I’m very excited about this Kickstarter campaign for Typecast, an 8-episode horror-comedy web series from creators Ben Paddon (PortsCenter, Boomer’s Day Off) and Werewolf New friend Mac Beauvais (Hit Girl, The Gloaming) about a trio of monsters tired of being boxed into unfulfilling careers.
An ambitious web series to be sure, we decided to take the struggling/disenfranchised actor trope and turn it on its head by imagining a world where all the creepy crawlies you’ve ever seen on the screen were played by actual monsters. If you need the elevator pitch (that’s Hollywood-speak for please compare your stuff to other people’s stuff), it’s a bit of Being Human meets Extras.
We’ve written a first season arc consisting of 8 episodes, all aiming to be around 6-10 minutes in length, telling the story of these actors and their journey. We want to deliver the best quality possible, and that requires great locations, crew, catering and, of course, some truly monstrous makeup.
They’re looking to raise $52,000 to pay for the production (including copious practical makeup effects by Michael Spatola) and they’re well on their way, with $4,615 as of this post and 28 days to go. Rewards include thanks in the credits, HD downloads of the episodes, Full Moon Flakes / “Moony the Werewolf” cereal box art and fan club merch (including perfume!), and even a chance to be made up as a monstrous extra.
Here’s the pitch video, which starts off with a proof-of-concept mini-episode featuring a fantastic, profanity-laced on-set freak-out from werewolf Abby (played wonderfully by Beauvais).
I’m hyped about this project – it’s got a great cast and crew from top to bottom and I want very much for it to succeed, so check it out!