In the craziness of the new year, I completely forgot to post this article that Script Magazine ran last month on myself and actress/writer Barrett Swatnek. I’ve been an avid reader of Script since I started writing in LA, and was incredibly excited that they wanted to write a profile piece on web series creators and the growing industry for writers in new media.
Web Innovators Article in Script Magazine 1_10
Like many of you, it feels like I’ve been hearing about Avatar for…years. James Cameron’s Avatar is one of the largest movies that Hollywood has ever made and by far the most technologically advanced – but it might just take the cake for the longest film in development – 14 years.
Co-Host Quddus and I on the Blue Carpet” title=”avatar_bp_08-sm” width=”533″ height=”800″ class=”size-full wp-image-940″ />Co-Host Quddus and I on the Blue Carpet
Tonight I was incredibly honored to co-host the LIVE red carpet premiere with Quddus (MTV) and Peter Saldman (EntertainmentPremieres.com) for 20th Century Fox, MySpace, and UStream.TV.
Not only did we have a blast chatting with all the key players (Sam Worthington, Michelle Rodriguez, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, James Cameron, etc) but also with all the fans on Twitter, UStream, and MySpace! We received hundreds of questions and comments and were able to ask them directly to the stars while they were being interviewed.
I’ve attached a few pics from the event, as well as the actual live footage (it’s an hour and a half, but I just embedded the last two sections with the most interviews.)
Special thanks to my fav. red carpet photographer Byron Purvis – http://photos.purvis.tv/events – for the photos :)
ALSO – we will be sending one lucky commenter a special Avatar prize pack in the next week – but give Quddus and I through the weekend to go through the comments :) If you’d like to be in the know about more live premieres and special prizes, please follow me on twitter – www.twitter.com/tarynsouthern – to get the inside scoop before it happens!
THE SHOW:
What an evening of firsts!! Last night I hosted the Dick Clark Productions/ABC.com live stream of the American Music Awards Pre-Show. It was an hour and a half of non-stop activity…and SO much fun! Needless to say, I slept in this morning… but I thought I’d share some of the highlights of my “firsts” with you:
1. AUDIENCE – The show had the largest online streaming audience in the history of the AMA’s (and quite possibly other live streaming shows) with over 3.3 million viewers on YouTube, Facebook, and other sites carrying the AMA LIVE widget.
2. INTERVEWS – I interviewed Mary J Blige and LOVED her. I’d interviewed a lot of these folks before, either at the Grammy’s or Golden Globes, but she was a first, as well as a few others (Demi Lovato, who was a sweetheart, and Kid Cudi, who didn’t mind when I started belting out “Day and Night.”) All of the celebs on the carpet were extremely gracious and patient, because with live shows, they often have to wait until I get the green light on my feed.
3. FASHION – I made my first “worst-dressed list”, although I didn’t feel so bad when I saw that Alicia Keys, Demi Lovato, Kristin Bell, and Nicole Kidman were a few of the other victims. And might I add, at the defense of these beautiful ladies and anyone else on a Worst-Dressed List, it is often the stylist who picks the clothes, not the celebrity!
4. THE SHOW – I actually got to sit and watch the show! (Usually when you host the red carpet pre-show, you don’t get tickets.) My sister, manager, and I had amazing tickets – center orchestra – and WOW! JLo, Lady Gaga, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Eminem, Jay Z and Alicia Keys, Timbaland – AMAZING PERFORMANCES! I’ve been to a few award shows before (People’s Choice, MTV VMA’s, etc) but this was by far my favorite!
5. Last but not least, it was the first time I actually went to an after party! Usually I’m so exhausted, I head straight home, but I enjoyed some cupcakes and wine with friends and my sister (who was in town from Kansas). THEN I passed out. :)
So that’s the rundown!! Hope you guys enjoyed the pre-show and/or the actual show. And a huge thanks to my co-hosts, Jenni Pulos, Julie Moran, Jai Rodriguez, David Lehre, as well as the Facebook Girls Randi and Brandi and web extraordinaire iJustine! You guys really held down the forts.
Here’s some photos of the evening if you’d like to check ‘em out:
Wow. First off, let me just say thank all of you out there who have graced me with your comments and emails. It was over two years ago that my first viral video surpassed the 2 mil mark, and now it looks like Wrong Hole is going to win the prize for most online views. Between YouTube, Break, and FunnyOrDie, it’s now well on it’s way over 3 mil hits.
Special thanks to blogs like Today’s Big Thing, PureStyle Magazine’s blog, Spiked Humor, FastHack, Dave and Thomas Daily TimeKillers, The GoldenBoy Saga, GeorgeCarlinTV, Shoutback, and the many others who passed it along.
I didn’t realize that taking it up the bum could be such a universal source of comedy. I’ve received emails from Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Phillippines, Russia, France, Poland, Turkey, Africa, the Middle East, Peru, and students from both West Point and the Coast Guard military academy here in the US. Some of my favorite excerpts I have posted below, as they were a little tough to decipher:
Rob (Netherlands): “you sounds so good, its almost magic, make a love song with a piano, and stuff!”
Kael (Location Unknown): “I shivered when I heard her. She has power. She remmembered me of Celine Dion.”
Stephan (Germany): “My simple question now is, if there are some recent pics of you for my desktop =) P.S.: You are not in the german Wikipedia”
Jim (Missouri): “I did notice one fault you have however as I browsed through your site, You’re a Liberal. Where’s your priorities?”
There were other messages, sweet and to the point, and others (more of the death threat type) from the Middle East and parts of America. But I won’t share those in an effort to keep this blog as positive as possible ;-)
Thanks for watching!
Taryn
UPDATE: Here’s some photos taken from the ‘Dewana’s Bridal’ shoot (taken by Tyler Golden – tylergolden.com.) I am so excited to see the film when it is done!
After months of post-production, it looks like ‘Pound of Flesh’ is almost ready to be screened! The film, directed by Tamar Simon Hoffs, produced by BJ Ford, and starring Malcom McDowell, will be submitted to festivals over the next coming months.
Last week Whitney Able, Lilly McDowell and I finished up ADR and also did a couple of “cinema verite” shots for the credits (see below.)
More news as it comes!
Last week I wrapped production on the short film “Dewana’s Bridal,” produced by/starring my dear friend Jaime King and directed by Ace Norton. The cast also includes Selma Blair, Jaime Lynn Sigler, Kick Gurrey, Betsy Rue, and Elena Satine. We all had a blast and got to play such interesting, tormented characters (an actor’s dream!)
Here’s a photo of Jaime and I on set with all of our goth makeup :)
Last week I filmed a cameo role in the upcoming Electric Farm/Sony Pictures web series “Woke Up Dead.” It was SO much fun and the cast/crew were fantastic! I’m only sad I didn’t get to stay on set longer….

Woke Up Dead is a sci-fi comedy about Drex (played by Jon Heder), who wakes up one morning and suspects that he might be dead. The 50-episode series, created by John Fascano and directed by Tim O’Donnell, is being produced by Stan Rogow at Electric Farm. The series stars Jon Heder (“Napoleon Dynamite,” “Blades of Glory”), and Krystin Ritter (“Confessions of a Shopaholic,” “Breaking Bad”).
Check out this video that my pal Rich Keith put together as a satire of all the recent proposition PSA videos. I’m around the :33 mark.
I just finished shooting BLIMP PROM, a short for Comedy Central’s atom.com, with the super funny Todd Strauss-Schulson, Dan Levy, Angie Cole, Lauren Miller, Jareb Dauplaise, and Craig Frank.
