Ahead of the third edition of Melbourne WebFest, we are profiling all the official selections that will be screening 10-12 July at Deakin Edge. 

This sci-fi web series, created by Simon Norton Game in British Columbia, Canada, is an awe inspiring visual journey into another dimension.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome in making this series?
By far the biggest challenge was working a full time job as a stonemason and creating, set building, producing, directing and finally editing my first narrative fiction.

How do you reach your audience?
Still figuring that one out haven’t found very many of them yet. I simply don’t have time to push the social media like it needs to be. I’m putting a social campaign budget together at present.

How do you finance your series?
Self financed with my best friend Greg C Thompson.

Is your series an ongoing project? If so can you give us some clues about what comes next?
Yes but it will take another year to produce the next three. I’m knackered after the two and half years it took to make the first three.  There’s only so much the body and mind can take on by itself. We have already scripted 10, hour-long television episodes. In which the story travels through 6 different dimensions on converging timelines that reveal our heroes identity as an immortal conjured by a coven of some very strong mediastic women to  hopefully eradicate his dark and deeply delusional Uncle. There’s also a whole lot of action, dreams and sex to light the way.

What’s the magic formula for a successful web series?
I would have to say make sure the idea is something you love. You’re going to spend a lot of time getting it right.

In what ways do you utilise social media to further your brand?
I’m learning it’s probably equally as important to market on social it’s half the struggle the other half is the show. Without social your drifting lost on the web.

What is your favourite thing about making web series?
How much you learn finishing an episode , the whole process is amazing it’s like going to film school but you are the teacher and the student. Definitely get very good at convincing people you know what you’re doing when you have no idea.

Tell us about some of the obstacles you faced filming a series that it set in an alternate time?
Well we built our own sets to get the retro new-world order vibe going then we used VFX comps to give them sci fi technology. Planning that all out and building the sets in an unheated studio in the Canadian winter was a toe numbing party, day in day out. Creating that world in post took many, many months as well hanging in there for a shot that took a month to track into a 3D environment was an incredibly rewarding challenge.

Why did you choose to make the series with such a minimal script? Tell us a bit about your process.
MEJ Powell the main writer of  Disrien, a local philosopher here in Victoria BC actually completed a full 10 hour first season and it’s such a trip I knew we had a story worth chasing. I guess I’m like a “go heavy or go home” sort of guy and the heavy factor really grabbed me.

Please tell us a quirky and/or interesting fact about yourself or team that’s unrelated to your web series?
I’m also a singer in a RocknRoll band, called Start With The Cobra.

Disrien on the web:
Disrien Website
Watch Disrien
Disrien on Twitter

Keep up to date with Melbourne WebFest on twitter: @MelbWebFest.

La Trobe University is Melbourne WebFest’s exclusive learning partner.