Inauthenticity is our hallmark," Macpherson says.Įach segment has a freeze-frame of the drink recipe, often showing real brands-Beefeater and Bombay Sapphire gin, Skyy vodka, Southern Comfort. "People think we are the Martha Stewart of cocktails. "Love in the South Pacific" is laced with six liquors it was invented by the Tiki Bar folks, though they are amateur mixologists. The real star of each episode is its special drink. Guest stars joined in (they got to make up their own characters and plotlines), and the cast would get visibly tipsier as a skit unfolded. Soon he added a bartender, Johnny Johnny (played by a grade school pal), and a vivacious vixen named LaLa (an ex-girlfriend). Tiki after finding an old doctor's coat he had worn to a Halloween party. The feel was assiduously absurd and schlocky. Soon he invited friends over and started filming short, goofy segments. Then MTV bailed, Macpherson's agent quit ICM, and when no one else picked him up, he packed up and slunk home to Vancouver.īack at his small apartment, he decided, on a lark, to install a 1950s-style tiki bar, complete with palm fronds and lots of rum. "A meth addict and an ecstasy addict are very different beasts," he says. MTV had wanted a film on ecstasy, the euphoria drug then it switched to methamphetamine-newsier, but far uglier. He commuted from Vancouver to Los Angeles in 2001, landed an agent at International Creative Management and signed a movie deal with MTV. It never got distributed only 5,000 people saw it. Come Together was about a Scotch-guzzling, pot-smoking greeting-card writer who vows to break up his ex-girlfriend's wedding and win her back. In 2000 he directed his first feature film, a well-received independent drama. He had put in a year at film school but detested it and worked as a production manager for car commercials. Macpherson's twisted path to Web stardom began five years ago, when he embarked on a Hollywood dream. MTV, which shrank the attention spans of teens in the 1980s, now aims to do it again-it just launched MTVU Uber, an online channel for short-form shows. NBC Chief Jeffrey Zucker decrees that all NBC shows must develop a digital distribution strategy: "No longer is content just for the TV screen," he told a group of advertisers in May. Macpherson argues podcasts may transform television as profoundly as cable TV did. Thus old-line TV looks cumbersome and costly, with its legacy of satellites and towers, hundreds of TV stations and cable networks, million-dollar budgets and spoiled stars, and a need to reach big audiences. Zapping it out costs less than a penny per fan Apple even covers his Web-hosting costs. Macpherson films a Tiki Bar bit for $100. Only a handful of video podcasts were up on iTunes in the first month today the menu of videos has exploded. 13), which has fueled a sudden boom in online video by hosting anyone's clips free of charge. Podcast shows can also can be viewed on such sites as YouTube (see FORBES, Mar. Podcasters rely on Internet downloads to computers and the new iPod (usually via iTunes), and viewers watch the stored shows at their leisure. Podcasting was audio-only at its start in 2004 video popped up in October when Apple unveiled a video iPod. "I don't think the show I am doing at my house is going to replace a prime-time show," Macpherson allows, "but the next show I do might." Viewers have posted photos of Tiki Bar TV parties, one acolyte sent in a heavy-metal version of the show's perky theme song, others dressed up as Tiki Bar characters for Halloween-and even Hollywood has come calling. Macpherson and his costars get recognized on the street by fans. Each segment draws 300,000 or so viewers, rivaling the reach of many cable shows, such as CNBC's Mad Money. Yet Tiki Bar TV has won a rabid following since its debut early last year (the 17th episode went online June 5). To keep it real, Macpherson and his motley cast drink the elixir on camera and off this is one reason it takes them six hours to shoot what gets boiled down to, say, six minutes. Tiki) prescribes therapy: a potent drink with a fancy name and myriad kinds of liquor. He sports a doctor's white smock, stethoscope and prescription pad, and when a character shows up for a consultation, Macpherson (a.k.a. Macpherson plays the puckish hero of Tiki Bar TV, a periodic series of loopy, gag-filled vignettes-each lasts only a few minutes-available only by download from his Web site, or
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |