WIGS (web channel)

Last updated
WIGS
GenreScripted and Unscripted Web Series
Created by Jon Avnet and Rodrigo Garcia
Starring Julia Stiles
Troian Bellisario
Jennifer Beals
Kim Shaw
Sarah Jones
America Ferrera
Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Melonie Diaz
Laura Spencer
Caitlin Gerard
Maura Tierney
Rosanna Arquette
Catherine O'Hara
Jena Malone
No. of series3 in Season 2
13 in Season 1
No. of episodes
Scripted
100 in Season 1 and 2
Unscripted
11 in Season 1
Short films
7
Production
Production locations Culver City, California
Release
Original network http://www.watchwigs.com
Original releaseMay 14, 2012 (2012-05-14)

WIGS is a web channel, part of the YouTube Original Channel Initiative. [1] It presents web series, short films and documentaries about the lives of women. [2] WIGS targets a female audience. [3] Most videos are around five to ten minutes in length. [4]

Contents

The channel was co-created by Jon Avnet, producer of Black Swan and Risky Business , [5] and Rodrigo Garcia, who directed Albert Nobbs and In Treatment . [6]

History

Jon Avnet and Rodrigo Garcia developed and wrote a handful of series [7] and recruited writers and directors such as Lesli Linka Glatter, Rose Troche, Amy Lippman, [8] Marta Kauffman, [9] and Julia Stiles, [10] to direct projects for the channel. [11] They have recruited actors such as Jennifer Beals, Jena Malone, Troian Bellisario, and Julia Stiles.

WIGS officially launched on May 14, 2012. [11] The channel's first season includes 100 episodes of short films, series and documentaries. [11] "Jan," written and directed by Jon Avnet, was the first series released by WIGS. [12] While the channel's tagline "Where it gets interesting" does not fully match the acronym WIGS; on their website, the words "Where It Gets . . ." are used to begin to describe each series, and the last word is changed. For example, for the first series, "Jan," the tagline is, "Where It Gets Spicy." [13]

On February 19, 2013, Fox announced the launch of an event series and multiplatform programming department and a multiyear partnership with WIGS. [14] The multiyear programming, marketing and distribution pact with WIGS was intended to serve as an incubator for original content that can be programmed on Fox or other networks. [15] WIGS will fall under Fox's Shana C. Waterman's purview. [16]

In May 2013, WIGS celebrated its first anniversary and combined viewing figures of over 33 million. The channel was at that point YouTube's number one channel for scripted drama. [17]

Beginning in June 2013, WIGS released seven of its series ("Blue," [18] "Lauren," "Jan," "Christine," "Ruth & Erica," "Audrey," and "Vanessa & Jan") on Hulu under the FOX banner. [19] The series were recut into fewer, longer episodes for the new medium.

In September 2013, WIGS announced that "Blue" would return for a 3rd season, adding Eric Stoltz and Alexz Johnson to the cast. [20]

Series

The channel features series that follow the lives of different women. The stories include a poker player on a losing streak, a mother with a secret life and one that follows a woman on a series of speed dates. Many of them follow a woman's professional life, romance, war, or family structures. [21]

YearSeasonSeriesEpisode NumberCastAdditional Information
20131"Susanna"12 Anna Paquin, Maggie Grace Written and directed by Jon Avnet. [22]

A new mother must rely on her investment-banker sister to look after her and her baby after developing postpartum depression [23]

20131"Paloma"4 Grace Gummer, Rhys Coiro, Garret Dillahunt A young woman deals with the unpredictability of relationships—both in romance and in the workplace. Written and directed by Julia Stiles.
20132"Lauren"12 Troian Bellisario, Jennifer Beals, Bradley Whitford, Raymond Cruz, Sean Harmon, Mykelti Williamson, iJustine, Sarah Jones When a soldier reports an assault, she is forced to choose between what she loves and what’s right. Written by Jay Rodan and directed by Jon Avnet.
20133"Blue"40 Julia Stiles, Alexz Johnson, Uriah Shelton, David Harbour, Mark Consuelos, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Holly Robinson Peete, Kathleen Quinlan, Carla Gallo, James Morrison Blue is a mother with a secret life. She’ll do anything to keep it from her son. But her past has other plans. Written by Rodrigo Garcia and Karen Graci. Directed by Rodrigo Garcia.
20121"Ro"6 Melonie Diaz, Scott Michael Campbell, Christopher Carley, Colleen Foy, William Mapother, AJ Trauth, Jonathan Tucker A woman's attempt to shed her past and reinvent herself at a speed dating event is thwarted when she runs into her probation officer. Written by Mattie Brickman and directed by Patricia Cardoso.
20121"Gumdrop"Short Film Venti Hristova A robot's life story emerges during a casting session. Written by Kerry Conran and directed by Kerry Conran and Stephen Lawes.
20121"Mary"Short Film Melora Walters, Patrick Fabian, Eric Roberts An emergency room doctor is distressed when a familiar face is brought in for treatment. Written by Rodrigo Garcia and directed by Tracey Gallacher.
20121"Kendra"8 Sarah Jones, Kate Beahan, Bill Brochtrup, Jason Isaacs, Devaughn Nixon, Leland Orser, Sydney Poitier, Yaniv Rokah A post-op nurse experiences the world of the twilight room where painful secrets of her patients under anesthesia are revealed, and the consequences play out. Written by and directed by Jon Avnet.
20121"Audrey"6 Kim Shaw, Bobby Campo, Gary Cole, Arielle Kebbel, Amy Pietz A bubbly young woman tries to rise up the ranks in the culinary world, but her appetite for both love and haute cuisine complicates her journey. Written by Leah Rachel and directed by Betty Thomas.
20121"Celia"Short Film Allison Janney, Dakota Fanning A doctor is forced into an uncomfortable decision when her patient turns out to be the daughter of an old friend. Written by and directed by Rodrigo Garcia.
20121"Ruth & Erica"13 Maura Tierney, Lois Smith, Philip Baker Hall, Michael C. Hall, Steven Weber A woman struggles with her mother's reluctance to make the life changes necessary in light of her increasing frailty. Written by and directed by Amy Lippman.
20121"Georgia"3 Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Harold Perrineau, Nancy Carell, Mark Povinelli, Rusty Schwimmer, Debra Azar, Nikki McCauley, Jason Gedrick A yoga psychotherapist tries to bring some serenity into her clients' lives, and her own. Written by and directed by Marta Kauffman.
20121"Vanessa & Jan"6 Caitlin Gerard, Laura Spencer, Walton Goggins, Jimmy Wolk, Kevin Christy, David Del Rio, Adam Rose, Langston Fishburne A young woman brings her friend to a speed dating event and things go awry. Written by and directed by Jon Avnet.
20121"Rochelle"3 Rosanna Arquette, Nazanin Boniadi An ex-wife seeks revenge. Written by Scott Turow and directed by Rose Troche.
20121"Jennifer"Short Film Dana Davis, Dawnn Lewis, Mark Ivanir, Angelique Cabral, Ty Granderson Jones, Zubevi Khalifani In the near future, a tough job market results in a creative solution for handling dangerous convicted felons. Written and directed by Mykelti Williamson.
20121"Leslie"2 Catherine O'Hara, Anthony "Cass" Castelow An actress vying for the role of Mother Teresa sees a chance to play the part in her real life. Written by Mitch Albom and Jesse Nesser and directed by Mitch Albom.
20121"Lauren"3 Troian Bellisario, Jennifer Beals, Mike Serlin, Alex Smith, Justin Woods When a soldier reports an assault, she is forced to choose between what she loves and what's right. Written by Jay Rodan and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter.
20121"Christine"12 America Ferrera, Eric Balfour, Gary Dourdan, Josh Malina, Emily Rutherfurd, Corey Stoll A young woman on a nutty evening of speed dating. Written by and directed by Rodrigo Garcia.
20121"Dakota"3 Jena Malone, Michael Massee, Jason O’Mara A poker player on a short losing streak is invited to a high-stakes home game, but the stakes for her son are what matter most. Written and directed by Ami Canaan Mann.
20121"Allison"Short Film Marin Ireland, Joel Johnstone What happens when you go 90% of the way? Written and directed by Paul Brickman.
20121"Denise"Short Film Alison Pill, Chris Messina, T. Lynn Mikeska A girl helps a guy untangle his web of lies. Written by Neil LaBute and directed by Lee Toland Krieger.
20121"Serena"Short Film Jennifer Garner, Alfred Molina An aging actress. A forbidden lover. A wife who does 90%. Experience brief moments in the eclectic lives of these characters and more in our series of short films. Written by and directed by Rodrigo Garcia.
20121"Jan"15 Caitlin Gerard, Stephen Moyer, Virginia Madsen, Kyle Gallner, Jaime Murray, Laura Spencer Jan handles a camera like a pro. Now if only she can do the same with the seductive actor, her charismatic ex, and her prickly boss. Written by and directed by Jon Avnet.

Awards and accolades

YearSeasonSeriesAwardCategoryRecipients and NomineesOutcome
20121"Blue" IAWTV Best Female Performance Drama Julia Stiles Winner
20121"Lauren" IAWTV Best Female Performance Drama Troian Bellisario Nominee
20121"Lauren" Streamy Awards Best Drama SeriesN/ANominee
20121"Lauren" Streamy Awards Best Female Performance Drama Troian Bellisario Nominee
20121"Jan" Streamy Awards Best Director Jon Avnet Nominee
20121"Lauren" Writers Guild of America Outstanding Achievement in Writing Original New MediaJay RodanNominee
20121"Lauren"New York FestivalsBest Drama SeriesN/ANominee
20121"Blue"New York FestivalsBest Performance By An Actress Julia Stiles Nominee
20121"Lauren"New York FestivalsBest Performance By An Actress Troian Bellisario Winner
20132"Blue" IAWTV Best Drama SeriesN/ANominee
20132"Susanna" IAWTV Best Drama SeriesN/ANominee
20132"Blue" IAWTV Best Directing (Drama) Rodrigo Garcia Winner
20132"Lauren" IAWTV Best Directing (Drama) Jon Avnet Nominee
20132"Blue" IAWTV Best Female Performance (Drama) Julia Stiles Winner
20132"Lauren" IAWTV Best Female Performance (Drama) Troian Bellisario Nominee
20132"Susanna" IAWTV Best Female Performance (Drama) Maggie Grace Nominee
20132"Susanna" IAWTV Best Female Performance (Drama) Anna Paquin Nominee
20132"Blue" IAWTV Best Writing (Drama) Rodrigo Garcia Nominee
20132"Lauren" IAWTV Best Writing (Drama)Jay Rodan Jon Avnet Nominee
20132WIGS IAWTV Best Online ChannelN/AWinner
20132"Lauren" IAWTV Best Returning SeriesN/ANominee

Related Research Articles

Jennifer Beals American actress and model

Jennifer Beals is an American actress and former teen model. She made her film debut in My Bodyguard (1980), before receiving critical acclaim for her role in Flashdance (1983), for which she won NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.

Shepard Smith American television news anchor

David Shepard Smith Jr. is an American broadcast journalist for NBC News and CNBC, where he serves as chief general news anchor and hosts The News with Shepard Smith, a daily evening newscast launched in late September 2020. Smith is best known for his 23-year career at Fox News Channel, which he joined at its 1996 inception and where he served as chief anchor and managing editor of the breaking news division. Smith hosted several programs in his tenure at Fox News, including Fox Report, Studio B and Shepard Smith Reporting.

Julia Stiles American actress

Julia O'Hara Stiles is an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Stiles started acting at the age of 11 performing with New York's La Mama Experimental Theater Club. Her first film role was in ILove You, I Love You Not (1996), followed by a leading role in the thriller Wicked (1998) for which she was awarded the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Award for Best Actress. She gained prominence for her lead roles in teen films such as 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), for which she won the MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance and was nominated for two Teen Choice Awards; Down to You (2000) for which she was nominated for another two Teen Choice Awards; and Save the Last Dance (2001), winning the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress and receiving a nomination for the MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance.

Eric Stoltz American actor, director and film producer

Eric Cameron Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He played the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, and has appeared in a wide variety of films from mainstream including Some Kind of Wonderful to independent films such as Pulp Fiction, Killing Zoe, and Kicking and Screaming. He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in Pulp Fiction. In 2010, he portrayed Daniel Graystone in the science fiction television series Caprica, and became a regular director on the television series Glee.

<i>The Young Turks</i> American online news show

The Young Turks (TYT) is an American progressive and left-wing news commentary show on YouTube that additionally appears on selected television channels. TYT serves as the flagship program of the TYT Network, a multi-channel network of associated web series focusing on news and current events. TYT covers politics, lifestyle, pop culture, science, sport and other social topics. The program was created by Cenk Uygur, Ben Mankiewicz, and Dave Koller. Currently co-hosted by Uygur and Ana Kasparian, it is also often accompanied by various other in-studio contributors. The Young Turks began as a radio program that premiered on February 14, 2002, on Sirius Satellite Radio before launching a web series component in 2005 on YouTube; it was later carried on Air America.

Jason Acuña American stunt performer and television personality

Jason Shannon Acuña, better known by his stage name Wee Man, is an American stunt performer, television personality, professional skateboarder, and actor. He is one of the stars of Jackass and the host of Fox Sports Net's skateboarding show 54321. Acuña has achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism.

Mitchell Donald "Mitch" Hurwitz is an American television writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the television sitcom Arrested Development as well as the co-creator of The Ellen Show. He is also a contributor to The John Larroquette Show and The Golden Girls.

Rodrigo García (director) Colombian television and film director

Rodrigo García Barcha, more commonly known as Rodrigo García, is a Colombian television and film director, screenwriter and former cinematographer, best known for his films Nine Lives (2005), Mother and Child (2009), Albert Nobbs (2011), Last Days in the Desert (2015), as well as his work on the HBO drama series In Treatment. He also created, wrote, and directed the award-winning web series Blue (2012–2015), starring Julia Stiles, for which he won an IAWTV Award in 2014.

Kiliaen Drackett Van Rensselaer is an American business executive and philanthropist. Van Rensselaer is the founder and CEO of Insurrection Media.

FX Networks American mass media company owned by Disney

FX Networks, LLC, also referred to as FX Networks and FX Productions, is a company consisting of a network of cable channels plus a production company and a subsidiary of the Disney General Entertainment Content segment of The Walt Disney Company. Originally a part of 21st Century Fox, the company was acquired by The Walt Disney Company on March 20, 2019. Consequently, FX Networks was integrated into the newly renamed Walt Disney Television unit.

Jake and Amir is an American comedy duo made up of podcasters and former CollegeHumor writers Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld. The duo came into prominence in 2007 when they began writing and starring in the web series Jake and Amir. The program would later be picked up and produced by CollegeHumor. It portrays humorous versions of Jake and Amir, where Jake is usually depicted as a sensible "regular guy" and Amir as his annoying co-worker who engages in bizarre and sometimes surreal hijinks which involuntarily involve Jake, much to his chagrin.

YouTube TV is a streaming television service that offers live TV, on demand video and cloud-based DVR from more than 85 television networks, including the Big Three broadcast networks, FOX Network and PBS in most markets. It is owned by YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, and is only available in the United States.

Disney Channel (Dutch TV channel) Dutch edition of the Disney Channel

Disney Channel is the Dutch edition based on the American channel of the same name, owned by the Walt Disney Company. All content is dubbed in Dutch animated series animation series subtitled in Dutch The channel features a mix of original sitcoms, sometimes teen drama series, movies animation movies animated films and original movies. except for the programs that are produced in the Netherlands or Flanders. English audio is also available on the operators Ziggo, Canal Digitaal, TV Vlaanderen, Caiway, Proximus and Telenet. There are two different versions with local advertisements.

Dylan OBrien American actor (born 1991)

Dylan Rhodes O'Brien is an American actor. His first major role was Stiles Stilinski on the MTV supernatural drama Teen Wolf (2011–2017), where he was a series regular during all six seasons. He achieved further prominence for his lead role of Thomas in the Maze Runner science fiction film trilogy (2014–2018), which led to further film appearances. He played real-life Deepwater Horizon explosion survivor Caleb Holloway in the disaster film Deepwater Horizon (2016), fictional counterterrorist Mitch Rapp in the action thriller American Assassin (2017), and the title character in the Transformers installment Bumblebee (2018). He also appeared as the lead in the adventure film Love and Monsters (2020).

Shay Carl American video blogger and YouTube personality

Shay Carl Butler, known professionally as Shay Carl, is an American YouTube personality. Butler has three YouTube channels, two of which have over three million subscribers. Butler and Corey Vidal developed a documentary called Vlogumentary on a $200,000+ budget that was funded with an Indiegogo campaign and raised by mostly from his viewers. Vlogumentary was released on April 20, 2016. Forbes called Butler one of the "most successful video entrepreneurs on YouTube" and in 2011 The New York Times featured Butler's production company Maker Studios.

Vsauce YouTube brand created by Michael Stevens

Vsauce is a YouTube brand created by celebrity educator Michael Stevens. The channels feature videos on scientific, psychological, mathematical, and philosophical topics, as well as gaming, technology, popular culture, and other general interest subjects.

Philip DeFranco American YouTube personality

Philip James DeFranco, commonly known by his online nickname PhillyD, is an American news commentator and YouTube personality. He is best known for The Philip DeFranco Show, a news commentary show centered on current events in politics and pop culture.

Fullscreen, LLC is an American entertainment company which offers tools, services, and consultation to social media content creators and brands, multi-channel network. It is owned by Otter Media, a subsidiary of AT&T's WarnerMedia.

Blue is an American drama web series created by Rodrigo García and starring Julia Stiles. The pilot episode aired on June 11, 2012. It originally aired on the WIGS channel on YouTube but eventually streamed on Hulu, Fox.com, and WIGS' own website for its third season, which takes the form of four long-form episodes lasting 40–60 minutes rather than the shorter episodes of the first two seasons.

YouTube Creator Awards Awards issued by YouTube

YouTube Creator Awards, commonly known as YouTube Play Buttons or YouTube Plaques, are a series of awards from YouTube that aim to recognize its most popular channels. They are based on a channel's subscriber count but are offered at the sole discretion of YouTube. Each channel is reviewed before an award is issued, to ensure that the channel follows the YouTube community guidelines. YouTube reserves the right to refuse to hand out a Creator Award, which it has done for channels featuring horror or extremist political content.

References

  1. ↑ "YouTube Original Content Channels". YouTube . Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  2. ↑ Boorstin, Julia (2012-05-02). "YouTube Makes Pitch for Sports and Women". CNBC. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  3. ↑ Crupi, Anthony. "Fox Inks Partnership With YouTube's WIGS Channel". Adweek. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  4. ↑ Stone, Brad. "Must-See YouTube". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  5. ↑ Boorstin, Julia (2 May 2012). "YouTube Aims for 25 Hours of Original Content Per Day". USA Today . Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "Ladies First". The Daily . Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  7. ↑ Hale, Mike (4 October 2012). "YouTube Dramas Aimed At Women". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  8. ↑ Span, Paula (24 September 2012). "The Drama of Aging and Caregiving". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  9. ↑ Hurwitz, Daniel (17 September 2012). "'Friends' Co-Creator Ventures into Web TV". USA Today. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  10. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (2013-03-06). "Web Channel Wigs Orders Julia Stiles Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  11. 1 2 3 Acuna, Kristen. "FIRST LOOK: WIGS–The YouTube Channel That Will Change The Way We Watch TV". Business Insider. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  12. ↑ Goldsmith, Jill. "Google, YouTube Reveal Partners, Channels". Variety. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  13. ↑ Acuna, Kirsten. "FIRST LOOK: WIGS–The YouTube Channel That Will Change The Way We Watch TV". Business Insider. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  14. ↑ O'Connell, Michael. "Fox Restructures Programming With New Department, Partners With YouTube Channel". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  15. ↑ Stelter, Brian (20 February 2013). "Fox Broadcasting Partners With YouTube Channel". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
  16. ↑ Morabito, Andrea. "Fox Restructures Current Programming Team". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  17. ↑ Palumbo, Michael (May 3, 2013). "YouTube Flips Over Wigs at First Anniversary Party". Variety.
  18. ↑ Spangler, Todd. "Hulu Picks Up WIGS Series as Fox Expands Beyond YouTube". Variety.com. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  19. ↑ "Stream TV and Movies Live and Online" . Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  20. ↑ Abrams, Natalie (2013-09-17). "Exclusive First Look: Julia Stiles and Eric Stoltz Team Up for WIGS Season 3 in Blue". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  21. ↑ "WIGS on YouTube" . Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  22. ↑ Team, The Deadline (8 April 2013). "WIGS Greenlights 'Susanna' Starring Anna Paquin And Maggie Grace" . Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  23. ↑ Hurwitz, Daniel (16 June 2013). "TV on the Web: Anna Paquin's new blood". USA Today.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.