Urban Wolf

Urban Wolf is an award-winning online non-verbal drama series, with 15 webisodes of 4 minutes long each.

Urban Wolf
GenreScience fiction Thriller
Created byLaurent Touil-Tartour
Directed byLaurent Touil-Tartour
StarringVincent Sze
ComposerThierry Caroubi
Country of originFrance / United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes15
Production
Executive producerNapoleon Premiere
ProducerLaurent Touil-Tartour
Production locationParis
Camera setupYves Dahan
Running time58 mn
DistributorApple, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Release
Original networkApple, Crackle
Picture format16/9
Audio format5.1 Dolby Digital
First shown inComic-Con 2009, San Diego
Original releaseMay 13, 2010 on Sony's www.crackle.com
External links
Website

The movie was written, produced and directed by Laurent Touil-Tartour.[1]

The world premiere and first public screening of the show took place at Comic-Con 2009, in San Diego.

In 2009, at the 4th Annual Los Angeles Independent Television Festival Urban Wolf won the Award for Best Drama.[2] And in 2011, during the 15th Annual Webby Awards Urban Wolf won the People's Voice Award for Best Drama.[3] It also has been selected for the 2009 AFI DigiFest by the American Film Institute as "one of the most compelling example of new media storytelling".[4]

On March 31, 2010, Sony Pictures Entertainment officially announces a groundbreaking worldwide distribution deal for the series.[5] The show premiered on Sony Pictures Entertainment owned Crackle on May 13, 2010.[6] Then Sony Pictures syndicated the series in a multi-platform footprint including: YouTube, hulu, the PlayStation Network, Google TV, the Bravia Network, Animax, AXN, AT&T, Sprint, etc.

On October 19, 2012, Apple releases an exclusive and innovative mobile app edition of Urban Wolf available on its 172 iTunes App Stores worldwide for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.[7] The Urban Wolf app edition features the entire 15 episodes of the series in HD and also offers an outstanding wealth of exclusive bonus feature to the next-gen format with in-depth background information. These extra materials function similarly to the extras section on a DVD box set.[8]

Plot

Season 1 (2009)

The plot focuses mainly on an American tourist freshly landed at Paris airport in France who is pursued and terrorized by a malevolent security camera operator.

Awards and nominations

Awards

Nominations

Honorees
  • 2011 Webby Award – Official Honoree for "Best Individual Performance" at the 15th Annual Webby Awards.[12]

Reception

The series has received overwhelmingly enthusiastic critical reception. Journalist and critic Hugh Hart, writing for Wired Magazine noted: "Laurent Touil-Tartour exploits sharp edits, a driving score and spare cinematography to extract maximum tension and an handsomely filmed suspense drama.”[13] Hugh Hart also enjoyed the usage of non-verbal storytelling: "Not a word gets spoken in Urban Wolf. But even without dialogue, French filmmaker Laurent Touil-Tartour has made an unusually sophisticated spy-tech thriller.”[13]

Critic Jandy Stone Hardesty, in her review for Row Three, said that Touil-Tartour has “a nice flair for composition and a good sense of visual storytelling, he also knows how to do good twists and suggest things rather than spell them out, something I really appreciated.”[14] William Bibbiani, in CraveOnline, called it "an exciting little bit of filmmaking that deserves its notoriety and is worth howling about”,[15] and Liz Shannon Miller writing in GigaOM wrote that "“Urban Wolf is a gripping thriller that stands out as proudly unique. Some of Wolf‘s execution might emulate classic 1970s thrillers, but the concept is pure 21st century, playing nimbly with issues of privacy and paranoia. When a director can make even the eating of a potato chip seem malevolent (as occurs in the yet-to-premiere episode 7), you know you’ve watching something special.”[16]

Reviewing it for the Mingle Media TV Network, journalist Kristyn Burtt wrote: "The reason this series stands out amongst the pack is its cinematic feel and the utilization of mise en scene. You don't hear the main character utter a word until Episode 7, and boy, is it effective.”[17]

Awarding the film a five out of five star rating, Feo Amante's film critic E.C.McMullen Jr. wrote: "The tension from episode to episode is incredible and Laurent just keeps ramping it up. With its beautiful settings (shot in Paris, France), excellent cinematography, and super tight, witty action, this could very well define the future of online cinema. I'm not kidding! URBAN WOLF is a Turbo Thrust Cat and Mouse Thriller with a V8 engine!”[18]

Characters and cast

Urban Wolf

Actor Vincent Sze plays the role of Justin Case.

References
  1. http://filmnewsbriefs.com/2009/12/fnb-innovators-laurent-tartour/
  2. "The 2009 ITVFest winners are..."
  3. "Urban Wolf winner of the Best Drama Webby Awards 2011". Archived from the original on 2011-04-14. Retrieved 2011-04-14.
  4. "AFI DigiFest Most Compelling Films of 2009".
  5. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cracklecom-launches-acclaimed-international-suspense-web-series-urban-wolf-89626007.html
  6. Hart, Hugh (March 31, 2010). "Spy Thriller Urban Wolf Crackles With Tension (But Without Words)". Wired.
  7. "Apple presents Urban Wolf". Apple. October 19, 2012.
  8. "Webby-winning series Urban Wolf comes to iOS". The AppSide. October 22, 2012.
  9. "2009 Dragon*Con Awards Winners".
  10. "Urban Wolf at the MIT Media Lab".
  11. "Urban Wolf nominated for Best Drama at The Webby Awards 2011". Archived from the original on 2011-04-14. Retrieved 2011-04-14.
  12. "Urban Wolf distinguished as an Official Honoree for "Best Individual Performance at the Webby Awards 2011".
  13. Wired Magazine (March 31, 2010). "Spy Thriller Urban Wolf Crackles With Tension (But Without Words)". wired.com. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
  14. Jandy Hardesty (May 16, 2010). "Urban Wolf is watching you". rowthree.com. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  15. William Bibbiani (May 12, 2010). "Urban Wolf review". craveonline.com. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  16. Liz Shannon Miller (May 13, 2010). "Urban Wolf a Near-Perfect 21st Century Thriller". gigaom.com. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
  17. Kristyn Burtt (May 17, 2010). "Urban Wolf behind the scenes". The Web Files. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  18. E.C.McMullen Jr. (May 14, 2010). "Urban Wolf review". feoamante.com. Retrieved 2010-05-14.
Further Reading

Interview with Laurent Touil-Tartour

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