fates of these characters ultimately will rest in their hands.”

Also on tap for Current TV, which is broadening its focus beyond its former core of user-generated content: a nightly talk show hosted by former MSNBC host Olbermann, due in late spring; 4th and Forever, a documentary series about a Long Beach, Calif., high school football team that’s a recruiting magnet for the NFL; Smoke Jumpers, profiling aerial firefighters in Montana; and repeats of Showtime’s This American Life, which is based on the public radio series hosted by Ira Glass.

####

To read the article online, click HERE!

Current TV’s new scripted series ‘Bar Karma’ gives the audience a shot at making it their own show

By David Hinckley, Daily News

Every TV network loves its viewers, but Current TV is starting something Friday that suggests it also trusts them.

Part of the casting, story line and even dialogue in the new scripted series “Bar Karma” (10 p.m.) will be created by the audience.

Whether this is the wave of TV’s future or a well-intended but misguided stab at artistic populism may be partly answered by how well the 12 episodes of “Bar Karma” catch on.

“Bar Karma” was conceived and developed by Will Wright, whose name will be familiar to videogame fans because he created “The Sims,” a game that has sold 20 million copies.

Wright’s other “Sims” games confirm he’s a major fan of “simulation,” where the player can affect the outcome of what’s happening.

What he’s doing here, Wright says, is applying that concept to series television.

“Bar Karma,” as the name suggests, is set in a bar. In fact, Bar Karma is the name of the joint, and it starts with three characters.

Doug Jones (Matthew Humphreys) owns the bar. His bartender is James (William Sanderson), who has been reincarnated more than 500 times and therefore, even more than most bartenders, can accurately say he’s seen it all.

The bar also has a waitress, Dayna (Cassie Howarth), and a mission.

Bar Karma is a place where patrons come not just to throw back a gin and tonic, but discover the meaning of their lives and their destiny.

With a responsibility like that, no wonder the producers decided to share the creative burden with the audience.

Any potential writer can go to current.com and sign up to submit an idea, specific or general. The best ones may be incorporated into future story lines.

Writers have to keep the stories and characters in the science-fiction style of the show, but beyond that, the creators say they are open.

“Involving the online community is exciting, groundbreaking and terrifying at the same time,” says executive producer Albie Hecht. “It requires that we, like the patrons of the fictional bar the show is set in, live with a certain amount of uncertainty.”

All episodes of the show will be scripted, and new ideas will be written into the scripts, not improvised.

In the broader sense, the approach being taken by “Bar Karma” poses an interesting artistic question.

While many dramatic productions are collaborations among multiple sources, the most enduring work often reflects the vision of one or two individuals.

“Bar Karma” is betting that it has anchored the show firmly enough in its three core characters and the cosmic mission of the bar that fresh additions can only enhance it.

####

Albie Hecht Taking Digital Route to Launch New Character

By Georg Szalai, Hollywood Reporter

Instead of going straight for a TV show, his studio Worldwide Biggies has teamed with Addicting Games on a Bigby game for the iPhone and iTouch.

By Mike Snyder, USA TODAY

The next project for Spore creator Will Wright is a TV series that will let fans have direct input, serving as screenwriters and directors.

Viewers will be able to log onto the web site for the show, tentatively titled Bar Karma, where they can submit story ideas, according to a news release announcing the project. The show’s producers will followup with an outline for an episode, then viewers can create storyboards that direct the plot.

Ideas for the episode can then be merged and manipulated for the episode and when a final storyboard is agreed on by the community, a 30-minute TV episode will be produced based on that storyline. Bar Karma is set to be televised on Current TV, the network headed by former Vice President Al Gore and Joel Hyatt.

“Bar Karma is a culmination of over a year’s work and I am very excited to see the results as we join together not only gamers and television viewers, but actually create a community that will be empowered with a professional production team,” said Will Wright in the announcement. “To develop and lead an initiative like this fulfills a long held passion for television, and I am thrilled that Current would provide the resources and creative support to bring this to air.”

The announcement for Bar Karma, scheduled to premiere in the first quarter of next year, included an outline for its four stages of production:

– Joining. Viewers log in to “Current TV’s Creation Studios” at www.current.com/barkarma through their PCs and mobile devices to join the show’s online community.

– Creating. Fans submit potential story ideas on an ongoing basis. The show producers will provide the community with weekly outlines for upcoming episodes. Then viewers can create storyboards of unlimited plot possibilities.

– Voting. Viewers browse, comment and merge various episode ideas. Final proposals are reviewed and voted on.

– Producing. After the final storyboard is selected by the community voting process, executive producer Albie Hecht and his production company Worldwide Biggies, will create a 30-minute episode from the television episode from the winning storyline.

“The technology that Will has invented empowers viewers to participate, but also provides direct communication to me and my production team,” Hecht said in the statement. “We will be taking our cues from the viewers, working with them and then quickly producing high quality, original content. This is truly aparadigm-changing project that will showcase the creativity of the general public in shaping a television series.”

More specifics on the launch of the online community site, the production and casting of the show will be announced in the coming weeks, they say.

“Bar Karma will fuse the power of television, the internet and mobile devices and provide viewers the ability to truly create and control a television series,” said Current CEO Mark Rosenthal in the release. “Will Wright is a phenomenal creator and we are thrilled he came to Current to launch his first television series. Together, we hope to move television storytelling beyond passive participation and allow viewers to become true programming partners.”

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2010/10/will-wrights-new-game/1

For more information, check out our Press Section!

NEW YORK, Jul 15, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — EPIX, the premium entertainment channel, video-on-demand and online service, and Worldwide Biggies Inc., the digital entertainment studio helmed by family entertainment hit-maker Albie Hecht, jointly announced today a multi-project first-look deal. My: Moment, the first green-lit special, which offers an inside peek into the mind of Olympic gold medal skier Lindsay Vonn, is already in production and slated to air on EPIX in January 2011.

Co-created by Hecht and Academy Award-nominated directors Sean and Andrea Fine, My: Moment takes an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at what sets a professional athlete apart amidst the intense moments leading up to a major competitive event in her career. My: Moment is also being co-produced with IMG Entertainment, the premier sports representation firm.
(…)

**Click here to read more!**

The digital world is really just a means to an end for CEO Albie Hecht, whose company uses everything from Flash games to virtual worlds as an incubator for intellectual property that can live on in the more lucrative worlds he knows well: TV and movies. “We’re not creating one-off products; this is true transmedia,” says the former Viacom exec. He’s made a real business out of what some dismiss as a buzzword, starting back in 2006 with indie-film-turned-webisode-turned-TV series “The Naked Bros.” Now he’s working on video/gaming combos including “Dr. What,” a joint venture with Syfy announced in February, and “Bigby,” which launched in January as an iPhone app. It should come as no surprise that these are aimed at the kid market, given that Hecht was instrumental in the launch of Nickelodeon icons including “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
(…)

**Click here to read more!**

The Bigby iPhone game is a classic platformer/side-scroller with a twist. Bigby can fly with the rocket on his back!

The goal is to eliminate all the pirates and dragons that have descended on New York City! To capture pirates, Bigby needs to jump on top of them while avoiding all manner of pirate weaponry.

The player controls Bigby by tilting the iPhone left and right. Dragons are tougher – Bigby must use his rocket to fly above them and drop in on them from above.

20 levels of increasing challenge face Bigby as he fights to keep the streets of New York safe…from pirates and dragons!

Former Nickelodeon Chief Has a New Plan for the iPhone
By BROOKS BARNES

Can the iPhone begin a new children’s entertainment franchise? One of Hollywood’s leading character architects is banking on it.

Albie Hecht, the former president of Nickelodeon Entertainment who helped develop such stalwarts as “SpongeBob SquarePants,” will introduce an iPhone game app in January built around his latest creation: Bigby, an 8-year-old crime-fighting genius who believes his job is to stop dragons and pirates from ruining the world (…)

**Click here to read more!**

NEW YORK (Fortune) — At first glance, Albie Hecht’s office is cluttered with toys — a plush gorilla from the Mario Bros. video game, vinyl figurines from the toy line Kidrobot, to name a few. But in fact, they’re all relics of the animation industry, where Hecht, 56, made his name launching such mega-hit children’s shows such as Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Dora the Explorer,” and “Blue’s Clues.” (…)

**Click Here to read more!**