The Imperfect Podcast kicked off of its new season with a Facebook Live event that recaps the show’s most memorable moments and behind the scenes from Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire.
September 11th & Hurricane Irma Relief
We take a moment to remember September 11th and those who bravely gave their lives as well as the friends and famlies that were effected. We will also donate $1 to Hurricane Irma Relief for every new YouTube subscriber until Sunday September 17, 2017. Subscribe at http://youtube.com/hecklerkanecreations.
We’ve Moved to Blog Talk Radio
The other piece of news to share is our new home. The Imperfect Podcast is excited to announce its move Blog Talk Radio as a Prime host. Be sure to get over there and subscribe!
Top 10 Episodes
Interviewing over 40 guests the past year, made for great memories. We discuss our most memorable moments in this episode. Here’s a list of the 10 that made the cut!
Behind the Scenes of Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire
For more about Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire and behind the scenes access, listen to our episode. We discuss working with Marshall Teague as Chester the Werewolf, Ethan Marten doing what he does best in front and behind the camera and the camaraderie formed shooting an entire series on a micro budget.
Inbeon Con is Long Island’s Comic Con for Artists! We were inspired by anime, comics, cosplay & gaming and met some amazing local artists, costume designers, animators & game developers. Featuring creator Eric Hutchison, we had the chance to learn what it takes for independent artists to make it. In it’s 4th year, Eric has done a great job of assembling artists with passion and talent to create a community that’s supporting each other. Watch the video for a special light sabre fight with the Sabre Guild Endor Temple.
Interviews include:
Eric Hutchison – Inbeon Con Creator
Experience Unknown – LiveHorrorShow.com 5D Horror Show Friday September 30th 2017 at The Cradle of Aviation
Things have been moving along quite nicely thanks to all the amazing contributions! We are so happy to see everyone embracing the indie spirit. Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire is now 40% funded which means we are halfway to getting the green light from Seed & Spark.
Every $1 counts with only 14 days to go!
Earlier today, Marshall Teague and Tonya Kay joined Sal and Joe on The Jimmy Star Show with Ron Russell for an interview about our streaming series Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire. Listen to the playback here and tune in at the 1h 19m mark.
Surprise Casting!
Coming up in our next update we will be announcing some surprise cast members and cameos.
Help us spread the word and to reach 500 followers by sharing our Seed & Spark link on social media. Tag it with #SeymourTheVamp
Subscribe to Our YouTube Channel for more video updates from Seymour!
This past year has been a really cool run for Heckler Kane Creations and the Imperfect Podcast. We’ve been committed to bring you weekly interviews with indie film makers, actors and creative talent that helps support the indie film community. In this episode we have some really cool announcements we can’t wait to share about our new home for the podcast at Blog Talk Radio, crowdfunding our web series Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire and shout outs to our supporters and guests who made all of this possible!
We are Moving to Blog Talk Radio
First things first. The Imperfect Podcast is moving! We will have a new home at Blog Talk Radio very soon. This summer we will be re-releasing our best podcasts from the past year. In the meantime follow us on twitter @hecklerkaneinc or sign up for our mailing list to become an Imperfect Podcast Insider.
If you’d like to be considered as a guest for the next round of interviews coming in September 2017 fill out the form on our contact page.
Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire
This summer we are taking on our biggest film making challenge yet. We will be filming an 8 episode web series called Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire. A supernatural comedy that follows the story of Seymour, who is trying to put the pieces of his life back together after being turned into a vampire. Visit http://hecklerkane.com/seymour for updates about the crowdfunding campaign that will be launching this summer.
Lookout for More Summer Releases
We’ve been filming a ton of content over the past few years and now is the time to release it! We have a number of titles coming your way that we know you’ll enjoy. Please like, comment and share to #SupportIndieFilm. Here’s the releases with dates to follow soon.
Foley – A short film that pays homage to foley artists in our own twisted way.
Jump – A short film about a man transported after encountering the ancient traveler’s stone.
Fight Reel – Watch Joe show off his Taekwondo skills and the rest of our fight scenes from the films we’ve made.
Hollywood Know How – More film making tips, how to videos and film gear.
Shoutouts and Many Thanks!
We’ve made some amazing friends, colleagues, fans and more this past year. We’d like to take a moment and say thanks to as many as we can.
#PodernFamily – An amazing network of podcasters that’s been so supportive. Go to twitter and use hashtag #PodernFamily to find new podcasts to listen to, retweet other podcasts and join in the conversation
David & Juliette – Juliette is the host of the Unwritable Rant podcast with her producer David. They’ve both been supportive since the beginning and generous with their time. We can’t thank them enough.
Wendy Shepherd – Wendy is the founder of Studio Matrix and has been instrumental in helping us secure many interviews this year, such as Tony Germinario, the award winning film maker and writer of Bad Frank.
October Coast Publicity – A great PR firm who’s helped us secure some fabulous interviews with film makers and in particular actress Tami Stronach who played the Childlike Empress in the Neverending Story.
Carolyn Sames – An indie film supporter and effortlessly donates her time and resources to film makers and actors and was kind of enough to setup an interview with actor Rich Graff. Connect with Carolyn Sames on twitter at https://twitter.com/SamesCarolyn.
Ethan Marten – Ethan has become a good friend since his interview with us and the Eyes of the Roshi cast. We even had the chance to meet up at the Soho International Film Festival for a screening of the film here in New York.
Download, Listen or Watch Women in Film Telling Stories with a Purpose
This week’s guests on the Imperfect Podcast are the women from REAL Pictures and founder Jacqueline Real. The REAL Brand NYC is a brand built on humanitarian, forward-thinking ideals. Their first company launch will be REAL Pictures, a production house helmed by #TheREALSisters that produces provocative, female-driven films. Its premiere film will be ‘The Drive,’ written by Jacqueline Real & shot by Diana Matos.
Jacqueline Real is a native New Yorker as well as a working SAG-AFTRA/EQUITY actress. After a year of activism and volunteer work, she has finally focused her passions and launched the company The REAL Brand NYC. The REAL Brand NYC combines her love of activism, volunteering, and film making. The most recent film she produced, ‘How Far’ (2016), was featured at the New York Short Film Festival. For more info on Jacqueline’s multiple skills go to follow her on IG @JacquelineReal!</
Jacqueline’s sister, Nicole Real has worked in the film & television industry for almost 15 years, where she started as an intern on “The FBI Files” for the Discovery Channel and then later at Tribeca Productions; Robert De Niro’s production company. She graduated from The School of VISUAL ARTS in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in cinematography and later met a group of filmmakers who led her to work with Glass Eye Pix “one of the indie scene’s most productive and longest-running companies.” – Filmmaker Magazine.
Also feature in this weeks interview is Diana Matos, who is a New York based Director of Photography working regularly in LA and Miami. Once a Local 600 camera assistant, her credits include: The Amazing Spider Man, The Bourne Legacy, R.I.P.D., Winter’s Tale, The Other Woman, Annie and Ricki and the Flash. Prior to working on set, she was a technician at Panavision NY and is a graduate of the University of Miami. Talking to Diana about film gear was a real treat. Hell she even owns owns an Arri Alexa Classic with High Speed License!
Diana has shot with an Arri Alexa, Super 35mm film, S16mm, RED Weapon, Dragon, Epic, Scarlet, Canon C300/C500, HDCAM, and HDV on several webisodes and short films, including the award winning Latin-American film, A Dual Citizen. Of Nicaraguan and Puerto Rican decent, Diana is on the road to being a lead female cinematographer. Her most notable works include: A New York Love Affair, The Silence, Bait: or Trapped by the Truth, The Groundskeeper, and Ghost Ride.
Watch the Full Interview About Women in Film Telling Stories With A Purpose
Highlights: Women in Film Telling Stories with a Purpose
How did you all meet prior to Real Pictures?
We met on a small project. It was a TV pilot the second episode and we met Nicki through that and Nicki was directing. Jacqueline was acting in one of the scenes and fell in love with Diana. I’ve been on a mission to find all the fierce females right now and Diana was definitely one of them…. I sent the script to her to get some feedback and Diana was like we should shoot this. That’s literally how we met and that project was only 8 months ago.
When did you create the REAL Brand company?
So I was in LA feeling Jaded because of the business there and how women get treated especially actresses. The first film that Nicki and Jacqueline did together was “How Far” and it was really just Jacqueline’s own expression of getting a project completed. The people in my life were heavy hitters and I wanted to see a completion from A to Z. Now that I found a very particular voice in writing, now we would like to take Real Pictures to the actual level of a female driven production company. With Jacqueline’s year of activism work it’s going to be a production company that focuses on certain social injustices that we feel need to be highlighted.
Now that we want to take that to the next level is was not even a question when Diana said we should shoot this. Diana thinks it was a year or two ago Jacqueline came to her working on separate projects. Nicole went to film school and was working with Robert Deniro at Tribeca Productions and Tribeca Film Festival seeing people do all these things and being like I wont have the money for this and Jacqueline said listen lets just try it and see what happens. Producing with Jacqueline it just worked.
Tell us about REAL Pictures first film ‘The Drive’
I hate to say that it is a film on police violence because it’s not at least for Jacqueline. It’s exposing another side Jacqueline feels people are not talking about. Where are all the good cops, where are the ones sticking their necks out to make sure that they are doing what they’re supposed to do, which is protect and serve the people. The way that we’ve seen this topic is through very heavy images and peoples cell phone footage on Facebook and it’s all in our face. So that’s been all a part of the research and Diana trying to come away from it to say, “Alright, cinematically how are we going to do this justice?” Diana has brought lots of questions and suggestions to the table for Jacqueline. Diana thinks “our limitations turn into opportunity for creativity”. We always keep talking about how are we going to do this justice? How are we going to make this something that moves people because we’ve gotten detached from our humility and that’s the biggest thing that we are focused on, At the end of the day we are all just people and we could all get on that level and have heart felt discussions on these issues. In this script everybody has a voice and everyone has a reason why they function the way they function.
Diana, what medium do you enjoy working in?
I love working on films that have something to say. Diana has worked on big features and TV shows but it was all about experience because if she hadn’t she wouldn’t have worked with and learned from the greats. Diana says it’s not about the money it’s about what you’re going to say, it’s finding who you are and finding those film makers that support that. At this point in my career it’s about moving forward with the stories that reflect who I am and I can support, enhance and tell the world about these things because people need to know.
Why do you like shooting on the Alexa EV?
I come from the film days and felt that the Alexa was the first camera that really convinced me to come off of film into digital. I had some money saved and said to myself “okay, it’s either a house or a camera and that was the decision that I made. I still think it was worth it.”
What are your plans for distribution?
We are going to stay strictly festival. This is really going to put us out there as a female driven company. This is really going to be our launching point to show people who we really are. We want the film ‘The Drive’ to be our business card.
Today’s guest on the Imperfect Podcast is actor Robert Palmer Watkins who plays Dillon Quartermaine on NBC’s daytime series General Hospital. We talked to him about everything from his struggles as an actor to how landing the role on General Hospital changed his life. I think Robert is a really humble guy. His roots are on the east coast from the Carolinas and it just seems like he’s really dedicated to the work. He really understands what the fans want and what the commitment is to being a daytime actor on a soap opera like General Hospital.
He appreciates everything from the struggles he’s had and doesn’t take it for granted. It was interesting to talk to somebody about soap operas because honestly we weren’t fans but watching his work and watching how it’s done you can see how people are literally addicted to soap operas. They’ve been around for decades. There’s only 4 left, General Hospital being one of them.
The character that he’s playing and the shoes he has to fill is no joke. We also talk a lot about the pressures he faced in taking on this role. Hope you enjoy the podcast and learn more about what it takes to be a soap opera actor.
Special thanks to Wendy Shepherd at Studio Matrix for making this interview possible.
Actor Robert Palmer Watkins Interview Highlights:
I know you’re out in Hollywood but you’re originally an east coast guy. What’s your background like? Where did you grow up?
I was born in Salsbury, NC and we moved to Winston Salem when I was 8 years old. When I was 12 years old my dad got a job with AMF Bowling and their corporate office is in Richmond, VA. That was good for me because Richmond is more like a city and the arts are appreciated. There’s a lot going on in the city with theater and art. I kinda got involved and did my first play in high school and before that did sports and when I did my first play I loved it. That was when I transitioned into thinking maybe I’ll be an actor.
I’ve been out in LA for 9 years which is pretty crazy. Time flies.
What was the first gig you landed out in Hollywood?
I think the first, this is so funny. The first thing I booked out of college. When I moved here I went to AMDA which is the American Music and Dramatic Academy because my parents were like you can move to LA, we get it, but we’d feel a lot better about it if you went and started at a school or some type of conservatory just to get your bearings, meet some people. The first two years I was out here I didn’t audition at all but when I finally got out I started auditioning right away.
The first job that I booked was a show called 1000 Ways to Die. I don’t know if you’ve seen it but it’s basically ridiculous reenactments of ways that people have died. The way that my character died was I slipped on a chard of glass while I was taking a shit. I’m using the bathroom and stand up and flush and the toilet explodes, the lid on the back of the toilet explodes, shatters on the ground and I slip and I fall on a shard of glass and it goes into my asshole and I bleed out. That was my start to Hollywood and my mom was super proud obviously.
I’ve done so many random, random jobs as an actor. That one may take the cake though, I gotta say. I think I got like $100 for the day. It was non-union. I was definitely not SAG at the time. You start doing different things, you meet different people and each project gets a little bigger, a little bit more legit. A lot of little roles like that when I first started out.
You were also at a conservatory. You’re a musician. What do you play or do you sing or write?
Write and sing and do a little bit of guitar and producing type stuff. I live with four of my best friends and we all collaborate on different projects. Actually two of my buddies I live with are probably going to get signed very soon. They have a band and I’ll jump in and do a song with them and then I’ll mix it with some of the other friends I know. It’s nice having a platform on a show where we have an audience that will actually watch some of the stuff that I put out there. You know what I mean?
I don’t have any official band or anything for myself right now. I’m collaborating with people as I see fit and I’m starting to work on some original music as well.
I’m sure the day job at General Hospital takes up a ton of time.
I was going to say yeah it does, that’s obviously my main focus but it’s actually a really nice schedule as an actor. Like today, I went in and my call time was 12pm. I went in and everything moves so fast so that once you’re called in you do your blocking, wardrobe, makeup and have a couple hours before you shoot. Then you shoot the scene, you get one rehearsal and then you shoot it. It could be five scenes or ten scenes but usually you’re out of there within 5 hours.
Today my work day was 12 and I got home around 4:45 or something. I mean, that’s not how it always is. Some days you’re there super early until 6pm or 7pm but most days you’re only there for your scenes and you’re not necessarily working every day. It depends on your story line. Like this week I actually worked every day but this coming week I don’t work at all because my character in the show is away.
So it’s nice. Yes I’m busy with it but I actually have more time now than I did when I was a broke struggling actor working four part time jobs.
What was the casting process like to get the role on General Hospital?
Mark Teschner is the casting director for General Hospital, really well know casting director here in Hollywood. He’s really really good at what he does because he remembers people who he meets and keeps them in the back of his head and when a role comes up he just has that eye and mind set where he remembers there’s something about that person that may be right and it could be years later. I think that takes a special type of person to see that in people and remember them down the road.
I went in for Mark when I first got out of college and I was doing all those random acting jobs like I told you guys. I was super excited to go in. It was for a contract role. It went okay, I don’t think I was right for the role and I was a little young and I don’t think I was as trained as I needed to be yet. I was still green but it went well and I could tell he liked me.
Then he called me back in a couple years later for a different role and went decent again but nothing. And then a year or so went by and I saw he was doing a class at a studio here in Hollywood and I was like maybe I should just take that class and get back in front of him because I know he liked me and I think it’d be cool to develop a more personal relationship with this guy. So I actually took his class and remembered me right away.
We had a really good rapport and I got his email, we stayed in touch and I guess this role came up for Dillon. I play Dillon Quartermaine on General Hospital. This role came up and he remembered me. He called me in and then I didn’t hear anything for 3 months and then I got another call back and I had to go see the producers. After the producers we had to do a screen test. And the screen test, that’s the final thing you do when you’re getting cast for a role. There was myself and five other guys screen testing. Even at that point there’s still six of us. You’ve gone through the ringer for this many call backs and met the producers and there’s still six of us! Really?! It’s kind of disheartening when you get there. But I got it so it worked out.
Mark told me, I knew when this role came up I had to get you in for it. I guess he knew and kept me in mind. It was a process to answer your question. It is a long process most of the time. Then sometimes they change their mind or they rewrite the role or they decide not to bring that character on the show yet so they hold off for a year. I think that’s what happened with my character because I was called back and there was several months where I didn’t hear anything. There’s so many variables that go into it, into booking something. A lot of it doesn’t even have anything to do with your talent. You’re too tall next to the girl or you’re too short, or too white, or not white enough. There’s just so many things.
How much research did you do and how much did you know about General Hospital before going in to audition?
The funny thing is they are very secretive about who they’re casting, when they’re casting, what they’re casting. I play Dillon Quartermaine who is a legacy. The Quartermaines are one of the main legacies on the show and Dillon was on the show ten years ago, played by Scott Clifton who is now on The Bold and the Beautiful. Dillon’s return to General was a big deal and they definitely did not want it leaked. I didn’t even know until I booked it that it was for Dillon Quartermaine. They had a fake name I think it was Dustin or something. My manager called me when I booked and he said you got it and you’re playing Dillon Quartermaine which is cool to hear as actor because you know that name has some weight to it. It’s been amazing. It’s very secretive. I thought I was auditioning for a brand new character named Dustin.
Is it a lot of pressure playing a role with such history?
You know there definitely is because you want to honor what the character means to the show. I wanted to honor what Scott brought to the character because he’s a great actor and he originated the role. I definitely wanted to keep some of the stuff and quirks and sarcasm that he brought to the character but I also wanted to make it my own. It’s been 10 years since he’s been on the show so I think he would be a different person now. The character, the reason he left the show, storyline wise is he went away to LA to pursue a directing and acting career, which is cool. So when I come back 9 years later I think he would have grown up a lot.
There’s definitely pressure though because these Soap fans, they are very passionate and if they don’t like something they let you know. Nowadays with twitter and Instagram and facebook and everything, snapchat, periscope, they have access to letting us know when they like or don’t like something. You hear from them. I definitely was aware of that. I definitely researched the show. I definitely looked at his work on YouTube but I also tried to compartmentalize it and throw it out the window also because I wanted to make it my own and make personal for me.
What’s the most challenging part of working on General Hospital?
The speed. It shoots unlike anything, any other type of medium. Film, prime time tv, anything other than soap you have multiple takes. A wide shot of both actors, then they do a one shot of one actor then the other actor, the same scene over and over to get different angles. There’s more rehearsal time, more discussion with the director, there’s just more time in general. A soap, especially nowadays, because they’ve really cut down on budgeting, time is money to the extreme on a Soap. There’s only four of us left.
Every day we could shoot between 2 and 3 episodes. It’s the amount of material that we’re filming in a day and the rate at which we are shooting it is just insane. People come on the show that are guest starring or playing a recurring and their mind is blown. They’re like this is how much you guys do in a day? I mean, that’s how I felt when I came on. I was freaking out. The whole first week I was shooting I had a packet this thick for every day of the week. When I would finally get the first packet down I’m like okay good but then wait the next day I have another packet that looks like that? It’s crazy.
It’s just the best training as an actor because your brain just learns how to do it. Your brain learns how to memorize things quickly and that was always a huge struggle that I had was learning material. Memorizing stuff. That was probably my biggest issue as an actor. I gotta say this job has completely changed that for me.
I shot today and I did not have my script from last night. We just moved and my script got misplaced. I was just hoping I didn’t have a lot of material today so I could learn it when I got on set. I got on set I had a ton of material. It was terrifying. The director was like really dude you didn’t have this? Are you gonna be okay? They were worried for me because it was a lot. I had about an hour, I went down to my dressing room and I just learned it. It stuck.
It’s crazy your brain has that capability. It’s like a muscle and I didn’t believe that shit when I got on. I was like I think you either can memorize or you cant memorize. No. You can train your brain to get better at that which is pretty cool.
Is there any improv working on soap operas or do you strictly stick to the script?
They do allow you to improv a little bit especially as you get to know your character. When I first got to the show I tried to stick pretty much word for word with what the writers did because that’s just how I was trained. Respect the writing. They wrote it this way for a reason, every word is important. As I’ve gotten more comfortable playing Dillon and making him my own, I am allowing myself to be a little more free with the dialogue. As I’ve gotten to know my character I feel like I embody how he talks and things now. Sometimes we’ll get a scene and I’ll say is there any way we can change this to this to sound a little more natural or younger or hipper.
Sometimes if you’re in a scene and you forget your lines you have to improv. They would rather you improv a little if you mess up than start over because that’s money. To answer your question there’s a little embellishing and a little improv but most writers and producers want us to stick with what’s on the page.
What is the biggest change in your life since landing the role as Dillon Quartermaine?
Oh gosh, literally everything. Like I said I was working every job I could, barely paying my rent. A month before I got this my car blew up on the highway because I didn’t have money to change the oil. I had a melt down with my parents on the phone. I don’t know what I’m doing. When is this gonna happen? It’s crazy because it hadn’t even been that long. It felt like an eternity but really I had only been struggling and auditioning for five years. There’s actors that go 30 years and don’t book anything.
I don’t mean to sound like a diva by saying I was auditioning for five years and didn’t get anything. Really in the grand scheme of things that’s not that long but when you can’t afford to eat it feels a lot longer than five years. So there were some struggles but honestly I’m really grateful I went through the hardships of it because I appreciate it. I see some actors book something so fast out the gate and I don’t know if there’s the same respect for the job when you get lucky like that. I’m glad I had to work really hard to get something. It taught me a lot about being an adult and a responsible actor.
My life changed financially. I’m not a millionaire or anything like that but I’m way more comfortable than I was. I don’t have work other jobs that I don’t want to work. I have that freedom to just focus on my acting and my music. I’ve changed because I feel good about my time is being spent growing as an artist rather than working a 9 to 5 job that has nothing to do with what I want in life.
Like you said I get to be on camera several times a week and just play around, experiment and try stuff and get paid for that. That’s every actors dream. I still have to pinch myself. I’ll be walking off set and I cannot believe this is so awesome. I had no idea being on a soap would be this great. I wanted to be an actor but I wasn’t targeting being on a soap. Now that I’m on one I can see why people end up having a full career on soap. The schedule is amazing, the money is great, the flexibility and just getting to work. So many actors don’t get the chance to work. The fan base is amazing and its allowed me to do other projects like my music or other independent films and now there’s an audience automatically built in and they’ll help me promote it and get it out there and blast it out to the world.
Outside of General Hospital what other work do you have coming up?
Yes I did an independent movie that I had a small part in called Theater 9. It’s going to be coming out soon. I just did Season 2 of a web series called Last Life which is a supernatural kind of web series that actually just aired in the past few months. That did really well. They have a pretty big built in fan base with the sci-fi genre. Let’s see what else have I done recently.
Im actually in the process of reading a bunch of scripts because I would like to fund my own project and produce my own movie and play something that’s different from anything I’ve played before to grow as an actor and experiment and be in charge of something. I’ve been working on my music which is great. I got to sing in the opening of the Day Time Emmy’s which was exciting. I just the episode of the nurses ball which is once a year on General Hospital. They have this talent show where characters get to perform. I actually got to sing and I’m really excited for that to air because it was all choreographed. It reminded me of being back in theater.
I’ve been staying busy with these fan events. They’ve been flying me all over the country. I’m hosting he fan events now with Laura Wright who plays Carly on the show. Her and I are hosting these events where we go to different cities and the fans in the area of General Hospital can take pictures and we sign autographs and do a Q&A from the stage. I walk around with the mic and people ask questions. That’s been fun too because I’ve gotten better at talking in front of people. Hosting is something that’s always been interesting to me as well. I’d like to maybe dabble in that as well.
Where is the next General Hospital fan event taking place? Is there one scheduled?
Yeah, you can all of the events on my web page at www.robertpalmerwatkins.com under the events section. I’m doing one in Marco Island actually in two weeks. Raising awareness and raising money for autism, kids with autism and other special needs. You can buy tickets for that as well if you to the events page on my website.
The last thing I wanted to mention was something really cool that I’m really excited about that we are doing in July 5th – 9th. I’m doing a retreat in Costa Rica. We are allowing 30 people to sign up. Anybody over the age of 13. Families, singles, friends, whatever. It’s going to be really cool because I’m partnering with my fitness trainer who’s a celebrity trainer Jordan Rude. He’s also my brother in law and Jennifer Grace who’s my life coach and mentor. We came together to do this retreat in Costa Rica.
Everything’s included once you buy your ticket. We’re going to be doing different activities. I’m going to be doing acting and music. She’s going to be doing life coaching, yoga, meditation with everybody and then Jordan is going to be having workouts. It’s called a digital detox. Basically when you check in you have to put your phone and your laptop, you have to check it in, we lock it away and you are free from all of that shit for four days.
I know that I need that very badly right now. I feel like everyday I’m just looking at a screen all day long. It’s just to be able to reconnect with who you are and I think it’s going to be life changing. Everybody please, if you’re interested in that spread the word.
Welcome to Part 2 of our interview with writer, producer and distributor Sam Sherman. In case you missed it here’s Part 1: Indie Horror Icon Sam Sherman. In this part of our interview with Sam, we discuss how film making and distribution has changed, his relationship with director Al Adamson and how films like Dracula vs Frankenstein came to be.
Sam Sherman attended New York’s City College Film Institute, where he ran “Flash Gordon” serials and “The Mask of Fu Mancho” in the student film program and made the 16mm short “The Weird Stranger” in a single day. The first picture he distributed was a re-release of The Scarlet Letter (1934) in 1964. He also worked in the publicity department of Hemisphere Pictures prior to forming the hugely successful production and distribution outfit Independent-International Pictures with Do-It-Yourself indie filmmaker ‘Al Adamson (I)’ in 1968. Independent-International produced and/or released a slew of movies in such genres as horror, Western, science fiction, comedy, action and even blaxploitation for the drive-in market throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
Watch Sam Sherman Discuss Indie Film Distribution Through the Decades
Sam Sherman Part 2 Interview Highlights
Whats your view of indie film distribution today?
I’ve been in contention with the major studios from the beginning. When I realized that I was not going to be involved with them. I wanted to be originally it made me declare my oath of independence. My opinion is they are to blame for everything that’s happened in this industry. As a result of the stupid things they’ve done the major studios have hurt the whole industry.
In the past year Paramount and Warner Bros fired a third of their employees on the west coast. They employ a lot of people that effects the economy out in Hollywood. As far as young people I try to encourage young film makers because when I started out I met veteran people in the industry. Whether it was Otto Preminger or John Wayne, they were always very nice to me and encouraged me. So I always want to encourage the next crew coming up.
It’s tougher today than it was because it’s tough to get into the major studios. They control 95% of the major theatrical market. When I look back the independents used to control 35% of the market. They hated to see when we were making all the money and they weren’t. We were making more horrific or sexy pictures and the studios were making old fashioned movies. The studios didn’t grow with the changes in the marketplace. But they are certainly smart. When someone picks up on an idea such as Blair Witch or Paranormal Activity which is an awful picture. I had to walk out on it. It was a waste of time, yet there were 2 or 3 sequels and made mega millions of dollars. You can’t possibly understand why that is or even be influenced by it because its so freakish and impossible.
Can indie film makers compete the studios?
It’s like The Boob Tube (1975) in a way. As much as that was influenced by a movie called the The Groove Tube, no matter what we tried to do to clone the Boob Tube we couldn’t do it. If you looked at Paranormal Activity and said that’s a great idea I’ll make a picture like it, you can’t. It’s just so weird and freakish that nobody has succeeded in copying it.
If you look at what pictures the majors are making today, they’re big production pictures like Batman vs Superman based on comic books or it’s a big Tom Hanks movie. They are well directed, shot all over the world. These pictures are costing $100 million dollars or more. It means film making is a very hard thing. Is it impossible? No, but one has to realize, especially young film makers that the cards are stacked against you.
At the time when I started out, it wasn’t an industry that didn’t want me. They didn’t care one way or the other about me. Couldn’t care less whether or not I wanted to do something. Today they don’t want you at all. You have to look at what is going on.
Today we are seeing things change so amazingly fast. We’ve seen the growth of the internet and internet programming. Not even the studios know where its going. One thing we can look at is where the stocks are going. Companies like Alphabet, Inc. that own Google and YouTube, their stock is worth over $900 per share. Amazon stock is over $900 per share. Disney owns studios, two theme parks and a great library of movies. Disney is a great company with branded entertainment and their stock is probably $30 per share. Who would believe that?
I can only give one piece of advice and that’s my credo. Never give up!
Tell us about your partner and director Al Adamson
I suggested you look at the film Nurse Sherri. Nurse Sherri was made for as next to nothing as it could be. I said to my director Al Adamson we have no money to pay you now but we have money that’s due. Go out and put a second mortgage on your house and we’ll do this picture. Who would do that?
Unfortunately if you know the story of Al Adamson he was sadly murdered. Al Adamson was like my brother. We started this company together and made all these films and did a lot of great things. Al was murdered by a man who was rebuilding his home in Indio, CA south of Palm Springs. It was a great tragedy. He went missing for a long time, we went looking for him and brought in the police and FBI. Eventually he was found entombed in his house.
Six months before he died he said something to me that was so strange. We had a little gag where I’d ask Al to do something for me and he’d ask what is it and I’d say I’m not telling you. You have to agree first. Who would do that? What a relationship we had. Only once did Al say to me he had something he wanted me to do. He made me agree first and said I want you to do three things. First I want you to tell my story to the world, what I’ve directed and my career. Number two I want you to keep the films that I directed in distribution so that people can see them. Number three I want you to finish the UFO film we were working on. I haven’t finished that film which bothers me especially because I gave my word on it.
In the case of tell his story to the world I worked on a book called Schlock-O-Rama The Films of Al Adamson by David Konow. It’s a great book that tells the whole story of this. Then we had an E! True Hollywood Story about Al. I was following the background of Ed Wood. He had a book written about him, then he had a documentary done about him and then he had a movie done about him. We are working on a movie about Al and myself making films together for a number of years.
How did you make Dracula vs Frankenstein?
Dracula vs Frankenstein was very popular. It went through several levels of shooting and edits. It started as a spinoff of Satan’s Sadists with some of the same people involved and it was originally called The Blood Seekers. The picture was rushed into production and Al wasn’t really ready but he was being pushed by other people. Al sent us the work print for a screening in New York with myself and some investors. Everyone hated it. They said better to take your first loss early, we don’t want to release this film.
I asked if they would mind if I tried to fix this thing up with my background as a film editor and writer. I belong to the school of waste not, want not. The main doctor was played by J. Carrol Naish, a two time Academy Award Nominee and 5 or 6 other well known actors in it. A concept had come to me that Dr. Durray, at least that’s what he called himself, was actually Dr. Frankstein, the last of the Frankensteins. I decide to change the picture in that direction. If we could put Frankenstein in, we could put Dracula in for good measure. I had to find a good editor to fix up the original material and then re-shoot the whole thing into what became Dracula vs Frankenstein.
The film is still around, still playing, it’s just now on Blu-Ray and wentthrough TV distributors MGM Studios. It’s one of those weird things. It became a great cult film. There are producers also working with us to remake it.
What’s in the future for Independent International Films?
Continuing to keep our library in release. Making new films, working with young film makers and encouraging them while figuring out a way to deal with this stranger market that exists today.
How did you get films into distribution?
We came in off the street and didn’t know anything. I had one film, The Scarlett Letter that I brought to a regional distributor in Boston that don’t exist anymore. There were probably 500 regional distributors around the country at that time. Denver Dickson, Al Adamson’s father knew some of them in the south from distributing a Western him and Al had made called Half Way to Hell which helped but he didn’t know every area.
I thought going up to New England, where the Scarlet Letter took place that I’d get some distribution. It never played in New England and they had no interest in my picture. They told me they had no interest in old pictures. They had interest in horror films and others. That was the turning point for me. I realized we’re forced to go into whatever the market dictates.
What’s different or the same about film making today?
Number one, the thing that’s always interesting to me is how cheaply can you make a film. At the time if you were shooting a film on 35mm if nobody else got paid, you still had to pay for the film stock, the lab to develop it. Today you don’t have that. Back then we had films shot in 16mm and blown up to 35mm because that would cut the cost up front way down. Satan Sadists was shot in 16mm. Dracula vs Frankenstein was shot in 16mm. Pictures that were popular were shot on 16mm but I didn’t like that. I wanted to shoot on 35mm. Today digital is digital. It doesn’t have to cost anything.
The one thing all movies have in common and that’s the secret. That great thing is ideas. Ideas are more important than money. If you have a picture that costs $400 million dollars and it was stupid idea who cares. If you shot it on digital and it cost zero dollars but the idea was great.
How do you protect your ideas?
Anybody can steal anything or change it a little bit. The one thing you can do that costs nothing is the Writers guild of America allows you to register written materials with them. You can take a script, a story, a one page idea and register it for free with the Writers Guild. That’s respected in this industry everywhere.
This week we take the Imperfect Podcast on the road with horror icon, Sam Sherman. Sam is has been a writer, producer and distributor that continues to work in the film industry today. We were fortunate enough to be introduced by our friend Ethan Marten who you may remember from our podcast about Eyes of the Roshi.
Sam Sherman attended New York’s City College Film Institute, where he ran “Flash Gordon” serials and “The Mask of Fu Mancho” in the student film program and made the 16mm short “The Weird Stranger” in a single day. The first picture he distributed was a re-release of The Scarlet Letter (1934) in 1964. He also worked in the publicity department of Hemisphere Pictures prior to forming the hugely successful production and distribution outfit Independent-International Pictures with Do-It-Yourself indie filmmaker ‘Al Adamson (I)’ in 1968. Independent-International produced and/or released a slew of movies in such genres as horror, Western, science fiction, comedy, action and even blaxploitation for the drive-in market throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
Sam is a humble, intelligent film maker who gravitates toward “the weird.” We couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to learn from someone who made his mark in the film industry as an independent for decades. Part of 1 of this interview discusses Sam Sherman’s background and early career. Stay tuned next week for Part 2.
Watch the Entire Interview with Indie Horror Icon Sam Sherman
Sam Sherman Interview Highlights
Where did your love of movie making come from?
It started with a love of still photography then in whole movie photography. I had been given my uncles 8mm camera and projector. I started making my own 8mm movies and also started collecting movies like Charlie Chaplin and westerns. When I started going to the movies at the age of 4 I always had a love for it. First time I was in a theater, what impressed me was how enormous the screen was and that was before TV or home movies.
Television started running old films that I took a liking to which took me in that direction. I basically started as a collector of movies. Regular 8mm, short 5 and 15 min films and then I got a 16mm projector for movies that ran longer. At that time there was no home video and I wanted to have certain movies I could see and preserve. I thought a lot of them were so obscure that if I didn’t have them nobody would have them.
Through all of that I became a film historian, studying the history of films going back to the late 1800s. I was hired by James Warren who produced the Famous Monsters of Film Land as a writer and film historian. He had an editor but couldn’t keep up with everything so they would farm out articles to me. Along the way I got to interview many directors, producers and actors.
I was always interested in the more obscure films but I did get meet famous people such as John Wayne. John Wayne liked me because I knew all about his early work as a young man starting out. He couldn’t believe I had all of his films on 16mm prints. At that time actors or producers would have 35mm screening rooms in their homes and didn’t even know these 16mm prints existed that you could run yourself.
I got to meet John Wayne over a dozen times in different circumstances. I sat with for an interview article from 8am until 1pm. No acting, just shooting the breeze about old 1930’s pictures. He couldn’t believe some of the facts I knew about those old films like the time they were shooting live ammo on set. I had a good friend Joe Franklin who had a television show in NYC and he helped me with a lot of things whether it was getting to do a film or meeting someone. He knew just about everyone in the industry.
What was the first independent horror you filmed?
It’s a funny how that happened. Things like that don’t get planned. If I had said I’d like to make horror films it doesn’t happen like that. There’s always a million impediments to you doing something. I was a big fan of photography and I subscribed to a popular photography magazine. There was an article about City College Film Institute that seemed interesting. A place to learn about making films, use equipment, and meet people. To get into the film program you had to have top grades and be a science student which I was.
That gave me an in because I was a step up from the average student in the New York area. It was a free school if you got there. At the time, other schools that taught film were on the west coast like UCLA & USC and it was too costly for my family to send me to California. I was also very young because I skipped two grades. I was 16 and looked like I was 12 which was hard to get people to experience me.
I was going to college and working as a film editor, projectionist and teaching audio/visual use at Hunger College, plus making my own little movies. The fact that I liked horror films came from two areas: One was comic books and they always had horror and in addition to that I would listen to radio programs. Most of the dramatic shows were in the mystery or horror genre. The weirder the better for me. That background and working for Famous Monsters of Film Land Magazine pushed me into horror.
The Weird Stranger: Sam Sherman’s City College Film Project
I was in charge of programming at City College and they came after me in the school newspaper and called me the ‘Horror Man: Sherman is lowering the standards of City College.” The head of the film institute was teaching a course and we had to make a small film to pass the class. It took most students almost 6 months to make their short films. Everyone else was pretty artsy and I was low class. The end of the semester was coming and I had nothing. He said to me I should make a horror film about a vampire who robs a blood bank.
I end up making a film called The Weird Stranger. It was a crazy horror satire and it was technologically way ahead of what the others were doing. I had a full synchronized score that matched the moods and sound effects. As much as he hated it, the professor had to give me an A. What he hated the most was that I wouldn’t put the City College logo on the film. I shot my film on location, with my own equipment and had my own logo. It turned out to be the best film of the class and years later my sister was taking a course at City College and invited me to a screening. They announced they were going to show their favorite student film and it turns out they start showing my film The Weird Stranger. People loved it. Since I made the film, peoples taste changed.
What makes horror films so unique and likeable?
It’s because it’s different. Everything in life today, seems too similar and uninteresting but when you get to horror, you have the undead coming back to life or zombies or whatever. Way back when, not many were made. People wanted to see something different.
How did you start making films professionally?
I was friendly Irwin Pizor who owned a company called Hemisphere Pictures. They were located in New York with offices in the Philippines who had made one horror film but at the time I met them they were making war films because there was a big demand for them overseas in 1963. Make them in the Philippines and sell them around the world but they were making no money in the United States. I had bought a picture from Irwin Pizor based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and I wanted to re-issue it.
This week’s Imperfect Podcast guest is Manon de Reeper, who is the Editor in Chief and founder of independent film magazine Film Inquiry. Manon is also a screenwriter currently shopping her Screencraft Fellowship quarter finalist MORAL TREATMENT. She has two academic degrees and currently lives in beautiful Perth, Australia. Starting as her own personal blog, Film Inquiry has grown to having over 100 contributors.
Film Inquiry is an independent, crowd-funded magazine with which purposefully steers away from the current online journalism trends of meaningless click bait. Instead you’ll find long-form reviews and articles, as well as in-depth resources that are interesting to cinephiles and filmmakers. Film Inquiry also supports women and minorities in film and behind the camera.
Since December ’16, Film Inquiry is a Rotten Tomatoes approved publication and all of our reviews are counted towards their tomato-meter. To support Film Inquiry, you can join the Film Inquiry Society that will grant you complete access to all of their archives, as all posts older than 30 days (aside from a few freebies) are locked. Once a member, all the content is ads-free. Members also get a 10% discount to the Film Inquiry shop, and more.
Watch How To Get Your Independent Film Reviewed by Film Inquiry
Interview Highlights with Manon de Reeper Editor in Chief of Film Inquiry
How did Film Inquiry get started?
I founded Film Inquiry as my own personal film blog where I was doing my own amateurish film reviews. I had just graduated from university and was doing some research while studying criminology. It’s still the most geeky thing ever, where I studied how a science fiction film effected the future effects of real life policies.
It was the best time of my life and I wanted to keep doing it because I always wanted to do film. Film was my biggest passion but friends and family recommended I not go to film school but I ended up making everything about film anyway.
I moved to Australia with my partner and he got a job here and I was hoping that I’d be able to do something with my criminology degree and it didn’t turn out the way I wanted. I’m not one to sit still so it was my chance to jump into the whole film thing.
People liked the blog and I wanted to involved more people so we could do more. The ball started rolling in early 2014. Every since, we’ve been steadily publishing. I don’t want to publish too much because I get too overwhelmed with how some of these magazines push out content. We want to keep the content schedule minimal but the actual articles bigger. It gives us the opportunity to go more in depth and explore one film more. More and more people are joining us to write.
People have told me they are pretty disillusioned with the current online film journalism. We really want to be able to talk about film in a context more than Marvel’s easter eggs. It’s fun and more people are picking up on it. I’m stoked an excited that all the hard work is paying off.
How do you decided which films you write about?
Honestly, at this point I have the luxury of having a team of 100 people so I have a combined amount of a time. I personally don’t review many films anymore. I’m trying to get a YouTube series going for myself but even choosing the films I’m going to watch every day is becoming a challenge. It’s starting to get so busy but I feel like I have this responsibility to watch movies.
What does a typical day as editor in chief at Film Inquiry look like?
I have to say I set it up pretty smoothly. What I do is coordinate when film makers ask us to review films, then I make sure that my team knows this film is available for review. They let me know if they want to review it, I request the screener, send it to them, they write the review and it’s reviewed by a few editors. I’m always the final review before publishing. We have a pretty strict schedule we adhere to so I make sure all the time slots are filled in. For general feature articles, its mostly all the writers pitching their good ideas. It’s a lot of work but it’s also fun.
Where does your love of films come from?
My Dad was very much into films and my Mom too actually. They would always take me to the movies. For instance, on Christmas we wouldn’t go to church, we’d go to the movies. That was our thing and it just stuck with me throughout life. I started exploring film myself when I got a little older.
What was the first article published on Film Inquiry?
I think it was a review of the film Elysium, by the South African director Neil Blomkamp. Everyone was raging on how incredibly poor it was and I thought it was pretty good. I wrote a little essay on how the criminological aspects of it were interesting.
How does your degree in criminology influence your writing?
It definitely taught me to look further than just the actor’s performances or the visuals. I always want to explore the idea of the film more. What are the film makers trying to tell us. We learn so much from film. Most of the situations these characters find themselves in, we wouldn’t ever find ourselves in. Seeing those things it teaches us a lot about life.
The way a camera is used and how a scene is framed adds to an idea. If you shoot someone from below, it elevates the person and adds meaning.
What is your screenplay Moral Treatment about?
I wrote a story influenced by academic background. It’s about a woman who is a British Royal set in the late 1800’s. It’s a Victorian era script. She has the privilege of receiving education in the UK and is married off to a rich guy in the US, an industrialists son. She starts to work at a local asylum because she’s a psychiatrist. It’s quite fascinating to me because there are so many terrible horror films set in these type of asylums. I wanted to do the opposite and give a very realistic portrayal of mental health and how these people were treated back then.
How does it differ from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?
In a way, it was quite influenced by One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I personally really love that one because it’s a realistic portrayal of mental illness and what a mental hospital was like back then. It does have a big twist in the end like Moral Treatment does. I say it’s a mix between One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Shutter Island.
Is Moral Treatment your first screenplay?
No it wasn’t but it’s the first one I fully completed and edited. It was a challenge for me specifically how do you get into the mindset of writing. You need to put a lot of creative energy into writing which I did for 30 days. If you don’t keep at it every day, it’s easy to get out of that again. I adapted the National Writing Novel Month for my own needs. I was traveling and working during that time but because I had this goal of writing 3 pages a day, which is doable, I finished writing 90 pages in that month and had 30 pages before that. If you’re just focused on writing you don’t have the time to go back and edit it constantly.
Watch Manon’s video on “How I Wrote a Script in One Month”
I had seen the deadline for the Screencraft contest and gave myself that concrete goal. It was my first complete script and I wasn’t thinking I would ever win. Considering there were over 2000 submissions I was completely stoked to have made it to the quarter finals. It doesn’t even matter how good your screenplay is at that point. It’s more like a game of luck because there are so many people that submit great work. I still think there may be an audience for my script and winning one contest isn’t going to win you the Hollywood game.
What did you learn as Editor in Chief of Film Inquiry?
I learned it’s more about the people you know. I feel for the people that believe they need to win a contest to make it because that’s not the way it works. I’m in Perth Australia and trying to get to know people in Hollywood. Film Inquiry has definitely helped with that in a very casual way. Knowing people is the most important thing.
How can film makers get coverage at Film Inquiry?
Everyone can send their request to [email protected] and I will always put their requests in front of the team. It’s up to the team whether they pick it or not. It happens sometimes that nobody is interested. We also cannot guarantee a positive review.
I try to put everything out there. There is an audience for every film so I don’t filter it. I offer it up to my team for them to decide.
This week’s guests on the Imperfect Podcast are Trish Rainone and Katie Uhlmann. They are the writers and producers of the new hit web series, My Roomate’s An Escort. The web series is an off kilter comedy about two polar opposite roomates who influence each other’s lives for better or worse. Trish and Katie personally bonded over break-ups and roommate stories and began writing together two days later and haven’t left eachother’s side’s since. The two share a lot of laughs together on the screen and in real-life. Trish is thrilled at how My Roommate’s an Escort came together and can’t wait to make more!
We had a great time chatting with these ladies who are super funny and clever. They talk to us about funding the web series through crowd funding, investors and sponsors. Like many other talented people in the entertainment industry, they needed to create their own path to showcase their abilities. Fortunately for Trish and Katie, My Roomate’s An Escort seems to winning over audiences with over 69k views in less than 4 weeks.
Katie Uhlmann is an award winning director, writer, and actor and was born and raised in Trenton, Ontario, Canada. After graduating from Queen’s University with a degree in drama and psychology, she started pursuing a career in film and moved to Toronto. Katie has acted in countless shows (Workin’ Moms, Just Passing Through, Paranormal Witness), commercials and independent films (Kingdom Come). She is also known for her work as a host on her web show entitled Katie Chats where she completed over 3000 interviews with guests including David Cronenberg, Tatiana Maslany, and oscar-winning actress Juliette Binoche.
Trish Rainone is an actress, writer and producer from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. She initially studied Film at Carlton University, but moved home to The Soo after some horrible roommate experiences and a bout of home-sickness. After working on several commercials, short films and the odd pause-or-you’ll-miss-her roles in popular films such as The Void, she decided to begin creating her own content with people she connected with and respected. Her first short film, Constance, (which she Produced and Co-wrote) had a successful film festival run in the States and Canada. She earned a Best Actress Award at the Horrorizon Film Festival in 2016.
Watch How to Make Successful Comedy Web Series
Interview Highlights with Trish Rainone & Katie Uhlmann
How Did You Meet?
Drunk at a bar where all of our relationships begin. We met at a friends birthday party in January of 2016 and hit it off and seemed to have the same sense of humor and the same angst towards exes. At the time, we were both going through “something.”
I had just gotten out of a 3 year relationship and crying a lot. We were both frustrated actors because we weren’t getting opportunities for roles that we wanted so we decided to pursue the dream.
Why did you choose to produce a web series?
I think because we had good chemistry we decided to do some writing together. We both had produced some short films and put them in festivals. With short films you do festivals and then wonder what has changed. We thought tackling a web series would be a better approach to tackling stardom. (just kidding)
We are still taking My Roomates an Escort to festivals but it was the idea of getting something out there immediately and distribute ourselves online. Although I do have to say there is something about being in a theater with an audience and seeing what jokes they laugh at. That’s something that’s nice about festivals. On the internet you just have a bunch of assholes attacking you.
Has My Roommate’s An Escorted offended anyone yet?
We took some heat early on when the trailer was released but now that it’s released everyone knows we aren’t making fun of escorts. Both of these girls are just girls. When you’re figuring out your life in your 20’s you go through some ups and downs.
We started with reality since we both had disaster roomates and branched out from there embellishing things and making them more absurd. The hope is that it’s relatable on some level.
Some people no matter what your job is you might not be great at it. You can be a low achiever in any field is what we’ve learned from our experience. We can be fired from almost every job. That’s something we talked about for Heather’s character because we never explored. I’ve had a lot of different jobs in life. As an actor you go through a lot of jobs because you want to keep acting the priority and for some reason bosses don’t like that at day jobs.
What was the creative process like for My Roomate’s an Escort?
We wrote the series over 7 months. We both have day jobs, I work at a casting studio and at the time Trish was working at a bar which she’s likely going back to. Whenever we weren’t at our day jobs we’d be writing and sometimes I’d go sit at the bar when she was working. Other customers would be like what’s going on? Did you say escort?
We had no lives for 7 months but really still have no lives. We crowdfunded on IndieGoGo and raised $20k and we threw a big party during the Toronto International Film Festival where we sold tickets to the party and got free alcohol from sponsors. Then we charged people $30 to go to the party that went directly to the IndieGoGo campaign but they got free food and drinks. A local business Adrenalin Tattoo gave us $5k and they were in the show. Our executive producer also contribute a lot of money.
Crowd funding and asking people for money was very stressful. Some people don’t like it and get offended. I had one person actually say I’ve tried chatting with you and you never write me back and now you’re asking me for money. My Mom got mad at one her friends for not supporting the campaign.
It’s one of those things where you can’t hold it against people if they don’t support you. A good approach is being grateful when they do support you. Have low expectations but be appreciative when people do pull through. What’s interesting is that the people you least expect are the most generous.
How long did it take to shoot each episode of My Roomates an Escort?
We did a block shoot and shot the whole series in 6 days. We ended up with a few pickup days.
How much PR & marketing was there leading up to the release of My Roomates an Escort?
We had $10k left we saved for marketing. There was a very strategic social media scheduled where we pre-planned our posts for every single day.
What was the web series filmed on?
We shot it on a Canon C300. I directed the series and come from a performance background so I don’t know a lot about lenses. Our director of photography helped and collaborated with us a lot. I kept it pretty simple. It was a very efficient set but super fun.
How did you get sponsors for your events?
Katie is really good at writing emails but we also found that going in person is successful. Getting a personal introduction is also helpful.
What did you learn from shooting My Roomates an Escort?
Build your own success.
What’s next for the series?
We are taking meetings. It’s doing what we hoped it would do and grabbing network interest. Our dream would be to have a half hour comedy but we are proceeding with guarded optimism because a lot of things would have to line up for that to happen. We are just going to keep asking people to give us money until it works. We just want to be paid to write and create our show.
