New Renaissance Pictures is an independent production and distribution company for film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

, television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

, and the web

New media

New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community...

, established in 2005. Since its inception, New Renaissance Pictures has been involved with a variety of groundbreaking new media projects, including WebSerials.com and the multimedia experience The Black Dawn

The Black Dawn

The Black Dawn is a post-apocalyptic, science fiction multimedia project produced by New Renaissance Pictures. The franchise spans a feature film, TV series, web series, short film, comic book, and videoblogs...

.

History

New Renaissance Pictures launched as one of the first online distributors of short films. By 2006, the company was producing and distributing a variety of award-winning films, including Be the Man (Best African-American Film, DGA Student Film Awards), Wednesday (Jimmy Stewart Crystal Heart Award, Heartland Film Festival) and A Shopping Cart Named Desire (Cinematic Film2Music Competition at the Sundance Film Festival). Also in 2006, the site began to offer HD downloads of select productions. Following the success of Be the Man, New Renaissance once again collaborated with writer/director Matthew Jones on the short film Choices, a drama about a teen preparing to end her unplanned pregnancy.

The company produced its first feature film, The Deserted, in 2006 and followed up that production with two serialized features for the web: Project X

Project X (web serial)

Project X is weekly web serial produced by New Renaissance Pictures. It is distributed by WebSerials.com and available on YouTube. Project X consists of 24 episodes, each about 5 minutes in length. As of October 2009, the show had more than 1 million views...

and Cataclysmo and the Time Boys

Cataclysmo and the Time Boys

Cataclysmo and the Time Boys is weekly web serial produced by New Renaissance Pictures. It is distributed by WebSerials.com and is available on YouTube and the Vuze network. Cataclysmo and the Time Boys consists of 24 episodes, each about 5 minutes in length. As of October 2009, the serial had more...

. These two productions formed the foundation for WebSerials.com — another division of the Sikora Media Group, launched as a home for serialized web entertainment. YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

 considered these early productions "some of the best dramas the web has to offer." WebSerials.com proved to be a major success, as one of the premiere sites for popular web series, prompting New Renaissance to produce not only a sequel to the highly-popular Cataclysmo but also additional serials for the site.

In 2009, New Renaissance completed its groundbreaking multimedia experience The Black Dawn

The Black Dawn

The Black Dawn is a post-apocalyptic, science fiction multimedia project produced by New Renaissance Pictures. The franchise spans a feature film, TV series, web series, short film, comic book, and videoblogs...

— a post-apocalyptic, science-fiction drama that spans a feature film

Feature film

In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...

, TV series, web serial

Web series

A web series is a series of episodes released on the Internet or also by mobile or cellular phone, and part of the newly emerging medium called web television. A single instance of a web series program is called an episode .While the popularity of web series is continuing to rise, the concept...

, short film, comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

, and videoblogs. The cross-platform, story-driven experience gives viewers an unprecedented level of interactivity as they unravel the mystery and follow the characters within the world of The Black Dawn.

Also in 2009, New Renaissance sponsored the first annual Film Music Guild Conference, a forum designed to connect filmmakers and composers and inspire greater community and creativity. Guests included director Pete Docter of Pixar's

Pixar

Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...

 Up

Up (2009 film)

Up is a 2009 American computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and presented in Disney Digital 3-D. The film premiered on May 29, 2009 in North America and opened the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first animated and 3D film...

& Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc. is a 2001 American computer-animated film and the fourth feature-length film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It was directed by Pete Docter, co-directed by Lee Unkrich and David Silverman, and written by Jill Culton, Peter Docter, Ralph Eggleston, Dan Gerson, Jeff Pidgeon, Rhett...

and John Ottman

John Ottman

John Ottman is an American film editor, composer and director.He is best known for his collaborations with film director Bryan Singer, acting as film editor and composing the scores for The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil, X2: X-Men United, Superman Returns and most recently...

, the editor & composer of films such as Superman Returns

Superman Returns

Superman Returns is a 2006 superhero film directed by Bryan Singer. It is the fifth and final installment in the original Superman film series and serves as a alternate sequel to Superman and Superman II by ignoring the events of Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace .The film stars...

 & Valkryie

Valkyrie (film)

Valkyrie is a 2008 American historical thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the 20 July plot in 1944 by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country...

.

In August 2010, New Renaissance Pictures launched a new web

Web series

A web series is a series of episodes released on the Internet or also by mobile or cellular phone, and part of the newly emerging medium called web television. A single instance of a web series program is called an episode .While the popularity of web series is continuing to rise, the concept...

 sitcom called "Best Laid Plans

Best Laid Plans (sitcom)

Best Laid Plans is a completely improvised sitcom produced by New Renaissance Pictures. The show is produced without a script thanks to an ensemble cast of improv performers that includes Jesse GrothOlson and Joshua Adam Snyder...

." The show is completely improvised by the ensemble cast without the use of any scripts.

New Renaissance Pictures continues to develop and produce new content for film, television, and the web.

See also

• Project X
  Project X (web serial)
  Project X is weekly web serial produced by New Renaissance Pictures. It is distributed by WebSerials.com and available on YouTube. Project X consists of 24 episodes, each about 5 minutes in length. As of October 2009, the show had more than 1 million views...
  
  
• Cataclysmo and the Time Boys
  Cataclysmo and the Time Boys
  Cataclysmo and the Time Boys is weekly web serial produced by New Renaissance Pictures. It is distributed by WebSerials.com and is available on YouTube and the Vuze network. Cataclysmo and the Time Boys consists of 24 episodes, each about 5 minutes in length. As of October 2009, the serial had more...
  
  
• The Black Dawn
  The Black Dawn
  The Black Dawn is a post-apocalyptic, science fiction multimedia project produced by New Renaissance Pictures. The franchise spans a feature film, TV series, web series, short film, comic book, and videoblogs...
  
  
• Best Laid Plans
  Best Laid Plans (sitcom)
  Best Laid Plans is a completely improvised sitcom produced by New Renaissance Pictures. The show is produced without a script thanks to an ensemble cast of improv performers that includes Jesse GrothOlson and Joshua Adam Snyder...
  
  

External links

• Official site
• New Renaissance Pictures on the Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...