The
new HD technology became more accessible and affordable
than ever before. We have experience producing
a digital feature, using a JVC DY-90 professional
series camera when HD 24p was the newest and most
cutting edge video technology to enter the market.
The accessibility allowed us to select a script
from Orestes's own collected writings and move
forward with unprecedented speed from pre-production
to production-three weeks.
Yes,
there were setbacks and obstacles, as normal,
but we were able to capture relevant subject matter,
cast, crew, locations, and everything we needed
so that all the necessary elements came together
at the right time. Even the setbacks and obstacles
led to better outcomes and results.
We
saw that TV shows have a trend in subject matter,
acting style, and cinematography that lend themselves
to a certain look and feel. Some programs utilize
more traditional filming, but most use the trend
of hand-held and darkly lit compositions. We wanted
to create a show that is entertaining and current,
but not one that succumbs to all the trends. We
want the audiences to be entertained by the story
and the actors. We don't want to preach and spoon
feed anyone. So the idea was to create a program
with all the elements that are commercial but
still artistic, and to allow the actors to engage
their audience by letting them have moments that
are real and humorous, not melodramatic, contrived,
or politically biased.
Now
we know that all we need is an idea, and we can
dive into pre-production, find the actors, locations,
etc. and move forward to a production. But don't
misunderstand our purpose. We fully acknowledge
and respect the industry on a large scale, but
for filmmakers like us, it would take years before
we could finance our projects the conventional
way. And by the time we could even establish a
reasonable budget, the ideas might become stale
or over-visited by other filmmakers who did raise
enough money more quickly. The industry creates
a lot of jobs and carves out incredible careers
for so many artists and technicians. Hopefully,
this project can raise awareness by provoking
thought and healthy discussion while entertaining.
Everything
we do is about accessibility. The actors are real
people whom the audience can access because they
identify with them. The technology is affordable
and easy to work with and maneuver, which also
contributes to its accessibility. We tapped into
all resources available to us, those that were
also more accessible. The idea for the TV show
came from Orestes, the writer and director, whose
collection of ideas is never-ending.
No
matter where we turn, we always ask ourselves:
do we know what the job is at hand, do we know
what we need, do we know people that can be a
resource, do we know how much time we need, do
we have the tools to execute from concept to completion
. . . The answers to all these questions are always "yes." Why?
Because we want to make movies.
All
kidding aside, we shot the pilot for the TV series
as a feature because we know the reality of the
industry. No promises, and many an idea lost at
sea . . . If the series does not come to fruition,
we have quite an entertaining and wonderful movie
on our hands. There is plenty of audience to go
around for pretty much anything under the sun.
We
can always dig through our treasure chest of ideas
and embark on another film adventure.
