The Biggest Difference Between TV show and Webseries

First thing I wanted to announce that Julie Kendall has been attached to play the character of Anne Steavens in the TV show.  Julie has so much passion and talent that every director out there should be looking at her resume.  Now back to the main topic...

Naturally when people think TV show verses webseries the assumption is that the main difference between the two is broadcasting medium.  It is assumed that a TV show is something you see on your TV with either cable, satellite or, back in the day, they had those antiques called "bunny ears" that hook in the back of your TV when things were analog.

But there's a problem with assuming the difference is "how it is delivered".  If the deciding factor was that you had to watch it through those options then House of Cards, produced exclusively to be viewed on Netflix, shouldn't be nominated for an Emmy as a TV show.  Netflix streaming is online.

So what is the major difference?  The format of the script.

Webseries are shorter.  A traditional TV show script is broken down as Teaser followed by 5 Acts.  The act break downs were as such because of advertising, but I also find that it helps with pacing.  A TV show moves faster than a movie.  A TV show is traditionally 45 pages long/45 minutes long.  A film traditionally goes 90-120 minutes (or if your making a tent pole movie it could go onto until eternity).

The break down of the script is the key factor on how myself, the writer/director, tells the story and how you, the audience, responds to it.  Most webseries are 5-10 minutes long and really have to get to the point quickly.  With a TV show script I focus on how to get to the beginning and end of an Act with a sense of mystery and urgency so that by the end of the act you're driven to go to the next one.

With AMNESIA it is a series of twists and turns.  Just when you think you've figured out what's going on or who to trust then something is thrown into the mix and you become concerned with the outcome.  If I had attempted to tell this as a webseries it would be novel and interesting, but it couldn't be developed the way the TV show format is set up.

In many ways I think it can be easier to do a webseries.  And don't get me wrong I think there are some great webseries out there.  But if I was going to go big enough and emotionally compelling enough to give this story what it deserves than I had to "go big" and it had to be written as a TV show.

By the way, my style of TV show scripts was inspired by two famous TV shows which had the same writer/director on both shows.  The writer/director is now directing some of the biggest movies right now.  Take a guess which two TV show scripts inspired my style for AMNESIA?

How to Pull Off An Apacalyptic TV show with 3 Timelines

The story structure of the Amnesia TV show is designed where there are three timelines going on.  The flashback to the main character's past (that tells him in pieces what happened to him and his love interest), the "Event" timeline t(hat comes in pieces telling us what led to the world) and finally the present day apocalyptic timeline of some time in the near future.

Writing that was hard, trying to figure out how to pull that off without ballooning the budget was even harder.  I kept wrestling with how to do it.  One part is shot on mostly a city/college campus location, another is one is a road full of smashed up cars near a major city and the third is in the forests near the mountains.  Racing back and forth to the different locations per episode would just be too time consuming and expensive plus it would run the mistake of forgetting things or making small mistakes that would end up turning into bigger ones.  The more I looked at the concept it seemed like a nightmare.  How could I pull this off?

I had another issue.  Andrew Roth, who is playing the lead Allan Carter, has to go through 3 major hair changes.  These changes would be much easier done naturally than faking it.  In one timeline he is a clean cut college student another one he's older with a gottee and then another he has long hair and a beard.  All I could think was "continuity nightmare".  A TV episode is about 45 minutes long when you take away the 15 minutes of commercial.  In a 45 minute episode he's going to go through 3 hair changes and be in 3 different "worlds".  If the studios did this on a per episode basis each episode would be expensive.

That's when it hit me.  Don't shoot per episode.  Shoot per timeline.  Shoot the "Event" timeline first to draw in more interest.  Then shoot the "flashback" timeline second and then third the present day "apocalyptic" timeline.  By shooting it this way I would save huge on transporation, time, money and the massive headache of trying to make it work.

The other catch, spread the production schedule out so that there are months between each timeline shoot.  This gives ample time to just focus on finding the locations and lining up all other necessary components per timeline.  This also means that each actor just focuses on where there character is at this moment in their character's lives.

With this in mind the execution really comes down to 2 major forms of organization: the script and the storyboard.  If I know exactly how the story is told per scene via the storyboard than I don't have to worry if things will flow between the timelines when they are edited together per episode because I would have already played out how the match up on paper in the drawings.


JWB

AMNESIA: The Challenge of 3 Timelines in 1 Show

Having a TV show told in three timelines isn't easy.  It's probably the reason why no one does it.  The first challenge is in the writing.  Many times I think that I need to put a certain amount of flashback in per episode or a certain amount of the "event" timeline into each episode.  I started to realize that the decision on how much or if a certain timeline even makes it into that episode had to be something that wasn't forced but was organic.  If it didn't feel natural then don't do it.  There were some episodes where I said to myself, "I can't do a flashback in this one" because it just didn't feel right.

Flashbacks that just reveal info but doesn't effect the characters in the present day most audiences don't really like.  They can deal with it to a certain degree, but if it's episode after episode that audience starts to get bored with the usage of it and see it as more of a gimmick designed to drag out the story with endless subplots.  With Amnesia the flashbacks are the main character's thoughts, dreams, etc.  Either he sees them in his dreams or he sees them when something creates a memory recognition moment. - The character sees a certain object like a special flower or a knife or a piece of clothing and he remembers a key clue about his past life.

The writing is one big challenge, but the other one is on how you produce it without blowing your
budget out of proportion?


More later...

Go Big: Pursuing the TV show

The Amnesia TV show has been something I have both contemplated and developed since 2009.  When people decide to produce a TV show they create a TV pilot (first episode) and then pitch that to the networks (if they're lucky to pitch it).  They probably have a 1% chance that the pilot will ever go into pilot season and after that if it will ever get made into a season.

After debating that issue and finishing The House That Jack Broke, I realized that not only could I make the entire first season (6 episodes) but I should make the entire first season (six episodes). 

AMNESIA is the story of a man who wakes up in a post-apocalyptic future with amnesia and is looking for his family despite being pursued by a ruthless army.  As you'd expect there are some strange sci-fi elements that occur throughout the show. 

The story is told within 3 timelines:  his flashbacks of the past, "the accident" and the future.  Unlike other shows that have flashbacks, like LOST, the flashbacks of this show are different.  In a show like LOST the flashbacks revealed to the audience important information about a character, but those revelations about the characters didn't influence the characters own decisions in the present day.  In AMNESIA the flashbacks are the main characters dreams/revelations.  What he knows we know.  When he realizes something about his girlfriend Jamie it influences the next decisions he makes in the present day situation.  Sometimes his emotional reaction to what he remembers has dire consequences that could spell a fatal doom to one of the characters or put him in harms way.

To make sure the story comes to life the best we are pursuing actors who can perform very diverse characters.  The lead character of Allan Carter will be played by Andrew Roth who has had one of the most diverse list of characters in movies that I've seen.  In one character he can play tough, strong, confident and then in the next character he can play weak and fragile. 

More coming soon...

Building Something Bigger: The House That Jack Broke Moving Forward

Film Tour

I've have planned for a long time to get the film to audiences in Maine.  The film is set in Maine and the people there would love to see the film.  But I found myself faced with a major demographic issue.  Maine has a population of about 1.3 Million spread out over 35,385 sq mi.  Basically the bulk of the residents are spread out all over the place.   Movie theaters won't allow me to screen on Fri-Sun because of contracts with the big studios so accessibility just went out the window.  Going to a movie theater  on a Monday through Thursday is a major ordeal  The reality is that if you took a poll most of them watch very few films in the movie theaters, but instead on a source that is much more accessible.

Technology has changed everything

You want to watch something you can watch it with just typing a few buttons on key board and the click of a mouse.  In the matter of hours a short film on youtube can go from unknown to superstar because of accessibility and viral ability of the Internet.

The value of The House That Jack Broke is the story.  If someone loves the story they'll share their excitement with their friends.  If I show the film in Michigan on a Thursday people can post their excitement on Facebook, but their FB friends can't share in the experience because there isn't easy accessibility to the film.  The online conversations basically die because people aren't able to have a mutual experience with the film.  One person watches and comments, the other just basically waits to see if comes to their area.  And the fact is people get really bored waiting for your film and move on to something else.

What's a Festival?

Go back to the original meaning.  It means to "celebrate something".  Back in the day people used to have harvest festivals when they celebrated a good crop and the fact that they weren't going to starve in the winter.  In reality that is what filmmakers are doing when they do a premiere.  They are celebrating the accomplishments of the cast and crew and allowing the audience to experience that celebration with them.  It has a very communal experience.  People aren't just watching a movie, their part of something bigger.  Why can't we have our own "celebration" online?

May 3-5th Our Online Exhibition of THTJB

We have decided as producers that it's time to take the film to a much broader audience.  It's not just about taking it to just one more state anymore, it's about taking it everywhere at once.  People want to see it in states across the U.S. and Canada and overseas?  Then let's get it to them!

For a limited time period: May 3-5th, a 3 day weekend, we're going to be showing The House That Jack Broke on Vimeo for a small fee.  It's like renting a movie online.  Then we're going to ask the audience to post their comments on our Facebook fan page and share the link with their friends.  The film will be a slightly improved version of the one showed at our Michigan Premiere (will continue
showing Awakening right before the feature).


People want to see the film?- give it to them!  Time to screen "out of the box".