Web-based Strike.tv tries to stand out in crowded field
— -- For Hollywood scribe Peter Hyoguchi, it was just another day on last year's Writers Guild picket line when the idea hit him like an earthquake.
Actually, he was thinking about a specific tremor: the 1994 Northridge jolt that sent him and neighbors, once perfect strangers, into the streets and each other's lives.
"The writers' strike was like that in that it made us realize that we writers do have a community, and we could maybe band together," he says. "And that's Strike.tv."
As entertainment website names go, there are monikers more wacky (funnyordie.com) and obtuse (hulu .com), but at least this one never lets you forget its roots. Launched a few weeks ago after months of planning and (donated) labor on the part of writers, producers, actors and computer wizards, Strike.tv leaps into the maw of Internet-based content with a few bragging points.
For anyone used to watching small, fuzzy videos, Strike.tv's HD-quality 16:9 format player offers welcome eyeball relief. And there's no trolling through home-grown videos before getting to the good stuff, thanks to the site's professionals-only credo.
"I was going crazy during the strike, so when I got e-mail asking if I wanted to participate, I said sure," says screenwriter Steven de Souza (Die Hard, Judge Dredd). He says the industry strike's focus — increased pay when content goes online — got him thinking about the medium.
"It was an adjustment for me with the videos being so short," he says. "But in a way, we're back to the days of the nickelodeon. Put in 5 cents, see a short reel, you're done."
De Souza's series on Strike.tv, one of dozens the site has in the works, is Unknown Sender. It aims to give the viewer the sensation of stumbling across a private video.
Actors include former Bond star Timothy Dalton, who says, "When Steven asked me to do this, I thought, 'Well, this is what our future will be.' It was quick. Joanne (Whalley) and I were out of there in an hour. It was fun. But best of all, it was all very professional."
