''Urban Wolf'' is an online non-verbal drama series, with 15 webisodes of 4 minutes long each. The movie was written, produced and directed by

Laurent Touil-Tartour Laurent Touil-Tartour (born November 23, 1971) is a French film director, screenwriter, producer. He is known for writing, directing and producing the web series ''Urban Wolf'' (2010). His works have been described by the American Film Institut ...

. The world premiere and first public screening of the show took place at

Comic-Con A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book Fan (person), fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events ...

2009, in San Diego. In 2009, at the 4th Annual Los Angeles Independent Television Festival ''Urban Wolf'' won the Award for Best Drama. And in 2011, during the 15th Annual

Webby Award The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...

s ''Urban Wolf'' won the People's Voice Award for Best Drama. It also has been selected for the 2009

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DigiFest by the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

as "one of the most compelling example of new media storytelling". On March 31, 2010,

Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, ac ...

officially announces a groundbreaking worldwide distribution deal for the series. The show premiered on Sony Pictures Entertainment owned

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on May 13, 2010. Then Sony Pictures syndicated the series in a multi-platform footprint including:

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, the

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, the

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Network,

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, Sprint, etc.

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

* 2011

– Best Drama Award Winner of the 15th Annual Webby People’s Voice Awards. * 2009 Independent Television Festival – Best Drama Award Winner. * 2009

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Independent Film Festival – Staff Picks Award Winner.

Nominations

* 2009

DigiFest – Nominated as "Most Innovative Digital Media Production". * 2010

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

MIT Media Lab The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fixed academic disciplines, but draws from ...

- Center for Future Storytelling - Official Selection. * 2011

– Nominated for "Best Drama" for both Webby Award and People's Voice Award.

Honorees

* 2011

– Official Honoree for "Best Individual Performance" at the 15th Annual Webby Awards.

Reception

The series has received overwhelmingly enthusiastic critical reception. Journalist and critic Hugh Hart, writing for ''

Wired Magazine ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online magazine, online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquar ...

'' noted: "

exploits sharp edits, a driving score and spare cinematography to extract maximum tension and an handsomely filmed suspense drama.” 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.” 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.” William Bibbiani, in ''

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'', called it "an exciting little bit of filmmaking that deserves its notoriety and is worth howling about”, and Liz Shannon Miller writing in ''

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'' 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.” Reviewing it for the ''

Mingle Media TV Network Mingle Media TV Network is a digital TV network offering scripted, unscripted, live and produced lifestyle, celebrity and entertainment programming seven days a week. Founded on 8 February 2010, the network is a leading producer of independent filmm ...

'', 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.” 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!”

Characters and cast

Urban Wolf

Actor Vincent Sze plays the role of Justin Case.

References

;Further Readin
Interview with Laurent Touil-Tartour
* * * *

External links

Urban Wolf's Homepage

Urban Wolf on YouTube

Internet Movie Database

on Independent Television Festival {{DEFAULTSORT:Urban Wolf American drama web series YouTube original programming Works about video games French superhero films Espionage television series French spy films Superhero science fiction web series French web series French spy television series