Last week, The Yes Men’s Mike Bonnano was interviewed on CBS News about the VODO release of The Yes Men Fix The World. He talks about how VODO & P2P is working for the Yes Men as a way of putting out work that traditional TV and cinema distribution would find it hard to distribute. (The Yes Men have had about a quarter of a million downloads and $17,000 in donations via VODO in the week or so since their release.)

Also last week, Italy’s national newspaper La Repubblica had a nice piece from Alessio Sgherza in his “Watch With Me” column on the popular made-for-VODO show i Pioneer One , which has been downloaded nearly a million times and received about $30,000 dollars in direct audience support since its release a little more than a month ago.

‘This is the future,’ they write,

merging Web and TV. No budget of millions and it’s not even on television. Pioneer One is a low-cost series financed with money from users who’ve seen the first episode. Having enjoyed it, they’ve agreed to support the project to see new episodes before they’re made. A small clarification: though it’s never been broadcast on TV, you can download Pioneer One online without legal problems. And it’s not too difficult.

No special effects or complex shots, but a simple execution of a clean and intriguing storyline. “My intent,” says Josh Bernard, one of the creators of the project, “is a a drama with a few elements of science fiction.”

The paper continues,

What is Vodo? Whenever we speak of ‘downloading from the internet’ one immediately thinks of piracy, but there is also a world of legal downloading online. In this legal world of films and independent productions, we often hear the name of VODO.

Each month a film is selected and distributed online via P2P. Yes, the same technology behind the Pirate Bay, but here it is entirely lawful. To download, the easiest way is to install a program for downloading a torrent (BitTorrent is the most famous) and go VODO’s site. Simple.

There’s no problem with language, because you an always download free download subtitles (via a dedicated page on the website Addicted).

And now? Creators Bernhard and Smith, along with cast and crew, are beginning to work on new episodes. “For sure TV is undergoing a renaissance,” says Josh. “Many people of my generation [Josh is 26] are still watching TV –- we just do not watch it on television.”

Download the first episode of Pioneer One to enter the future of TV, thanks to a series that has nothing to envy other commercial products..