Indy Mogul

Indy Mogul is an Internet-based video webcast consisting of four weekly shows that air on the website, IndyMogul.com and YouTube among others, as part of Fred Seibert and Herb Scannell's Next New Networks block of internet programming, [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118980257836227935.html?mod=googlenews_wsj How to make fake rain and sew a superhero costume] at The Wall Street Journal] alongside Channel Frederator, VODCars, FastLaneDaily, ThreadBanger and other niche networks.

Indy Mogul viewers have been quoted to to use the contents of their kitchen junk drawers to create everything from ninja swords and werewolves to stop-motion puppets and beating human hearts — all for $50 or less. [http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/61209/how-to-make-a-zombie-for-50-or- People of the Web: How to make a Zombie for $50 or less] on Yahoo!]

hows

Indy Mogul started with "BFX" then later added "Weekend Extra" to the lineup. Hosted by Steve Nelson, the show was later replaced with "Four Minute Film School." The lineup also featured weekly, recorded, "Q & Erik" episodes which later became a monthly live broadcast.

Backyard FX

Backyard FX (or BFX) is the original show for Indy Mogul, hosted by Erik Beck. BFX shows how to create inexpensive special effects and costumes/makeup. The pilot episode was uploaded on May 15, 2007. It was originally produced in Oakland, California, before moving to New York City, New York in August 2007, to operate out of Next New Networks (NNN) offices. Justin Johnson introduced Next New Networks to a pilot episode created by Erik Beck, Next New Networks then agreed to pick up the series and a contract was signed to create more episodes. It now airs weekly on Mondays.

Subjects covered by Backyard FX are chosen democratically from viewer requestsFact|date=September 2008, and produced for under $50Fact|date=September 2008. Budgets are chosen by a spin of the "Wheel of Prosperity".

A write up from TheDailyReel.com describes BFX as::cquote|...sort of a "Mythbusters" for the underground filmmaker – is as low-budget as the showcased effects, the videos are crisply edited, informative, and Beck, himself, is an affable and entertaining webcaster. [ [http://www.thedailyreel.com/videos/blood-squirting-gunshot-effect The dailyreel] ]

The Wheel of Prosperity

In every episode of Backyard FX (with a few exceptions) either Erik or his puppet, Gary, spin the Wheel of Prosperity to determine the budget for that week's special effect. The amounts range from ten to fifty dollars with amounts increasing in incriments of five or ten dollars. There is also another spot on the wheel that reads "Trip 2 Jersey". It was originally intended as a joke but due to questions raised by fans the finale for the first season included the wheel landing on the space. As it turned out, the wheel transported Erik to New Jersey in the year 1992.

The Wheel of Prosperity was destroyed from the blast of energy that took Erik back to 1992. The making of a new wheel was shown in a [http://www.indymogul.com/backyard-fx/episode/BFX_20080922 teaser trailer for season two] .The season 2 premier on October 6, 2008 revealed a new, high-tech wheel. New Prices range from $10 to $100 and "Trip 2 Jersey" has been replaced with "Trip 2 Hollywood."

Q and Erik

Q and Erik is a question and answer format show hosted by Erik Beck who answers questions from the viewers. It originally aired on Thursdays.

The show has in the past contained an episode displaying entries from their Pumpkin Carving Contest, as well as an episode where Erik "killed" David Ray, a professional film editor.

Q and Erik is used as a forum to answer general questions that would ordinarily be too small to be featured in a full episode.

The first episode of "Q and Erik" was actually aired within the first episode of "Weekend Extra" (See article below) but was dropped until several months later when they decided to give it its own show.

The weekly edition of "Q and Erik" was officially canceled on June 5th, 2008, replaced by the monthly half-hour live broadcast "Q and Erik Live" [http://forum.indymogul.com/showthread.php?p=142803#post142803 Where is today's Q and Erik? Page 3] at Indy Mogul ]

4 Minute Film School

4 Minute Film School has replaced Weekend Extra in the Indy Mogul lineup and is hosted by Steve Nelson. It explains principles and tips for different film styles (e.g. film noir, mise-en-scene), as well as camera angles, and other things to enhance the movie.

"4 Minute Film school is currently on hiatus."

Indy Mogul Hall of Fame

Indy Mogul Hall of Fame is a show hosted by Steve Nelson and covers inductees who do good deeds in the Indy Mogul forums. The first ever inductee to the Indy Mogul Hall of Fame was user New Spark Films.

The Best Short Films in the World

Indy Mogul's [http://www.thebestshortfilmsintheworld.com/ The Best Short Films in the World] is a show hosted by independent film-maker Bobby Miller. Every Thursday the show features four short films that meet the shows criteria and theme for the week, interspersed with humorous introductions by Bobby.

Audience

Indy Mogul's audience is highly influential in the direction of the show, not only by making requests for effects and asking questions but by following in the footsteps of the Indy Mogul crew and passing on their own knowledge of film making. Forum members have been brought on as bloggers for the site and many viewer submitted tutorials have gained much attention on YouTube. The chief demographic for the show are Males ages 18-34 [ [http://www.indymogul.com/page/press-kit Indy Mogul Press Kit] ] . However, people of all ages watch the show and are longtime supporters.

Indy Mogul has roughly 1.5 million viewers a month [ [http://www.indymogul.com/page/press-kit Indy Mogul Press Kit] ] — as well as ad dollars from big Hollywood studios pushing films such as Rambo [ [http://www.indymogul.com/backyard-fx/episode/BFX_20080121 Decapitation Effect Sponsored by Rambo] ] and War [ [http://www.indymogul.com/backyard-fx/episode/BFX_20070820 Fake Hand Episode Sponsored by WAR] ] .

The explosion of YouTube with all of its millions of users has created a new generation of potential directors [ [http://www.youtube.com/ytscreeningroom Youtube Screening Room] ] . This can be seen by the over 17,000 YouTube subscribers who enjoy Indy Mogul and the budding forum, Mogulville. Indy Mogul currently holds the #13 position for the most subscribers of all time under "Guru" on YouTube. [ [http://youtube.com/members?t=a&p=1&s=ms&g=4 Most Subscribed : Gurus : (All Time)] at YouTube]

Indy Mogul and the Film Industry

Not even a year into existence, Indy Mogul expanded its audience and began interviewing professionals in the film industry. They have interviewed, to date: "Scarface" and "A Bronx Tale" editor David Ray [ [http://www.indymogul.com/q-n-erik/episode/QE_20071115 Q & Erik: SPECIAL REPORT!!!!!] ] ; Sam Reich [ [http://www.indymogul.com/backyard-fx/post/1561/interview-with-director-sam-reich-collegehumor-dutchwest-part-one Interview with director Sam Reich] ] , creator of Dutch West and Director of Original Content for CollegeHumor; writer Dan Harmon; drawless animator Rob Schrab; and Earthworm Jim creator Doug TenNapel.

Indy Mogul and the Media

Indy Mogul has been featured on a number of online news sites including CNN [ [http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/04/21/ntm.backyard.fx.cnn CNN Video on Indymogul] ] , NewTeeVee [ [http://newteevee.com/2007/05/17/improve-your-video-watch-indy-mogul/ NewTeeVee Article on Indy Mogul] ] , Yahoo News [ [http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/61209/a-swamp-thing-at-the-oscars Yahoo News Video on Indy Mogul] ] , MediaWeek [ [http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003611115 MediaWeek article on Indy Mogul] ] , and the Wall Street Journal [ [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118980257836227935.html?mod=googlenews_wsj Wall Street Journal Video on Indy Mogul] ] .

IndyMogul.com

IndyMogul.com is the Indy Mogul headquarters, featuring all of the videos that the crew makes. IndyMogul.com also includes a blog and moderated forums where members can discuss homemade short films [ [http://forum.indymogul.com/ Indy Mogul Forums] ] , talk about each episode, and discuss various other film related topics. There is also a "Chit-Chat" section of the forums where members can talk about whatever they want, related to film making or otherwise.

Indy Mogul Staff

ee also

* Independent films
* Special effects

References

External links

* [http://www.indymogul.com/ Indy Mogul]
* [http://forum.indymogul.com Mogulville Forums]
* [http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=IndyMogul Indy Mogul's Official YouTube Page]
* [http://www.vimeo.com/indymogul/ Indy Mogul's Official Vimeo Page]
* [http://www.myspace.com/indymogul Indy Mogul's Official MySpace Page]
* [http://www.nextnewnetworks.com/ Next New Networks, Distributes Indy Mogul and a variety of other Internet based niche Channels.]