AMN SFS is dead. Long live SFS TV.
When the Austin Music Network signed off in September of 2005, part of the collateral damage was the Student Filmmakers Showcase show. But that death was short-lived, according to filmmaker and SFS Executive Producer Juan Garcia. Later this month, AMN SFS will be reincarnated as SFS TV. But don’t look for the return on your TV set. Look to the small, small screen. When SFS TV launches Jan. 30, it will be the “first vodcast from Austin,” according to Garcia.
“[SFS TV] sticks to the same idea of letting the students be the creatives and help produce the show, as well as showcasing shorts (of course),” Garcia writes in an e-mail. It “will be the first program to air on a weekly basis, available at a set time. We’re treating SFS TV like what it is, a hybrid between television and a small format vodcast.”
The new SFS TV has been in the works for the last four months and will be available exclusively on iTunes and video iPods, because, as Garcia says in SFS TV press materials, “Apple has reinvented television. They created the product and now it is up to producers to create the content.” Whether there is an endorsement deal between Apple and SFS TV is unknown at press time.
“We want SFS TV to be the first vodcast that acts like the world’s first universal television program and ignores broadcast boundaries, thereby playing to the largest audience possible,” Garcia continues. “As you wrote in [“TV Eye,” Nov. 18, 2005] video on demand is increasing and portable shows like SFS TV may be the wave of the future. Although I agree with you that watching full-length TV shows on the small screen isn’t that pleasant, it [works] for short forms of entertainment, like student films. I think this could be a great way to draw attention to these young up-and-comers.”
As a tribute to the past, Garcia launched an AMN SFS Web site on Jan. 1 (www.amnsfs.com). Episodes, extras, news clips, and other items from the show’s last two seasons will be uploaded by the end of the month and archived in perpetuity as a way to say “thanks for the support.”
Student filmmakers who would like their work considered for SFS TV should check out www.whatisthesfs.com. Specific questions can also be sent to info@sfstvvod.com. To view the current SFS TV pilot, go to www.sfstvvod.com.
For those of us wringing the last drop of life out of soon-to-be-outdated operating systems, be aware that in order to download SFS TV and the necessary iTunes program, OS X or higher is necessary.
Midseason Malaise
If asked which of the midseason premieres looked promising, I’d be hard-pressed to come up with a response. Everything I’ve seen has astounded with its mediocrity. A few examples:
inJustice (ABC): The premise sounded good: The wrongfully convicted are exonerated. But inJustice is no different from any other procedural drama already out there (Law & Order, CSI, Cold Case, Criminal Minds), it just works in reverse – the “criminal” is proved innocent and set free. Kyle MacLachlan stars.
The Book of Daniel (NBC): This series features Aidan Quinn as the Rev. Daniel Webster (refer to high school English 101 to find out why this name is symbolic) and his daily trials as a religious leader, father, and husband. If this sounds suspiciously like 7th Heaven (WB), rest assured that this is where the similarity ends. If 7th Heaven was relentlessly goody-goody, The Book of Daniel tries so hard to be edgy it’s laughable. The adults are recreational drunks (and incredibly uptight, considering the gallons of booze they throw back). The priest across town has underworld connections. The reverend’s children are gay, sexually promiscuous, or selling pot. Two church elders are having an affair with one another. The Rev. Webster’s sister-in-law is in love with another woman, and the reverend is hooked on painkillers and talks to Jesus. Even the kindly black maid (!) smokes pot, which might be the best way to watch this series. There is already a movement underfoot to boycott this series for being “anti-Christian,” for reasons you can probably surmise. However, the real offense is its lack of cleverness.
Four Kings (NBC): The very likable Seth Green stars as the Carrie Bradshaw in this conventional sitcom about four lifelong friends who go through their young-man adventures in the big city. Not bad, not good. Just out there.
Launched but not seen: South Beach (UPN); Dallas Swat (A&E).
Returns: Wildfire (ABC Family); The L Word (Showtime); The Shield (FX); and Miami Ink (TLC). A special two-hour season premiere of 24 airs Sunday, Jan. 15, 7pm, on Fox.
Austin-based reality series Rollergirls premiered Jan. 2. Read my review next week.
As always, stay tuned.
This article appears in January 13 • 2006.