Shira Lazar

Producer Jon Avnet -- known for legendary films such as Black Swan and Risky Business -- has teamed with actress Virginia Madsen, Academy Award-nominated for Sideways, to create WIGS, or "Where It Gets Interesting," a premium YouTube channel that produces high-end scripted series, short films and docs centered around quality roles for women.

The idea germinated at a lunch between Avnet and Rodrigo Garcia (Albert Nobbs, In Treatment), where they bonded over the desire to create quality entertainment and complex roles for women, stemming from their individual work with female-centric films, such as Avnet's acclaimed Fried Green Tomatoes.

"On our show, the men are the eye candy," Avnet quips.

With an experienced pool of "currently unemployed and very employable friends," this idea grew into a fully operating channel. Internet culture at its best!

"It's also great because we were able to get female directors and female writers. And for years, as many people in Hollywood know, this was an all boys club," Avnet adds.

That's a strong part of Ms. Madsen's motivation to join such a project, along with the compelling new media aspect. "I believe that this is clearly where our industry is going," she says. "I think that we're on the ground floor of what is going to become the centerpiece of the entertainment industry."

Madsen also beamingly admits that she's wanted to work with Avnet since she auditioned for Risky Business when she was roughly 17 years old. "This gave us an opportunity to work in a really free, creative environment with his beautiful writing," Madsen says. "And I have to say it's hard to find great material. That's a common thing that women say, but it's very true."

The WIGS audience will see that the videos are divided between different storylines, which is a testament to the innovation that the YouTube platform provides.

"We spent so much time and effort trying to compete on a quality level with cable and network, and we think what we shot is quite good, so we wanted to show it in as pristine an environment as possible," Avnet says.

What's also impressive about WIGS is that it boasts traditionally successful talent who recognize that online entertainment is emerging as a prime source for content. Avnet points out that Jennifer Garner and Alfred Molina's piece aired on Tuesday, with Julia Stiles and Jeanne Tripplehorn's segment launching on June 11.

The first handful of episodes available now feature Caitlin Gerard, Madsen, Stephen Moyer, Kyle Gallner, Jaime Murray and Laura Spencer.

"Can YouTube combat sexism in Hollywood?" I asked. "No, but we can make fun of it and we can play with and use it our advantage!" Madsen jokes.

Avnet notes that half of the directors working on the first 100 episodes that they shot are female -- an unheard of gender ratio in Hollywood. "Instead of complaining about what isn't, we tried to create a world of what is. And what is is WIGS."

Follow Virginia Madsen on Twitter -- an avid tweeter and meme-lover! Her favorite? Sexy hipster tiger. Classic.

And find out Where It Gets Interesting on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and

Two of the brightest and youngest minds in social media sat down with me during the special one-year anniversary What's Trending show during Internet Week New York. Tumblr CEO and founder David Karp and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian -- both 20-something web pioneers -- chatted about disrupting traditional media and...

As part of Internet Week NY, I sat down with online video pioneers Hannah Hart (My Drunk Kitchen), Michael Buckley (What the Buck), and Grace Helbig (Daily Grace) to chat about how YouTube has changed over the years, creating authentic audience engagement, and to offer their advice on how Oprah...

When Deepak Chopra talks, you listen. Such was the case on Wednesday when the famed spiritual leader and best-selling author stopped by the What's Trending's stage during the special one-year anniversary show at Internet Week New York.

Sharing his seemingly infinite wisdom, Chopra was the first guest during the special show, and he told me about his involvement in using technology to engage communities.

"I think technology is an extension of the human mind, and right now what you're seeing is the laying down of a global brain. A neural network, that's going to change our identity. We are all going to acquire a global identity through technology."

His existential musings continued after he told me that technology is neither good nor evil, but it does have the abilities to cause great harm. It's all up to us, even adding that the creation of civilizations is possible, he said.

"We can heal the planet," he said. "We can get rid of war. We can create a sustainable civilization. We can create peace, conflict resolution.

In speaking of how humans end up using technology, he said that it all depends on our evolution. Yet he pointed out that in the big scheme of things, it doesn't truly matter what we do, delivering an enlightening and humbling statement: "We are a speck of dust in a huge infinite void somewhere in the junkyard of infinity."

Chopra also spoke about The Chopra Well, a new YouTube channel he's created to help expand people's thoughts about love, success, relationships, health and well-being and higher consciences. He's even gotten his family involved, using a social medium created by his daughter.

Currently working on his 65th book, the latest being Spiritual Solutions, he said it seems that he's compulsive and neurotic about his writing. He writes on his blackberry, sending his prose via email. His work ethic is impressive; he said he rarely watches films or TV, choosing instead to meditate or write or read. When asked if there was a guru whom he admired, he responded with the following:

"Spell the word 'guru,'" he told me. "Slowly."

"G-U-R-U," I replied.

"That's it," he said. "There's no guru out there, it's all within you...

We launched What's Trending a year ago this week because we didn't feel like there was anyone covering our online culture from our culture. We wanted to get behind the trending videos and stories that we were all sharing and talking about.

Over the last year, we've produced...

I recently sat down down with Grammy-award winning writer and producer Jermaine Dupri and talked with him about his social network, Global 14, engaging fans, finding new talent, and what the future holds for the music industry.

Follow Jermaine on Twitter and check out his YouTube channel where he brings fans behind the scenes of his daily life.

What made Dupri decide to create his own webspace, Global14.com :

"The frustration of not being able to do what I wanted to do on other sites. Myspace was the beginning of me understanding what people were wanting, needing, and missing. The back and forth conversation I couldn't have on Myspace was the frustration that led me too creating Global14 because I wanted to speak directly to the people that created who I am and the artist that was me."

How is Global14 a "social city":

"You don't move to a place you don't want to live in. That's basically how I look at Global14. The members that are there, want to be there. If's not a place you stumble on, you don't come here for the numbers... you don't move to LA for the population, you move here for the (culture)."

Why smaller, more quality communities are more valuable:

"I have some people come on the site and they're like you only have 35,000 people and they're like that's not a lot, but it is a lot when they're all talking to you. I think people get it twisted. If you have a million Twitter followers, you can't even see everyone who's actually speaking to you... The more followers you have, the less you actually get to connect."

On the key to success in the music industry and why he signs certain performers over others:

"I signed this other artist by the name of Dawndrey. She grabbed me because she was engaging people on the Internet and when I found her, she actually had more followers on YouTube than artists who had records out... if you got a built-in audience, that's the key to success in this day and time right...

Meet Pebble Founder Eric Migicovsky, the 25-year old behind Kickstarter's largest campaign ever. According to Eric, Pebble, which has raised nearly 9 million dollars and counting, is THE watch of the 21st century, allowing it to connect to your iPhone as well as download different apps and watch interfaces.

George Clinton goes by many monikers: the Funkmaster, The Granddaddy of Funk, and my personal favorite, Dr. Funkenstein.

Whatever you choose to call him, Clinton is a true music legend, and stopped by What's Trending live on Wednesday sporting a new look without his trademark hairdo.

Clinton, a recent recipient of an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music, is trying to raise money via the charity-hosting website IndieGoGo.

"We're raising money to redo a studio, to put out some of this music we got," he said. "We have a lot of music that never came out. So we have to do a lot of refurbishing. IndieGoGo is helping us do that."

Donating online on indiegogo.com/Georgeclinton earns those who donate some perks, like unreleased music. Clinton said he didn't even know what the Internet was when he started making music, but he says it's a great distribution platform.

However, he's had some legal problems with people stealing his jams, as well as never ending disputes with labels from age-old contracts that have no relevance to today's new business models. He mentioned how he doesn't make a cent from his music being sampled or used in blockbuster films like the Oscar-nominated Moneyball. His advice for aspiring musicians? Know everything you can about music copyright laws.

"When we meet the goal of this (fundraising campaign), we're going to start our legal defense fund," Clinton said. "With the downloads and everything like that, they don't pay you for that." He's also teamed up with Michigan Congressman John Conyers Jr. for a project called the P-Funk Initiative.

He shared his message to the music labels: "This is why you're going out of business. The Internet is taking over. You're not paying artists. You're not paying people. This is your own fault that the record business is going out of business."

Clinton, who regularly uses social media platforms, says he is actually making more money online selling less than he would make selling more with a label. He likes being able to cut out a middle man.

"You got all these new ways of tracking down your money," he said. "You can email somebody, a fan, a brand new album, right from your own office. We're doing that."

You can follow George on Twitter @george_clinton. His website is Funkprobosci.org.

We were also lucky enough to have him deliver a spoken word performance of the song "U.S. Custom Coastal Dope Dog!"

Five-time Grammy award-winning artist Ziggy Marley stopped by What's Trending to chat about the upcoming documentary about his father, titled Marley.

"When the idea came up, I told the family about it," Ziggy said. "We have this opportunity to do something definitive on Bob. And everyone was cool about that."

Working as an executive producer for the doc, Ziggy said he received his family's blessing on the project after discussing it with them. He wants people to feel close to his father, and gain a better emotional connection to him. The film will be released in theaters and streamed on demand on Friday (4/20) through Bob Marley's Facebook page to help build a larger audience. Some proceeds from the on-demand profits will go to a charity, Save the Children.

His decision to distribute the documentary on Facebook was simple. "To give people as much access as possible, it's good to give them different avenues to view the film," Ziggy said. He hopes the nearly 38 million people who like Bob's page will watch the doc online.

While Ziggy hesitated to say his father would have been a fan of social media, he understands it's impact among younger viewers. "I got into it a few years ago," he said about using digital platforms. "I just talk to people. It's not about selling records, it's about communicating and meeting people, feeling that camaraderie. It's not a marketing tool, it's a way to communicate with other people and I like doing that."

Turning to politics, Ziggy said his father was not political in the United States, although Bob was politically active in Jamaica. Ziggy said Bob would be happy about Barack Obama being the first African-American president.

"I think me and him have some similar thoughts," Ziggy said, referring to his father. "There is so much division that is deliberate, and the only way you can fool people, trick people, is by dividing them. So no matter, even if something is true, if you can divide people, it's easy to control people that way."

"Dividing people: it's an old tactic. It's been used for centuries," Ziggy said.

"So how do we bring people together then?" I asked.

Ziggy pondered for a moment before answering the question decisively. "Music," he said smiling. "Music is the only truth. Politics and all of these things that are in the news are there to divide. Music is the only thing that has no ulterior motive."

Music is what brings people together. Politics is what divides people," he said.

A supporter of pro-marijuana legislation, he said that it's only one aspect of the cause. He supports the freedom of the plant, such as the use of hemp, which he said could be used for clothing and building...

American Idol rocker James Durbin came by the What's Trending live to perform his new single "Right Behind You."

Before he performed, we chatted about how he got his love of rock, what fans can expect from him in the future, and his epic American Idol performance coming...

Pete Wentz rocks and he rocks the vote. He stopped by What's Trending live chat about his new electro-pop duo, Black Cards, innovative ways to distribute music, social media and his passion for politics.

What can people expect when the Black Cards go on tour?

"It's like bringing a house party on stage, we have a good time. I think that with Fallout Boy, it was cathartic... it was about emoting. I think this is about being happy, having fun."

Do you think you approach music a different way with all these digital tools now available?

"The great thing about social media is that... bands are constantly using it to broadcast. I think what's really cool about it is that you should be listening. It's a two-way street. You got to be able to take the temperature or put your finger on the pulse of what's happening."

Owning a label, Decaydance Records, and signing breakout bands like Panic! At The Disco, Cobra Starship and Gym Class Heroes, what do you look for in new talent?

"It's something that's intangible. People who are willing to hustle, who are true to themselves and you have to be willing to get out and hit the road but you have to engage people on the Internet too."

Being involved with all these businesses, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur?

"When I look at myself in the mirror, I see a 14-year-old."

Why was it important to get involved in "Rock the Vote?"

"I think Rock the Vote and other venues that are encouraging young people to get out and vote are really important. I think with the (2008) election, the youth vote was really strong and really helpful for the deciding process.Rock the Vote is great because so many of the things become involved with feel a little bit like you are indoctrinating people, and I think the great thing about Rock the Vote is just a positive message about getting involved in the electoral system."

Why it's important to go digital for the 2012 election?

"In talking to kids, one of the things that is most troubling for them is that it is really hard to register to vote. And Rock the Vote has done this really cool bar code shirt... where you can scan the shirt on your phone... making it easy to get involved is really important."

Want to know more about Rock The Vote's new #ScanToVote social media voter registration campaign? Rock The Vote teamed up with PromoJam, Junk Food Clothing, and Threads for Thought to launch the first-ever #ScanToVote social media powered QR Code t-shirts.

When people scan the QR Code graphic on the Junk Food X Threads for Thought tee with their smartphone, a customized PromoJam mobile experience will launch on their phone. From this page, people will be able to register to vote from their smartphone, watch videos, send out Facebook/Twitter messages and more! This technology allows you to fill out the entire voter registration form directly from their phone, email yourself a copy and print, sign and send it to your board of elections office (where the address is pre-printed on the form). T-shirts will also be available exclusively at Whole Foods stores nationwide beginning in April for $28 and also at www.threadsforthought.com

Tweet #ScanToVote and encourage your friends and followers to register to vote at rockthevote2012.promojam.com

For more info on how you can rock the vote, as well as register to vote go to Rockthevote.com

Check out blackcardsmusic.com for tour dates.

And follow Pete on Twitter

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Adrian...

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The cast members...