I’m blown away by the growing number of self-funded, independent web filmmakers. I met Jonathan Holbrook, creator of STILL: The Web Series shorty after I published my interview with Anthony Blaine about 4 Hire. Like Anthony, Jonathan is funding and producing the series himself with the help of his volunteer actors and crew, who he loves like family. In fact, one of the series’ stars, Dave Shecter, joined Jonathan for our interview.
Jonathan describes his science fiction thriller as “a cross between The Walking Dead and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” The series starts with news reports of something happening to the magnetic waves omitted from Earth’s radiology belt that caused strange sounds in the sky, beached whales and dolphins, and tingling sensations in people’s hands.
These occurrences actually happened several years ago, and they were caused by electro-magnetic storms. In STILL, something “foreign” is transmitted inside those sounds, but Jonathan won’t spoil the plot by revealing what it is.
From the previews, I can tell that the video quality is excellent. Jonathan produces corporate videos and commercials by day, so he has all the equipment for filming and editing the series. They film just outside Seattle, in Lake Stevens, Arlington and Everett, WA. In Episode 1, they actually shut down a street in Everett.
Although Dave Shecter works a 9-5 job, he made time to act in six indie films last year. Dave says, “The others were pretty good, but this one really grabs you. The effects, everything is just amazing. That’s why I’m a part of it.”
Jonathan tells us, “when you produce something like this, it’s usually 20% production and 80% marketing.” He spends a good portion of his day updating his social media accounts: Twitter, Google+ and Facebook, which he enjoys the most. To get more Likes with Facebook, you have to promote your page. All the actors have accounts and they share everything that’s on STILL. It’s a team effort.
For budding filmmakers, Jonathan recommends attending film school to learn the technical aspects, like production design, production management and networking.
However, “you can’t really teach creativity. It has to be inside the person. If you feel like you’re creative, but want to go further, it’s probably the technical side that needs work.” Jonathan attended the University of Washington film extension program.
STILL is starting a Kickstarter campaign soon, so watch for it. The word is out, and a couple of stars want to come on board the project: Joe Porter, stunt man for Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon and another movie actor. Rumor has it that a horror icon may also be joining the cast.
The buzz is well-deserved. I can’t wait for the series release in October on Chronicle Factory.
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To watch my video interview with Jonathan Holbrook on YouTube: http://youtu.be/jdPsVgXR7IA
To watch STILL: The Web Series trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfeYBjb5NFg
Jonathan Holbrook, Creator of STILL: The Web Series
@STILLWebSeries
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Cynthia Kahn, Founder of Amused Now
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