The Weddreams curse

[RawAlex]

Just one of those odd things... I got an IM today from someone (you know who you are!) mentioning a recent deal. Oddly, it clicked something in my mind:

Many of the people who appeared on the first couple of seasons of Canadian Showcase show "Webdreams" has disappeared out of the business, or has just gone really, really quiet. This latest deal was just another one of them dropping quietly into silence.

Is it a curse? I know Vid Vicious is still at it, and Mark Prince, well, Violet Manson's site redirects to a flower seller, from what I can see. Hmmm.

Anybody got an idea about this stuff?

[softball]

They trolled the boards looking for free talent a few years back. I strongly advised against it because there was no quid pro quo. Guys like Farrel Timlake and a buncha others said I was nuts. Then they came around and recruited in Vancouver. I did the same thing. More folks thought I was nuts.
No one got anything out of the show except the producers who got free talent. And yeah, the local people around here did not do well and some are gone.
The whole thing was a scam from the get go. They pitched it as a documentary, so they couldnt pay. In fact it is just another cheesy tv series but with free talent.

[DannyCox]

"Webdreams" was originally supposed to be a reality show about Carol and I, and the kids! They wanted to show Carol's day to day life, mixed in with the business. Needless to say, she said no. Season 1 was almost all ex-employees and people we knew locally. We set up most of the show in my offices!

No one got a thing from being on the show, except for a little local notoriety in their areas. It was mainly an ego-stroke for everyone. Season 1 wasn't bad, but all just a big set-up. Season 2 was just plain awful with no one coming across well. I felt embarrassed to be in this industry after watching the Season 2 "talent". Season 3 never really got off the ground as they really had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find people. but as Alex mentioned, very few people who have been on that show are actually doing anything anymore. Some are promoting themselves like big time "playas" because of the show, but that just not true in almost all cases.

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by DannyCox

"Webdreams" was originally supposed to be a reality show about Carol and I, and the kids! They wanted to show Carol's day to day life, mixed in with the business. Needless to say, she said no. Season 1 was almost all ex-employees and people we knew locally. We set up most of the show in my offices!

No one got a thing from being on the show, except for a little local notoriety in their areas. It was mainly an ego-stroke for everyone. Season 1 wasn't bad, but all just a big set-up. Season 2 was just plain awful with no one coming across well. I felt embarrassed to be in this industry after watching the Season 2 "talent". Season 3 never really got off the ground as they really had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find people. but as Alex mentioned, very few people who have been on that show are actually doing anything anymore. Some are promoting themselves like big time "playas" because of the show, but that just not true in almost all cases.

And I have to laugh at those companies... you know who you are that made this the cornerstone of their PR and marketing pitch as successful.

I guess when the big years celebration is drinking a beer from the mini bar in Miami that kinda sums itself up.

[softball]

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.

[pornlaw]

Season 3 never really got off the ground as they really had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find people. but as Alex mentioned, very few people who have been on that show are actually doing anything anymore.

Thanks.... I was on season three....

[DannyCox]

Sorry Michael, I was talking about the producers and "talent" they featured, not the people who just popped up here and there.

They only ran Season 3 once, and it lost its viewership rather quickly. Showcase ended up scrapping the reruns of it they planned, and from what I have heard, the Production Company can't sell the 3rd season to anyone. No one wants it.

[RawAlex]

It really does say something when showcase scraps reruns, because that is about the only way they ever break even on productions.

[DannyCox]

We were commenting just last weekend on how the only thing that Showcase is showing on reruns is Season 1. They gave up on Season 2 for their own reruns and is now showing Season 2, late at night, on IFC. As far as i know, there are no plans to rerun Season 3 since the ratings and reviews were abysmal.

There are also no plans for a Season 4...

[softball]

Originally Posted by DannyCox

We were commenting just last weekend on how the only thing that Showcase is showing on reruns is Season 1. They gave up on Season 2 for their own reruns and is now showing Season 2, late at night, on IFC. As far as i know, there are no plans to rerun Season 3 since the ratings and reviews were abysmal.

There are also no plans for a Season 4...

Good. Those guys were scammers from the get go. Just mho....

[2muchmark2]

Rawalex:
Many of the people who appeared on the first couple of seasons of Canadian Showcase show "Webdreams" has disappeared out of the business, or has just gone really, really quiet.

I tend to agree but then again, just about everyone in the show was struggling to "make it". DAve Angelo was tired of being a dancer and tried to make his website a success, got dicked out of being a producer, etc. Malezia tried her thing and failed. I'm not sure what Dugmor is doing these days.

rhetorical:
The whole thing was a scam from the get go

Not at all. When they approached us they said right up front that there was no pay check, and were very honest with me when they (producers, writers etc) told me they were being paid, and that Showcase would hopefully run the show for years. There was no scam whatsoever.

However what I did do was let them know that we would do it in exchange for heavy promotion of our name. If you watch the show, you see "2Much" and "LiveCamNetwork" signs in the background, the names mentioned in the voice overs and by the characters, and even close-ups of the coffee cups everyone was drinking from. This product placement is worth far more than any flat rate or salary they could have offered us.

DannyCox:
No one got a thing from being on the show, except for a little local notoriety in their areas. It was mainly an ego-stroke for everyone

It was definately an ego stroke at first. We felt like movie stars being followed around by the cameras, and there was definately a little notoriety too, but whats wrong with that? Working with the Galafilm crew was a very pleasant experience. They were nice, smart, and very respectful of our limits. They helped us out just as much as we helped them. It was probably one of the best deals I have ever had the pleasure to be a part of.

And speaking of Noteriety: Go to Internet Movie Database (IMDB dot com) and look up Webdreams. (Gonzo don't look - you'll puke!)

Gonzo:
And I have to laugh at those companies... you know who you are that made this the cornerstone of their PR and marketing pitch as successful. I guess when the big years celebration is drinking a beer from the mini bar in Miami that kinda sums itself up.

Hi Gonzo! Glad you can see that you can't go one day without getting a raging hard-on for me. I'd be flattered if I wasn't so creeped out!

RawAlex:
It really does say something when showcase scraps reruns, because that is about the only way they ever break even on productions

Maybe, but come on. The show first aired in 2005, and was FINALLY taken off of Showcase in 2009 (but continus on IFC and Showcase Diva I think). I don't know why it's been on for so long.

I think overall though the public's interest in the adult industry died years ago. Maybe it was because adult continued to do well after the .com bubble burst in 2001, who knows.

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by 2muchmark2

Hi Gonzo! Glad you can see that you can't go one day without getting a raging hard-on for me. I'd be flattered if I wasn't so creeped out!

You should be flattered that I recommended your product to a purchaser as the best thing on the market regardless of what I think of how you or your Media Guy have conducted yourselves over the years.

[softball]

When they approached us they said right up front that there was no pay check

They also told those "smaller guys" involved that they were like Survivor where no one got paid. Flat out lie, which I pointed out on a web board.
You might have been astute enough to get some product placement, but they disallowed or cut it out for most. They hedged on the distribution which they implied was world wide.
I don't like to see our tax dollars paying for media scam artists (imho....disclaimer). They lied to just about everyone that they were making documentary television, when in fact they were making another tv series. They also stirred up a lot of shit for the entertainment value it produced. No documentary producer would do this.
I still say there was never the quid pro quo they implied. If you got it, cudos. Those who had stars in their eyes got the shaft.
I was in the tv business for many years and I have seen how bozos operate. It embarrassed me.

[Mediaguy]

Originally Posted by rhetorical

They also told those "smaller guys" involved that they were like Survivor where no one got paid. Flat out lie, which I pointed out on a web board.
You might have been astute enough to get some product placement, but they disallowed or cut it out for most. They hedged on the distribution which they implied was world wide.
I don't like to see our tax dollars paying for media scam artists (imho....disclaimer). They lied to just about everyone that they were making documentary television, when in fact they were making another tv series. They also stirred up a lot of shit for the entertainment value it produced. No documentary producer would do this.
I still say there was never the quid pro quo they implied. If you got it, cudos. Those who had stars in their eyes got the shaft.
I was in the tv business for many years and I have seen how bozos operate. It embarrassed me.

They sold it to me as a "docu-soap". They weren't coming off as "serious" documentary filmmakers but as using the reality concept as a series for entertainment goals. They tried to be "documentary" as much as possible and from what I saw got it mostly on the fly. Only once did they ask me to explain something to someone for the benefit of the camera and their narrative, and actually used it.

Also, at least during the production phase, they never implied to me anything about world distribution - they were quite open about just getting the Canadian and hoping the concept would sell to an American company. (Then again I did ask lots of questions and screened them like any company that wants to cover us just to make sure their agenda isn't to demonize us...)

Anyhow, we're still getting calls from people who saw us (or who claim their brother or teenage son saw us) on TV and would like to know a little more. Might not have paid off in spades, but it paid off, and adds a little to the overall PR strategy.

[softball]

Originally Posted by Mediaguy

They sold it to me as a "docu-soap". They weren't coming off as "serious" documentary filmmakers but as using the reality concept as a series for entertainment goals. They tried to be "documentary" as much as possible and from what I saw got it mostly on the fly. Only once did they ask me to explain something to someone for the benefit of the camera and their narrative, and actually used it.

Also, at least during the production phase, they never implied to me anything about world distribution - they were quite open about just getting the Canadian and hoping the concept would sell to an American company. (Then again I did ask lots of questions and screened them like any company that wants to cover us just to make sure their agenda isn't to demonize us...)

Anyhow, we're still getting calls from people who saw us (or who claim their brother or teenage son saw us) on TV and would like to know a little more. Might not have paid off in spades, but it paid off, and adds a little to the overall PR strategy.

That is not the public pitch nor was it how it played out for most. Hey they got our tax dollars and made some money. Media welfare sluts.