New Series Title Released
The first internet TV series to be produced by The Red Band Film Co. has been titled Tossed Off, after the first proposed title could not clear trademark hurdles.
“We are really happy with the new name,” Red Band executive producer Christopher Paris said. “It has a lot of edginess to it, depending on where you live in the world, and yet still clearly identifies the show as a parody of reality TV programs.”
Red Band announced in February that the original series name “Pariah Island” had to be pulled after the US Patent and Trademark Office indicated it may have conflicted with the name of a Hollywood production company called “Pariah”. Red Band attempted to work a deal with Pariah’s management, without success. Rather than fight for the title in court, Red Band elected to change the name entirely. “We were early enough along to have that luxury,” Mr. Paris said.
“We are confident that ‘Tossed Off’ will clear the process this time, and have some contingencies in place should we have any problems.”
The show’s primary website, temporarily remaining at PariahIsland.com, is being retooled with draft versions of the new logo. Red Band has secured the domain name TossedOff.tv, which will become the new main site after hosting is finalized.
The name of the island on which the show is set remains “Pariah Island”, although this is rarely mentioned in scripted dialog.
“With the renaming of the show, we can push forward on preproduction and shooting of the demonstrator episode,” Mr. Paris reports. “With trademark issues behind us, and red tide long gone, we think we are slowly getting back on track.”
A first shooting of the demonstrator episode in December of 2007 was scuttled due to unprecedented red tide bloom on location, which affected cast, crew and equipment, and resulted in the entire footage being scrapped.
No investor dollars have been impacted as a result of the problems so far, as Mr. Paris has elected to fund preproduction entirely with his own money. Red Band intends to engage investors and advertisers only after a demo product is made available, as proof of concept.