If you were in the sad, sad position of missing the sneak peak while it was on Youtube, here's a super secret link to it on Vimeo...

"Why the hell haven't I seen an episode of Townies, yet?!" I'm getting this question with increasing frequency, so I figured it was high time that I tell you where we are in the post-production process.

For the past five months, Griffin, Ryan and I have been working hard to edit and sound edit the show. We ran into some technical difficulties at first, which slowed us down considerably, but now that we're back on track, we've edited our way through almost half of the season. So the question stands: "why the hell haven't I seen an episode, yet?!"

Early on, I made the decision that we wouldn't begin releasing episodes until all 11 of them were complete. This gives me the opportunity to make sure that the show hangs together as a whole. It also means we all have to wait a little bit longer for its eventual release, but trust me, the show will be better this way.

One thing that I didn't foresee (or perhaps I was in denial about) was about how long it would take to edit the season, regardless of the release schedule. My line of thinking went something like this:

A feature film takes 6-12 months to edit with a headstart on post during production, all in the hands of a well-paid post-production army. So Townies should take 3-6 months to edit without the headstart in the hands of a skeleton, volunteer post-production team because it's a web series, right? Uhh, turns out I was wrong. The truth is, Townies is about the same amount of material as a feature film (120 pages) shot at the same quality with all the ambitions of a feature length project, so the long and short of it is this: an early 2010 release date was wishful thinking on my part. Bummer, I know.

But here's the good news: Townies is coming together beautifully. The show is transforming into something wholly new and exciting in the editing process, which I'm incredibly pleased with, and I know that you will be, too. To prove it, this week we'll be releasing a rough cut snippet of episode 3.

Going forward, I promise to do better keeping you in the loop, dearest cast and crew. If there are periods of silence, know that they are filled with quiet work in dark editing rooms by Ryan, Griffin and I. But in the interim, know this: Townies is gonna flip your lid. To the max. Like whoa.

-Carl

A year ago this month, we began casting for Season 1 of Townies. A couple of weeks ago, the cast & crew celebrated the end of production.

Many, many thanks to everyone who has been part of the Townies family over this past year. To the multi-talented cast & crew, to the business owners who graciously donated their locations, wardrobe, props and time, to the extras who spent loooong nights with us, to Grand Lake and Graham Culbertson for making Falkor's Revenge a reality, to everyone who has supported, sacrificed and been part of this project: thank you.

No doubt, there is still a lot of work to be done: editing, sound editing, mixing, music, graphics, etc. etc. A whole new set of battles that I and the post-production team are reinvigorated to take on after such a wonderful few months of production. 

If you missed the Wrap Party and would like to check out the slideshow that was shown that night, I've posted it below. Thanks again to all of you! See you on premiere night!

-Carl

On January 16, the web TV series "Townies" will be taping its season finale in San Luis Obispo, and we need you to be part of the shoot! To find out more about the show, please visit http://www.Townies.tv. If you dig it and want to be part of our final episode, read on...

Our final episode consists of a “surprise theme party”--what starts as a low key soiree morphs into a 70s disco when the theme is announced at midnight. The scene quickly turns into a nightmare for our main character, Katie, who has unknowingly drank some mushroom tea.

We are looking for extras, aged 20-30, to be part of the party. The episode will be a lot of fun to tape, and we ask that all of our background actors come prepared to dance and have a good time. However, please know that this is a professional shoot. Although it will most certainly be entertaining, it will also involve a lot sitting around and waiting as our crew moves lights, sets up dolly track, practices camera moves, etc. Furthermore, as we'll be on a set with heavy and dangerous equipment, we'll insist that there be no drinking and that our background actors behave professionally, for their own safety and everyone else's. If this sounds good to you, here are the details:

-- TIMES: Expect the shoot to go from 4pm to as late as 2am. Taping an episode of this scope takes a long time, but as mentioned above, we’ll have lots of things to keep you busy and entertained. For continuity, we expect all of our background actors to stay for the duration of the taping or until wrapped by the 1st Assistant Director.

NOTE: We are also looking for more prominent background actors to be part of a smaller shoot on January 15th. If you are interested in being part of this shoot as well, please contact leah_marchenko@hotmail.com for more details.

-- WARDROBE: Please come with 2 options for “normal” party clothes, and bring additional 70s items if you have them. We are looking for people to come in a hodgepodge of “party casual” clothes; in other words, whatever you’d normally wear to a garden/dance party. Additionally, we need people to bring 1970s wardrobe for the scenes after the surprise theme has been announced. The more ridiculously 70s and colorful, the better. We’re talking big collars, jump suits, sparkles and crazy denim.

Don’t forget to bring a warm jacket for in between shots!

-- LOCATION: The Chapek House: 843 Upham Street, San Luis Obispo

-- RSVP (IMPORTANT!): To RSVP, you must email your phone number to our production manager, Leah Marchenko, at leah_marchenko@hotmail.com. Our production team will be calling interested background actors soon with important details.

Thank you for your interest, and we hope to see you on set!

This Sunday, December 6, "Townies" will be shooting one of its final episodes in San Luis Obispo, and we need your help. We're searching for women, age 60 and older, to be part of an "army" of ladies that descends upon a cookie shop in search of a sugar fix after church. When they find out that only a dozen cookies have been baked, they're thrown into an uproar and attack.  The time commitment is minimal (Sunday morning), and we guarantee a good time. The episode is a lot of light-hearted fun, and we're looking for a fun bunch of women to bring our army to life.

Please send us a message through our contact page if you are interested in joining us. Hope to see you there!