Blog

Sneak Peak

2010-07-16T15:16:36Z

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...

"Early 2010, my ass!"

2010-06-07T16:06:42Z

"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

Thank You!

2010-03-31T19:58:08Z

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

Be part of our Season Finale!

2010-01-08T20:53:29Z

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!

Wanted: Feisty Ladies

2009-12-01T20:20:21Z

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!

It all began in a dumpster...

2009-11-14T00:09:40Z

On the eve of our 10th production day, I'd like to take a look back to a time before the cookie shop, before the "Big Hiatus" (in which our crew patiently waited for construction to finish on our cookie shop), before "Falkor's Revenge" played the Steynberg Gallery, all the way back to Production Day 1. The good ol' days, when our actors (and our brave DP) were spending 8+ hours in a sweltering dumpster tucked deep in an alleyway. I think it speaks volumes to the dedication of our cast & crew that this is how our production started, and yet they still came back for day 2. They're either dedicated...or not that bright. But I'll vouch for their dedication.

As nasty and smelly as the set looked, the dumpster actually came to us squeaky clean. Our production designers, Clayton and Mai-Chi, worked their filthy magic and fouled the container up; the only odiferous side-effect was that of cookies and coffee.

Since our humble beginnings on day 1, we've shot inside of a dive bar, outside of a completely different skeezy bar, and shot a drunken romp in front of a historic Mission at midnight. We've shot a sloppy make-out scene, almost all of our male leads in their underwear, and we've even managed to work in an injured balls joke (thanks again for taking one for the team, Johnny). What I'm trying to say is that making a show like this is dirty business, and it's hard (damn hard), and there are a lot of points when you want to throw in the towel. And yet...

We still have an awesome crew, and we're only getting better. We have a lot of awesome stuff left to shoot, and everybody is still pumped. I couldn't be prouder of our team. And I can't wait to start sharing some clips with all of you as we get closer to the end of production.

Now, I have important work to do that involves a unicorn giving a gnome a piggy back ride in a sea of bubbles. Check back at the end of the month--there will be pictures.

-Carl

The Making of "Falkor's Revenge"

2009-10-15T03:09:36Z

Falkor Loses his TongueThe hipster noise band holds a special place in my heart, right between Carrot Top and "The Holiday." That is to say, I've experienced a hipster noise band, a live Carrot Top show, and that delicious rom-com known as "The Holiday," and I would never, ever elect to endure any of them again. One time was enough to burn these experiences indelibly into my skull.

Such is my love/hate relationship with the hipster noise band that I felt compelled, nay, obliged to incorporate a version of the phenomenon into Townies. For those of you who have never witnessed a hipster noise concert, imagine Carrot Top making music with his box of props by smashing them on stage and swinging them in circles over his head while screaming. Even as you read this, a hipster noise band has stolen this idea and is feverishly working to set the life and times of Carrot Top to cacophonous "music."

For episode 5 of Townies, my desire was to take the hipster noise band in all of its performance arty ridiculousness and send it careening over the edge into absurdity. "Falkor's Revenge" was born.

For those of you who were deprived of "The Neverending Story" growing up, pray for your parents' forgiveness and rent it now. Not only is it a staple of a healthy 80's childhood, but it also introduces one of the most beloved characters of all time, Falkor the luck dragon, the protagonist's airborne locomotion of choice. Falkor is so lovable, in fact, that he's just begging to be fed through the hipster irony machine. Wouldn't it be ironic if instead of being lovable, Falkor were bloodthirsty and vengeful? Why, yes, it would!

Toothy SnuggleI wanted to make "Falkor's Revenge" the band to end all noise bands. So I would pitch ideas to our design team like, "What if we have them swing censers over their heads while screaming through a megaphone and breaking bottles?," to which our costume designer Jesse would reply, "Oh, you were at that show too?" Alas, it is folly to try to beat the noise band at its own game. No matter the absurd things that you may dream up, a hipster somewhere, somehow has beaten you to the punch.

Our saving grace was the design team. They did SUCH a fantastic job of creating simultaneously lovable and disturbing Falkors (for example, that Snuggle hat you see on Jesse's head ended up with bloody teeth before we actually shot the episode), that I believe we have created the most ironic noise band of all time. And that's without saying anything about the tremendous performance of Grand Lake, the legitimate band (who coincidentally plays fantastic music in real life) who masqueraded as Falkor's Revenge.

I'll write more about and post pictures of the actual performance soon. For now, enjoy the making of "Falkor's Revenge."

-Carl

Townies Shoot with Grand Lake -- Join Us!

2009-09-25T20:20:57Z

It's not too late to join us! Check out the notice below, and come join the cast and crew of Townies for a special episode shoot with "Grand Lake"...

"The web television series, "Townies," will be shooting at the Steynberg Gallery on September 25th, and we are looking for background actors to be part of the show. "Grand Lake" will be performing as the fictional noise band, "Falkor's Revenge," and we need you to bring the concert to life. Where else are you going to see Falkor the luck dragon perform live AND be part of a kickass new series? Yeah, that's what we thought.

Before you read any further, please know that this is a professional film shoot. Although it will most certainly be entertaining, it will also involve a lot sitting around and waiting as our crew moves around lights, sets up dolly track, practices camera moves, etc., 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, please read on! Here are the details:

-- TIMES: Expect the shoot to go from 6pm to 2am. Yes, filming takes a long time, but we'll have interesting things to keep you busy: swarming Steynberg on bicycles and watching the spectacle that is Falkor's Revenge, among others. For continuity, we expect all of our background actor's to stay for the duration of the shoot, or until wrapped by the 1st Assistant Director.

-- BRING YOUR BIKE: Please come on your bike if possible. We will be using a lot of bicycles as part of the shoot.

-- WARDROBE: Our costume designer has put together a dress code below. Please read through it and come with 2-3 options for him to choose from...

"Generally speaking, dress like you're out douching it up in Williamsburg (Hipster Williamsburg, not Hasidic Jew Williamsburg)
So... if you HAPPEN to have a lavender and chartreuse keffiyeh, now would be a great time to wear it with a tastefully undersized pair of sausage casing jeans and florescent wind-breaker.
Hey girls--bare legs are hella lame: maybe you should wear leggings AND leg warmers to compliment your vintage dress and flats. Don't forget hazardously sized jewelry!
Or if you want to go the Dan Deacon route, feel free to break out any ironic, stained and oversized pullovers and coke bottle glasses."

-- RSVP (IMPORTANT!): If you are not on our list, you may not be allowed on set. To RSVP, please leave your phone number and email address on the event wall, or email it to our production manager, Leah Marchenko at leah_marchenko@hotmail.com.

If you have any questions, please contact Leah at leah_marchenko (at) hotmail (dot) com. Look forward to seeing you at Steynberg on the 25th!"

Welcome to the "Townies" Cast & Crew Blog

2009-09-08T02:04:48Z

My name is Carl, and I'm the writer and co-director of Townies, a web television series currently in production for its first season. To be precise, as I'm writing this, we've finished our fourth production day and are ramping up for number five.

The inevitable first question that I get when I tell people that I'm directing a web series is...what is a web series? The short, canned answer is that it's like television, but the episodes are shorter and you watch it on your computer. The answer that I like better is that web series are the future of digital entertainment--a conclusion, by the way, that is not my own personal revelation. These days, web content producers are in good company: former NBC Universal Co-Chairman Ben Silverman, director Joss Whedon and actress Lisa Kudrow have all moved to producing web series in recent months and years.

All this to say that the web is entertainment's next great frontier, and if 4 days of working with a phenomenal cast and crew is any indication, Townies will be the web's next great show.

Of course, there's still a tremendous amount of work to be done, and if you're so inclined, I'd like to invite you along to watch as we make Townies a reality. Over the next few months, I'll be inviting our production designers, actors, camera and sound people, make-up artists--the entire cast and crew--to share their experiences in creating Townies. Think of it as a web series baby book, but instead of locks of hair filed away under "first haircut," you'll get a sneak peak at a psychedelically nightmarish luck dragon...you'll see what I'm talking about soon enough. Hope you stay on for the ride!