Digital Chick TV Announces Second Season of Critically Acclaimed Online Series Downsized

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New YORK ,New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) January 9, 2011 -- (NEW YORK, NY) Critically acclaimed web dramedy Downsized prepares for a second season with a fundraiser to support production costs of the socially relevant series.

Downsized is a made-for-the-web dramedy compared to “Up in the Air" and "Crash". Written and directed by female filmmaker Daryn Strauss, the show follows interconnected stories of several characters from different financial and cultural backgrounds as they adjust to lifestyle changes during the economic crisis, told with a mixture of realism and absurdity that earned creator Strauss the distinction of being named "a fresh and strong voice" in 2010. The series is filmed throughout New York and New Jersey.

Offering a variety of incentives for different levels of contributions including behind-the-scenes access, associate producer credit and a walk-on role, Downsized will be the first of many original online productions for Digital Chick TV (www.digitalchicktv.com), a web community created by Strauss to raise awareness for quality content by and for women in digital media. In 2011, Digital Chick TV endeavors to bring online audiences a series of smart, sophisticated, character-driven online video that highlights contemporary issues facing both women and men.

Visit http://www.indiegogo.com/downsized to make a contribution through February 15, 2010.

An Official Selection at the Cologne Conference 2010 in Germany along with HBO's Treme and AMC's Mad Men, Downsized was named one of YouTube’s Top 10 Made-for-the-Web Shows and was also nominated as Best Comedy (Serial) in Clicker.com's Best of 2010. Downsized is also one of the few scripted web series granted a partnership with YouTube.
 

Written and directed by Writers Guild scribe Daryn Strauss with photography and editing by NYU Tisch graduate Chris Shimojima, the cast includes TV/Broadway/film vets including Strauss, Chris Henry Coffey (upcoming film Trust with Clive Owen), Shannon Conley (Lez Zeppellin), Conan McCarty (Broadway’s A Few Good Men and Macbeth), Meredith Zinner (Erin Brockovich), Brian Keane (Primary Stages’ Obie nominated production of Happy Now?) Kaipo Schwab (Fair Game with Naomi Watts), Duncan Murdoch (FACE at the PIT) and Michele Mavissakalian.

Visit www.indiegogo.com/downsized to make a contribution through February 15, 2010.
 
The entire season to date can be viewed at:

www.downsizedthewebseries.com/viewepisodes

 or

http://www.youtube.com/show/downsized
 
REVIEWS
 
NewTeeVee, February  2010: A fresh and strong voice.
 
NewTeeVee, February 2010: Downsized represents an upgrade in episodic drama.
 
Daytime Confidential, February 2010: Think HBO’s Hung meets Up in the Air, only worthy of the hype.
 

Tubefilter, November 2009: an adept ensemble cast with no real weaknesses
 
Tubefilter, November 2009: believable writing
 
Tubefilter, November 2009: some of the most thoughtful visual compositions you’ll find in any web series, the style of which perhaps most defines Downsized’s quietly moody atmosphere
 
Tubefilter, November 2009: Downsized has succeeded in giving relevant drama a home on the web.
 
Visioweb.Tv: Downsized is beautifully crafted and shot as well as perfectly acted.
 
Visioweb.Tv : In these times, the show Downsized is right on the mark.
 
BIO

Daryn Strauss (Beth) (Director, Writer, Producer)

Named “a fresh and strong voice” by NewTeeVee in 2010 for her work as creator of the critically acclaimed online series DOWNSIZED, which was an Official Selection of the prestigious Cologne Conference 2010, Daryn Strauss has been profiled in Script Magazine, Clicker and Web Series Network. In 2010, she was a guest on GRITtv with Laura Flanders, TV Talk Radio, Indie Intertube, and On the Road with Leah. She has a recurring role in the upcoming season of award winning web dramedy Then We Got Help.

One of the first twenty-two digital media signatories to the Writers Guild of America, East in 2009, Daryn is an avid supporter of equal rights in programming content, so she is very happy to provide a home for online content geared for women, Digital Chick TV (www.digitalchicktv.com). 

Daryn is also an Associate Member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

digital media     downsizing     economic crisis     feminism     film finance     fundraiser     new jersey     women filmmakers