The online magazine The Snobby Robot describes itself as "dedicated to the web series community – covering series, showcasing talents, and learning how to succeed in new media." They serve up a lot of great coverage of a ton of great shows, and today we're proud to see our own Ragged Isle getting some attention.
I spoke to Snobby Robot writer Chris Hadley about the show and he posted a terrific write-up. Check it out, as well as some of the other fine articles The Snobby Robot has posted. (Tell 'em The Ragged Isle sent ya.)
"Marx and Julie talk about what is happening in the world of film, TV and web series. This time GenreTainment speaks to Barry Dodd, the co-creator of the popular Maine-based web seriesRagged Isle. We learn more about this award winning mystery-suspense web series and talk to Dodd about his views of the future of independent web series. PLUS, bonus interview with Jessica Lange aboutAmerican Horror Story."
Holy crap! I'm in a show with Jessica Lange! One of my better interviews actually. Despite the audio problems. Check it out! -Barry
Amie E. Marzen and Barry & Karen Dodd were a part of this montage video of holiday well wishes from web show creators from across the internet. Other local series that were involved were Haunt ME, No Refund For Content, Vacationlanders and The Cleansed all of which are attached to the Maine network The Entertainment Experiment.
Ragged Isle is so proud to be a part of such a great community and to be able to make stories for such a supportive audience. Happy Holidays to you all! See you next year!
"We used to argue on behalf of a potential nominee, 'It's so good, it could be on TV.' This time, to make the cut, it had to be, 'This is excellent. It's better than anything on TV!' It's extraordinary. I think we've passed an historic landmark for the genre. In so many ways, the shows on this list are better than the scripted, serialized programming on network Television."
It goes without saying we are so excited and proud of being recognized again. The competition is super huge this year and it's an honor to be named amongst some of the finest independent shows that the web has ever seen.
-Barry
Written by Rick Dalton about the performance he and Meghan Conley did at the season 2 premiere party for Ragged Isle. Thanks for recounting this Rick! It was a real highlight that night.
Why this song? Because it's beautiful, for one. This version is of course inspired by the great Israel "IZ" Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole, one of the sweetest voices the world has ever known. I first heard this song ten years ago on the show “E.R.” It was featured during an incredibly beautiful and heart wrenching moment toward the end of an episode called “On The Beach” (Season 8, Episode 21). It played during the last moments of Dr. Mark Greene's life. I was so into that show, the guy felt like my old, dear friend. I just watched it again and cried my eyes out. It's one of the finest moments in television history, in my opinion, especially if you followed the character and story. I remember one time, at my friend Jason's wedding reception, a number of people, myself included, gathered around the P.A. speaker when this song started playing. All of us admitted that we were drawn together thinking the same thing, the death of this fictional character. We all loved Dr. Greene. Great stories are human kind's favorite thing, right?
The show led me to track down the song on mp3, and find out about the singer. If you haven't heard of Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole, you should search him out, hear more of his music, and learn his story. He had an amazing life, and has become the best selling Hawaiian musician of all time.
I've wanted to sing this song since I heard it, ideally just like IZ, with nothing but vocals and ukulele. Barry Dodd had the Ragged Isle Season 2 Premiere Party coming up at Geno's in Portland, with musicians from the RI cast and crew performing, and I badly wanted to be a part of it. I tried to find a karaoke version of the song because I can't play ukulele, but there wasn't one to be found. I noticed the word “ukulele” in a post on Facebook, from my friend Meghan. I have known Meghan for many years, and have been in the same place at the same time as her many times, but we had only actually talked on a few occasions in all those years. I instant messaged her on the old FB, and it looked like this:
Luckily, she had a rehearsal space. So, I rigged up a makeshift P.A. with a mike and a Sirius boom box, and we had a number of rehearsals. We both had a lot of fun working on the song and chatting it up, and have since become closer friends. Meghan is one of the most intelligent, interesting, and enjoyable people I know, one of my top faves, and we came together through a song. Now we enjoy regular visits and great conversations. She calls them “walks” and they seem to involve movement, and being outside without a computer screen. It takes great conversation to get me around the block without taking a cab.
There were lots of great performances the night of the premiere, and a great time was had by all in attendance. It was such a thrill to finally get to perform Somewhere Over The Rainbow live. Meghan kicked ass. Thank God she tackled the tougher job. And of course, it was pure magic to watch the Ragged Isle Season 2 premiere on the big screen, and see everyone cheering the battleships and aircraft carriers!
For reasons I can't fully articulate now, as a kid, I was a huge fan of actor John Houseman. I considered him the epitome of talent and class. His commercials for Smith Barney just impressed the hell out of me. I'll admit I was kind of a weird kid, but see for yourself. The guy has... gravitas.
I also remember a series of commercials promoting a kids' art workshop called, "You Gotta Have Art." Various celebrities of the day would face the camera and say, "You gotta have art!" Only when it was John Houseman's turn, he said, in his perfect, clipped diction, "You've got to have art," as if the idea of uttering the grammatically suspect phrase so offended him, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
He also delivers the opening monologue to John Carpenter's The Fog, a movie that scared the devil out of me as an 11-year-old. (If you can't remember it, or if you've never seen it, you can watch the scene in question here.)
And even though I've known my buddy Rick Dalton (Sherrif Dalton on "Ragged Isle") for almost three years, I did not know until this weekend that he does a killer John Houseman impression. On Friday night, a few "Ragged Isle" cast members (some of whom you won't meet until season three) gathered to put together a shot-for-shot recreation of that opening scene from The Fog as a fun Halloween promo for "Ragged Isle."
You can watch the result below, and marvel (as we all did Friday night) at Mr. Dalton's dazzling gift for mimicry, while he somehow still makes the performance his own.
This was a ton of fun to shoot, and kudos to director Barry Dodd for getting it so amazingly close to the original.
All you need to know about the executive producer and co-creator of Ragged Isle can be summed up in this quick clip. I would argue that our series never would have happened or gotten finished at all without this one of a kind woman. Her dedication and attention to detail was an inspiration. Please join me in wishing her a very Happy Birthday!!
The online magazine The Snobby Robot describes itself as "dedicated to the web series community – covering series, showcasing talents, and learning how to succeed in new media." They serve up a lot of great coverage of a ton of great shows, and today we're proud to see our own Ragged Isle getting some attention.
