We Are One: A Global Film Festival- Web Series Review

By Lauren Atkins, Founder, NYC Webfest

Along with feature films and shorts, We Are One: A Global Film Festival also included web content. Having screened hundreds of web series for NYC Web Fest over the past 6 years, I was excited to see the offerings for this festival. The three web series selections are, Jaws: Assembling a Top Tier Team by LFTS (feat. TierZoo), The Stories That Prepared Us,and Sébastien Tellier on Paris’ rooftop | A Take Away Show.

Jaws: Assembling a Top Tier Team by LFTS (feat. TierZoo)

This joint venture comes from YouTubers Lessons From The Screenplay (LFTS)and TierZoo. Together, they have a combined subscriber count of over 3 million and the collaboration did not disappoint.

On paper, it almost doesn’t make sense that the two could create a video together.

LFTS describes themselves as “making videos that analyze movie scripts to examine exactly how and why they are so good at telling their stories,” while TierZoo “makes videos breaking down the stats of animals and ranking their power from f to s, the highest ranking in gaming.”

The two combined forces to “grade” the assembling of the team assigned to kill the great white shark in Jaws. It’s a fun character analysis of Police Chief Brody played by Roy Scheider, and his rag-tag team which includes local expert Quint, (Robert Shaw) and Marine Biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss).

The episode is charming and clever while taking the viewer back to 1975’s Jaws — the original summer blockbuster.

The Stories That Prepared Us

The next web series comes from another YouTuber Jack Nugent ofNow You See It, a film analysis channel that searches for meaning in unexpected places. Jack has a following of nearly 900,000 subscribers.

Nugent and co-director Andrew Fernandez look to films from the past and present as a way of dissecting the coronavirus pandemic. Their statement: “We live in an unprecedented time. In moments of change like this one, it helps to look to our favorite stories for ways to cope. Let’s see how film helps us understand what it means to be alone, how to hold leaders accountable, and what we can do to protect one another.”

What’s impressive is how MANY films they dig up to get their point across. Contagion, Jaws, The Martian, Outbreak, Monsters Inc., and The Big Short to name a few. The episode is only just over eight minutes, but it’s a roller coaster ride into film history.

Sébastien Tellier on Paris’ rooftop | A Take Away Show

After two months of lockdown, French artist Sébastien Tellier serenades Paris from one of its highest point of view: the roof of Le Théâtre du Châtelet, in the heart of the city. In his unexpected celestial promenade at sunset, he shares a couple of new songs in their purest acoustic forms as well as a famous jewel from the past : La Ritournelle, recorded with beloved drummer Tony Allen.

This episode is 9 minutes of pure bliss. The rooftop overlooking Paris at sunset, the quiet quarantined streets, and of course, the soothing sound of Sébastien Tellier’s voice. It is a soothing balm that just for a moment, takes away from the coronavirus pandemic and the unrest taking place around the world. Complete with Chanel sunglasses and a pearl rimmed baseball cap, Tellier is the epitome of cool, calm, and collected.

Created in 2003, La Blogothèque is a French production company dedicated to creating original and intimate musical films. Their Take Away Show series enabled them to produce thousands of hours of live music videos celebrating artists from all over the world. From live broadcast television to award winning films, their work has garnered worldwide attention and has built a lifelong community around them for those who love to experience music in a different way.

The only disappointment — if you can call it that, is that there isn’t more web content featured at We Are One: A Global Film Festival. Especially with YouTube as the official partner. Many of the film festivals featured at We Are One have a category for web creators, and it would have been nice to see more of that here. Having said that, the three selections mentioned above are solid, entertaining and vastly different.

Originally published at https://behindtherabbitproductions.wordpress.com on June 5, 2020.