Ruby Skye PI (Web Series) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Ruby Skye PI is a Canadian web series created by Jill Golick

Jill Golick

Jill Golick is a Canadian screenwriter, story editor, digital creator and blogger.Golick was born in Montreal, Quebec. She attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and is a graduate of the Canadian Film Centre. She lives and works in Toronto.She writes primarily for convergent or...

. The first season, The Spam Scam, aired on youtube over the course of a few months and has since been shown on Koldcast, Vimeo, blip.tv, DigitalChickTV, Clicker and MinglemediaTV. Ruby Skye PI has earned nods from numerous festivals, including the ITN Festival, the Banff World Media Festival, and the LA Web Festival. The web series follows the detective work of Ruby Skye as she tries to uncover the source of the Nigerian spam scam which appears to be right in her neighbourhood. With numerous people depending on her for their money back, Ruby sets out to investigate but gets into trouble along the way. The Spam Scam is just the first story in the Ruby Skye-verse, with the second season slated to come some time this year.

Cast and Characters

Madison Cheeatow as Ruby Skye, budding detective.
Marlee Maslove as Hailey Skye, advocate for a water bottle ban, tech wizard and Ruby's little sister.
Kevin Gutierrez as Griffin Lane, Ruby's best friend.
Elena Gorgevska as Diana Noughton, the one who mysteriously hates Ruby Skye.
Ali Adatia as Vinnie, the new janitor at the Dragon Academy.
Ryan Egan as Flint Shearson, Ms. Springer's new beau.
Nawa Nicole Simon as Ms. Springer, former military commander, avid bird watcher and computer teacher.
Kirklynne Garrett as Mrs. Gooje, Ruby's neighbour.
Raj Verman as Gary, owner of the local ice cream shop.
Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll as Griffin's Father, an unemployed musician.
Pui-Ling Tam as Constable Officer
Sarah Higgins as Library Woman
Laska Sawade as Shop Keeper

Production

Ruby Skye P.I. is the brainchild of digital pioneer Jill Golick

Jill Golick

, and is directed by Kelly Harms

Kelly Harms

Kelly Harms is a Canadian director, producer, and actor who was born on April 27, 1974 in Barrhead, Alberta and currently resides in Toronto, Canada. His most recent film is Cursing Hanley, which premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. He is close friends with Bruce...

and produced by the powerhouse team of Karen Walton

Karen Walton

Karen Walton is a Canadian screenwriter.A native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Karen Walton wrote the film Ginger Snaps, for which she won a Best Film Writing Canadian Comedy Award in 2002. She later wrote for the Canadian television series What It's Like Being Alone...

, Kerry Young and Golick under the flag of her company, Story2.OH. Golick and Julie Strassman-Cohn, Golick's writing partner, crafted the story and then developed the character of Ruby to go along with it. They applied to the Independent Production Fund and then wrote the scripts when they had the money for it. They had the green light from IPF on June 18th 2010 and shot all 12 episodes in early August of that year.

Transmedia

Ruby Skye P.I. has a unique relationship with its audience in that the creators are immediately accessible. They have a dedicated twitter account, facebook group, Tumblr account and youtube page. Their official website allows audience members to interact with the show, from reading blog entries relating to content to playing games of rock, paper, scissors. Despite their openness, Jill Golick, speaking at a Writers Guild of Canada event, said of Ruby Skye's audience that they "created opportunities on the website for our audience to participate and be part of a community and we'll do that much more with the storytelling next time around".

Critical Reception

Those Video Guys states that “Madison Cheeatow is a fantastic actress and she really has the charisma to hold together a series that is purely based on her and her character.”. James Floyd Kelly, part of GeekDad on Wired.com, had this to say about this series: "As I continued to watch the series and be introduced to key characters, I was happy to see that the character of Ruby (and her friends and family) don’t seem to fall into stereotypes." Kelly went onto say that "have to give credit to the team that has developed Ruby Skye, P.I. — it’s got to be very hard to write, film, and release a show for young adults that doesn’t take the easy route to try to get our kids’ attentions. With so many television shows containing violence, sex, and harsh language, it’s actually quite nice to watch a well-written and professionally edited web series. The dialogue is realistic (you won’t find those 2-minute-long monologues here), the mystery is interesting (and based on a real-world scam), and the characters are likable." Clicker.com likens Ruby Skye P.I. to hit teen shows from the 1990s. They said: "The mysteries may be silly—ranging from a Nigerian money scam to a sham wedding—but you feel it every time Ruby makes a mistake, or when her friends turn on her a la “Harriet.” And true to those wonderful ‘90s shows, the adults are hilariously bumbling and over the top, from villains to supporting characters."

IPF executive director Andra Sheffer spoke of Ruby Skye P.I.'s building audience: “it’s not like TV or film, where you have the launch night and sit back, hoping the audience comes. This is the continual building of an audience.”

Awards

New York Television Festival - Best Family Pilot
Interactive Rockie for Best Online Program - Children & Youth June 15th 2011
Best Shorts Award of Excellence
IndieFest Award - Best Shorts Award of Excellence: Web series
Outstanding Interactive Narrative Comedy: Jill Golick (Creator); Kerry Young, Steven Golick, Karen Walton, Jill Golick (Producers)
Outstanding Lead Actress – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Madison Cheeatow
Outstanding Supporting Actress – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Nawa Nicole Simon
Outstanding Writing – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Julie Strassman-Cohn, Jill Golick
Outstanding Directing – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Kelly Harms
Outstanding Cinematography – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Alex Dacev
Outstanding Editing – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Jennifer Essex-Chew, Ben Manthorpe, Mike Reisacher, Tiffany Beaudoin
Outstanding Score – Interactive Narrative Comedy: Studiocat Sound and Music, Composer
Three Telly Awards
Youth Media Alliance Award of Excellence for Best Original Interactive Content
ITN Fest's Best International Web series

Nominations

Golden Sheaf Award - Children and Youth Productions
New Media Film Festival Audience Choice Award
WGC Screenwriting Awards Finalist - Shorts and Webseries
Indie Intertube Awards: Best Series to Show to Your Mother

Festival Selections

Official selection in the New York Television Festival
First Glance Philadelphia
ITVFest (Los Angeles)
Mississauga Independent Film Festival
ITN Film Festival (Los Angeles)
L.A. Web Festival
Sharp Cuts (Guelph)
Yorkton Film Festival

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